Cleaning Out the Cobwebs

I guess that could be a metaphor for my site and my training.  Man...I don't even know where to start and I don't want this to be a post that just drones on and on, so I'll try to keep it all short and sweet.

Remember when your dad went on a business trip and he would bring you back something from his trip? Usually it was some cheap toy for the airport gift shop or some wings from the airline pilot (which back in the day were actually made of real metal and do they even give those away anymore what with the airlines getting so cheap in offering any kind of amenities)?  Well, my dad never really took business trips, but I can fantasize retroactively.  My husband does travel a lot for business and recently he brought me back a gift (not my son**insert evil laugh**).  It was big and shiny and made of carbon.

Big, huge brownie points for that one!!  I've been fitted and riding it as much as possible.  The mild winter has helped on that front quite a bit.

I have gotten back in the pool intermittently.  Which is good and not good; I should be in there more.  I feel okay when I swim, but who am I kidding, I am not pushing myself.  Despite the nice lady who told me if I was out of shape then she should go swim in the kiddie pool.  

Running.  sigh......  What I thought was Achilles issues turned out to be PF in both feet.  I am stretching, trigger pointing, Strassburg socking, etc.  But my feet get bad after running 3x in a week.  I was looking for some good Aquavelo races around these hear parts, but there aren't many.  I really would like to do a HIM one, but those are all closed.  At least the ones I could find.  

I really need to sign up for the marathon...I deferred and I have until next month or lose my spot.  

Let's face facts.  I am really not into it this year.  I started a new job and I really do like it.  I am super busy, but since I enjoy what I do, it doesn't seem like work, but the hours have been long.  I am tired.  I need a vacation.

My mother-in-law passed away at the very end of January.  My husband is handling it alright, but I think it was really tough for him to see her slow decline.  She suffered from Alzheimer's and it was difficult to see how it changed her.  She was a very wonderful mother-in-law to me; always warm and generous.  She made me feel like I was her daughter.  Our friends and family have been very supportive.

I know, I'm all over the place here.  

I recently went to the theater to see "Carrie; The Musical".  Right?!  It was a bit weird and I couldn't get the movie out of my head as I watched.  All things considered, it was at least entertaining.

New age group for me this year 45-50.

My scar from my staph infection has healed quite nicely.  Here is the timeline with gruesome pics. 

I swear by this stuff.

I got my first pair of bifocals.  I am officially middle-aged.  Ok, that about sums it up rather unimpressively.  

Year End Re'crap'

Yes, RE-CRAP.  This last year has been pretty crappy.  Granted, I have been able to keep perspective through it all, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it has been a crappy year.  I don't want to dwell on the past in detail though.  I've decided to recap the year in a PROS and CONS way and maybe a NEUTRAL category too.  I think this helps to see this past year from a more balanced perspective.  Let's start with the CONS so I can end on a happy note.

CONS

• Calf injury
• Shoulder injury
• ITB injury
• Achilles Injury
• Staph infection
• Root canal
• Lost my job
• Had to drop most of my races due to finances
• Two DNS and one DNF for my already limited race schedule
• Had to defer the NYC Marathon b/c of injury
• Health issues with a member of our family

PROS

• Angels & Ninjas to my rescue
• Spibelt sponsered my REV3 race
• Most of my family is healthy
• I was able to freelance since losing my job
• I got to do some new designs for a friend's company, Ann Scott Design, and they were picked up by quite a few reps.
• My son got an amazing teacher for Kindergarten and scored 99% on his G&T test (which only means he has a long attention span, but I'll take it)
• Support from bloggy peeps cannot be underestimated
• I managed to keep my head up and my hope alive
• I have an awesome husband, son and friends
• Free entry into the NYC Triathlon for 2012
• Was approached by Lenox china to create the Kathy Ireland line of dinnerware, but had to turn it down (see: HUGE PRO)
• Getting back on track with training, slowly but surely

NEUTRAL

• I no longer have a coach (this is bittersweet, but was a decision I needed to make for a number of reasons, none of which had anything to do with her not be the most amazing and supportive coach ever.)
• Was my son's soccer coach for the fall season; the ONLY female coach (now I know why)

HUGE PRO

• I started a new job today

I wrote most of this over the last couple of days.  During that time I saw a lot of yearly recaps and many local news stories that highlighted some very sad events.  I considered just deleting the entire post; it seemed like just so much complaining.  However, in reality, I can see that my PROS list is longer than my CONS list, I managed to remain hopeful despite many setbacks and I never lost sight of how blessed I really am.  Bearing that in mind, I can let this post stand as testament to a year that couldn't end soon enough, but forced me to take stock of my life and taught me to be grateful for the little things.  I pray I don't lose site of these things in the year to come.  With the sun, a little run must fall.  But it can't rain forever and I have an umbrella.

Foto Friday (early edition): Merry Christmas

And Happy Hanukah and Happy Kwanza....Better yet, Happy Holidays!!  I'm lame and I know it.  I promise next week to get you up to speed on what has been going on in an extremely long and completely snooze inducing post.  I have some big news, but it can wait for the moment.  I'll leave you with my favorite 80s Christmas song, Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses.

 

And the photo I doctored (badly, I might add) to con my five year old.  If you want to pay to have this done you can do it for about $10 here or here.  I'm just cheap, so I did it myself.

There is also still time to send a personalized video to your kid from Santa from here or here, those clever Canucks!

You could keep it simple with a phone call from Santa, thanks to Google here.  Does anyone remember as a kid being able to call the North Pole to listen to a message from Santa?  1970s peeps????  Only a NYC local thing?

And, of course, tracking Sant's whereabouts on Christmas Eve here, friggin' awesome!