Ragnar Relay Adirondacks Recap

I am posting to you from Juno Beach, Florida, where I currently am for work.  However, this entry I wrote entirely while on two plane flights so I actually started it more than a week ago when I returned to Atlanta from Albany after running the Ragnar Relay.  I wanted to do a thorough recap and boy, is this one!  I hope you enjoy.


Written on September 28, 2014 - Hey everyone! I’m writing from somewhere over the Northeast as I head from Albany to Atlanta as the final official leg of my move between these two places. Somewhere aboard the plane I’ve got two giant suitcases stuffed with whatever clothes and belongings I’d brought with me on this trip and also that I’d left at my friends’ house the last time I was in town. It’s hard to believe, but this is it! Next stop Atlanta!

Well, technically, next stop is Charlotte, where I am connecting through, and then Atlanta. Because, you know, there is no direct flights out of Albany, so this is what you have to do.

Anyways, it’s been an awesome final week in New York filled with lots of friends and fun and food (all my favorite things) and I finished off the last of the two race commitments I had made before finding out about my move. One of which was the Saratoga Palio Half Marathon that I told you about, and the other is the Adirondacks Ragnar Relay that I am excited to recap for you!

The Adirondacks relay is one that is a part of the Ragnar series that they have throughout the U.S. I know many running friends and bloggers who have participated in the races, and heard wonderful things about them from everyone who has participated. It has long been on my “bucket list” and last year I got a glimpse of what the races are like when I volunteered with Jess and Aubrey at one of the race exchanges near Lake George. After we volunteered last September, we promised ourselves that we would do one this year, and throughout the spring/summer, we pulled a team together (well, mostly Jess pulled the team together) and after much preparation (on Jess’s part) this weekend we completed the 197 mile run from Saratoga to Lake Placid, New York!

For those of you who are not familiar with Ragnar series, they are runs that are completed as part of a relay team of 12 people and you run throughout two days and one night from one destination to another. They are all about 200 miles long, and throughout the race there are 36 “exchanges” or check points along the route where the team members pass the figurative baton from one person to the next. Each of the 12 runners on the team runs at 3 different times, and the segments vary in distance from about 2 miles to about 10 miles. Each runner’s individual distance over the race averages 16 miles, with some being a bit longer and some being a bit shorter.

Each team is divided into two vans (or SUVs, etc.), with 6 people in each one. Every runner on a team is assigned a number and you run in the same order throughout the whole race. So runners 1-6 are in the first van and 7-12 are in the second van. I was runner 8, which means I was in the 2nd van of people for my team and within my van I was the 2nd runner to go through every leg of the course. The start is in waves with everyone assigned a start time, so everyone is spread out throughout the whole course. Since it is such a long race, none of the roads are closed and you are running solo on open roads throughout the majority of the route. The checkpoints were anywhere with a large parking lots for all the vans to park, so it was a variety of farms, schools, parks, baseball fields, etc. on this route. Every 6th checkpoint was called a “major exchange” as that was where the last runner in the first van (runner 6) would pass off to the first runner from van 2 (runner 7) or when the last runner in the second van (runner 12) passed off to runner 1.

If this sounds confusing, it is because it was. It wasn’t until the race actually got started that this all began to make sense to me. And you also realize that although there are 12 people on your team, you are really spending the majority of your time with the 6 runners that are in your van.

Our team’s assigned start time was 6:15 a.m. on Friday morning, but since I was in Van 2, our group wasn’t expected to start until about 10:30 a.m. further north on the course after all 6 runners in the first group finished their first run. The entire race is an incredible feat in logistics, both on the part of the team captains and on the part of the race organizing committee. We had the most incredible team captain in Jess, who did so much to organize the two vans, keep us informed of what we needed, and connecting everyone with a Facebook group that we used for most of the planning. And before we began, Ragnar provided a spreadsheet with estimated times that our runners would start and finish each of their race segments along the route. We used the spreadsheet as our guide and relied on text messaging back and forth between our two vans to let one another know when the different runners were starting.

So, van 2 met up at 9:15 in the morning at the 4th race exchange to pack our car, leave cars, and for some of us, meet for the first time! The only name you’ll know from my van is Aubrey, and there was one other girl who I have been friendly with for a few years (who is a reader! Hey Whitney!) and 3 people who I was meeting for the first time.

Let me tell you, if you want to bond with people, a Ragnar Relay is a good place to do it, as you get to know one another pretty quick when you do one of these things!

At our meet up, we decorated our car with washable window paint, packed up the food we’d brought, changes of clothes, and sleeping items. We also set some “ground rules” for the group, such as the fact that after each runner took off at the exchange, we would just drive to the next one. If the runner wanted “support” somewhere throughout the leg (for us to stop and cheer at different mile markers) they should ask, otherwise we’d just drive straight to the check point. We also decided that we wanted to be a team that cheered for EVERYONE, no matter what team they were on.

At that first meet up, it also happened to be a checkpoint for the race, and we were able to connect with the first Van on our team, who were stopped there to change runners. We cheered Terry on as he finished his leg, and Nick started off. It was great to see that group, and we had our first “eerie” moment of the race, when we realized that the other team had decorated their SUV in the EXACT same way that we had decorated ours with the washable markers. I’m talking we had the same things, written on the same sides of the cars and everything. It was a little weird and we took it to mean that we were a great team!

After the exchange, both teams headed out, but we drove right to exchange 6 where the race organizers had everything set up for all of the Van 2s to get their race bibs, t-shirts, and go through a safety briefing. Since you run through the night, on major roads, and through residential communities, the organizers take the rules very seriously (as they should) and before they give you the race bibs you have to show all of your teams’ reflective gear, head lamps, blinking lights, etc. and they also give you flags to use while crossing any roads.

