January challenge completed!

I conquered my January challenge this past weekend with the help of my sister Diane. We ran the Chevron Houston marathon in 4:41:05, which beat our goal finish by 4 minutes! The credit goes to the wonderful weather (45 at the start, mid 60's for the high) and almost flat course. Sure, there were aches and pains - there always are - but we never felt horrible or that we couldn't finish. We even sped up at the end, passed a few people, and finished with smiles on our faces!

We always like to finish in the top 50% of our age group, which is more difficult now that we're at the tail-end of the 40-49 group. Here are the stats:
- Place within division: 125 / 268
- Place within gender: 1035 / 2093

Now I've completed 8 out of the 12 monthly challenges I set for myself during this year before I turn 50:
- June: ran in the Green Mountain Relay Race
- July: ran a 5K trail race in Rutland
- August: completed an olympic distance triathlon at Lake Dunmore
- September: a bike century in Saratoga, NY
- October: Cape Cod marathon
- November: hiked up to the top of Mt. Equinox with my husband Mike
- December: I love Woodford snowshoe race

I don't have anything planned yet for February, but am thinking about cross-country skiing.

It feels great to set goals, and even better to cross those goals off my list when they're completed. Onward and upward!