Happy New Year - Helllooooo 2009!!

Hello Friends and Supporters,

     This is my first blogpost ever in life but here I go.  First of all, Happy New Year!  I think my number one resolution for the new year is to succeed in this marathon.  I was the lone ranger who met up with the Team-in-Training crew at the mall today.  Coach Charlie, Captain Scott, and others missed the "Group of 8 (that's really 7)" but I assured them everyone would be back next week.  Brian and Lena are in sunny Florida, Brandon is skiing in Montana/ Wyoming/ somewhere around there, Chris is in frigid Boston, and Jessie is down in Atlanta.  That left me and Ashwin in DC but Ashwin decided to run in the afternoon today.  So, I recruited my friend Erin to run with me this morning and it was actually my favorite run thus far.   Here's a quick pic of a Erin who is a great example of one of our many friends who are supporting us wholeheartedly.

The weather was a little chilly but perfect to run in, the city was sunny and beautiful, and running along the mall passing  the museums, monuments, reflection pool - it is truly breathtaking.  As a pretty longtime DC resident, you take the city for granted today but running today without tourists and school groups everywhere made it really enjoyable.  

Erin was also an awesome friend by proposing brilliantly to play the geography game while running.  I was impressed at how many places we named that began with the letter 'A.'  

I'm looking forward in having everyone back from holiday and upping the miles starting next week.  Thank you everyone for the support so far! xx.

How Bout Those New Shoes

Over the past week we've met several more team members as well as heard from some of our holiday travelers.

Now it's my turn as I'm off to Boston this evening for a few days to celebrate passing into the New Year (woooooo party). My ratty old running shoes are long gone and my new pair is taking up valuable carry on luggage space.



I'm hoping to get two training sessions in since I'll be missing our group run this coming Saturday although I'm thinking it may be a bit ambitious.

Last weekend a number of us got brand spankin new kicks but I've been hearing mixed reviews thus far. I took mine for a longer run over about 6 miles as a trial and while about halfway my feet were feeling a bit foreign, by the end things were pretty comfy.

Others haven't been so lucky. Both Brandon and Ashwin have come up against tight leg muscles and shin splints they weren't experiencing with their older shoes. We have varying theories on what might be the cause but I imagine a few more miles to break them in is all that's needed.

So aside from the obvious trial of running a marathon and the purging of aging running equipment, there a few smaller running related goals I have for the coming year.

One will actually be finishing well in my first competition of the year, as I'm joining my roommates in the half-marathon portion of the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach this March. To make a strong time, I'm learning better pace myself during training. Also, as I'm writing this in Reagan airport staring at a McDonald's, I'm hoping that training for the marathon will help me eat better (Taco Bell excepted).

So, any goals for the New Year? Tips on breaking in new shoes? Eating tips? Feel free to share them below.

I'll try to update with some photos from running in Boston - in the meantime check out some of the photos from last weekend on our Flickr page - and I hope that everyone has a happy New Year!