The Obligatory 2011 Goals Post

During a chat with a friend yesterday, she asked me whether I had any New Year's resolutions. Goals? What goals? Oh, OK. I might have some for 2011. Without any fanfare, here are my goals for the new year.

Career: Secure a full-time job in the Twin Cities area that allows me to achieve social good. As Ben and I prepare to move back to Minnesota, it only makes sense I find a job there soon, right?

Personal: Buy a house in Minneapolis or St. Paul. This is a biggie. Ben and I have looked for houses twice. The first time, we opted to rent because it made the most sense. The second time, the timing was off. Third time is the charm, right?

Running:
1. Break 4 hours in the marathon. My current PR is 4:07:51, which I achieved in November at the Philadelphia Marathon. With some dedicated speed and hill work, I think this goal is attainable at the Flying Pig Marathon on May 1. If not then, I'll try again at a fall marathon. I hold out hope for qualifying for Boston, but I don't think I'm going to improve my PR by 27 minutes...yet.

2. Look like this. I know, I know. It's superficial. But I'd love to have a bod like that of a female athlete who graces the cover of Runner's World. (FYI: Carrie Tollefson, on the Runner's World cover, is from Minnesota. She grew up about 70 miles from my hometown.)

3. Run without getting a stress fracture or other injury.  Despite being away from running for 10 weeks, having to wear a boot for 8 of them and use crutches for 7 during 2010, it was still a good running year for me. But stress fractures are zero fun, and I never want to go through that again.

Rock Philly Rocky Style

For first-time visitors, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon this past weekend to celebrate turning 27. It's an unremarkable year -- unlike turning 18, 21, 30 or 40 -- but I wanted to make it memorable doing something I love: running.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday. To find out why, keep on reading.


Friday
I flew into Philadelphia Friday afternoon. My friend and host, Shruti, whisked me away from the airport and treated me to dinner at Dim Sum Garden downtown for my birthday. I will eat dumplings with her again any day. Yum! After dinner, we stopped at a charity event at Mad River. I drank water. We ended the night at Penn, where we watched undergrad and graduate students put on a swing dance show.

Ben, who had been in Minneapolis, got into town around 10:30 p.m. I knew I needed rest in preparation for the marathon, but Shruti, her husband Ravi, Ben and I stayed up until about midnight talking.

Saturday
I woke up to homemade Chai tea and broiled cinnamon and sugar toast, thanks to Shruti. This simple breakfast is a new favorite of mine.

Following breakfast, Ben and I made our way down to the Philadelphia Convention Center. It was within walking distance, but Shruti recommended Ben and I take the bus to save our legs for race day. She walked us to the bus stop (such a good host!). A few blocks into our ride, the bus died. We ended up hiking over to the convention center!

The expo was busy, but not crazy or overwhelming. We made our rounds and visited every both. Runners' World had set up a booth, and Bart Yasso, the magazine's chief running officer and author of "My Life on the Run", was there. Thanks to Ben's persistence, we got a photo with Bart!

Brady, Bart Yasso, Ben

Following the expo, we met up for lunch with about 18 people, many of whom I've connected with through Twitter. Many thanks to Erica Sara @ericasara for organizing lunch. I finally got to meet Joe Whelan @RgulrJoeRunning, who helped convince me to run Philadelphia Marathon with his detailed account of the race. I also got to see Sam Felsenfeld @operationjack again. Whenever I feel like giving up, I think about how Sam has run 56 marathons in 2010 and counting.

Ben and I spent the rest of the day relaxing. We saw the latest Harry Potter flick, and we enjoyed a home cooked meal before turning in for the night. 


Sunday
All week leading up to the race, I had giant butterflies in my stomach. I received a lot of love and support from Twitter friends. However, the more support I received, the more pressure I felt to perform well. While I went into the marathon hoping to PR (achieve a personal best), I didn't know if I could six weeks after a marathon. Ben had told me not to expect much.

Then, two days before the marathon, I received this message from a Twitter friend:

Just have fun... Soak in the moment...your birthday..the spirit of your dad...and the love of many...will be cheering for you!

I needed that. I recalled this message throughout the race, and it gave me such peace.

On race day morning, I felt calm.

Our friends with whom we were staying lived a few blocks from the race. The start time was 7 a.m., so Ben and I (did I mention he ran the marathon, too) left about 6:20 a.m. to make sure we'd have time to navigate the corrals and use the bathroom.

The gun went off at 7, but I didn't cross the line until about 7:20 a.m.I settled into nice, comfortable pace that I planned to hold for at least the first half. I didn't want to go out too fast because I knew I'd encounter several hills during the first half, and I hadn't trained much on hills.

Around mile 13, I slowly picked up the pace. The last 13 miles were out-and-back. Normally, I find this annoying on a race course. But I knew there would be no surprises during the last few miles, and I liked that. Going out, I saw fastest racers coming back into the city. They inspired me. I also saw @operationjack looking tough in his pink arm warmers.

