Wow, Now That Is What I Call a "Hiatus!"

Sooooooo, here we are my last post was in April 2012 right before my Iron Girl climatic race, and then my blogging class ended and the pressure was off in having to post for a grade.  I made an "A" for my efforts and  I thought I really liked doing this blogging thing and "SWORE" to my professor I was going to keep this up.  And for all intents and purposes, I was planning on it, honest!  I was actually going to use it to track my Chicago, first marathon training.  So yes, I was going to continue to blog.

I know...I know.....I coulda and shoulda still dropped a few lines or two.  Gosh, I have experienced so many wonderful running things!  But I dropped the ball, and as days progressed, I kept telling myself, I should blog again. 

BUT then I had LIFE kick me in the female "cojones" You know, the mom, wife, runner, you are just insane kinda thing or things that got a bit in the way such as: the training for my first marathon, the Chicago Marathon thing, getting injured, feeling sorry for myself thing, the OMG why did I decide to run the Chicago thing, psycho mom at school thing, having to entertain two children not enrolled in any summer camps to do fun stuff with over summer thing, Tropical Storm Debbie, the very sick stepdad, hospice, kids back to school thing, the death of said stepdad thing, then school starts (yay *breather*) - for one week because the RNC visiting my town so kids out of school for a week as a safety precaution thing.  Ohkay....... so back to school, again, thing, then kids' school work, science fair, veterinary visits of two dogs, Halloween, Thanksgiving,  and then very sick mother in law, ICU, hospice, daughter's birthday and then death of said mother in law, funeral, Christmas, and now New Year's.

Hello 2013.  Seriously.  

Although 2012 had its highlights, it was overshadowed by some serious low lights.  But as one of my resolutions is to stay positive...the core of my writing will remain positive with a twist of sarcasm and humor on the not so positive parts.  Hey we always have humor and that has always been my go to in handling almost all my situations.

I really NEED to blog again!!! There is something so meditative about it.....so here is one of my 2013 resolutions.

It really was neat looking back to all my old blogs and it did bring a ton of smiles to my face. I have to remind myself that I have honestly accomplished a lot in my 1 1/2 years of running and I should be pretty darn proud.  So blogging if anything serves me a neat memento.

So those that have checked up on my blog, I am going to attempt to give you a "Cliff Notes" version of my life since the Iron Girl, April, 2012, but not all at once, I will attempt to do it in short entries until caught up.  Sound good?  Hope so.

Iron Girl was THE worse time I have posted EVER for a half marathon and for me, it was the worse race I have participated in. Iron Girl was supposed to be the upper echelon of all half marathons of my fledging half marathon racing career before embarking on the training for my first full marathon.  Boy, I think I was somewhat cocky but very unprepared.  I did not run for almost two weeks prior, as I went skiing for Spring break and then getting vacation packed away took time, too and running took a little backseat.

So on Iron Girl Race Day, there was rain coming in sideways, it was cold, and there were gale force winds, so when you went over a bridge, (one of three, steep loooong-ass bridges we had to run over) the added wind made you feel as though you were dragging a tractor tire behind you.  Yep. Awesome. I so just wanted to just quit at mile 9 and I started to walk in sniffling protest.  I finally saw my running group sponsored water stop at Mile 11 and I started to cry when I saw my Run Tampa familiar and encouraging faces. Especially my running partner Patricia, who had been ill with the flu prior to that and chose not to participate.  So to finish strong, as chanted by Patricia, I took off running to just "get it over" and finally, no wait, and finally, no wait, and finally, no, no.....where the heck is the dang finish???!  Oh yeah those crazy winds knocked it over, people, race coordinators, were running crazy trying to find cover as wind was howling and the rain was coming down as orange sized hail.  CRAP!!

I finished at 2:40-something....the medals were nice, but the box lunch they gave us at the finish had only a dry protein bar, water and some kind of jelly beans - and well to put it nicely...WTF!!!!!  This is NOT what I was craving to help lick my battle wounds....where the hell are the donuts and bagels????  Come on...cofffee?  Beer???  Ummmm......Hellllooooo, I paid $90 to run this?! I was NOT happy.  Until I saw my friend Carla come through and I had the pleasure of witnessing the same quizzical "I can't baaaaaaaaalieve I am still alive" look on her face (like holy moly Auntie Em Auntie Em, I thought I saw them flying monkeys that gave me nightmares as a kid!) BUT rather the look she gave at the "here you go and thank you for your effort "box lunch" was nothing short of classic!   She, too was like, "Hells Naw!!! After this shizzle, I want effing waffles!!!" Oh yeah, exactly why she and I are friends. I heart her.  So there you have it...Village Inn was the "highlight" of the Iron Girl race and yes the waffles were hot, gooey and Oh. Em. Gee. Perfecto....so was the weather...that evening. Suckas. Ugh.  Please Iron Girl race directors. Take notes.