Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Unemployment!

For the next 36 days I am officially unemployed! (Believe me, I am very grateful its not a long term thing!) But for now, I'm going to enjoy it :) Yesterday, Bryan and I spent the day relaxing here since its the one thing I'll be missing in SLC. Bryan was finally able to read a non-radiology book!


And who says you can't enjoy a glass (or 2...or 3!) of champagne on a Tuesday night?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The End Of An Era!

On Sunday night, I settled onto my couch to watch the series finale of what I would consider one of the best TV shows ever. EVER! I, like millions of other people, have watched every episode, repeatedly asked "what??" about 1,000,000 times during the last 6 seasons, and anxiously awaited any answers Damon and Carlton would give.

The end of LOST was also symbolic of the end of something else. On Monday, I walked out of my office at work for the last time. No, it wasn't as dramatic as all the characters gathering in a church and walking into the light, but it was pretty significant for me. This was my first job after grad school. My group is pretty tight and when I say that no one leaves, I seriously mean that NO ONE leaves this group! People retire or have babies, but in my 5 years there no one has left for another company. Several of my coworkers, including my boss, have been there for 15+ years!

They threw me a wonderful party and gave me a very generous skiing gift for Utah!

Doesn't everyone want their picture on a cake after running 26 miles?

I am so blessed to have worked with such a great group of people. I'm ready to move on from the work, but I'll definitely miss the people. I'd like to say I cried more watching LOST but its just not true...I've never been very good at saying goodbye. Luckily I have two great coworkers that took me out for some drinks!

So yes, its the end of an era on two fronts. I'm glad to have a plan for the next era but still not sure what I'll be watching on TV next season?

Monday, May 10, 2010

A New Adventure

So as you may have noticed, my posts the last few weeks have been, well, non-existent. There has been a lot going on in my life which has occupied my time, energy, and basically entire thought process (all this in addition to a post-marathon work trip to Seattle). But the time has come to get back to blogging and share an exciting next step (no, I'm not yet joining Kara and Paula!).

I've alluded to changes in the past, but we are finally able to share this with you. This June (yes as in a month from now) Bryan and I are leaving our home for the past 8+ years in Boston and setting out for a new adventure in Salt Lake City!

He will be finishing his Residency here and has taken a fellowship position out there so we are preparing to back our belongings, the two cats, and drive across the county in a little over a month. We are both really excited about the move as we've been East Coasters all our lives and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out another part of the country before kids and houses and other grown up stuff come into play.

So as you can imagine, we've been busy preparing for this move (and Bryan's studying for his final Board exam at the end of May). I am very lucky that I had a couple job offers to choose from and finally decided on an engineering position at a small company right in SLC. I gave my notice at my current job last week. And then last weekend we also found a house to rent (yes, an actual house!) in the neighborhood of SLC that we wanted with lots of extra bedrooms for visitors :)

I definitely plan to continue blogging during our move and about our new life in Utah. It might have more posts about skiing and hiking than running, but I'm excited about the opportunity to do some trail running (there's a canyon right by our house!).

Looking forward to sharing this new adventure with you all and definitely come out to visit anytime!

PS. Save the jokes about Bryan wanting to move there so he can have more than one wife....we've heard them all ;)

PPS. He couldn't handle more than one of me!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sarah's "could this have taken any longer" Boston Race Reflections

***A note - I started writing this early last week and just got around to finishing it, hence the date of the post***

I don't know if I should call this a race report or not because its more of a relection on the day rather than the technical details of splits and pace. But for the non-runners reading, this is probably more interesting!

To start, I really shouldn't be the one writing this RR. There was nothing particularly interesting or exciting about my race - start slow, fairly even splits, Heartbreak Hill, cheering fans, finish line on Boyleston - same as my first 2 Bostons. What made this race so special was not the race itself but rather racing it with my husband...so he should be the one writing this RR! But since that's not going to happen, I'll do my best!

The Boston Marathon has always been associated with fun memories for me. Before I was a runner, I enjoyed cheering on the runners from Coolidge Corner. Then I became a runner and enjoyed all those people cheering for me. I can honestly say that this year's Boston Marathon was the most fun and memorable marathon that I have ever ran! Getting to experience the race with Bryan - seeing his nervousness at the start, his excitement as we started running, his push up the hills, his determination (and pain) through the late miles, and the huge smile on his face when we crossed that finish line - well I can't imagine a better time!

Because Bryan was a charity runner, we started in the back. The waaaaaay back. Like corral 27 out of 27. While we did a lot of weaving during the first 2 miles, this was also a bit of a blessing as it kept us from going out too fast (a common mistake on this course). We hit our stride by mile 3 and I think we were both surprised how fast the miles were ticking off. All of a sudden we were at the 10k and we both looked at each other in surprise....it went by so fast! The crowds were awesome - probably the best I've seen for this race - and we were soaking in all of it.

Bryan was feeling so good that I had to keep reeling his pace in for the first 16 miles. He kept saying "but it feels so easy" and my response was "Good! I'm trying to make it feel easy for as long as possible!" I'm not sure if he believed me then, but I think by about mile 23 he was glad I did that ;) It was fun to see him enjoying it so much and I think he finally got why I love running marathons, especially Boston.

He powered up the hills which was great because it forced me to power up them too (he's a stronger hill runner than I am). And as his mind started playing tricks on him in the late miles begging him to stop running, I was there to push him along. We really are a great team!

As tired and as hurting as he was at the end, seeing the smile on his face as we ran down Boyleston (seriously did they move the finish line even further down the street this year?!?) put the biggest smile on my face. I was so proud of him and honestly a bit relieved myself since I was the once who created his training plan and coached him!

And since this is a RR, here are the technical details:

Finish time - 3:42:14
Average Pace - 8:29

Split - 2 minute positive split....not bad on this course!

5k - 26:43
10k - 52:51
15k - 1:18:41
20k - 1:44:36
13.1 miles - 1:50:17
25k - 2:10:14
30k - 2:37:21
35k - 3:04:02
40k - 3:30:57

So while it wasn't my fastest marathon, it was my fastest Boston Marathon and hands down my most fun marathon experience!

At the Expo

Our stomping ground...we must have run those hills 30+ times during training!

In Boston Common ready for the long ride out to Hopkinton (7:00am!)

Some of our fabulous cheering section at mile 3.5
(I say this every year but we couldn't have done it without their support!)

Coming by at mile 3.5

Waving hi and bye at the same time as we zip by!

We spot our very large cheering section at mile 18!

Finished! Medals, check...space blankets, check...huge smiles, CHECK!

Our coveted Boston Marathon jackets....Bryan learned that this is how you earn it!