What Irish Has Been Up To - Bullet-Style

Um, you guys? How exactly is it that three months have passed since my last substantive post? And how ridiculous is it that my first post of 2009 is occurring today on February 11? Yowsers. In my defense, I have been working on a catch-up post for quite some time now . . . but time keeps on flying and stuff keeps on happening, continually setting me back further and further in Mission: Get Caught Up land. I've finally decided that I'm never going to dig myself out of this hole if I don't suck it up and do it bullet-style! So here goes:

• Work was SUPER crazy-busy leading up to the holidays . . . mostly because the only other two paralegals in the department were both allowed to take two full weeks off, despite the fact that one of our largest, most complicated cases was in the midst of trial. As the sole representative for the litigation department, I was working long, hard hours and getting next to no sleep . . . and shockingly (sarcasm alert), I somehow managed to contract the worst case of bronchitis in the history of mankind. What's worse, I came down with the monster illness not even 24 hours after I had totally dominated my commitophobia and registered myself for the Austin Half-Marathon!
• Despite my horrible coughing fits and fever, I somehow survived my Christmas Eve flight to South Carolina (where my older sis lives). I proceeded to eat TONS of food, drink TONS of beer, and had TONS of fun both playing with my 3 year-old niece and tackling my sister's Nintendo Wii! (I pretty much dominate at bowling and boxing, just for the record).
• I should probably be embarrassed by this, but I think by far my favorite Christmas present was a pair of arm-warmers that Wilson got me. Seriously, you guys . . . you need these! They are just my FAVORITE things ever! And look, they even have a cute little scorpion dude on them!

• Another favorite "Christmas present" (although it wasn't a formal present) was getting to run (in shorts and a tank!! Yay SC weather!) with my younger sister, Mo, who recently gave up smoking and has taken up running. Despite the fact that my chest was totally messed up due to the bronchitis and I really shouldn't have been running, I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to run with her. We ran an easy 3-miles around my older sister's neighborhood and had quite a blast doing so. Now I just have to work on convincing her to train for a marathon with me :)
• Since my ever-so-fabulous (but way too short) trip to the South, work has REALLY picked back up again and has been frustrating as ever. Part of this has to do with the fact that my firm (like everywhere else) has begun a massive lay-off program. While the NYC office has-- for the most part--been spared, one of my mentors just so happens to be one of the unlucky few to fall victim here. It's a long story, but it was seriously a TERRIBLE decision that was based entirely on personal reasons as opposed to anything at all work-related. I know there has been a TON of this stuff going on, and that I should be seriously grateful to still be employed at this point (especially since the paras have all been assured that our jobs are safe). I promise that I truly am . . . but at the same time, I think I'm just just really starting to feel trapped, knowing I kind of HAVE to stay here, considering how secure a job it is. Hmm . . . maybe I should have listened to you all when you tried to convince me to get a new job BEFORE the economy imploded . . . ! Guess I'll have to ride this out . . .
• I am actually a little bit ashamed, but I have been cheating on this blog with another blog; a fashion/style blog! If you are at all interested in snagging really good deals on cute women's clothes/shoes/accessories, check it out at http://craptocrave.tumblr.com/. I'm thinking someday I might expand to include home decor and furniture, but for the time being, I'm just going to stick with women's apparel . . .
• I half-tackled Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels's Making The Cut program last month; and by "half-tackled", I mean, I did the program for two weeks (as opposed to the entire 30 days). Holy Moly, that sh*t is INTENSE, you guys! I literally told Wilson at one point, "I would seriously prefer marathon training over this program any day!" Now, I'm no quitter, but the truth of the matter is that I started the program on a bit of a whim (without thinking about whether or not it was a good time to do so), and given my current work situation, I literally just do not have time to make all of the special meals for myself. Ha, I kid you not . . . for the first two weeks, I would get home from work around eleven or so, do the daily work-out (lots of squats, abs, lunges, free weights, planks, mountain-climbers, etc.), cook dinner, eat dinner, attempt to cook lunch for the next day, clean it all up . . . then I'd look at the clock only to realize it was already 1 a.m.! It was just too much. Plus, I really wanted to get back into building my running mileage back up, and it just wasn't feasible to do so while consuming the low number of calories the program calls for. SO, I'm thinking it will be a good program to take on if and when I'm preparing for my wedding day or some other big event (because, you guys, it SERIOUSLY works! The results I got in just 14 days were out of control!). Until, then, I'm going to stick to marathons :) I promise I will try to do a proper review of the book at some point in the not too distant future!
• Since I was forced to go without much running over the past month or two (thanks, monster bronchitis!), the Austin Half is now going to be a DNS for me. Wilson, on the other hand, managed to successfully train for the full marathon (his first), and will be running it on Sunday! I'm SUPER excited for him and for our trip to Austin in general . . . and as disappointed as I am to not be running, I think it's probably for the best. After all, I will get to focus my full attention on being Wilson's support person during the marathon; whereas I would have had my own thing going on and wouldn't have been able to offer as much support to him were I running as well. At any rate, I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!
• I think my monster bronchitis is FINALLY on its way out! As such, I've decided I am officially in marathon training for a yet to be determined late spring/early summer marathon. I'm aiming specifically for something in late May or June, so I was thinking I might shoot for either San Diego Rock n' Roll or the inaugural Seattle Rock n' Roll marathon. I certainly welcome any suggestions or recommendations!
• In what turned out to be kind of a neat little "circle of life" of marathon training, Wilson ran his last long run last weekend with me as I ran my first. Together, we tackled 8-miles in 1:17. I was kind of shocked that a) we ran it that quickly, and b) it didn't actually feel that difficult . . . minus some minor lung issues that resulted from the chilly night-time air towards the end of the run (we got out REALLY late as a result of it being laundry day).
• We leave for Austin on Friday morning!! Yay for vacations--especially those involving marathons!! :) Oh, and did I mention we're seeing Spirit of the Marathon again in the theatres on Friday night? 'Cuz we are!! Guess who is going to be sure to bring Kleenex with her this time around ;)

And with that, I think we are officially up to speed! Now, I just have to tackle the 205 unread posts in my google reader! Hmm, or I may just have to clear it and start over again . . . yeah, I'm thinking that might just be the solution. Well, it's good to be back (again). I've seriously missed you all SO much! Happy running :)