I guess the changes in life are what make it interesting...

As always, the year seems to be drawing to an end before it ever even really gets started. Around the corner is 2010. Amazing. This year has definitely been one of change and of unexpected happenings in my life. It started off with a bang with my being able to finish the Disney Marathon for my 40th birthday and then just became a whirlwind of challenges in a variety of ways from that point on. (Not to sidetrack but this is starting to sound like a New Year's resolution type post, isn't it?). So many things have happened that I normally would blog about since my last post on November 11 but the whirlwind continues to swirl and just haven't had the time or energy to give this the attention I would like.

As far as races go, the last big race was the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving. I had a blast at the race but not because of the running. I volunteered at 2 shifts during race weekend and had a great time giving back a little to the running community. My first shift was at packet pickup on Wednesday. I was part of the crew handing out the race numbers. The Atlanta Marathon (and half) have about 11,000 runners so the packet pick up is stretched out over a couple of days. I really enjoyed seeing the excited runners coming to set the their number. Some of them were running a half for the first time and were nervous chatting about their expectations and whether they felt ready, not sure what to expect, that sort of thing.

Shift two was a little more of a challenge as I had to be at the race start at 5 AM for bag check. The volunteer site said that you could volunteer at bag check if you were racing but in all honesty I didn't feel like I did all that much to help. Race morning was particularly cold and runners were holding on to their bags until about 6:45 (the race started at 7:00). By that time, I was leaving myself to get in my corral. Side note, all those races throughout the year paid off. Last year I was in the last corral. This year I was up in corral three. Progress. :)

My race time was 2:01. Not my best, not my worst. I wasn't expecting a stellar time as I had not been able to train like I had leading upo to previous races. As long as I hover around the 2:00 hour mark, I am good to go. OK, if I was being completely honest, I would prefer to hover on the inside of the 2 hour mark but whatever...

At this point, it is looking like Disney is not going to happen for me this year. I have taken a 2nd job to help make ends meet. It is making it tough to get in long runs on the weekend not to mention the expense of just going down to Disney in general is not adding up for me. The good news is that job #2 is at a tennis and fitness facility so at least it is somewhat interesting despite the fact that it is cutting into my training. Unless something changes, I think my current plan will be to scrap any out of town races in 2010 and just save up to do the Goofy Challenge in 2011. Pray that the financial picture in my household changes in 2010!

Have a great week! I do have other things to blog on and on and on about of course but will spare your eyes until next time :)