Here comes the sun

It's been hot and humid in central VA so far this week. This echos my mood. I'm in my last week of work, I got my final grade in Human Anatomy (A!! I can't believe I thought I was going to fail that class!!), and I'm getting ready to start a brand new academic program. I feel like this stage of my life I've been in since college, where I've been waiting for the next big thing to happen, is finally ending.

It's not that I've been unhappy in Charlottesville, especially since Jacob moved in with me. I've loved living with him for the past year! It's just that I haven't felt fulfilled or like I was moving forward. But now I am!

I'm working on changing my attitude, too. Focusing less on things that don't matter, and more on my attitude towards myself. I want to be the healthiest, happiest person I can be. And I am trying to remember that I am only accountable to myself. Only I will know if I eat too many calories in a day, and it's just myself I'm cheating. Only I have to live with the time I get in a race. I don't even have to tell anyone else what my time was if I don't want to! I'm trying to take responsibility for myself, and also try to care less what other people think. I'm responsible for my own happiness.

2 more days of work after today! There's a mood lifter if I ever saw one!

Half marathon recap

2:02:35!! I was pretty happy with that time. In the past few weeks, I've been feeling kind of lazy during my runs. Like I just don't want to pick up and go. So I was worried about this race. Even standing on the starting line, I just didn't feel 'in the zone' like I usually am before races. Maybe because it was a smaller race, and there wasn't a big crowd of spectators, I just wasn't fired up. I did run my first mile in 9:05. Negative split FAIL. I slowed down a little once I realized the mistake I had made, and I kept pretty steady for the rest of the race actually. Because it was a small race, they had these little tiny signs stuck in the grass to mark the miles. I kept missing them! For much of the race I had absolutely no idea what pace I was running. I just kept going how I felt, and it worked out OK. I felt better during the race than I had in the 10 miler, even though it was every bit as hot. It was VERY hot. And sunny. And there were gentle rolling hills all along the course... nothing huge, but definitely enough to slow you down a bit. Mile 11 was the worst, it had lots of steep little ups and downs. I do so much better on long gradual hills than short steep hills. So overall, I was so happy to finish in 2:02:35! My previous half marathon time (from Richmond in the fall) was 2:06:09, and that was an easier course on a MUCH cooler day. So yay for me!

Other fun activities over the weekend:
making pizza
eating pizza
making cookies
eating cookies
running
eating bagels
wine tasting
beer tasting
eating bagette with goat cheese and dried cherries
watching the Kentucky Derby
eating veggies
drinking water
setzer spritzers with cranberry apple juice
lounging by the pool
addressing 150 envelopes for Relay for Life
sunburn
eating ice cream
eating enchiladas

Yes, much of my weekend was spent fueling/refueling for the race. It was lovely. I don't think I gained weight overall either, or maybe just a pound.

This week will be a light exercise week. I think I'll go for a 3 or 4 mile easy jog today, unless it's raining, in which case I will gym it. We'll just have to wait and see!