At each of the exchanges, teams hang out waiting for their runner to arrive. The race has one volunteer who stands a little bit ahead of the actual exchange and checks out what the runners team number is, calls it over to the exchange volunteer on a walkie-talkie, who announces to the teams waiting, “Team 93! Your runner is coming in!”

We met up with Van 1 at exchange 6 as their final runner Julie, was passing it off to our first runner, Whitney. They then had a number of hours off, where they were planning to head somewhere to take showers and eat lunch. We just got started at about 10:30 in the morning with our first runner!

Whitney’s first leg was a long one at about 10 miles. We cheered her off and then drove to exchange 7 where we waited for her to arrive. When you drive from exchange to exchange, you would drive along the race route, and pass all of the runners, so we had a blast driving with our windows down, cow bell out the window, yelling and cheering everyone on that we drove by. It was so fun to see the runners get excited, wave, smile, or pump their fist in the air as we drove by bringing the energy. As a runner who ALWAYS appreciates and feeds off of the energy of the crowd at races, I wanted to give as much as I could to the runners out on the roads we passed.

At the exchanges themselves, there were always a bunch of other teams and a fun atmosphere with at least one van blasting music, people hanging around, often dancing and having a good time.

Some of the teams got SO creative in their team names, van decorations, runner costumers, and even things prepared to “tag” the other vans. Many teams created magnets with their team names on them that they would casually try to stick on the other vans. This first exchange we realized how intense some of these teams were with their creativity and while I would love to be that organized and go all out with the decorations, costumes, tagging, etc. – the race alone is so much organization and time figuring out the logistics – not to mention the costs – that I was totally happy with our team’s level of engagement and lack of over-the-topness (is that a word?) However, it was really fun to see what other people came up with.

Whitney was passing off her leg of the run to me, so I spent that exchange also preparing for mine. The sun was out and it was a GORGEOUS day. We totally lucked out with weather, as I have some friends who ran this race a couple years ago and it was freezing cold and rainy, so a totally different experience for them. For us, it was pretty hot and barely a cloud in the sky.

My first run was supposed to be 6.1 miles and in the paperwork that the race gave us, I saw that this run, although including a few uphill portions, actually had a negative net elevation, meaning that I would be running downhill. I was feeling the adrenaline and energy from the race, so I told my team that I was going to try and run it faster than the 10:20 pace that I had submitted beforehand and that my estimated finish times were based off of. I was thinking I might be able to do a sub-10 minute mile and wanted to shoot for 9:15-9:30 pace.

As soon as I started running, I knew I felt good and just kept going with it. The run was gorgeous, through farm land, which actually made for a bit of a smelly run, but also very scenic, later with a river on one side. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the road coming in my direction, but a lot of traffic also heading where I was heading with other Ragnar vans driving by. I went with one of my old running techniques and tried to not look at my Garmin watch at all, and instead counted the number of songs that played on my iPod as a way to track how far along I was in the race. The routes were all supposed to be marked with a “one mile to go” sign, but for whatever reason, this exact exchange was not marked (which they told us in advance.) When I am running, I often try to trick myself into not looking at my watch and seeing how far I can go without doing so. I kept telling myself, “You can look at your watch after 5 songs.” But then when I would get there, I was feeling good, so I would say, “Okay after another 5 songs!” and I actually ended up never looking at my watch the whole race!

I finally saw the exchange ahead and kicked it into high gear, coming in fast and passing off the baton – which was actually an orange slap bracelet – to my next teammate, Warren. My whole team was out of the car cheering for me as I finished, which was awesome, and as soon as I finished they started telling me that I did awesome and finished so fast. I looked down at my Garmin watch and was dumbfounded when I saw that I had finished the leg – which had totaled 6.15 miles in 53:48, at a pace of 8:47/mile, which is actually the fasted I have ever run that distance!!!

I was so excited and surprised with myself for how I did, and it was such a great way to start off my Ragnar experience. I was on a major adrenaline high as we jumped into the car and drove to the next exchange, where we would meet the runner who had just started, when he finished his leg. My adrenaline high started to show as I yelled out the window to every runner that we passed, so happy and excited with how my first run had gone and enjoying that amazing “runner’s high” that makes running so worth it. The rest of our team’s first runs all went really well, with nothing going out of planned, everyone feeling good during their runs, and with all of us having a lot of fun.

Our final runner, Aubrey, was finishing right at Million Dollar Beach at Lake George, which is also where my friend Jenna ran in her first Half Ironman a few weeks prior! The exchange at Lake George was amazing because after Aubrey finished, we had a few hours break while Van 1 ran all of their second legs. So we were able to take advantage of the lake, all swimming or wading for a while, sitting on the beach, and using the restrooms there. The race had port-a-potties at every one of the exchanges, which was great, but definitely had us wanting to use a public restroom when possible!

When we arrived at Million Dollar Beach, it was also the second time in the race that I realized how unprepared I was for the non-running aspects of the race. The first was the night before the race, when I stayed at Aubrey’s with Jess and I realized that I hadn’t brought big Ziploc bags for my clothes, I didn’t have a blinky light that I needed, I didn’t have a reflective vest, etc. Luckily, Jess helped me out with those things, otherwise I would have been really struggling. But then at Million Dollar Beach, I realized that there was an opportunity to take showers there in the public beach showers, but I had brought absolutely nothing that would be needed for a shower – no shampoo, no towels, etc. I was so lucky throughout the whole race where my team members came so prepared and able to help out the slackers such as myself.

So how did we shower/clean/bathe after running through the hot sun? Baby wipes. Yup, this took cleansing on the go to a whole new level.

