Hello, Allow me to introduce myself.

After what seems like a lifetime of debauchery, booze, late nights, early mornings, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, hangovers, marathons, and traveling... my life is settling back into normal, boring-Amy mode.

Halle--freaking--lujah.

As much I as LOVE partying and vacationing... a girl needs a break. Particularly a girl who is trying to get into the the shape of her life by the time she is 30 and only has about 23 weeks to do so. (SHIT! That sounds like far too little time!).

So, the Montana vacation, the one week limbo period between it and The 7th Annual Drink-fest is officially over. (In case you're wondering... Drink-fest (as it was fittingly first named back in 2002, is a yearly event where some friends from college and I get together to drink, visit, play badminton, beer pong, and poker. Sadly, over the years... it's turning more and more into a pansy-fest as some of us can't hold our booze like we used to (and by 'some of us' I mean... everyone except me, of course)). I subsisted this entire weekend on sugar and beer. Seriously. I treated it as a kind of last hurrah. And boy... did I go out with a bang. I am mortified of what my sugar count is going to be tomorrow at the doctor's office when I show up for my yearly exam (with a new resident, ugh). You think he'll believe me when I say... I promise, Doc, normally my liver is fine and normally I don't eat meals that consist entirely of sugar? I've just been in vacation mode for the past 3 weeks! Doubtful.

Anyway... so now it's time to get serious. The double marathon experience, coupled with the reading of a book that I will review later in the week has changed my focus on my running and my body. Basically... if you thought I was obsessed with running before... well, you ain't seen nothing yet. I've got a new outlook on running. And it's not so much about my speed (although, frankly, it's never been too much about speed for me... y'all know how much I struggle with speed workouts, etc), it's more about my mileage and my endurance, and I also want to start training on trails more.

Ultimately, I want to become an ultrarunner. I want to run hard trails and long distances. So, it's time to start thinking about food as fuel for my body and it's time to start running longer, running more trails, incorporating more hills, and toning my body into a lean, mean, running MACHINE. This has kind of been my goal all along, but this time around, I feel more focused. I'm hoping to find an ultra race sometime in the early spring to tackle (as I'm already attached to too many races this fall to fit one in). As cheesy as it might sound... I feel like right now is my time. Now is the time to push my body, and see how far it can take me. I have the time, the desire, and the focus. And I'm bringing it, baby.

Coming up:

Stump Jump 11 mile race- Oct 3 (They have a 50k that I would LOVE to do, but I feel like that's a bad idea because the very next weekend I'm running...)
Bourbon Chase 200 mile Relay- Oct 9-10.
Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon- November 22. (Done deal, already signed up).
Rocket City Marathon- Dec 12 (about 99% sure about this race. This will likely be a PR attempt)

Other possible races...
Oct 24th: Half-Marathon in Cookeville, TN
Nov 7th: 20k Race in State Park.
Nov 14th: Half Marathon in Nashville.
Dec 5th: St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon.

Good-bye regular ole recreational runner Amy... Hello, Hardcore Training Amy.

This is going to be fun. :)