O.K., rather than another boring training update, it looks like I may actually be placing a race on my 2012 calendar. It is the Illinois River To River Relay, which is an 80 mile, eight man per team relay race from the Mississippi to the Ohio Rivers. My brother-in-law did this same race a couple of years ago, and his team is looking for a runner or two (he is currently injured and another team member is due to deliver her first child a few weeks prior to the event).
The family and I were visiting Southern Illinois for Thanksgiving and I met a few members of my brother-in-law's running group that have done River To River 11 years in a row and rave about it. Basically I would be running three legs, each of which would be about three miles or so. I am definitely intrigued, although I am not 100% sure whether I will commit or not--it is a long way to go for one race. That said, just the prospect of racing again definitely got my competitive juices flowing. I will make a decision one way or the other in the next few weeks and let you know...