Lake George was a beautiful exchange as the sun was about to set and it was our team’s first rest. We took our time relaxing in the lake, cooling off from the hot day, and cleaning up a bit in the real bathrooms and rest area. Then, we head off to Bolton Landing to find a place to have dinner for the evening.

We ended up at a restaurant where the runners went right by (including Jess!) and enjoyed cheering on the different Ragnarians while we enjoyed giant meals. Probably too big. But more on that later…

After having dinner we drove to the next major exchange, which was in Ticonderoga. We made our way there as it got dark outside, and continued to cheer for all the runners out our windows as much as we could. This portion of our drive, and of Van 1s runs included some of the toughest inclines of the race and we knew the runners would need some cheering as the sky grew dark.

We reached Ti Middle School where they were open to runners using the bathrooms, showers, were serving a pasta dinner, and had a gymnasium set up as a designated sleeping area. My team all decided to try and sleep for an hour (we arrive at about 9pm) and headed to the gym, but being woefully unprepared, I had no sleeping bag, pillows, or blankets, and just lay right on the gym floor and tried to nap. Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep during that hour. I instead listened to music, relaxed, and pondered what a weird sight it was to have a whole bunch of strangers sleeping in sleeping bags in a middle school gym while outside a football game was going on and people were running in the dark.

Our team started up again and my next run began at about 11:00 p.m. and was my longest run at 7.4 miles. I was REALLY nervous for the run – as I was running at night, had some hills, was experiencing some pain in my foot and knee, and just had been eating as if I was at a middle school sleepover, not as if I was running. When I started going, I did not feel well immediately and decided to not try and do anything at all amazing with pace. I had my race of the day earlier, and this was just going to be a training run and a run for the experience.

Running in the middle of the night in the middle of the Adirondacks with nobody around was a cool, surreal experience. The stars above were incredible and at times there was literally no light to be seen besides my headlight in front of me and the stars above. A number of runners passed me on this route, which I started to tell myself that since this was the 2nd largest mileage of the race, other teams must have given it to their more seasoned runners. However, then an old lady passed me and my first reaction was “What?!?!” but then it was, “Hey, good for you, old lady. Good for you.”

When I got scared or tired or thought I was going to throw up (which happened a lot) I looked up at the stars and reminded myself that this experience of running at night was why I was here and to just enjoy it. That is a little easier said than done when you have to continually take deep breaths to curb your nausea and will yourself to keep going to the end of the run in order to get to a bathroom.

My stomach was a MESS during this section of the race. The chocolate milk, BBQ chicken, French fries, sour path kids, salad, chocolate covered pretzels, apples, etc. that I had eaten since my last run were all wanting to make a reappearance and it was everything I could do to keep my dinner and snacks in my stomach. This made for an uncomfortable few miles up hill.

At one point in the run, I thought that someone was coming up from behind to pass me and swore that I saw the light from a head lamp trailing at my feet and heard the sound of footsteps. I sort of hugged the edge of the road and waited for the runner to pass me, but when nobody came up from behind, I turned back to see if they were trailing me and NOBODY WAS THERE. I was so freaked out because I could have sworn that I both heard footsteps and saw a head lamp behind me. There was nothing to do but run so I just continued going on my way, with thoughts flashing through my mind that this would be the perfect opportunity to abduct someone – especially with so many white creeper vans around – it would be so easy to just snag someone (me!) up.

When I reached the finish of my 7.4 mile run, my team was there cheering for me and it was after midnight. As soon as I finished, I went right to the porta potty before taking another baby wipe bath, and crawling into the back of the SUV, where my teammates had so nicely cleared out to allow someone to sleep back there. I was feeling terrible, and I knew it was part of my bad eating throughout the day, running late at night, and lack of sleep. I had changed my clothes but I was still somewhat sweaty, my hair was wet, and I was cold. I put all the layers of clothes on I had, and Whitney loaned me her sleeping bag that I gladly wrapped myself up in. The next few runners legs on our teams were a blur for me as I dozed in and out of sleep.

I got out of the car for the next major exchange where we watched Aubrey run in and pass off the baton to runner #1 from the first van. It was about 4 in the morning and our team had a break at this point and we tried to get to the next major exchange as fast as we could so that we could get some sleep. Since the first van was through with their “sleeping” hours, Jess kindly loaned me her sleeping bag, so I could give Whitney back hers to use.

I mentioned earlier that our teams had found it totally eerie that we had somehow ended up writing the exact same things on our two vehicles with the window markers. At this major exchange, another weird thing happened. It was a massive parking lot, and at the major exchanges, every team has both their vehicles there – which, with say even 300 teams, could mean upwards to 600 cars (although probably less since not everyone is there at the same exact time… but still… a lot of cars…) And when our two teams walked back to the cars after watching the exchange from Runner 12 to Runner 1, we realized that we were parked immediately next to each other. So weird!

The ride to our sleeping spot was about an hour and we were all deliriously tired and a bit punchy at this point. I had woken from my mini nap, and we were still cheering out the window at the runners we drove past. This leg of the race was a windy dirt road, it was about 4:30 in the morning, pitch black, and we are driving along the road and doing what we did earlier yelling out the windows commenting on the runners’ clothing. “Nice job, green shirt!” “Looking good – love the pink socks!” You know, things along that line.

Well, at this point in time, the one guy who was in our car, and was driving, decided to chime in and as we passed one of the runners, he said out the window in his deep, overtired voice to a random female runner, “Hey… Nice pants!”

As soon as he said it, we were all silent for a minute until someone said, “Yeah… kinda sounds creepy when you do it, Warren.” Man, maybe we were all overtired, but we were laughing SO hard at this.

