I still exist!

I am just in the land of the 6th-semester-law-student. It's not pretty, trust me.

Just a couple of little notes since I haven't had time or energy for much deep introspection lately:

1. New running shoes!!! Brooks Defyance 5 (does it annoy anyone else that they spell "defiance" wrong?) and trying out some gorgeous pinkish-red Brooks Glycerins! Thank you Brooks, for your large(ish) selection of wide-width shoes for my feet that like to make like a pancake and spread out on any run longer than two miles.

2. New PR! I ran the NYRR Gridiron 4 miler on Sunday, and finished in 40:13 - over two minutes faster than the last time I ran that race (or any four mile race, for that matter). It's hard for me to believe that six months ago I was struggling to finish a full mile all running and would barely break 12 minutes, and now I can fairly regularly push my splits very close to a 10-minute mile. (The 10-minute mile has been the gold standard for me in terms of running speed for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure why. But I've always measured my ability to "be a runner" at my proximity to that magic split).

3. Upcoming 5k! In March, I'll be running the Shamrock 5k up here in WaHi (Washington Heights) one of my other favorite races. I'm particularly excited about it because if things continue the way they have, I may be able to post a sob-30 minute 5k for the first time in my life. For someone who has always been more comfortable with long slow distance than speed, it looks like my mornings doing speedwork at the track have paid off. (Hangs head in shame for sleeping in and missing it this morning...)

4. Which brings me to my last, less exciting, piece of news: injuries. Of which I have had many. I think that's par for the course for someone like me who lacks the physical comfort to keep up with her intensity, but since last December I've had a pain in the ass IT band flare-up and peroneal tendinitis in my right foot. And I took this morning off to give my IT band another day to recover from Sunday. It's not hurting me yet, but I think that if I push it any more this week, it will be rather upset. Also, I am SORE from my ass-kicking race, and buried neck deep in schoolwork. It;s all about balance, right? I know that the last few months of law school are going to be full of stress and less full of good, recovery-inducing sleep, and that I need to be very aware of the type of running I do - more easy, enjoyable, stress-clearing miles, and less high intensity, needing-lots-of-recovery miles. It boils down to being able to listen to my body and know that while I will continue to run when I can, it just isn't and can't be a priority that takes up too much of my time and energy. Which makes me sad, but I think I'll live.

I'm running the NYC half marathon on March 18th - the day before my 27th birthday - and at this point I know I'm behind on my training. But in registering for the race I knew that training was going to get the short straw to a lot of other things, and that's ok. Although I had originally wanted to try to break 2:30 (and still very well may), my ultimate goal with the half is to have fun and finish without any injuries. After that, I'll be taking a break from longer distances and keep doing the shorter NYRR races in order to get my 9+1 automatic bid for the 2013 NYC Marathon (which I will run on my first wedding anniversary! What a lucky and understanding guy I have!). I have a pretty lofty goal set up for myself for NYC, and will have a full year to make it happen: a sub-5 hour marathon. Pretty wild, eh? Just the thought of running NYC again makes me so excited, and has definitely gotten me out of bed for early morning runs more than once recently.

And now, back to the grind - but if anyone is wondering about NY intestate distribution of a will or the provisions of UCC article 2, I'm your girl.