By mile 20, I knew I'd have to pick it up even more to achieve a PR. My legs felt great, so I tried to run each of the last five to six miles faster than the other. Around mile 23 or 24, I let out my signature grunt and turned on the thrusters.

I finished in 4 hours, 7 minutes -- around four minutes faster than my previous PR. Yes!

Isn't she pretty?

I was ecstatic -- and still am -- over the PR. But (there's always a "but" with me), I know I have it in me to perform even better, break four hours and eventually qualify for the Boston Marathon. Sunday's race gave me that knowledge and confidence. I couldn't ask for a better birthday gift.

P.S. I need to add that Shruti and Ravi made our marathon experience even more memorable through their generosity. They provided us with a warm bed and hot shower, made sure we got to where we needed to be always, fed us yummy food and showed us around town. They both had to work Sunday, yet they came out and cheered for Ben and me at mile 13 with creative signs! Upon our return to their apartment after the marathon, they had chocolates and ibuprofen waiting for us.When I think of the Philadelphia Marathon, I will always think of them.

Misadventures in 2009

I am too uncool to come up with my own way to reflect on 2009, so I'm going to copy my good friend Mark Remy at Runner's World (Oops, did I say good friend? He doesn't know me or my work, but I know his well!)

2009 was a big fat year of change for me and my family. And you can read all about it in the following recap, organized by month. Enjoy!

January
I kicked off the new year with two resolutions -- to run two marathons and journal once a week. Did I achieve them? Neither one. But I did run at least one full marathon in 2009. Although I didn't journal weekly, I took a writing class. I made apple crisp for the first time. My car, which I have since sold, continued to give me a financial headache in 2009 after an expensive 2008. And this recap wouldn't be complete without a mention of the creatures of the night.

February
I was a lame blogger and attempted to try a new recipe -- or at least write about one -- every Monday. I think I can count on one hand how many times I accomplished this.

March
Despite the cold and snow, training for the Fargo Marathon was in full swing. Taking a break from winter, Ben and I spent a week in Honduras. My car was still good company for bad luck. And I cooked but I warn you ahead of time that I did a shoddy job writing about it.

April
I was an awful blogger, so this month isn't worth recapping. I did cool things, though, like watch Twilight for the first time. And I ran a 20-mile race in St. Cloud in preparation for the Fargo Marathon. After the race, I drove to Rochester for a bachelorette party and discovered that I would make the most uncoordinated stripper. If only I had written about those things...

May
Again, why the heck didn't I blog? Oh yeah, I was busy running the Fargo Marathon in personal record time and working. Sorry.

June
I went public with the news that I would be moving to Evanston so Ben could attend business school at Northwestern University. I loved my job, my city, my friends and my family and didn't want to leave all behind. The only day I ever dreaded going into work was the day I had to tell my editor that I was moving.

July
My darling sister married her high school sweetheart on July 11. I enjoyed some small-town running while spending time with my mom after I left my job and before I went to Italy to finally practice my much-forgotten Italian.

August
We abandoned our Minneapolis digs, and we moved to Evanston.

September
I complained about or mentioned being unemployed here, here and here. I embraced being frugal and writing about it. Having a sick dog really really sucked. And of course, I did a little cooking. Yay for sweet corn!

October
I ran a lot and even got pooped on during one outing. It did not bring me good luck, at least in terms of employment. Indie got to drink hydrogen peroxide for the first and, I hope, last time. I made for the first time what has become my signature dessert. And I experimented...

November
If you are ever interested in a middle-distance race, you should do the Hot Chocolate 15k. I did, and I loved it. I made the most amazing pork chops (If you haven't tried this recipe, I urge you to do so in 2010. Make it a resolution!). I turned 26!!! and failed to write about it with any depth.

December
The bulk of my posts were about baking, and my waist shows it. I have since stocked my fridge with the green stuff. My creative non-fiction writing class ended. And despite those additional inches of fat around my waist, I was still a beef magnet.

My dear friends and family, Happy New Year! May 2010 be a good one...for all of us.

Another post on running.

As my friends and family know, I love to run. And I love to read about running. I subscribe to Runner's World and check the magazine's Web site usually daily.

Today I came across this blog post on Runner's World and felt compelled to share.

One way unemployment is treating me well

I was adding today's running information to my log at Runner's World when I saw that I had run an amazing (I'm no Kara Goucher) 89 miles so far this month. And the month isn't over.

That's the most I've run in a single month since I was deep in training last April for the Fargo Marathon, which was held in early May. In April, I ran an even more amazing 136 miles.

I can feel the boost in mileage in my legs. I'm treating myself to the occasional pumpkin latte and platter of desserts (more on this later) with less guilt.

I say bring on more miles and the beautiful fall runs.