So its been way too long since my last post.  I do hope that I have not lost any faithful followers or made anyone think that i have been slacking.  Seeing as it's been the better part of a month since I have kept any record of my exercises, I'll just have to do my best to sum up what I've been doing.

Leading up to Christmas I kept much of the same routine.  I have stopped using the elliptical for the most part, now trying to focus on weight training and the treadmill.  

I knew that staying true to all of this health business would be tested given the holiday.  I was right and did what I could to make do while at home and confronted with a seemingly endless supply of goodies.  Nice running trails are hard to come by at my moms place, so I was forced to compromise.  I wound up making a couple of laps around some mountain near her place.  It was around a 5 mile run, up more hills than I have ever tried.  I didn't set any record pace, but overall I felt like I did pretty well.  The next day I hit a real trail to avoid holiday traffic on the highway I was on the day before and just ran until the trail run out, probably less than 3 miles round trip.  .   

Taylor told me of a 10k in Springfield, MO Sunday.  I proceeded to break every "what not to do the day before a race" rule Saturday night and did what I could Sunday.  This race I actually knew what to do with the timing chip and, despite them spelling my name as Elio Bozeman, was able to have an official recorded time of 1:00:43 (nearly 10 minutes faster than my Route 66 time less than a month and a half ago and a 9:46 mile average).  

As I finished with a serious endorphin rush, I felt for the first time that I could actually finish this marathon.  My time was considerably faster and I felt stronger for the entire race.  Always great to realize some improvements.

As the holidays have now wrapped up, I am not all that disappointed in myself.  Since I have been back in Tulsa, I have run a solid 10 miles and didn't stray all that far from my diet.  I am trying to pick up my pace during my 3-5 mile weekday runs.  I look forward to seeing if I can still lift the weight I was up to at the gym after 2 weeks off.  The weather is beautiful and I will do what I can to make the most of it.

I will keep you posted.