Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah, I'm late in wishing you all a Happy New Year. (Sorry.)

I've had a few blog posts brewing in the back of my mind, and almost exactly no time to take a moment to spell them out, so I'm going to be super lazy and post them all at once as a recap of 2011 thus far.

Let me just say, this year has been delightful.

1.) I spent the later portion of 2010 and the early part of 2011 training my tail off for a sub-1:50 at the 13.1 Marathon - Los Angeles (which I ended up finishing in 1:47), and I took that training seriously. What I didn't take so seriously was my awesome weekend trip down to L.A., where I got to hang out with Rad Runner, Mr. Rad, and their amazing little teeny tiny Miniature Pinscher, Louie. We had grand adventures and I love that little family.

Gentleman Louie left us some mints on our pillows.

Rad and Shaky Bacon in the cutest shop ever.

Louie in the smallest parka known to man ... and man's best friend.

A baby potato taco that I ordered just for the sake of saying I ate one.

Me and Louie chillin' on the couch.

A totally normal sidewalk encounter in L.A.

I love Louie (and Rad's sweets-inspired tattoo).

2.) What else happened this year? Oh yes. I won a year's supply of nuun. We all know how much I love and swear by nuun in my training. I started using nuun when I was living in Minnesota, and since then, it's become a regular part of my running routine. I've noticed many improvements in my running, some of which I can positively attribute to hydrating better. Having enough to last a year is really going to help me with all the bigger races I have on my schedule!

And for those curious: The Kona Cola flavor isn't all that bad! Think of it as flat, warm, watered-down R.C. Cola. (Gulp.)

3.) In other nuun news, I'm officially a member of the nuun ambassador team. I couldn't be happier for this sweet sponsorship since I already believe so much in the product -- keep your eyes open for nuun giveaways, discount codes, etc., in the future!

4.) Speaking of running perks, Brooks invited me into one of their new clubs this year. It's not quite as cool as the I.D. group I was in during 2010, but it still is a pretty nice gig. I'm happy for what they provide to the people who were in their now-extinct I.D. program. Congratulations to all my other Brooks buddies who made it into their respective teams this year!

5.) AAAAAAND, Punk Rock Racing kindly asked me to be one of their athletes!!! Ok, so I don't actually know what this means yet. All I know is that I heart PxRx for everything they've done in making me feel welcome, accomplished, and honored in my new city. Receiving an invite to be one of their athletes means more to me than any sort of race time, electrolyte tab, or clothing discount. And I mean that wholeheartedly. (Hopefully that was a good answer and they won't drop me for being a softy.)

6.) I bit the bullet and finally put this blog on twitter. Feel free to follow along.

And this concludes the fourth week of January. Eleven more months for 2011 to keep kicking ass.