We finally got to sleep at about 5 a.m., with a few of us sleeping in the car (me laying down in the back seat) and a few taking sleeping bags and just laying out in a designated field that was for sleeping at one of the exchanges. We got about 3 hours of sleep before getting up at 8am to get ready for the next leg of the race. We were looking mighty beautiful after having had the dried sweat of 2 runs and an awkward night’s sleep on us.

However, adrenaline was running high I think because we were all in good spirits.

At about 9:30ish a.m. it was time for my next leg – which was 6.7 miles. The route was hilly, but really pretty and the sun was shining bright. It got HOT during the middle of my run. I had brought a bottle of water with me and definitely used it to both drink, and dump on top of myself. The route was beautiful at this point.

Finishing that leg was such a relief knowing that I had finished all of my legs of the race and now it was just cheering on the rest of the team until the finish! I had been really worried about my third leg of the run after having such a crummy feeling run the night before. I didn’t really eat anything, and the little sleep I got did give me some energy and adrenaline, so I felt okay on the run, but my pace was definitely the worst of the 3 and way off from my killer pace in the first leg of the race!

I checked my last box on the window of the SUV, and offered to drive the rest of the way for our team, as I was on a major adrenaline high from finishing the runs and wanted access to the horn.

I had so much fun driving and cheering and honking out the window to every runner we passed for the last 4 legs of the race. It also didn’t hurt that we hit an incredibly beautiful and scenic portion of the route as we arrived at Lake Placid. It was BEAUTIFUL and a gorgeous view of Whiteface Mountain and the incredible fall foliage.

We met up with the other half of the team at the finish, to welcome in Aubrey as she ran the last leg of the race and we all joined her to cross the finish line. It was really fun to finally have everyone together, get our medals, and our finisher beers and explore the expo for a bit. We were Rangarians!!!

I wish we’d had more time with our entire team but many members had to head back home, with families and children and other commitments, one night away was all they were able to squeeze out.  But not before getting our post race beers, of course!

A few of my good friends decided to do something similar to what we did when we went away to Vermont for the Tough Mudder and we rented a house for the night in Lake Placid. It was an INSANELY gorgeous home that I am trying really hard to come up with an excuse as to why I need to return.

Jess and her husband pulled together a delicious meal, we had a couple of drinks, and an AMAZING shower. After THREE sweaty runs and sleeping in the back of an SUV, I felt like I needed at least 5 showers to get cleaned up, but that one in Lake Placid was really great as I washed off layer after layer after layer of gross salty sweat. Sounds attractive, right?

It was great hanging out and relaxing and spending time with friends, and the next day after an equally as delicious breakfast, we went for a walk and then headed back towards Saratoga to shower more, return the cars, and for me – head to the airport for a one way flight to Atlanta.

There were many, many tears in the process of saying goodbye to Jess and her family, Aubrey, and the rest of my friends throughout these past few weeks. However, it is safe to say that these people are not out of my life for very long. I have made incredible wonderful friends in this area that I have shared some incredible memories with – many of which have been through running.

It’s pretty crazy how much my life has changed over the past year and the fun adventures I have had as I have gotten more into running, marathons, Tough Mudders, Ragnar Relays, and the other health and fitness activities that have become a part of my life as of late. I’m so thankful for my friends and everyone who supports, encourages, and signs up for these ridiculous things with me. Ragnar was a great experience and although TOUGH on the body, definitely had me saying, “Okay, when are we doing it again?!”

And with this Ragnar, I officially am now in taper mode for my marathon and the countdown is on to Kansas City!  I'm also officially out of Albany, and permanently in Atlanta (minus the times I traveling and globe-trotting that is!)  What a wild, crazy trip it's been guys!!  XOXO.

It's Fall in NY!

Happy Hump Day!  So it's Wednesday and I've been having a really lovely week hanging out in my old stomping grounds as a "visitor" in Upstate New York.  It's a fun time of year as it is the first weekend of fall.  This past weekend I visited some local farms with my friends and I've been eating apples up the wazoo this week.  Plus, I finally got to pull my boots out, which is an exciting thing for me.  Who else wore boots for the first time this week, because I know I am not the only one, right??

Fall means the days are shorter and it gets lighter later, so that means that for my morning runs it is headlamp weather!  On Monday morning I did 5 miles with my running crew that I am going to miss so much when I am full time in Atlanta and it was a creaky pace, but a good run with friends.  It was also my first wearing my headlamp this season.  As a fall present to you, I present this lovely photo.

Monday morning was the first time I wore a headlamp this week but not my last.  For my run this morning, which I did out in the boonies where I am staying with friends, I put on pretty much every item of reflective gear I have and my headlamp.  I did it as a test run because this weekend I am going to be needing it all as I am running in the Adirondacks Ragnar Relay!

For those of you who don't know, a Ragnar Relay is a 200 mile run that last for 2-days and 1-night with teams of 12 people running nonstop. Ours starts in Saratoga Springs and finishes in Lake Placid, New York and runs through the Adirondack Mountains.  I am pretty nervous and excited about the whole experience as it seems like it is a really fun, bonding, incredible, challenging experience.

I am running 3 legs throughout the relay, totally 20.1 miles, which is pretty perfect, because I am using this relay as a trade off for my 20-mile run that I am supposed to do in marathon training!  Since this weekend is my 20-miler run, it means that I am at the top of my training plan.  This is the peak of my marathon training, so it is an exciting weekend for me as it is something I've always wanted to do, and also the kick off to my favorite part of marathon training - the taper!

I can't believe that I am already this far into training for marathon #2.  It seems like just yesterday I was sketching this training plan all out and hanging it on my desk at work.

