Race Review: B.A.A. Half Marathon

The logical thing to do a week after running a full marathon is to run a half marathon a week later, right? Well apparently I thought so, because on Sunday morning I ran the B.A.A. Half Marathon in Boston! I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I scheduled these two giant races a week apart from each other (#dummy) but once I register for a race I just gotta go for it. No bailing!

The B.A.A. Half (and basically every event sponsored by the B.A.A.) has a huge field of participants, so instead of having everyone attempt to find parking around Franklin Park where the race was taking place, they offered several different shuttles to the starting line. This meant I had to be up and out the door by 5:30AM so I could get to the shuttle by 6:30 and get to the starting line before the gun went off at 8AM. I arrived at the race site around 7:30, which was the perfect amount of time to pick up my race t-shirt, drop my bag off at the gear check, and meet up with Louie and Rachelle before heading to the starting line.

The participant field was roughly 7,000 people, so it took a solid 7-8 minutes between the starting horn going off and the time we were able to even start moving and cross the starting line. The first few miles were super congested and a stop for a bathroom break added 10 frustrating minutes to mile 3 due to how many people were in line - oof! I managed to semi-makeup for the loss of time, though, as miles 4, 5, and 6 were all sub-9 minutes (I usually try to hang around 10 minute splits)! The rest of the race was pretty par for me the course when it comes to running halves. My pace hung around 10:30/11 in the later miles, but as I got closer to the finish and the crowds increased a bit I got a little energy boost and tried to push myself a little harder! 

The last mile took us through Franklin Park Zoo which was so awesome! You could see the zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, cows, and a bunch of exotic birds which was a nice little motivator to push you across the finish line. This being the week after a marathon, though, my legs were really feeling it and the finish line could not come soon enough. As I rounded the corner of the Franklin Park track to the last straight away toward the finish I put everything I had left in me toward crossing the finish as quickly as I could and came across the finish line at 2:24:36. I know that if this race was scheduled for a different weekend I could have definitely done better, but I'm happy with my performance overall. It wasn't my best, but it wasn't my worst either, and at the end of the day I got to cross the finish line at catch one of those world famous B.A.A. unicorns!

One day I'll get to rock one of these beauties on the Boston Marathon medal, but I'm pretty pumped about this one! :)

I really enjoyed my time running this race and hopefully I'll be able to run in a few more of the B.A.A. races in the future. Louie, Rachelle, and I are hoping to participate in the B.A.A. 5K this upcoming April (I was informed to brace myself for an even bigger field of participants for that one!) so maybe I'll also attempt the 10K (and maybe even attempt the distance medley?) to just complete the collection! ;)

On a side note: Louie started a new blog called Whoosh! where he talks about his love of comic books and running! He recapped his experience from Sunday so make sure you stop over there and check it out!

Catching Up on the Last 5 Weeks! (Part 1)

I can't believe how long it's been since I've written a proper life update post! Things went so quickly at the end of the semester, just as I'd anticipated that they would. I always say the end of the year sneaks right up on us because we're busy right until the last second. This year was no different! It felt like I had events every single day, on top of finishing up my graduate work and trying to not pass out from exhaustion. Anyway, I have a LOT to catch up on, so I'm going to break this life update into two parts. (I'll post part #2 tomorrow!)

The day after the Boston Marathon, Springfest activities got underway! I always love the large scale, campus-wide events because I really get to see the students in action. It really is amazing how much they can accomplish as a group! Each event was a success (even with the rained out carnival) and we all had such a blast the entire week. I'm going to really miss PC next year when all of the Homecoming and Springfest photos pop up on social media!

Grilled cheese truck, hosted by the Cheese Connoisseurs Club!

A happy Springfest gift from former PC advisor Matt!

Rachel & Kevin loving the cookie bouquet!

Mid-week during Springfest I picked up my cap & gown for commencement which made things REALLY real! It was a great motivator, though, to keep pushing through all of the school work and reach the finish line of grad school. I had it hanging up on my closet door right next to my mirror so I could see it each day to keep me focused!

My regalia in all its glory.

The weekend after Springfest was the Dean Dash 5K! My family had run it last year so we thought we'd continue the tradition. Louie even joined us, only 5 days after running Boston! #champ This year's race was much larger and much better organized as well. It was a gorgeous day for a race and it's always good to have friends and family visiting my neck of the woods!

