I figured it’s about time I write about running and fitness again, since I haven’t in a while. As you can tell, I’ve been sidetracked with plenty of other stuff to write about.

When I first began this blog six months ago I stated that my intention was to keep from gaining any sympathy weight during Kristin’s pregnancy, hold myself accountable for what goes into my body, and be fit and set an example for my son. I’m happy to report that so far, mission accomplished. I only lost 2.5 pounds, but more importantly I am fitter, stronger, and didn’t actually gain any weight.

While the change might not be immediately visible, I can feel it in my running.

My times are a lot quicker and I’m not completely dead after a hard run. I also feel like I have more energy and now take pride in knowing what I am putting into my body is good for me and not manufactured in a science lab somewhere. This has been one of the keys to my success: Learning more about where my food comes from, what exactly is in my food, and trying to get rid of as much of the, what I call, “fake” food as possible. Obviously, not everything I eat is organic or “real” (I still enjoy a nice cold Diet Coke), but do make much healthier choices now.

I am loving the weather we’ve had recently. Like I said above, my two and three mile times are much better than they used to be. My regular run times are a full two minutes quicker than they were a year ago and my 5k times in the last two races I ran, were the two fastest I’ve ever run.

I’m trying some new stuff with my running this season in hopes that it will pay off for me in the summer. I want to win my age group again at the Austin XTERRA Challenge, a goal that I’ve set for myself for 2010.

Of course, if I don’t win, while I’ll be disappointed, it won’t be the end of the world. I’m not some big time competitive runner, but I do think I found my nice with trail running. Although I think 5k is really the distance I’m built to run, I want to run a couple of longer races this year. I’ll probably look for a 10k or two to do, working towards another half marathon for 2011. This year’s focus will be on the XTERRA, 5ks, and 10ks, and any other unique races I can be a part of. The variety helps keep me interested and competitive.

The best running news for the year will be the return of my running partner in a few weeks.

She won’t be up and running right away, obviously, but I can’t wait to take one step at a time with her. I’ve missed running with her.