I'm beggin'

Life has been a little busy.

Okay, I take that back. Life hasn't been a little busy. It's been EXTREMELY busy. Busy beyond belief. Between work, studying, running, working out, running errands, I've had no time to blog. It makes me more than a little sad. The thing is, I really need to buckle down and study for my upcoming teaching certification tests. And I mean I REALLY need to buckle down. And by "buckle down" I mean I need to be studying at least 2 hours a night during the week, and at least 6 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. I kid you not. It's crunch time, folks, and because of my seriously awesome procrastination skills, it's time to study.

The thing is, I'm a blogger. I blog because I love connecting with people who share my same interests, and because it's sort of a therapeutic exercise for me. The writing, I mean. But then I get sucked in. I not only write a blog, but I READ blogs. Lots of them. More than I'd like to admit to anyone. You can see where this is going, right? Writing blogs + reading blogs = time eater.

So I've made a plan. I don't like it, but until those tests are done, I have to stick to it. I'm limiting my blogging to once per week. GAH. How is this possible?! I have no idea because your blogs will be calling to me. Slowly, you're witty words, funny jokes, sarcastic comments, and overall likability, will be luring me to the computer every day. But I MUST RESIST! At least until the end of March. So there you have it. I am giving myself a few hours on Sunday to blog/read blogs/leave you comments. I won't forget you. But you may not see a comment from me until days after you've written a post.

So I'm beggin' you. Please don't leave me! (I sound like a desperate ex-girlfriend, don't I?) I love all of my new readers, and I love your comments. I do, I really do. So I promise an entertaining post every Sunday. It will have all the good running gossip, race reports, and training woes that I usually have, just crammed into one giant post.

Okay, now that I've basically gotten down on my knees to beg....

I'm still in training for the Gate River Run 15K. It's been going pretty well. I've made it a goal of mine to run faster than normal, and I've done that. Instead of running at a 10:00 pace, I've been running at about a 9:40-9:45 pace. I figured, I'm running that fast during races, so why not pick up my pace during training runs? I've been doing speed work once per week ( I love intervals!!!), and I can already tell that they've made a difference.

I don't know about you, but I love speed work. L O V E, love it. I feel speedy, powerful, and freaking awesome. On Tuesday, during my 8 X 400m repeats, I seriously felt like Kara Goucher for each of those 1/4 miles. Hilarious, right? But speed work makes me feel, well, fast! (duh, Christy, that's why they're called "speed" intervals).

I've got an 8-mile long run planned this Saturday and I can't wait. I used to dread my long runs. Well, not dread, but worry. I used to worry about my long runs. But ever since the marathon, it's like I know I can do that distance, no problem. I love my long runs! See what kind of confidence a marathon can instill in you? I love it. (still basking in the afterglow...)

And other thing: I got contacts! For the very first time in my life...it took me 20 minutes to put them in. Please tell me it gets better...