Giving Louie the sign we made him for the Marathon! It got a little destroyed by the rain...

The following week I had, what I liked to call, an #SAroadtrip! We all know that I basically lived in my car this year, but that week I truly, truly did. I commuted between Dean, Nichols, Bridgewater, Clark, and even an institution that I interviewed at in Western Massachusetts for a total of 5 different colleges, within 3 days! I traveled a total of 399 miles in a little under 72 hours... Yikes. Here were my tour stops:

Wednesday: Left Dean in the morning to commute to BSU for work, and then went out to Nichols to visit Brett for the night.

Watching Brett play a bit of pick-up basketball at Nichols while working on some homework.

Thursday: Had my last day of my internship at Clark :( where Joanne and Tim took me out to The Fix for a delicious lunch that consisted of burgers with espresso. bacon. What. (Guess who's the idiot who forgot to take a picture? Trust me, it was BOMB.) Then I commuted back to BSU for the Impact Awards that evening which were so much fun! (So proud of all of my PCers who took home awards!) I spent the evening back in my apartment at Dean.

The give away at this year's awards were selfie sticks, so of course it was selfies galore for the rest of the year!

Friday: Woke up and commuted out to Western Mass for my interview, made a stop at Nichols to say hi to Brett on the way back, then was on duty Friday evening at Dean. (And of course, I treated myself to Chipotle for champing out the last few days.)

Saying I was tired by the end of the trip would be an understatement, but I'm glad I have such a reliable car to get me everywhere! #DoryismyBFF

That Saturday Brett and I went out to dinner at the new Smash Burger (YUM) and just relaxed at home while I finished up an assignment for school. Sunday evening was the end-of-year ResLife banquet at Dean, and it was so sad to say goodbye to my wonderful CAs. It was so wonderful to have them on my staff this year and I'm going to miss them so much!

Monday marked the last day of classes for the BSU undergrads, so of course we had to go out with a bang which included Duck Day* and the rescheduled Springfest Carnival! The weather was absolutely perfect and made for a wonderful last day to hang out with the PC gang. We had so many people at the carnival which was awesome! It was such a great note on which to end my time as a PC advisor. Don't worry, I'm not crying... there's just dust in my eye...

Set-up selfie!

Pie a Panhel! With one of my favorite Greek women, Shannon!

Look at those lines! It got much more crowded as the event progressed.

Tuesday evening PC hosted their annual Production Crew dinner, which is for students who have gone above and beyond to contribute back to the organization. Even alumni are invited back, so long as they were inducted into Production Crew while they were students! It was great to catch up with some of the students I worked with last year, as well as to have the opportunity to really say goodbye to the wonderful organization that really impacted my time as a grad at BSU. (And the food was amazing!)

With some of my PC pals!

Candyland battle!

I'm going to wrap up this first part of my life update with my Portfolio Defense that happened on Wednesday of that week. I had been working on my portfolio all semester long and it was so great to just have it be done with. However, I was the last person to defend, meaning I had to sit through six 25-minute presentations before I could present my own, which of course gave my nerves plenty of time to build. I'm pretty sure I blacked out during the entire presentation and I probably sounded like an idiot, but I PASSED which meant I was graduating for real! Such an amazing feeling to be done with that portion of my grad school experience. Our Internship course instructor took us out for drinks and appetizers to celebrate after we were done!

My outfit for the defense!

Pre-defense selfie with Brit!

Post-defense Mai Tai *heart eyes Emoji*

I still have a ton to catch you up on, so make sure you check back tomorrow for part two!

*Duck Day is an awesome program that PC puts on. Staff members hide rubber ducks all around campus, and each duck corresponds with a prize. When students find ducks, they turn them in for those prizes, ranging from a back of candy all the way up to an iPad! Students will climb trees, go through bushes, and look literally EVERYWHERE to find the ducks. It's one of the most entertaining things to witness!

I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE, Y'ALL

...I really wasn't kidding when I told you this end-of-year nonsense was going to be insane. It's been almost a month since I've stopped in to just give you guys an update of all that's been going on. I feel like I'm just starting to catch a little bit of a break, buuuuuut today is also the start of Springfest at BSU (though our event today was postponed due to weather) so it'll be another week of craziness on tap for me.

