Happy New Year!

Wow have I been negligent here!  2014 ended on an excellent note with me running two more races after NYC (an unplanned half marathon and XC Club Nationals - more about both later), 1800 miles, and more importantly, me staying injury free.  I attribute the injury-free status to my work with Coach Emily who tailored my mileage down a bit so that I could take advantage of rest and recovery, to my trainer, Jake, for making me realize that I'm stronger than I think, to Meredith and Cindy for those agonizing 5:50 am classes, and to my running buds here in Cleveland (Anne, Chris, Karyn, Amy, Brenda, Elizabeth, Jen, Dianne, Brittany, Kathy, Liz, Tim, Mike P, Michelle, Jennifer, Mike E, Big Mike, etc., etc., etc - you know who you are) and my summer runs with Mary Pat and Chris. Finishing on the high note was great, and I hope after a bit of rest and down time for the end of December and early in January, I can maintain the level of fitness to get me through a strong spring. After all, I am once again planning on running Boston in April (with Mary Pat - her first!) and the NYC Half marathon(very exciting) and the Publix Half.  First up though is the Rock 'n Roll New Orleans half on 1/25 - a race that I am ready for distance-wise, but I doubt will be anything but a good, solid effort which is what I want.

As for the last two races of 2014, the Fall Classic Half Marathon was intended to be a solid run for me while attempting to pace Chris to a sub 1:49 half so that she could automatically qualify for the NYC Half Marathon.  I had been lucky enough to previously run a qualifier earlier in the year and after having so much fun at the marathon, we thought we'd try the half.  Unfortunately, Chris had suffered a calf strain the week before, and smartly she dropped out after 3 miles so as not to hurt herself more.  I decided to continue by picking up the pace to tempo pace and seeing how it went.  I finished in 1:45 and change and ended up not only being 3rd Master, but 1st Grand Master (over 50!). Of course, my first remark was "How did I get so damn old?"

In early December, I ran a bit of a redemption race at the XC Club Nationals held in Bethlehem, PA on the campus of Lehigh University.  My good summer friend, MP, talked me into this race as I really wanted to run it, and as a now "out of stater", I could no longer represent the Atlanta Track Club as I had in the past, and I thought I was "too slow" to run for Team Ohio.  As it turned out, I could have run for either the ATC or Team Ohio, and they probably could have both used my finish as I ran an excellent race for me finishing the 6K in 26:12 which was good enough for 98th place (out of 255) overall, 22nd in my AG, and 1 min faster than I ran in Seattle in 2011.  I was the 1st finisher for my Greater Philadelphia TC team, and I would have been the 3rd scorer (and only seconds behind) for the ATC and the 2nd scorer for Team Ohio.  Needless to say, I forgot how much I loved to run XC, and even if I didn't have such a great result, I would have enjoyed every minute of the race.

Maybe next year, I'll look at running in San Francisco.  It has been years since I ran XC at Golden Gate Park (1987 was the last time as a member of the BAA), and boy, would that be a fun time.

As for 2015, things are starting off as they did last year with cold and snow, and the Boston Bomber in the news.  Yup, jury selection has begun, and it is hard for me to believe that there are impartial beings in the Boston area, but there is always someone who is not in tune with what might have happened or doesn't pay attention to such things.  Another high profile trial in the Boston area will be occurring as well - that for Aaron Hernandez, the Patriots wide receiver who through away his life by believing he was above the law when he killed someone.  Very sad circumstances surround both cases.  What amazes me most is the group of "girls" who have banded around the Boston Bomber calling themselves the "Dzhokar's) (pronounced jokers) claiming that he is so cute and innocent.  I know that this always occurs, but it is still a tough one to swallow.

Well as the cold temps come in and the wind blows, the miles will begin in earnest for April once again.