Snow!

First snowy run!  So beautiful and peaceful!

Blown Away!

Great course -- Amazing fans -- Crazy winds!  

Happy to have finished my 11th marathon!

NYC Marathon!

Getting ready!

Up, up, and away!

It's getting harder and harder to keep up with this blog.  I have so very little free time these days -- it's hard to squeeze in any extra writing, and it's hard to squeeze in anything to write about!  I had to miss one of my favorite runs this weekend -- the balloon run.  Instead I was in class learning all about survey research.  I still got a great long run in this week, though (20 miles on Friday morning).  And, I at least got to see the balloons.  Here's the view from Education building at UNR.  Looking forward to viewing the balloons from the road next year!

The air is the air that Angels breathe

Worth every step to get up here!  Love the Tahoe Rim Trail!

Fun on the 4th! And the 5th!

The Fourth of July is one my favorite days of the year!  I ran the Big Blue Adventure race again this year, but this year I ran the 5K instead of the 10K.  Won my age group and placed 4th overall!  It was a solid effort, and more importantly, lots of fun!

Then on Saturday I ran my new favorite Tahoe trail -- the Incline Flume.  A perfect start to my favorite time of the year!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Finally! We're all moved into our new house, and a couple of classes that I am teaching ended.  Not only have I had a chance to breathe this week, but I was also finally able to get in a great trail run.  One of things I love best about summertime in Tahoe is trail running.  Starting this summer off on the Emigrant!

RTO Wrap-up

What a great way to end May!  I ran the RTO with the Tahoe Trail Babes again this year.  Love this team!  We finished 11th place overall and 2nd in the Open Women's category.  I felt much stronger this year.  My Achilles wasn't bothering me, and I think I'm in better shape (at least mentally) than last year.  I averaged between a 7:30-7:35 pace for all 3 of my legs -- which matched right up with the team's overall pace (7:32).  Considering some of the hills I had to climb (like Emerald Bay), I am happy with that!

Congrats to all my other running buddies who ran the RTO this year!

Now time to start planning for NYC -- just 5 short months away!

Happy Star Wars Day!

So ... April came and went -- with no blog post.  I guess that's what happens when you are crazy busy and have nothing specific to train for and/or write about.  Well, things are about to change!  My PhD semester ends next week. (Wish me luck on my stats final!)  Then my teaching semester ends the following week.  Yay -- happy grading to me!  ;)  And, we've just about finalized all our new house/old house stuff.  Even more importantly, though, I finally have some running events to blog about. The RTO is just a few short weeks away.  I am running with the Trail Babes again this year.  Leg 3.  Time to start "training" instead of just running.  I also need to get a plan together for the NY marathon.  It's been a while, so any and all suggestions are welcome!  Let's hear 'em!
                 In the meantime ... 

during all your training runs & races!

March ... In and out like a cheetah!

Well, it's the end of March already.  It's not going out like a lamb, though.  I can't really remember, but I think the weather was nicer at the beginning of the month.  This is not a weather blog, though ... 

My running has been consistent, but it's been about as exciting as the weather!  Not much going on running-wise.  Tons of other life stuff going on, though.  Right now my goal is to keep running strong without getting injured.  The RTO is just around the corner, and I want to make my Trail Babe teammates proud!

AZ Rock n Roll Review

Wow -- it's February already!  A few weeks ago I ran the AZ Rock n Roll half marathon in Tempe.  I've run this race about 9-10 times, but this was the first time on the new, non-shuttle course.  It was awesome!  Perfect weather, friendly faces, and very easy access to the start and finish.  I also ran a decent race -- not a PR, but a solid race.  I ran a 1:38 and felt good the whole time.  That was the best part -- nothing hurt! It felt effortless. 

Well, since the spring semester has started, there is not much racing on my calendar.  It's just too hard to get away during the semester.  I'll keep building my base and try to stay injury-free.  Hopefully I'll have more time this summer to commit to some real training.  Until then, I'm just running for fun!

Aloha 2014!

I love this time of year!  I like looking back and looking ahead at the same time.  So for this post I decided to put a little twist on a familiar tune as part of my preview and review.

On the 12th Day of the New Year

here's what I discovered 2013 gave to me

12 Karma & Kindness Posts

11 days in Hawaii

10 months of healing

9 the leg I hope to run in the 2014 RTO

8 pairs of running shoes

7 running blogs followed

6 charities supported

5 races only!

4 PhD courses completed

3 new running buddies

2 super fun relays (and 2 second places!)

and 1 gung ho attitude for a fun New Year!