What have I been up to lately? More like, what haven't I been up to lately. Much like my previous life update, I'm going to try and put everything into list form to help organize my thoughts a bit.

A quick selfie before opening the doors of Spree Day!

1. Every major event ever! Last week was Spree Day at Clark and Greek Week at BSU. This week is Springfest at BSU. Next week is Impact Awards at BSU. The week after that is the Last Hurrah (yet another full day of programming) at BSU. Basically, April is the month of major events in Student Affairs land meaning long hours and late nights, but these events are awesome and are basically my favorite thing to plan and see. (I always say it's a good thing that I love what I do because I spend a LOT of time doing it!) I swear when the semester is over I'm going to have zero idea what to do with myself.

2. DROWNING IN HOMEWORK. Actually it's not all that bad, but my capstone project has been taking up the bulk of my attention as of late. For my capstone, I'm creating an online portfolio of all of my experiences over the past two years as a grad student. I need to make sure it looks supah professional, because on May 6th I will be presenting it to a committee of three faculty members and then defending it well enough so I can graduate. NO PRESSURE. So needless to say, I will be pouring over that until I officially pass it in and can't make any more edits to it on April 29th. Yikes city. Maybe when it's done I'll share it with you all! :)

3. Getting back into the swing of running. I set a goal for myself to workout at least 2-3 times a week during the months of April and May now that the weather is nicer, and so far it's going well! The sun is up earlier and stays out later which makes finding time to run SO much easier, and I'm on my way to getting back to my old running self that I left behind in the fall. I have a half marathon target for mid-June and a goal for my third marathon in early October, so hopefully that works out!

4. OBSESSING OVER TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOKS. You guys know that I'm planner obsessed. I don't know what it was, but a few weeks ago I decided I just needed to do more research on traveler's notebooks. So I watched a few set-up videos on YouTube. And then I watched some more. And then I watched a couple DIY videos. And then I thought "I could totally make one of those". And then I totally made one. I'm in love. Every time I use it it gets more and more character and I'm hooked. I'll for sure be writing a blog post and making a video walking you through my set-up when things settle down a bit (and I'll likely do a DIY video and post as well), but until then here's a picture of my notebook in all its glory!

*heart eyes Emoji*

5. Job searching on the ~daily~. It's an every day routine at this point for me. Click onto the job boards, save the descriptions I like, write up a cover letter and send it on its merry way. Then obsessively check my Gmail for any updates and get sad when business hours are over. Brittany and I have been calling the last few weeks "Rejection Season" as we've been receiving more "no"s than "yes"s at this point. Kinda scary, but part of the process. In the meantime, I was invited to come back to work with BSU's Orientation program during the end of May and through June, so at least that's something tiding me over while I continue the search! (Plus I had such a wonderful time last year that I am pretty pumped to be joining the team again this year!)

6. Cheering on runners in the Boston Marathon! Cassie and I ventured down to the starting line for the marathon today. It's not far from Dean at all and I had never been to the starting line before, and since my friend Louie was running this year I thought it would be the best year to check it out! We made a sign for Louie (which quickly got destroyed by the rain) and got a really awesome spot at the starting line, right on the barricade. Unfortunately we didn't see Louie go by (there was 7,500 runners in each wave, so no surprise there) but we had a blast cheering everyone on despite the cold, rainy weather!

The sign before the rain destroyed it.

We're in the home stretch, people. Only 2 internship days, 5 class days, 5 assignments, 21 days of the semester, and 23 total days 'til graduation! I am so close to the finish line it is unreal, and I can NOT wait until I can finally check this accomplishment off my list. Again, apologies for the lack of updates between now and graduation, but I'll do my best to keep up with everything. I still have a few vacation posts to share with you all, so stay tuned! :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful April, and I'll write very soon! <3

Wolf Hollow Half Marathon

Last weekend I ran the Wolf Hollow Half Marathon! This was a race I found randomly through Running in the USA when I was searching for a half to sign up for, and I invited a few people to join me (as I do with every race I register for). Surprisingly, 5 people decided to sign up and join so we had a pretty solid crew of people all running the same day - both of my parents, Louie and his girlfriend, and my student Cassie, who was running her first half! My parents and Louie and his girlfriend signed up for the 2-person relay, while Cassie and I both signed up for the full race.