Since I trained for the Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon last year, I have motivated and encouraged myself by having a huge training plan hanging at my cubicle at work.  It is a conversation starter when people stop by to chat and a continual daily motivator for me to look and see what I have to do, and what I have accomplished.

In fact, this week, as I cleaned out my desk to prepare to move down to Atlanta, and I un-earthed the training plans that I put together for both the Paris Marathon and the Nashville Half Marathon.

It's crazy that when I made that training plan it was the hardest thing in the world for me, and such a huge accomplishment to finish that mileage and that plan.  I still am incredibly proud of that, and of everything else that I have accomplished since then.  It's insane to me how much this has been a part of my life and is just normal at this point.  I am so proud of myself.

I love the connections I have made from running.  The friends I have made from running.  And everything I have learned from running.   This weekend is going to be a fun adventure and I am excited to continue that with this weekend's run.  For those of you who have never heard of a Ragnar Relay, I will conclude with this video.  I am estimated to be running at 12:00 p.m. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Friday night, and 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  Should be an experience!!

Why I write. And continue to write.

So, sometimes I disappear for weeks, or at times, months on end.  However, I always come back.  For the past almost 6.5 years I have been coming back to blogging again and again.

There are many reasons why I blog regularly (or try to anyways) and although I so cherish and appreciate the comments I receive, feedback I get, encouragement, positivity, and sense of community from my readers -- many of the reasons I write have to do with me, and very little with you.  I use this as a place to reflect, to organize my thoughts, to chronicle back where I have been, and as a place to record and remember.

Another one of the big reasons that I write here is just for the sake of writing.  I love writing (for many of the reasons listed above) and it is also a big part of my professional career, as is storytelling, and building relationships.

It is fun for me to try and exercise different types of writing, different ways of telling a story, of chronicling a trip or of re-living an experience.  If you notice, I try a lot of different things from bullet point entries, to timeline stories, to writing letters.  It is very interesting to me to use you guys as little guinea pigs to see what sticks, what people like to hear about, and what posts are a bore.  For those of you that follow me on Instagram, it is interesting what pictures get the most likes that I post (for the selfie haters out there -- I usually post more selfies because they get more likes!) and I like learning from/noticing the differences in interactions based on time of day I post, captions, etc.  The same goes for what I post to my Facebook page.  I just think this stuff is so fascinating, so I guess it suits me well that I work in the world of digital communications as well.

Anyways, I mentioned last night on Facebook that I've been missing you guys.  So, yes, you are a big reason why I continue to come back as well!  Lately, I've been missing the support and sense of community as I've been struggling to get back into the swing of eating healthy.  And, I recently had the realization that while I feel really comfortable typing publicly about my struggle to maintain a balanced diet, it's sometimes hard for me to open up to people in my day to day life about it.  Not usually, but sometimes, it makes me nervous to share that side of me.

Maybe its the "anonymity" of the internet (which is often talk about in a negative sense) but when I write here, I don't see the faces or thoughts of the people reading, so I am more comfortable sharing difficult topics.  Sometimes putting something out into the world gives me a sense of relief (for those of you who follow PostSecret, you know this can be very powerful.)  I like sharing with you all as it is a form of therapy for me!

Free therapy, preserved memories, a place to think, a place to practice a craft and hone a skill, a place to be myself.  Why do I disappear from here for so long all the time?!

Getting closer.

Hey guys, quick update for you today.  Firstly, I miss writing.  And secondly, I have at least one fan out there with Emily requesting I keep posting, so here it goes.

I'm getting closer to moving to being settled in Atlanta.  I'm getting closer to Marathon #2.  I'm getting closer to feeling a little less crazed and all over the place.  In general, I just have this feeling of "I'm getting closer."  Yet, it also feels like a million miles away that I will have my apartment decorated the way I want it, that I will be in more place for more than a week, and that life will feel normal.  However, that's what I signed up for, right?

Since I last wrote, I traveled to Atlanta, had an overwhelming day of looking for apartments that involved missing half my appointments, a number of tears, lots of frustration, but ultimately, a new apartment to call home.

I traveled to North Carolina, where I ran some monsterous hills, then headed out to the land of the hills, and spent a bit over a week in the Bay Area of California.  This was mostly for work -- but I extended the trip to include some fun time with my uncles and friends in San Francisco.  The trips were really great professionally and personally, and I added some great running to my list of cities and locations that I have explored by foot.

I did my 19 mile long run in San Francisco, which was a run that although the pace wasn't anything special, was a run that I was so proud of.  I spent the entire week leading up to the long run telling myself that it was okay if I didn't run the whole thing.  And when I left to go out in the morning, I wasn't sure if I would finish the whole thing.  But once I started running, I felt good and just kept going for it.  I was so proud of myself.

And not just proud of myself for the run, but that my legs felt good for the rest of the day and I spent the day sightseeing and doing a mixture of tourist and local things with a pretty awesome group of my guy friends.  We had such a good time!

I went back to Atlanta and officially moved into a new apartment that I lucked out finding.  My place is a disaster with unpacked boxes everywhere, piles of pictures to hang on walls, and a growing list of things to do and spaces to organize.  But I have a home and I love it.

To continue the craziness, I may have a home, but I am not there right now...

Two days after the trucks unloaded all of my items, I jumped back on a place to head to my old home of Albany for a quick trip that wraps up the last of my commitments I have in Upstate New York.  The main reason for the trip is to run the final 2 races in the area I had committed to: the Saratoga Palio Half Marathon, which I did today.  And the Adirondacks Ragnar Relay, which is next weekend.  Because I knew I was coming back for these races, I planned to finish up some of my move this week and will pack up my old desk in my old office building and also have my car shipped down to Atlanta.

Today's half marathon went okay and it was my third "official" Half Marathon race (although I have now run over the 13.1 distance a number of times in training for the two marathons.)  I finished in 2:14:14, which is in the middle of my previous two half marathon times and pretty good for the paces I have been running on my long runs lately.

I didn't feel too great while I was running as I was never able to get into that zone of just blanking out and feeling like a machine, where my mind goes somewhere else.  I have my best runs when I am in that zone, and today I couldn't find it and spent the whole 13.1 miles acutely aware that I was running and that I was tired.  I also didn't taper at all for the race, having done 19 miles last weekend and 18 throughout the week, including 5 the day before.  The final statement of comparison I have for the race today is that the last time we ran this course -- which was in a completely opposite climate, was for Jess's Birthday Blizzard Half Marathon in January, and I ran the race today 20 minutes faster than when I ran the course that awful, frigid January day.

So, with that, I will sign off.  Hope you are all doing well and enjoyed the last days of summer.  Today is officially September 21st and fall begins tomorrow.  Hope you are ready!  Have a great week!

Let's talk about running.

So, guys, remember how I am training for that marathon and I've been barely talking about it?!  Well, let's talk about it.  It's freaking September already and I have no idea when that happened.  Let's forget about all the life stuff going on right now, where I flew to today, or where I will be tomorrow an just talk about running, shall we?

I am now just starting Week 12 of the Hal Higdon Novice 2 marathon plan.  I originally started the Novice 1 training plan, which is the plan that I did for the Paris Marathon, but I randomly decided to try upping my mileage a bit and do Novice 2.  The midweek mileage doesn't get as high as the Novice 1 plan but there are more long weekend runs.

I am not sure if I will be doing this new plan justice since I am not really concerning myself with pace, and some of these runs are supposed to be at a specific pace, but I'm just going with it.  My whole thought process for training for this marathon was to be a little more easy-going than the first time around.  Especially as life has become more crazy, I am not trying to accomplish anything more than completing this race, which will be a huge success in itself with all that I have had going on these past few months and weeks.

It's funny to see how things have changed from my long runs the first time around to my long runs this time.  It's been a similar transition to when I did my first and second HALF marathons.  The first half marathon I did, I ran 10 miles, then lay on the floor for the rest of the day feeling like death.  The second half marathon, I ran 10 miles and then went about the rest of my day like a normal person.

For the marathon this past winter, my whole weekend was built around the long runs.  What I did the night before was dictated by an early bedtime and a (mostly) healthy meal.  My post-run plans were nonexistent beyond putting on my compression socks and planning to eat a lot.  After our 16-mile run, I lay on the floor of Jess's house in front of the wood stove for hours and ate a bowl of ice cream.

Then, a week ago, on August 22nd, I did a 17-mile run for this training plan, where I literally ran ALL AROUND my town that I grew up in (which was an awesome route, by the way) and then immediately had to get ready for a busy day at my friend's wedding.

We had to be in southern Rhode Island at 11:30 a.m. and I also had some pick-up duties with the other bridesmaids since I am the only one with a car.  Teenie was planning to be at my house at 10:15 a.m. to leave to head out, and I needed to run 17 miles beforehand, stretch, eat, shower, do my hair, and pack up everything I needed for the wedding and be ready to go at 10: 15 a.m.  I mapped out exactly what time I needed to leave my house for the run, how long it would take me to get ready, and managed to fit everything in.  However, I don't even think I paused to take a post-long run picture of my watch or a selfie, which is something I always do!

I finished running, and achingly went right upstairs to shower.  And, funny story, was that I accidentally blew a fuse in my mom's house before I got in the shower, which meant I then had to walk down two flights of stairs from the upstairs down to the basement to try and switch the fuse.  I walked 2 flights down, with my knees aching, and then went 2 stories back up and saw that I hadn't switched the right fuse!  Well, knowing that a) it was tiring to walk up and down those stairs after running and b) I didn't have much time to figure it all out -- I just lit some candles, showered in the dark, and left a note for my mom that I had accidentally blown that fuse and apologized.

I was so proud of myself at the end of that day because my legs felt great the whole time and I was able to stay awake, and on my feet until the very end of the night (which was around 10:30/11 p.m.)  It was seriously the best recovery I have had from a long run ever.  I am sure that there was some adrenaline involved with all the wedding stuff.  Plus, in the afternoon we all got pedicures, which were amazing!  It was something that I thought about all during the run when my feet were killing me.  I just told myself to keep going and promised my feet and legs that they would be getting massaged later if they just got me through the run -- which they did!

This Saturday I did an 18-mile run with Jess, which was a slight adjustment from the 15-mile run that we did from Galway to Saratoga this past winter.  Jess planned the route, and I went along for the ride, and it was a beautiful beautiful route that we ran.  It was cool seeing some familiar spots on the route from the winter, and that part of town is just beautiful so it was very scenic.

One thing that has been a challenge is that I have been having some pain in my knees lately.  I know that when I have knee pain it is time to buy new sneakers, which I did a couple weeks ago, but they did not feel right on the couple runs I took them on, so I chose to not use them during the long runs I have had lately.  I ended up returning them, and wanting to order them in the same style & size, but the Wide variety, however those need to be special ordered.  Since I was moving, there was a holiday weekend, etc. I didn't know when I would be able to get them and I didn't special order them sneakers through the store.  After the run I did on Saturday, I finally ordered them via Amazon Prime and they should be delivered to the hotel I will be in this week on Thursday.  Hopefully they make it on time because on Friday I check out of that hotel to head somewhere else!

