Merry Christmas and an Update!

Is it shitty that I'm blogging on Christmas Day? What can I say? The kids are playing (fighting) with their new goodies, and I'm still in my jammies avoiding clean-up and whatnot. So why not blog?

So I last left off with the local 5k/10k that Evan, Nonni, and I were going to do? How did it go?

Well, the star of that show was Evan. Don't really have a race report because I was doing my own thing at the same time, but the gist of it is that he took off at the start (left poor Nonni in the dust!) and never looked back. He did say at one point that he helped another kid up who fell on the course (sweet boy!), and I did manage to get a glimpse of him around Mile 3, (for me--I was ahead of him doing the 10k, which started 4 minutes earlier than the 5k) where I cheered him on. He looked strong, but little did I know *how* strong until I met up with him at the finish line. The print-out read 23:02. The official results, however, are 23:46, so who knows what it really was or if it was even a true 5k (mine was short... more on that in a bit). At any rate, he ran under an 8 minute mile pace in his first 5k ever. What???? He's 9! Just incredible. I am really excited to see what the future has in store for him. He was so excited afterwards that all he could talk about is how he wanted a new pair of running shoes for Christmas. So Santa delivered!

Kid's PureFlows! Unfortunately, Santa delivered 1/2 size too small. CRAP! Now to exchange 

discretely...

Pre-race shot of the fam! Nonni ended up finishing 4th in her AG!

Proud AG winner in 9-Under Boys

I ended up taking the win in the 10k for the women. My Garmin read 6.07 at the finish and 42:04. The official results were 42:18, which I can't figure out. I was right at the front of the pack at the start and crossed the mat maybe 2-3 seconds (if that) after the horn blew, yet there is a 14-second discrepancy between my Garmin and the official results. I give up. Anyway, it was a great race for me. I felt strong the whole time and felt like I had a lot left at the finish line.

There are 32 days left until the Yuma Territorial Marathon, and I'm feeling great about where I'm at in my training. Sunday's goal for my long run was 18-miles with miles 4/5, 8/9, 12/13, 16/17 at 8:00P. I ended up doing the intervals between 7:53-7:55P Overall, I ran an 8:28 pace for 18 miles. Felt tired at the end, but I still had a few more miles left in me. The next two weeks will be 62 mile weeks, so I am just hoping to make it through them still feeling HEALTHY. Fingers and toes crossed.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! I'm feeling very grateful for my family's health and well-being. Even though my boys are a handful, fight like the dickens, and drive me to the brink of insanity several times per week, I'm so blessed to have them here with me. The shooting in Newtown has been on my mind daily since it happened... Really puts things into perspective in so many ways. I continue to pray for the Sandy Hook Angels' families and the community of Newtown each and every day.

My Blessings