The race was located in Nashua, NH and the course itself was beautiful! The majority of the course went through Mines Fall Park, and with a New Hampshire autumn in full swing, it made for a beautiful backdrop during the run. The course for the full race was two loops, which I thought I wasn't going to enjoy (the idea of having the same scenery during a long run is always hard for me to imagine I'd like) but it was actually really nice to know where I was on the course the second time around and imagine how much of the race I had left.

It was a super gorgeous day (unseasonably warm for late-November in NH!) and we all crossed the finish line and got awesome medals (definitely my favorite one so far this year!). We celebrated afterward with a lunch at Shorty's. Overall it was a great day, and a wonderful way to close out my long-distance race schedule for the year! (Now it's time to look into races for 2015... yikes!)

Finishers!

25 Before 25: Accomplish a Multi-Distance Race Series (#13)

Sunday I ran the YuKan Triple Threat Challenge in Rockport, MA with Louie and his girlfriend Rachelle! The Triple Threat is a race series that consists of a 1 mile, 5K (3.1 miles), and a half marathon (13.1 miles) totaling at 17.2 miles for the day. Not going to lie, I was extremely nervous to attempt this race. I haven't been going the long distances that I should be with my training this summer (the longest I went before this race was 9 miles) so the thought of completing 17.2 was pretty daunting. Brett was an amazing support though (I love when he comes to be support crew at my races!), and reminded me that I've run a full marathon less than a year ago, so I'd definitely be able to finish this challenge, no matter how painful it may be. ...and painful it was!

The 1 mile, 5K, and the first 9 miles of the half were fine, but those last 4.1 miles felt like death. My legs hurt, I was dehydrated, I had a headache, and I honestly thought I was going to be sick, but I made it across the finish line (with some breaks to stretch my legs and walk in between - not something I like to do during races for pride reasons, haha) and got my finisher's medal. I usually see medals as awesome souvenirs to remember my accomplishments by, and it's only once in a while that I actually feel that I earn the medal, but that day I worked my booty off and definitely earned it!

I would absolutely do this race again, with a bit more training under my belt. The area is beautiful (but pretty hilly, which may have been the source of a lot of pain), YuKan is a great company, and I always have a great time running with them, even if my legs feel like falling off at the end of the race!

Check out the vlog from the day of the races below!

*I'm attempting to reach 25 goals before I reach the age of 25! Want to see the whole list? Check it out here!

25 Before 25: Have Coffee or Drinks with a Previous Mentor (#10)

A few weeks ago, Louie and I went out to dinner and drinks with our former Lasell supervisor and mentor, Jenny! I met Jenny through Lasell's Leadership Scholar program, and through working with her and the program I got involved with the college in ways that I would have never thought possible - becoming an Orientation Leader, Peer Mentor for other Leadership Scholars, Resident Assistant, working for Career Services... everything under the sun! Without the support and encouragement from her and the program, I probably wouldn't have gone down the student leader path and probably wouldn't have wound up chasing a Student Affairs career. She's a major factor of why I am where I am in my life, and I can't thank her enough!

From left to right: Me, Jenny, and Louie!

Jenny invited me back to Lasell next month to speak to a group of undergraduate student leaders about my experience at Lasell, and I can't wait to go back and see how the Leadership Program has developed since I've left! It just goes to show that staying in touch with those that make a significant impact in your life (beyond just when you need something from them) can really make a difference in where your life goes. Keep those relationships that are important to you and make the effort to stay connected - even if it's just an email to say hello!

Thanks for all you've done and still do for me, Jenny! 

*I'm attempting to reach 25 goals before I reach the age of 25! Want to see the whole list? Check it out here!

LudaChristmas 2013!

Merry Christmas Eve, everybody! I hope everyone's having a nice holiday, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you're having a fabulous week! I thought I'd celebrate the 24th by sharing some pictures from the Christmas party Brett and I threw on Friday! (Endearingly called LudaChristmas, because of my 30 Rock obsession.)

