On March 25th, a week after LA Marathon, I broke my 52 day run streak. It wasn’t necessarily on purpose, as I had every intention of running at least one mile that Sunday! I ran after my 20 mile training run and the LA Marathon, I ran when I was feeling under the weather and I ran on vacation in New Orleans! What happened, you ask? I think as I’ve mentioned before, I quit my job a couple months ago and have been picking up weekend gigs in the time being. I worked a street fair, which was going to be a 12 hour day on top of the hour getting there and coming home. I packed my run clothes, I indulged in too much fried food, and I decided to get a couple beers afterwards. We got home at 11:30 and I was done. I thought I’d lie down for 10 minutes and woke with a start at 12:10am. The day was officially over. My run streak was broken.

Running the LA Big 5k, day 45 of the streak.

I had a feeling this was going to happen soon, as I cut it pretty close a few nights, the most memorable one at 11:58pm. I was getting tired and into a mindset of “I have to run” not “I get to run”. What started out as a fun one mile everyday, was becoming a chore.

But the two days that followed in which I did not run, and finally just recovered, were depressing. Sure, I could’ve just picked up the next day, but I wanted to wallow. I wanted to see what not running every day felt like. Yesterday, the 28th, I had enough. I went for a three mile run. It was clunky. I felt as if I hadn’t run in weeks! But still, I ran! And so the run streak starts over. I like the commitment. While everything else in my life is touch and go – where Mike and I are going to live next and getting a stable job instead of picking up gigs, the daily runs gave me a ritual that even if I dreaded, I actually really looked forward to. I had my virtual run club, a few more streakers, that I liked checking in with every day and talking about our runs with.

A 52 day run streak is nothing to scoff at either! Not bad for my first go!

The week and a half after the LA Marathon has also been a weird time. Real life has set in now that the marathon, the training runs, the ambassadorship and the excitement is over. I need a job to go to. Resumes have been updated, cover letters written and applications sent out. More gigs have been picked up, which I’m grateful for.

Happiness is a finished marathon (run streak day 46) and being invited back as an ambassador!

I also got an email yesterday stating that I’m going to be an ambassador again for the 2018/19 season!

In about a week Mike and I go up to the Bay Area to run Rock’N Roll San Francisco, and about two weeks after that we head to Zion for another half marathon. It’s exciting to have these races on the horizon. I’m from the Bay Area, and lived in San Francisco for about 4 years before moving to LA, so I’m excited to go home and run those hills. I’ve never been to Zion before, and I have no idea what to expect! That trip will probably be a mix of motels and camping, and I’m not expecting to run it quickly; I’d rather run side-by-side with Mike and take it all in with him.

I also have the goal of going back to RnR San Diego and getting a course PR. I’d have to beat 2:09:45. If I want to PR the half marathon, I’ll have to beat 2:06:08. I’m consistently not hitting my goals, but I’m also running longer distances more than ever, without a focus on speed or hill training. It’s the end of March and I have til the beginning of June for San Diego, which is perfect!

I can’t help but feel like I’m in a strange crossroads of my life right now. I don’t know where Mike and I are going to live, I don’t know where I’m going to work, but the constants with running help keep me focused and looking forward!