Garmy, Power Wheels and Hashing!

Let the update begin!

I had anticipated a nice quiet Christmas at home this year. I was quite surprised to find out that I'm going to be an aunt again. It will be very exciting, and next year we will get to celebrate "baby's first Christmas". The great part about being an aunt is that you get to spoil your niece/nephew then give them back when they get fussy. (o:

Due to the sore knee, Garmy and I have not been able to spend too much time together, but we have bonded nonetheless. (Yes, I have decided that "Garmy" is it's name. Not very original, but I like it.) We went for our first run Christmas day. I told myself I'd keep it short and sweet, so I only went 1.26 miles in 12:24 (average pace 9:50 with a best pace of 7:54... which occurred near the beginning of the run before I reminded myself to slow down). It felt amazing to run, and I had to refrain myself from racing the little kid in the Power Wheels car. My knee didn't hurt, but it didn't feel completely normal. Our next run was on January 2nd. The roommate, Garmy, and myself ran 1.29 miles at 14:36. My knee started to hurt around the one mile mark. It was really disappointing. The next couple of days my knee hurt off and on. It was weird... it would hurt so bad that I didn't want to extend it or walk on it, then it would just go away.

Oh yes, my mom gave me a great Christmas gift... money for more work-out clothes! I spent it very easily. I even purchased some new insoles for my shoes. They are very cushy. I love them!

I brought in the new year with great people, and I could not have asked for a better New Year's Eve! I hope everyone else had an excellent New Year! My resolution is simply to enjoy life.

January 5th was my fourth hash (3rd with one particular hashing group, which means I need to attend two more hashes before I get named). I have to admit that my energy level was pretty much zilch that day. I ended up walking through a canal of water (this time I took off my shoes, because I forgot my old ones and had to wear my regular running shoes). Garmy of course came with me, and I lucked out because no one made me drink for "technology on trail". The trail itself was supposed to be 3.25 miles (according to the hare), but we ended up going 3.6 miles. While the trail was fun, I did get a bit frustrated at all of the check marks. This was definitely a challenging trail (good job Kyle and Ryan!). My knee hurt pretty bad at one point, and I actually considered just quiting, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The strange part (and good) was that during circle, at the end of the trail, my knee didn't hurt at all.

January 7th and 8th I was out of town for a job interview. It was my first interview and polygraph. That was quite an experience. On a good note, those two days my knee didn't hurt at all.

Yesterday (9th) I opted to rest instead of run, seeing as I was exhausted from my trip. Tonight the roommate, Garmy, and I went for a 4 mile run with a time of 48:51. My knee was starting to hurt. I just stretched it, and it feels fine. I'm hoping that lots of stretching will make it better.

I'm getting very nervous about the half marathon. It's less than a month away. Right now my goal is to just finish the race. I will attempt a PR when my knee is back to normal, and I have been training more.

As far as other work-outs go... I have been doing pretty good with the push-ups and plank (other than slacking on the weekends). I haven't done anything else however. Now that the semester started the gym is open again, but since it is the beginning of the semester and the new year the gym is PACKED! The roommate and I are going to try and fit in swimming, spinning, and pilates when we can. It is coming down to crunch time on my thesis research, so my work-out schedule is going to revolve around that.

I must also mention that this month is my one year anniversary for running! That however deserves it's own blog, when I'm not so tired.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I cannot even begin to describe how far behind I am in reading blogs. I will try to read a few now before going to bed. Sorry for the extreme delays!