With the end of my first semester of grad school approaching and our perfectly sized living space, we thought it would be awesome to invite our friends over for a Friendsmas of sorts. Thus, the first annual LudaChristmas was scheduled, ugly sweaters were purchased, and delicious snacks were cooked to share with our bestest of buds. We listened to holiday themed music, played holiday themed games, and had an all-together holiday themed good time!

Two of my very favorite guys :)

Jimmy & Kristen!

 

Jimmy & Tywan getting silly

Ah, yes. The elusive Daniel Bryan photo. The story of this pic takes us back to October when Nick, Louie and I all ran the Hartford Marathon. Almost at every photographer the three of us ran by as a group, we pulled this pose. All of us were excited to receive that photo back from the photography company, as we all planned to buy it, print it, and frame it. Lo and behold, when the race photos were released, this one didn't make the cut. *le sigh* That race just never fails to disappoint. Oh well, at least we have the photo now, right? :P

Can't have a party without a little dance party action, right?

It was a spectacular night, and I hope to turn LudaChristmas into a yearly holiday tradition! :)

25%

As of the publication of this blog post, I am officially 25% done with grad school! 

(Barring that I failed all of my finals. That would be awkward... >_>)

Yes, as of 6:40pm this evening, I am done with my first semester of grad school. I don't know how I survived, buuuut I did. Somehow. And aside from all of the migraines and stress it caused, it really wasn't all that bad! I'm happy with my decision to get into this program. I feel like I'm learning so much and am totally on the right path, even though most of the time I feel like this.

As much as I love my #SAgrad life, I'm beyond thrilled to have a bit of vacation (despite one of my professors already assigning one of my spring classes to read an entire textbook over break... -_-). I'm celebrating this evening by going to see Brett play some indoor 8 vs. 8 football and having a celebratory drink! (Yes, there's a bar at the field.) 

We're also having a wonderfully tacky Christmas party this Friday and ICAN'TFREAKINGWAIT. Ugly sweaters, egg nog, Christmas music, and pretty much all of our friends in one place. Yes, please. I'm so stoked. Such an incredible way to kick off winter break! Here's a little preview of my tacky sweater:

I rocked it during the Happy Holidays Half Merrython earlier in the month!

I'm sure I'll be posting shortly after our get together with everyone's horrible holiday get-ups! 

I hope everyone's enjoying their holiday season so far! :)

Lately...

Hello friends! I know it's been awhile since I've given any sort of life update, so I thought I'd drop in and tell ya what I've been up to lately!

I spent Turkey Day with Brett's family! I mentioned a bit ago that I wouldn't be spending Thanksgiving with my own family, due to having extremely  busy lives and traveling far being a bit inconvenient because of that. Brett and his family gladly opened their doors to me and I spent a lovely day with them (rudely interrupted by a migraine -_-). Brett showed me the local Thanksgiving Eve tradition, we attended the Millis/Medway Thanksgiving Day football game, and I even got to try some deep friend turkey for the first time! :D Overall a really great experience, and I'm very grateful that they took me in for the holiday!

Brett and I braved the crazies and went Black Friday shopping! Being a retail veteran myself, I am not a fan of Black Friday starting at 6pm on Thanksgiving, as it prevents those who are working from spending time with their loved ones for the holiday. We waited like good customers until 1AM to get into Target for our brand new Nintendo 3DSXL's and Pokemon X & Y. It actually wasn't a terrible experience, either! We grabbed 2 DSs 2 games, paid, and were out the door in 10 minutes. Success!

I ran a half marathon and rocked an ugly sweater through the whole thing! Sunday was the Happy Holidays Half Merrython out in Gloucester, MA. Louie and I signed up right after completing Hartford, then promptly completely forgot to train. Well, I wouldn't say forgot, but life sort of picked up and I prioritized actually spending time on my homework over training. Pretty reasonable trade off, right? APPARENTLY NOT. My body was really mad at me, to say the least. Up until about mile 10 I felt generally good (which is still pretty decent!) but after that it was very difficult to finish the race. I know I made the right choice of prioritizing my school work, but I think I'm going to double check my schedule before signing up for a long distance race next time! Regardless, I had a wonderful time seeing my parents and Louie, so it all worked out in the end! (And I finished! YAY ACCOMPLISHING GOALS!)

What have you all been up to lately?