I Survived Christmas!

Phew! Survived first official Christmas with the in-laws! And it wasn't too bad. Actually, it was really really fun. There were lots of food, merry-making and laughter. My parents, sister and her husband joined us for dinner, too. It was quite a great day, overall. :-) And no, I didn't get a Garmin for Christmas. I didn't ask for one, actually. (I got something shiny instead!) But reading about all of you who did get one, I'm thinking maybe I should have? Hehe. Ok, I'm going to stick with my NikePlus for now but who knows... maybe when my birthday comes around?? Duane, baby, are you reading this? ;-)

I'm not quite ready to post my 2008 running recap, just yet... Still a few days left to get a few more runs in! (Besides, I'm quite attached to 2008 and not quite ready to let it go!!)

But, here's my race list for 2009:

February 1: Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon
February 7: Jed Smith Ultra Classic 50k (Maybe?)
March 1: Napa Valley Marathon
March 15: Across the Bay 12 K
April 26 : Big Sur Marathon (Maybe?)
May 30: See Jane Run Half Marathon
July 19: Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon
July 26: San Francisco Marathon (5th year in a row!!)
October 11: Chicago Marathon
October 18: Nike Women's Marathon
November 1: ING New York City Marathon (Lottery)
December 6: California International Marathon

I should mention that the list is a very ambitious one and not sure if I will actually run all the marathons in 2009! But who knows, I may run more, too! The only race that I've officially signed up for is the Kaiser Perm Half in February. Of course, there are couple of marathons that are by lottery only so we'll have to see. The Jed Smith Ultra 50k is a huge maybe. I don't know if I'd be ready for this ULTRA race. Although, I've always wanted to run one. Leslie, my blog mom is running it and I am seriously *thinking* about it right now.

I finally got back on the "saddle" this week. After my feast-fest Christmas dinner, I was READY to run. Forget the burn out, I was jealous anytime I saw anyone running outside. Oh and expecially when I read about your runs! So, on Friday, I went for a 8 miler, which I thought was relatively fast. Well, I ran it at about 8:55 min pace, which is pretty fast for me. I was triumphant! I was back! Yesterday, I looked up my training schedule for the Napa Valley Marathon and it called for a 14 miles. My train of thought was, "I ran 8 yesterday, I'm sure I could do 14. And I got lots of rest this week!" What I didn't take into consideration was that after a week of rest, the 8 miler was maybe a bit too much for me. And my legs were quite fatigued! I totally felt the fatigue in the legs about 3 miles into my long run yesterday. Thank goodness for the Roctane, otherwise, I may not have made it through the 14 miles. I took the Roctane around mile 5 and felt I could push it to another 2 for my out and back route. But I definitely struggled through the last 5 miles. Maybe 10 miles would have been a better distance for me yesterday. I'm glad I ran it but today, my legs are shot! Definitely a rest day today. (More on the Roctane later this week!)

OH and I ordered my iPhone 16 gig today for $199!! AT&T is having a refurbished iPhone sale and I bit the bullet and ordered one. I'll let you know how the refurbished phone goes. Supposedly these are the "previously owned devices that have been unused or lightly used and returned during the 30-day trial period," according to an explanation on AT&T's website. I can't wait to get mine in the mail!! Sorry Blackberry Curve... it's time for me to move on.

Anyone got some exciting New Year's Eve plans? D and I are going to friend's for dinner and NYE hoopla in SF... Wishing all of you the very best in 2009! And of course, looking forward to reading your running adventures. :-)