So, what have I been doing all these months I've been out of Blogland? Let's see, shall we?
Let's start with running, since, that's what I do more than anything else beside work, which I can't talk about on social media, even though I really wish I could.
For the first part of the year, I was really just doing my own thing. Loving not having a training plan, running with my best running buddy who has quickly transferred over to my best buddy in life.
She pushes me and challenges me and validates me no matter what. We talk about anything from pooping to relationships and I never get sick of her. Oh. And I also trained for a second marathon with her. We did almost every single mile of training together, except when life got in the way and we had to do separate runs.
The second marathon was so much better than the first. Probably because I ran with Karen for the first 16 miles, until the fact that I had zero electrolytes (I hate Gatorade) and not enough fuel (lesson learned, take in more than 300 calories) made me back off and she zoomed on to become a sub-3:30 marathoner!
I finished mentally strong, but physically I was toast. My coach had driven up and ran the 10k (and won it, of course) so he ran back to find me. He found me hobbling, laughing, and joking. Then, the last .2, Karen ran with me. I cramped up so bad, I used her as a crutch. She's the best friend a girl could have!
I did manage to PR by 10 minutes. I finished in 3:45:20. The fact that this was my home course, my running club's marathon, and was prepared for the last 6 miles to hurt like hell really helped my mental game. I've just got to get the fueling down next time. That's right, next time. I'm going to run CIM again this year. I've become one of those people.
That race was in May and I've been doing a lot of random running again. Trail running has become my biggest passion and I feel the happiest in the mountains.
In the trails, pace doesn't matter. Distance doesn't really matter. It's just about you and the trails and connecting with the world.
Conquering hills makes me feel like a beast. There's nothing like coming home and realizing you climbed over 1,000 feet or 2,000 feet or 4,000 feet in one run.
Also, walking around super muddy makes you look like a badass! ;-)
Other than trail running, marathoning, eating, and napping, I found the time to travel.
I spent 10 days in London with my mom, brother, and grandma.
I think I did possibly every single thing a person can do in London, including run in Hyde park almost every day, walk through every museum that exists, ride on the eye, get caught in a rain storm and catch a taxi home, ride the busses and the Tube, see The Book of Mormon, accidentally run into London Pride, get asked to vote in the Brexit decision, watch the chaos that ensued after the vote, and watch England get their butts kicked by Iceland during the Euro in a pub.
It was an exhausting trip, but so much fun. I'm leaving again for Alaska on Tuesday. This time for some mountain bingeing. I cannot wait!
Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post. I'm sorry I get lost from time to time!
