It is time

It's been over two years since I wrote my last blog. As I sit here in the Ford dealership waiting (for a very long time) for my oil to be changed and car inspection/emissions test (that is nearly three months overdue), I decided to finally get to it. I've gone to write this post a number of times over the past two years, but the timing never felt right. So today, after a complete breakdown (at work no less) yesterday morning to my two bosses, I feel good. I guess I needed to get shit out. I apologize for the rambling and what probably seems like a whack job of a blog post, but this is what you're getting.

Since we moved the PA over two years ago, it took me a long time, really, until just about this moment for me to adjust to not living in New England. There was a huge adjustment to moving away from family, friends, and let's be honest, it was everything I had ever known. I live in a state with state income tax, sales tax, you even get charged sales tax when you go to pay to file your required state tax return! What! Seriously! Agh! There are some great things we have discovered though, MusikFest, Celtic Classic, The Bookstore and this is where we found Teddy! Now 5-7 hours away, depending on traffic. I had a job I enjoyed and worked with people I really enjoyed and thoroughly miss seeing everyday. Still, to this day. I had some adjusting to do. I fell out of sync with my training, all 2014 race fees were out the door, including an IM. Then 2015 came, I signed up for a 70.3, a marathon and a half marathon. I figured I would keep it simple (because a half-ironman is sooooo simple), my only accomplishment, the half-marathon. I gained 20 lbs over the last two years, it's really quite disgusting when you think about it. We got a membership at the local YMCA, it was my first time being a member at a Y, and this YMCA was gross. About nine months into living here when we got out of on campus housing into our a place we could finally call our own home, I discovered a new pool. A gorgeous pool, they had an indoor and outdoor pool! It was pretty clean too, which is obviously important. I bought a year membership for our household, we swam maybe 20 times over the last 12 months. Why? Other than trying to adjust and get into a new routine, there's really no good answer. My motivation probably was not there, I was sad and missing home. 3-4 mornings a week I would drive to work and swim at the pool on campus, shower and walk across campus to the office. How easy is that on your stress budget? EASY! It also did not help that Bethlehem, PA and the Lehigh Valley have a tremendous amount of craft beer places for us to try out. I'm currently 9 beers away from my first mug at Porter's Pub! That's a lot of bad macros right there, but oh so good.

My job was difficult for me to adjust to as well. I won't get into the details on here, but those who know me well, have heard me digress already about this. Well, I am happy to say, our office is finally in a good place, with some new hires and positivity. At my last job, of which I was lucky enough to be at for almost seven years, I was feeling successful and on the upward track. I felt so lucky to be able to have the same job for that long, in a world where the typical college graduate changes careers 7 times over their lifetime. I had seen many people I graduated college and high school with change jobs once, twice even more than that! After I left, I felt lucky enough to have had my experience at SNHU. You think it's always going to be greener on the other side, but it's often not. I feel so grateful to have had my experience at a progressive institution and bring that to a new small, liberal arts college where we really are something a little revolutionary.

So here we are in 2016, in September for Steve's birthday I took him to a cross fit class. He has been wanting to try this FOR YEARS, so what the heck! We tried it, enjoyed it, joined the gym two days later. I've never liked cross fit on TV, it wasn't something that interested me, except maybe the strength component. My biggest weakness has been my strength. Actually, for my first official off-season in 2012, I asked Tim at QT2 if I could do cross fit during the off-season to work on my strength, after talked about it, I decided against it. I needed to understand the purpose of the off-season, the amazing 3 weeks of no scheduled workouts. I enjoyed gaining 10 lbs (lost it relatively quickly) and sleeping in. Well, I've been sleeping in for 24 months. My two year off-season needed to come to an end. I felt sluggish, always tired, I was getting sick A LOT. So basically, I felt like 50% of Americans do everyday. I hated it. I felt disgusting and was sickened with myself for getting this out of shape. So after three months of CFing, I signed up for the Gettysburg Marathon in April. Anyone who is remotely interested in American History should be intrigued by this race! I have yet to resign with QT2, it's to because I do not want to, I so desperately do. I don't have time to swim right now, I'm running, cycling and CFing. I've made so many gains in my strength game and it's awesome. The best part about the particular gym we attend (Christmas City Crossfit) is they include a 10-20 minute gymnastic warm-up for every weekday class. The amount of functional core work involved here, is insane. This is something every runner should crave. I did atomic push-ups last week after a run and I was able to do two sets of 8 for the first time ever. Before that, my max was two sets of five. GAINS! So what training program am I following? Well, it's a mix between one of the free plans of QT2's sister company and what I have learned from the past years with QT2, which is why I'm mixing in cycling. I'm a firm believer in QT2 and will hopefully be able to sign up for some tri's next season (stress budget). The most important piece of this knowledge, is recovery. For my very first marathon in NYC, I had no idea that I was supposed to be resting, which is most likely why I ended up getting a stress fracture and in a cast. My longest run will most likely not be 20 miles (for IMAZ, my longest run was 16 miles), and split runs will be my favorite Sundays, because that will mean, that the following week will be a rest week!

Have I lost those 20 lbs? No, only 7. However, I'm finally starting to fit into some clothes again, although my biceps seem to have grown and on some shirts/dresses I have developed a sausage like arm and have to go a size up and I look like I'm swimming in my clothes (female problems, I guess) BUUUUUT I can almost do a pull-up, can you imagine what this would mean in the pool? I'm dying to get in the pool, but realistically there's no time, I'm already maxed on the stress budget and I know what I can handle... mentally. Soon, real soon I will get back to swimming laps and undoubtedly get dizzy after my first dozen or so flip turns, if I can even still flip turn!

Steve and I will compete in the CF Open, which is five weeks of one workout/week and you get scored. Steve will do very well, his ability to transform and cut weight is amazing. A story should be written about it. I on the other hand, am laughing already at what will most likely be a close to last place finish in my AG. However, we will have fun doing it!

That's one thing Steve and I have managed to do well down here, have fun. We have made lots of memories, we got a golden retriever who we named Teddy and we love him oh so very much. He has brought so much happiness to us and the lives of friends/family. The beloved Buddha Boy, Sam passed away and that was rough, but the memories we have of and with him, will live forever. We've enjoyed lots of craft beer, Steve already earned his mug at Porter's! We've gone hiking in the Poconos, of course stopped at a craft beer pub on the way home. Ran a half-marathon in Amish Country (that was a real adventure), we are continuing to discover the Lehigh Valley and the Christmas City. New England will always be our home, but our ability to adapt (mine slower) and our true partnership in life has made this journey incredible. Oh, and we are going to Ireland for 10 days in June/July!!

Thanks for reading!