Better Late Than Never!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Where in the world have I been, you wonder?  Well, cleaning/entertaining/running (a little)/working...blah blah blah.  No excuse though, especially since my last couple of posts were last year and made me look like a scorned trucker (I'll explain).  But I'm back and ready to start 2010 with more adventures...

Considering my first run of the new year was way less than exciting and ended with slightly less mileage than anticipated AND more walking (ugh).  The back of my left knee started acting up after this hill I tackled--with surprising ease, I might add.  Perhaps this is why I got "injured."  The hill jinxed me because I conquered it and even stuck my tongue out at it.  Yes, I think it cursed me.  Swell.  So what did I do?  I lifted weights with Travis and Jeff, which was a good idea at the time, but now I'm hurt and sore.  Can't win them all, I guess...

So enough of the woe-is-me attitude.  Let's recap the last few days:

• I had a fantastic New Year celebration at my house with some great friends, and the clean up was a breeze (score!).
• I decided to try Oh She Glows' Whittle My Middle challenge yesterday.  Holy smokes!  It's a doozy but hurts SO GOOD.  Definitely check it out, as it's a great core strengthening workout for runners. Going to complete Day #2 after this post. 
• Today was a long run with Tall Mom Mel again.  No, I swear I'm not stalking her and chasing her down the trail...we meet up on purpose. Mel, come ba-ack! Ha ha!  On the docket was 10 miles, which I was a wee bit nervous about because of the whole knee situation, but I seriously didn't want to disappoint my running buddy with some sub-par mileage.  Plus, I was determined to finish, even if it meant crawling through the last gravel part of the trail.  And, voila!, we did 10 miles!  I opted for walking up the bad parts of the last hill, aka "Hell Hill".  However Mel ran the entire thing!  That's her in the pic below, the tall speck:

This hill is in the last 1/2 mile of the run, and it sucks.  But it's a great feeling running up that hill. :)  Our total time, despite some walking, was 1:36:02.  Yay!  That brings my current year mileage to 13.5!  A half!

So, I promised to explain the whole reason I hate don't like nekkid semis.  As a kid, I spent a lot of time on the East Coast in an area where there were lots of arterial/two-way roads with no sidewalk.  The traffic wasn't bad at all, and so my little sisters and I would ride our bikes on the shoulder on a daily basis.  One particular time there was a lot of construction going on in the area and consequently a whole fleet of big, black, semi trucks carried dirt and supplies everywhere.  These trucks were MEAN looking and wicked LOUD, especially to a little girl on a purple bike that is mere inches away from the truck as it passes by.  Holy crap.  It scarred me for life.  And I think nekkid semis just conjure up those memories.  That's my story, yo. Go ahead and judge. :P

Just a couple things before I sign off on my first post of 2010:

I love my bloggy friends and am super grateful for each and every one of you.  Sometimes I wonder how you all even stand my ramblings. :)  You all rock!  Thank you so much!

If you have a Dailymile account, please add me as a friend!  I'm totally digging this site for tracking mileage.

Please check out miss Robin's first giveaway on Running Circles Around the Turtles.  She's rad. :)

**Sunday Shout-Outs**
Kerrie, Mel & Amanda:  Can't wait to run the Mercer Island Half with you!
Katye:  Happy 21st birthday, girlie!
Noah:  Thank you for making my day with your comment about how my blog makes you laugh.  Yay!
Rachael:  Thank you for the cute purple gloves and the NERDS.  They actually saved me today on my run.  The gloves, not the NERDS.  Those actually broke my tooth.  Gee, thanks for the broken tooth and warm hands!  Hee hee!  (Just playin')  ;)
Mary:  Got the Misto in the mail and it's wicked awesome!  Thanks!
Billy:  It's not a purse, it's called a satchel.  Indiana Jones wears one.