Okay, so maybe there is some truth to the comments I keep hearing about me stretching myself too thin and committing to too many things. But sometimes it is hard to know when to stop, especially when you combine wide and varied interests with a helpfull personality and (the perception of) free time.

I was/am the Course Director and Volunteer Coordinator for the Marathon Sports Super Sunday 5k/10k that was held this past weekend on Super Bowl (that's right, I said it) Sunday in South Boston; an event which has grown from 330 participants to maximum capacity of 1,500 in only 2 years.

That in itself is enough to have kept me busy these past few weeks but of course I pile more on top of that: a return to Miami to lead the 3:20 (7:38/mile) marathon pace group for the ING Miami Marathon, racing to a 26 second PR (13th place - top 0.9%) finish in the Tropical 5k the morning before, ushering for the NewRep Theater's production of "Cabaret" , taking on the Director of Sponsor Relations duties on a newly formed Race Director Committee for the 24-hour Around the Lake: Ultra.Marathon.Relay that takes place at the end of July in Wakefield, MA, volunteering for the WGBH family and kids day activities at the studios (I get to be the official event photographer), and of course all of the other stuff that comes with life as a married highway engineer.

But don't get me wrong, I obviously enjoy doing all of these things or else I wouldn't put myself in these situations.  I just have to figure out how to better distribute them across the year so that they don't all jumble over each other like has been happening recently.

So obviously I have still been running and am now preparing myself for my next full out effort at the sold out Boston Marathon in April.  But before that I will be making my first ever trip to Arkansas to lead the 3:30 pace group for the Little Rock Marathon on St. Patrick's Day weekend (what a lousy time to be away from the Boston area) and to visit with my good friend Susan who I met when we were on the FHWA PDP training program back at the turn of the century.  I need to get more core work and hill training in between now and then because I am still feeling last night's 14 mile run on the ice/snow along the Charles River and back to my apartment (into the wind...uggh).  I was toying with the idea of going to yoga tonight, but the prospect of walking home in the 6-degree temperatures at 7:30 when I have so much to do around the house (including catching up on this blog) lost out to a quick 30-minute workout in the gym and an overheated bus ride home.

But the cats were not going to feed themselves (they made that much clear when I finally got home), the laundry, the filing, the dishes, the sorting, the vaccuming, the...wow, this is depressing.  I just can't think about it anymore.

Good night everyone.

Though this probably wouldn't surprise too many of my college friends (except for the fact that the word isn't spelled differently) but is actually a pretty big deal. I was recently selected to the 100 member inaugural Team Bear Naked endurance athlete team from out of 3,186 applicants. In fact, I even completed my first official race just yesterday as part of the Nike Human Race 10k in Boston as a Nike+ runner since the nearest official event was held in NYC. It was only my second 10k race (the first being the 2006 Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta) and the first race I finished in 1st place since high school.

In fact, I so completely owned the course that I even took home the Finish Line. (I am currently, as of the time of this posting, ranked 164 in the world for all of the "virtual racers" with my time of 39:33 - a time that I could have been even better if I would have thought of this run as more of a race and not an obstacle course while dodging the hundreds of college kids and their families who were moving in on Commonwealth Avenue)

I am going to take this as a sign that my training of late has been paying off and that people are recognizing my efforts and my greater potential. Hopefully this increased visability will also help improve my fundraising ability for RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans and therefore can provide a greater benefit to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. For my next race event, in just 19 days, I will be leading the 3:40 (8:24/mile) pace group at the US Air Force Marathon. Come say hello if you find yourself in the Dayton, OH area on race weekend.