Two Weeks, Two Races (Part 1)

     This summer I've made steady progress with my running. I've been running about 20 miles per week, which has been my target. My main goal has been to enjoy running and have fun! There were a few weeks of intense wildfire smoke this summer, so a lot of my summer miles where actually done inside on a treadmill.

     At one point in July, I was feeling super ambitious, so I signed up for a handful of races when the prices were still low, without any training plan in mind. I have a couple of races per month for the rest of the year. The last two weekends, I ran two completely different events.

San Juan Island: 1st Anniversary 5K

     Last year on our honeymoon, Craig surprised me with matching race shirts that said "Owen" on the back. He planned for us to do our own 5K on our honeymoon, and to make it an annual event. 

     This year, we spent our 1st anniversary on San Juan Island, off the coast of Washington. It was a super fun little adventure! And of course this provided the perfect location for our annual 5K.

Panorama Updates

    

     I've been enjoying my first summer back in Western WA! Craig and I have been able to go on a couple of mini-adventures, although he's only had one day off from work.

Vancouver Marathon Recap

     I did it! I ran the Vancouver Marathon. It went really well, and I had an amazing time in Vancouver. I am super proud of having finished. I have signed up for 2 other marathons over the past 3 years, but could not run them due to injuries. This was something I really wanted to do and wasn't completely sure at times during training if I could do it. 

Marathon Countdown: Final Week

     The Vancouver Marathon is less than a week away! Last week for me was pretty hectic- and I think I found a job! I had an on-cite interview on Wednesday that required a presentation, which I was pretty nervous for but it went great. By Friday, the company gave me a verbal job offer. I haven't received a written offer yet, so we will see what happens.

Surviving a Tough Training Run

The weather was pretty nice... so I had no excuse not to run for 3 hours... right!?

 
     I wasn't feeling up to running that day... I had run 5 not-so-great miles the day before, and I had just had a job interview that morning, so I really wasn't feeling up to doing much.

     I think that BECAUSE I was so tired actually pushed me to actually go for my long run in a weird way. I wanted to prove to myself that I could run that far of a distance even when I didn't feel like it.

     My goal: run for 3 hours or 15 miles, whichever came first.

March Marathon Miles

Total Miles: 109

Total Time: 20 hours, 23 minutes

Average Pace: 11:16 minutes per mile

Elevation gain: 2,513 feet

Life After an Across-State Move

     This has been a crazy month! Craig started work at his new job the beginning of March. I have been interviewing for jobs all month. Interview-anxiety has really driven my running this month. After every interview, I feel wired and energetic, so I go for a run.

     It has been strange trying to adjust to our new home. I did not expect to miss Pullman so much. I think what I am really missing, though, is the freedom we had while Craig was getting his PhD. I got to see Craig a lot more often! That and I miss the people I knew and the familiarity of the town. I know that after we adjust, I will be a lot more happy in Western Washington, it's just a lot of change happening at once!

     I did do a lot of happy things this month. Here is a little recap.

My Own Half-Marathon

Pre-run. Wearing a fuel belt for the first time in awhile

     I haven't been feeling to great lately. Between an across-state move and intense abdominal pain that sent me to the ER, I wasn't sure how I was going to pull-off marathon training. Good news though: this weekend I ran a half-marathon !

February Marathon Training

     

The struggle is real as I try to balance moving across state with training for a marathon. Spoiler: training gets super-derailed, but I am still holding on to the hope of running a 26.2 mile race in a couple months.