My blog is a wonderful outlet for sharing my running journey and new recipes, but can’t totally reflect my reality. I love running, and I am so excited to be kicking off my five months of training for the New York City Marathon in November. I enjoy creating new allergy free recipes, and only hope that I have time this summer to spend some time experimenting in the kitchen. Yet running and cooking together take only a couple of hours out of my day, and as for the rest of what I’m doing, I’m doing it as Alyssa, not as Renaissance Runner Girl. So where does that leave me and my blog? Right now, it has me thinking about where I personally leave off and the blogger begins, where the two overlap, and what I want the focus of this blog to be.
If you can believe it, I’m coming at you with my last weekly workout recap of the month of April! This month felt like it was going by slower than the first few of the year while it was happening. Then spring finally settled in for good late enough that it feels like we’re heading straight into summer and I don’t know where the time went. Which is what I always say.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about plans and priorities, not just for organization’s sake but because I have a lot going on this spring and all the plans on the calendar reeled off in quick succession make it scary to think how fast the time will fly by. This weekend was the last for awhile with no major events. I had the happiest day on Saturday even though I wasn’t doing much of anything – running, baking and blogging, a burger and fries and ice cream with my boyfriend. I really need that kind of day once in awhile. I’m looking forward to everything that’s coming, but there is a certain amount of stress that accompanies it all, especially for a natural planner like me.
I’m feeling pretty refreshed this Monday after getting to spend some of the weekend at the place I still consider home in Connecticut. It’s always nice to escape Manhattan, and when I don’t have the chance for awhile, I tend to get a little bit antsy, so I took advantage of the opportunity during the one weekend in February I didn’t have a ton of plans. I don’t have much to report on the running end of things. I took it easy again this week because of how I was feeling the week prior. But I’ll share my usual weekly workouts and updates anyway. And some photos of Sasha, because when I’m home I spend all the time with her that I can.
I’m thinking out loud today about a little phrase I’ve grown to believe in over the past few years. It particularly resonates during this first month of the year, when everyone is so determined to stick to their resolutions, or feeling guilty about already having broken them, or remorseful about having not made any at all. With all of the changes in my life in the past year, some expected and others taking me entirely by surprise, my mantra lately has been that “life happens while you’re making other plans” and even though I’ve since found out that these words I read somewhere years ago aren’t exactly quoted right, they ring true to me.
As promised in yesterday’s 10K race recap, today is all about my second stab at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. I ran this race last year as my second half marathon ever, and my first distance race after coming back from a hip injury that kept me from running for three months during the prior summer. I was nervous and excited as I approached the starting line of this race in 2015. While I experienced both of those emotions this year in some measure, my general feeling was far away from where it had been. What a difference a year can make.
Happy Monday, everyone! As you read this, I’ll either be on my way or already going through my first day of work as a lawyer in NYC. I definitely have a sense that this is truly a season of change, as my life shifts from one phase to another. I’m nervous and excited all at once, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes – I’ve really enjoyed all the time I got to spend blogging this summer and early autumn, and will be keeping at it. My goal is to post 3-4 days per week, rather than the 5-6 I’ve been posting, but still enough to share all the recipes, running, life updates and random thoughts you care to read about 🙂
I’ve been thinking for some time now about the value we place on experiences versus stuff. Over the past year, I’ve tried to take an honest look at my life in an attempt to figure out exactly what the parts are that make me happy, and what’s just extra that really doesn’t add much to an otherwise wonderful existence.I suppose it’s a question of experiences versus stuff, and how much value we place on each. I talked about this a little bit when I first started the blog back in December. If there’s anything I’ve learned since leaving home to go to Oxford and coming back again for law school, it’s that the people in my life, both family and friends, and the ability to enjoy things like reading, running, and cooking, are much more important to me than the “stuff” that money buys. My recent trip to England brought me much more clarity than I’ve had in awhile.
Hiking and thinking a lot in the Lakes
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life in a small town versus the big city. I live in New York City most of the time now, having done so for the past three years of law school, and I will continue to for the foreseeable future. But more and more I feel that I’m a country mouse at heart.
renaissancerunnergirl 