Don't worry -- I am still alive!

Hello my faithful readers-- if you are still out there!!

I need to apologize for my neglect of this space lately.  I am not sure if I ever mentioned it here, but I began a new job on March 5th.  I'm now a big settled in with 2 months on the job, but man is it time consuming!  I've been working really hard to get settled into the role and I blame a lot of my blog neglect on that position.  I hope as we get into the summer months I will be able to spend more time with you because it is something that you know I love so much :)

Before I try to return to a regular rhythm I've got some short updates that I wanted to include in this blog.   After today's entry, I'll do my best to be back to regular programming as usual.  Here goes it:

- Running update.  As I mentioned in my goals for the year, I wanted to focus this year on running faster.  I achieved some success in running in the falling, PRing in a 5K with a time of 30:08.  I'd been working to break that time and throughout the winter, running indoors on the treadmill, put myself through some sprint workouts hoping to be able to up my speed.  I wasn't sure how I would do returning to the roads and timed races (I had run outside a few times this season but never tracked my speed/time.)  Last Sunday I ran my first 5K this season -- Sean's Run in Chatham, NY with a goal of breaking 30 minutes.  Well, I completely and utterly shocked myself -- finishing the race in a time of 26:30.  Can you believe that?  26:30!!!  Literally people, a year ago, I was running a 5K in 35 minutes at 12-ish minute miles.  Now I am at around 8:45 minute miles.  It literally blows my mind.

- Travel updates.  I am lucky enough to have some really exciting travel plans in my future and recent past.  Just a couple weeks ago I was in Dallas, Texas for a week.  I was able to try some delicious Texas steak, TexMex food, and had my first ballpark hot dog in years.  In the coming weeks I will be in Germany and then Atlanta, Georgia, and a few short months after that I will be on vacation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!  How lucky am I?  I feel pretty lucky right now to tell you the truth.  I plan to do a much more thorough job of documenting these trips and culinary adventures over the next few weeks so please be on the lookout.

- Cooking updates.  Although I haven't been sharing them with you, I have been cooking!  I have had lots of roasted vegetables and sweet potatoes on my menu, stuffed peppers, risotto, macaroni salad, stir fry, brussels sprouts, and many, many other yummy dishes I have been preparing for myself.  These are lots of "ol' faithfuls" though and am looking for some new, healthy favorites to break up my routine.  Hopefully I will have some exciting things to share with you soon!

- Final surprise update to come.  Since I have started this blog I have had one small goal that I haven't really vocalized to many people.  Over the past few weeks of e-mail traffic, it now finally seems that this one small goal is going to be coming true and I am BEYOND excited.  I cannot wait to share this with you and tell you more all about it in the future.  But trust me, it's delicious.