Still Kickin’

Posted on June 14, 2013 by

I’m still here, I’m still around. Promise! I’ve been finalizing a job offer (eeek!) and figuring out where the FI and I will be living. Keep an eye out for a big announcement soon here on the blog :-)

First, check out my race schedule on the right sidebar. This might give some things away, but I will push through my hatred of running in the summer to continue my #yearofthehalfmary

I’ll also leave you with some pretty pretty pictures that our future wedding photographer Jen Fariello took for us a little over a month ago.

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<3 how these came out!

What’s new in your life?

Summer races? 

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Happy National Running Day!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by

National Runners Day How are you celebrating? 

Posted in active life, Celebrate!, Healthy, running | 3 Comments

GoT got you down?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Um, you and everyone else! Me included. Wow, what a depressing week to be a Game of Thrones fan. Here’s something to cheer you up

gotNothing like the Lannisters in their snuggies to lighten the mood. Or Jon Snow (swoon) as a hipster

jonsnow

 

Want more cheering up? Check this out

Back this week with my race and weekend recap as well as some new tunes! :-)

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A2 –> WV

Posted on May 31, 2013 by

Happy Friday friends!

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I’m just wrapping up another busy week of writing, interviewing, teaching (yup, along with talking about my research I get to teach grad students on my on-campus, day-long interviews, yipeee!), and very little sleep. I’m actually feeling pretty good right now despite the lack of sleep so let’s roll with it.

I have 2 conference calls today for my research jobs and then I’m OFF to drive to Pittsburgh to pick up my sister who is flying in from NYC. Then we will be driving one more hour to Morgantown, where the FI will be waiting for us :-) I haven’t seen him all week and I miss him!!! (<— that is overly mushy and annoying, I know).

mcWe won’t be getting into Morgantown until really late…that always seems to happen to me the night before a race! I’m excited although admittedly a little hesitant about this race for other reasons too. If you’ve been with me long enough on here, you know the troubles I have running in the heat and humidity (last summer: fainting, migraines, heat exhaustion, etc). It’s actually the main reason why I decided not to train for and run any full marathons this year. It just wasn’t worth having to put in all the mileage during the crazy hot and humid Virginia summer. Saturday in West Virginia looks like it will be 90 degrees so I’m really nervous about how I’ll feel when I am running. There’s no “pushing through” my heat sensitivity since I feel like I will faint (literally I will feel like I am blacking out), so I might just have to implement a walk-run strategy. UGHHHH not what I was planning but I gotta work with my body.

REMEMBER THIS?

heat exhaustion during the Alexandria Half Marathon

I still have fond memories of that race even though it was hotter than a mother and I had to walk-run the last 4 miles. It’s so fun to do these things with my twin sis. I just can’t believe it’s been a year since we ran this race in D.C.!

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looking fresh and ready to go at the start of the race

 After the race on Saturday we’re driving back up to Pittsburgh and staying there for the night. We have tickets to go see a Pirates game so that should be fun! Last time I was in Pittsburgh it was summer of 2009, before I moved to Charlottesville, so it’ll be cool to go back.

me in pittAlright, I’m off to go on the first of 2 conference calls today then I’ll be jamming in my car all the way to Pennsylvania.

What do you have on tap for this weekend? Any fun plans? 

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What This Week’s All About

Posted on May 28, 2013 by

Thank you for all of your kind words on my last post about my PhD graduation!!! Real quick, head on over to the Charlottesville Wedding Blog to check out my 3rd post (a short one) as bride blogger :-)

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I know, the posts are getting few and far in between. I’ve been traveling all over the darn place going on interviews and trying to figure out where the FI and I will be moving to later this summer. I have major issues with change, something I can’t even start to write about today. But I have been formulating this post in my head about my issues with change and I can’t wait to get it out (maybe later this week). For now, I’m back in Ann Arbor for a final interview. Then on Friday I drive to Pittsburgh to pick up my sister so we can run the Decker’s Creek Half Marathon on Saturday in Morgantown, WV. Looks like it is going to be a scorcher! <–let’s not forget what happened last year when I ran that crazy hot half marathon with my sister over Memorial Day weekend. I don’t do well in the heat!

deckers2013So I have another fun weekend planned (this past weekend was my friend’s birthday and we had a two day celebration!).

