The Year in Review

We are a week into this new year of ours and I have to say, my running so far this year has been pretty good. Steve and I are on vacation in NYC and I have been able to run in Central Park twice, which has really been great. It's a giant part, actually smaller than Golden Gate Park, but 100 times more usable than GGP. There are paths everywhere and one gets the feeling that one could get lost if not careful.
On Thursday I went for a 10 mile run, which took me from the hotel - all the way through the park to the north side - and zigzagging all the way back to the hotel. I'm pretty sure it was 10 miles. My brand spanking new Nike+ chip malfunctioned a bit. I had read that you have to put it to sleep to go through security, so I did, however, it didn't wake up properly, so 1/4 mile into the run it was telling me that "activity had stopped". It was go back to the hotel, or just trust my running watch and my internal pace as I always had. Therefore, I could have done as much as 11 or even 12 miles. Most likely 10-11. I don't regret it though, it was a beautiful run.
I'm still having shin issues off and on. This may be a battle I have for a while. I've been careful about stretching, but I think it might also have something to do with increasing my pace. The next race I will be doing more speed work as we did the last time. With some speedwork I should be able to get my shins/calves in order. If not, it's back to the PT.
My marathon is coming up in 2 weeks, and I'm very excited about that. It's in Carlsbad, CA. I'll go down on Saturday and stay with my friend Kirsten from Lörrach and then go to the race all by my lonesome on Sunday. Start time is a much more sane 7:30 - My start time in SF was 5:30. I'm going to try to hang with the 4:15 pace group, which would mean taking a half hour off my last race. I'm pretty sure I can do it, but some taper is going to have to happen before then.
I'm still feeling pretty beat up, which is funny since I have again managed to skip quite a few workouts. Maybe that's why. I really need to get a grip on those. I try not to beat myself up over missed workouts, but, for example, I'll have to postpone a 10 mile run tomorrow until Monday, because we will be flying in the morning. That will put a little crunch on next week, but not too much.
I'm gonna stop bitching now and just say that I can't wait for the next round and to get all of you ready for the Bay to Breakers.

Running Log:
Miles: 14
Time: 2 hours or so
Overall impression: Thank God for El Nino, For I Ran In New York Without Freezing My Balls Off! (TGFENFIRINYWFMBO)