Anyways, I did Saturdays run in an older pair of sneakers and I had some pretty bad knee pain a few times throughout the route.  I also had it on Wednesday and Friday during my midweek runs, so it has been making me nervous.  On Saturday at mile 8 we stopped to buy an additional bottle of water at a Stewart's market and as soon as I started walking, my knee started hurting.  And then when I tried to run again, it took a while to get in a groove and randomly hurt again throughout the last 10 miles.  I finished the run in 3:14, which is a little better pace than my 17 mile run that I did in 3:07.

I made it through and am hoping that the new sneakers help me out when I get them this week.  I also made a stop at the running store and bought some random stuff that supposedly help with knee pain like Rock Tape.  I always see people at races with this stuff on and thought it was silly, but figured why the heck not?  I've been wearing it around the past couple of days and although I haven't run, it feels fine (maybe mental??)  Staying healthy is one of the key elements to training, so I am trying to be really cautious with the knee this week during my runs and also took an extra day off today.

And on the nutrition side of things, on Saturday I started tracking my Weight Watchers points again.  I am going to try hard to keep it up while I am traveling, because it really helps me to be more conscientious and mindful of what I am consuming.  I would ideally like to get rid of some of the extra weight I am carrying around on my runs before the marathon, but without a kitchen and essentially eating out for the next month, I know it is going to be hard.  As least making sure I am getting nutritious food and adequately hydrating will be important.

In the words of the new headband my mom gave me for my birthday, "Strong is the new skinny."

I'm hoping to try and write more, even if it is quick, as the next couple of weeks progress to share the ups and downs of marathon training, while moving, while traveling, while living out of a suitcase and not knowing when I am going to be able to do my dirty running clothing laundry (this is a real concern of mine.)

Hope that the start to your September is going well!

Thank you.

Last weekend, the day before my 28th birthday, one of my best friends in the world got married to an incredibly guy.  I stood as one of her bridesmaids, along with her two sisters, and our other 3 best friends.  

The night of the rehearsal dinner, the 4 girls and I gave a toast to E & J and to the future of their relationship.

In preparation for our toast, I was thinking back on the memories of my friend and her now husband and one of the ones that stood out most was when I first met him.  I had been down in Washington, D.C. visiting for New Year's and I spent a couple days staying with E and got to meet J for the first time.  This was a big deal as I was the last in our group of girl friends to meet him and I am also notorious to be the hardest to win over by my friend's suitors.  I think I've said this before, but my friends mean the world to me, and I think that they deserve the very best, so I've got high standards.  However, at that very first introduction, I could see what an amazing person he was, how happy they made each other and how well they complemented each other.  He got my total thumbs up approval after that very first night of hanging out and playing beer pong back in 2009.  And then fast-forward to last weekend when they celebrated the start to a beautiful marriage.

Photo stolen from KO's Instagram

That same "pickiness" and high standards that I have is not just in my friends' significant others, but really, with the people in my life in general.  As I write this, I feel I run the risk of sounding snooty or bitchy, and I hope it doesn't come across that way or that I do a good job of explaining myself.  I love people.  I love meeting new people.  I love seeing different personalities, ways of doing things, lifestyles, and learning from all these different individuals in my life.  I just don't have a lot of patience for phoniness or rudeness.  I don't have ANY patience for meanness or bullying.  I choose to not keep people in my life that only bring about drama or start trouble.  And I think you know what I mean.  Because the fun, silly, get-in-trouble-for-climbing-out-the-window-of-the-bar-onto-the-roof kind of trouble is welcome, just not other the kind of picking fights, talking smack, being fake kind of trouble.  And by the way, that "climbing out the window of the bar" thing may or may not have happened last night while out with a pretty awesome and good looking group of people...

The reason that any of this is on my mind, in addition to that toast I was talking about, is that I have been feeling overwhelmingly blessed by -- and grateful for -- the people I have in my life.  Let me try and explain a little bit of what I am talking about, starting with that wedding I went to.

E & J's wedding was such a fun and special weekend.  The two of them, and their families, are all such incredible people and their thoughtfulness came across in so many aspects throughout the whole weekend.  From the incredibly special gifts for the bridal party, to inviting their out of town friends for drinks after the rehearsal dinner.  From coordinating even the most complicated details of the day for us to providing details that helped make our decisions of what meals to choose for the weekend. I know it sounds silly, and we laughed about how detail oriented E is during the wedding weekend - but a few days before the rehearsal dinner, E texted or e-mailed everyone attending the rehearsal dinner to ask us what we wanted for a meal.  And as a reminder, she included in the messages what we had chosen as our meal choice for the wedding.  Since she told me that I had chosen the beef option as my meal for the wedding, I went with the chicken option for the rehearsal dinner.  It was a tiny detail, but the thoughtfulness in reminding me of what my meal choices had been, was so helpful!

And I guess the theme of this post shouldn't just be, "I am so great at picking really thoughtful and nice friends!" but more that I think the process of having the high standards for who I include in my life has paid off.   Now, everyone that I meet from these people, are just as wonderful.  Goodness attracts goodness I think.  It was apparent at the wedding, because all of E & J's friends and family that I had the pleasure of meeting throughout the wedding shared their incredibly thoughtful and kind natures.  J's mom planned such wonderful details for the rehearsal dinner, including some Rhode Island & Texas shaped cookies (not to scale) that stole the show.  

Even their precious little niece was the most happy and easy-going baby I have ever met, smiling and remaining pleasant as she was passed from person to person throughout the weekend.  And E's friend in Atlanta was so wonderful when I introduced her to my mom, assuring her that she'd take care of me when I moved down south.  It was such a fun weekend celebrating the two of them, being surrounded by loved ones, and meeting new friends that I'm hoping to stay in touch with.