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Typical Sunday afternoon in Cville: Hanging at at Polo at King Family Vineyards

I just have to get through this week first!

How was your Memorial Day weekend? 

What are you most excited for this summer? 

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Posted in active life, balanced life, Celebrate!, life in cville, professional life, social life, traveling | 3 Comments

That’s all she wrote

Posted on May 21, 2013 by

After 4 years of writing, studying, presenting,  analyzing…and writing, it’s officially over. I have graduated with my PhD, an incredible feat, especially considering the imposter syndrome I used to struggle with. Getting a PhD–the highest degree a university confers–is not easy, if it was everyone would do it. I’m more proud of myself today than I ever have been. I have worked so hard toward something great, persevered through many challenges, and accomplished something BIG :-)

I feel very emotional when I think about the past 4 years. My first year was ROUGH personally but the rest were all so memorable (if not just ridiculously stressful). I grew up big time over the past 4 years and accomplished many personal and professional things.  This past weekend was a celebration of everything I worked toward and it feels like it’s the end of an era.

DSC_0363DSC_0379DSC_0395DSC_0431SAMSUNGDSC_0510DSC_0518DSC_0461DSC_044218SAMSUNGDSC_0477SAMSUNGI have been blessed to have had so much support from family and friends throughout this whole journey. I now feel a bit of what we runners call post-marathon blues. You train for so long for an event, then it comes and it is AMAZING, then you’re left feeling like “now what”. I know that I am just starting my career in academics, but it is still a bit bittersweet to know that my time as a PhD student is over.

I hope writing about my new experiences on this blog will help me to figure out the new chapter that is starting in my life. Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and provided such encouraging, supportive comments over the past two and a half years. It’s been an incredible ride and I can’t wait to set my next goal…and get after it.

Have you ever struggled with a “post-event” or “post-race” depression (where you worked hard toward a goal, achieved the goal, and felt a bit depressed after it was all over)? 

What is your favorite way to celebrate a big accomplishment? 

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Posted in balanced life, Celebrate!, Happy, life in cville, professional life | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Let the Commencement Commence!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

This past week was a doozy. I flew in to A2 for a quick trip and to interview for a job. Then by the time I came back, it was time to see my family again this weekend. They are on their way to Cville now for my PhD graduation this weekend :-) I can’t wait to see my diploma with my NAME on it! <–yep, I get my actual diploma, which at Virginia is HUGE (literally, the document is much larger than diplomas from other institutions, it’s going to dwarf both of my masters’ diplomas LOL). Tomorrow is my hooding ceremony and then on Sunday I get my hands on my diploma! I’ve been in school A LONG TIME. I have a bachelors, a master’s in teaching, and a master’s degree (and somehow I worked for 3 full years in my 20s). I can honestly say this is my last time in school ever, which is so sad to me because I love love love it. I guess that’s why I’m staying in academics.

We have a little saying here at UVa, which comes from the historic poem “Honor Men” by James Hay Jr. It highlights the prestige and honor one gets from graduating from the University of Virginia, one of the public ivy’s:

“Remembering the purple shadows of the lawn, the majesty of the colonnades, and the dream of your youth, you may say in reverence and thankfulness: ‘I have worn the honors of Honor, I graduated from Virginia.’” 

I truly love this institution and will always be proud that I earned the highest degree that a university confers from it. My Phd is by far my greatest achievement to date.

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To start out my weekend right, I got in a 9 mile run on the TM. How’d it go? Ehh, May has been a tough month of running for me. Just tons of aches and pains. Hoping I’ll feel better in a few weeks for Decker’s Creek.

tm run

Now it’s time to get ready for the partying to begin!!! I’ll leave you with this interesting runner’s world article that reports on a study investigating whether it is possible to categorize running injuries by distance and speed.

runningwarticleWhat would you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Any fun plans for the weekend? 

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Posted in life in cville, professional life, running, The Good Life | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments