2008 ended with a bang! I was able to get several important runs in with Sister Mary Aggressive (wife Carol) and other members of our immediate family, some of whom I hadn't run with in years!

Always try to do a Turkey Trot, and this year was no exception! We were visiting our daughter and her family in Arlington, Va. Our daughter Megan was visiting from Boston, so she and son-in-law Tim ran the Arlington 5-miler Turkey Trot with me and 3000 other runners! We couldn't have asked for a prettier day to run! This was not one of your casual family runs together events, at least not for me! Right at the start, I pushed myself, albeit to no avail, because both Tim and Megan finished ahead! It hurt but I got over it.

Our next event was the Las Vegas Half Marathon on December 7th. Since our wedding anniversary is around that time, always try to fit in an athletic event! It was a blast! Picture yourself running up the strip with fireworks and all the casinos lit up at 6 a.m. Add to that, all the runners dressed up as Elvis, plus the couples in suits and wedding dresses, just a neat time!

At the start I gave SMA the customary kiss and off we went. At about mile 6, we came up on the wedding chapel and a whole host of Elvises! According to the race packet, you could sign up to be married or renew your vows! SMA asked what I thought, and my response was, it still works after 41 years, lets not mess with it! Wore my Navy shirt again and received a lot of positive comments, since Navy had defeated Army the day before in football!

At the finish, looked for SMA, couldn't find her, just figured she was off getting something to drink, I went to our prearranged meeting point, still no SMA! A glimmer of hope started to form in my mind, maybe I had finished first! Just then she walks up, having just finished, I was first, not by much, but it is not the margin of victory, but who was first that counts! That is the first time this year I have beaten her, it only took 11 months!

Several weeks later, I was back in Arlington to see the Navy Bowl Game. Deirdre, our other daughter, asked me if I wanted to go running with the "Babes" Saturday morning! I said sure.  The "Babes" are a group of young ladies, all with families, who have decided to train together, so that they can run a 10-miler this spring in the area. They apparently had a serious moment while sitting in a sports bar, and decided to form this group to train together on Saturday's for the event. Well, let me tell you, was I impressed. We heavily medicated senior citizens don't often get to run with such athletic and attractive young ladies. I think I was the envy of every guy out there on the path!

Just this past Sunday, went to Disney World to watch the "Goofy." It is part of Disney's marathon weekend, and to get the "Goofy" medal you have to run the half marathon on Saturday, then the full marathon on Sunday. I was there to cheer on one of our friends, Dana, from San Diego. She was terrific, and it was very inspiring to see how many accomplished this feat! I told SMA about this event when I returned home!  Guess what, she signed us both up for 2010!

Now that 2009 is complete, need to tally up the results:

10 Milers:  SMA -- 2, Joe - 0

Half marathons: SMA - 2, Joe- 1

Triathlons: SMA -- 0, Joe -1

Open water Swims: SMA -- 0, Joe -1 

Final score: SMA- 4, Joe -- 3

Our first event of 2009 is the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Feb 1st. We will be joined by our friends Kathy and Dana for this event!

We wish you all a safe and fun New Year. I guess I'm just going to have to train harder!