Then the day after the wedding, which was my 28th birthday, my mom, friends in Albany, and so many others were so sweet with little details, cards, gifts and positive wishes that made me feel so special.  I am terrible at getting cards and gifts to people on time for their birthday, and my many friends who do such a good job of being on top of those types of things are so amazing and really make you feel special.  There is a special place in the world for people who remember and are able to get birthday cards to people on time.  You all deserve cake and cookies and hugs every day - I love you so much!

This next one may seem a bit off topic, but this Saturday I spent cheering on my friend Jenna as she competed in her first Half Ironman competition at the Big George competition.  It really meant a lot ot me to be able to be there for her as she is one of the people who is constantly doing nice things for others, such as hanging that birthday sign outside of my apartment that totally made my day when I arrived back in Albany after the wedding!  Jenna has been training and planning for this race for years and I was so happy that my schedule worked out to be able to be here to cheer it on.  Jenna has been dating one of my other best friends, Dave, for the past two years, and I had such a good time driving around with him to find Jenna throughout the 60 mile bike portion of the race and seeing how he cared and supported Jenna as well.  Their relationship has been so fun to watch develop from almost exactly two years ago after my birthday party when Jenna said to me, "You know, I actually had a conversation with Dave for the first time last night and he is pretty cool."  :)  Again, goodness attracts goodness and I am so thankful to have these two in my life, and that they two of them were able to find one another.

Then finally, it would be impossible to write a post titled "thank you" and not mention my friends that I have been staying with this weekend at their beautiful home outside of Albany.  I have had such a great time being here with them and its hard to put into words how grateful I am for these, and all of my friends.  On Friday, I spent the day with movers packing and moving out of my apartment in Albany, and at the end of the day when my place was empty headed out to their place.  I was pretty bummed, as leaving that apartment was really emotional for me.  It was the first place I lived alone.  The first apartment I fully furnished and decorated.  And the apartment where I truly learned about independence.   As well as where I apparently bought a lot of clothes and shoes and purses...

I moved into this apartment in a pretty challenging time in my life.  And I was determined to be independent, from the very first night I stayed there and haphazardly put together my bed single handedly.  And it was there that I bought a power drill and hung my own curtains.  There that I changed my car lightbulbs in the backyard for the first time. There that I learned how to cook for one.  And that I really learned how to be happy on my own.  I loved this home and in many ways wish I could pick it up and bring it to Atlanta with me, but alas, I said goodbye on Friday.

And when I arrived at my friends' on Friday evening, teary-eyed and exhausted, it made all the difference to have them welcome me in.  And they, as well as many others, have told me that I will always have a place to stay in their homes when I come back to visit Albany -- which, I will have to do often.

In the speech that we gave at the wedding rehearsal dinner, one of the things we talked about was the difference between the family we are born into and the family that we make for ourselves.  The past week, I am continually reminded of the wonderful family I have made for myself in Albany.  On Saturday morning I got up early and met Jess for a long run.  Hers, as well as my friends I am at now, are homes that I do not knock on the front doors when I arrive, but just walk right in.  Because they make me feel so welcome and it just feels natural.  Jess and I had a great 18-mile training run and then her husband and kids, and my friends, all met up and we went to lunch.  On the drive back to their house, I was squished in the backseat of the car with her two kids and while we were driving, one of cuddled up on my shoulder, and the other grabbed and held on to my hand.

These little things are what I am so thankful for in my life.  Friends, both young and old, who have taken me into their families over the years.  And another of those that I was lucky enough to see this week is my friend Taslim, who was one of my first friends I met 6 years ago when I moved to Albany.  Although from totally different backgrounds, Taslim has welcomed me into her family and culture and I have now seen her home grow to include two beautiful and happy children who I have been fortunate enough to see and babysit over the years.  Last week we met for our annual end of August dinner in celebration of Ramadan and it was emotional for me to think of when we first met 6 years ago.  Taslim's friendship has taught me so much and opened me to such wonderful new things and I am so thankful for her loving heart, kind nature, and how much she has brought me into her life and family over the years.

There are so many other friends and people in Albany whose friendship fills me up and for which I am so grateful for.  I can't stop writing about it on the blog because I can't stop feeling overwhelming appreciation for these people in my life.  And you know what?  More than once in the past week I have also had conversations with people along the lines of, "I wish I had known you sooner!"  I continue to meet such loving and great people in this area that makes me sad and it's hard to leave.

Tomorrow I get on a plane and I'll be traveling for a couple of weeks, then returning to Albany at the end of September for one final week.  Saying goodbyes have been difficult and I have been avoiding them as much as possible.

I've spent a lot of this weekend just relaxing with friends, and I love when you are at the level of friendship where you don't need to be doing anything to be having a good time together.  Or when you are comfortable with silence with friends.  It's odd to say, but it's really special.

Anyways, I guess what I want to say in the end is that I am so grateful for the people in my life who have welcomed me into their lives over the years.  You are all so good to me and I do my best to return that to you.  Goodness only attracts more goodness.  E & J thank you for including me in your wedding day. My friends I have been staying with this weekend, thank you for not even questioning having me eat your food and do laundry in your place and including me in pizza Friday and waffle Saturday.  Thank you to my friends in Albany who have been coming out again and again making these last couple weeks SO much fun and filled with so many belly laughs that I am wondering why I ever wanted to move.  Thank you to my family, who understands that I am sometimes not the best with answering phone calls and returning texts, but that you are so important to me and I couldn't do anything without you.  Thank you to everyone who supports me and gives me the confidence to be able to move to a new city in a new part of the country.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for always being there for me and keeping me smiling.

Here goes nothing!