About Me

Well hi there. 
I'm a twenty-something Ph.D. student with a competitive streak.
I run because I like medals, beating people, and sprinting up hills.
I have a great fiance (a.k.a. "B" both on this blog and in real life). We'll be getting married next year, sometime, maybe. We're great at planning things.

25 minutes before he popped the question

We also have a retired racing greyhound named Carly, aka Carls Barkley, aka Carly Rae Jepsen, aka Carlsburg, aka Fuzz Butt. She sleeps for twenty hours a day and gets spoiled rotten for the other four.

If you want the long, lame, drawn out story of my athletic career, just scroll down and immediately regret your decision.

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Former swimmer
I've always loved the water, but I started swimming competitively when I was 9 years old. I had very little natural talent but an overabundance of stubbornness and work ethic, so by the time I was 13 I could actually hold my own in the sport. I competed in my state championships every year in high school, and went to YMCA nationals a few times. Good stuff.

I continued swimming in college, with my career culminating at the NCAA National Championships. Best experience of my life, and more on that later.

I say "former swimmer," but really, swimming has been a part of me for so long that "former" doesn't really apply. I'll always be a swimmer. It's been a defining part of my life for almost 15 years. My teammates will always be my family.

Swimming made me who I am today, i.e. an overly competitive workout addict with huge quads. Honestly, that's why I love running hills. I was a breaststroker, so my legs are beastly (and I can bicep curl approximately 2 pounds).

Current Runner
I did my first race on dry land in the summer of 2010. I was working in Massachusetts and was majorly lonely and homesick. It was the first time that I spent the 4th of July away from my family (we always have a huge picnic and fireworks) so I decided to channel some of my sadness into a local 8K. Work was busy and I barely "trained," so I crashed and burned like a boss. The memory is hazy, but I think I sprinted the first two miles and then got passed by middle schoolers, dogs, and a guy pushing a stroller. I then remembered why I hated running in the first place, and didn't even think about racing again for two years.

Despite the fact that I thought I hated running, one of my goals in life was to run a marathon. I signed up for the Pittsburgh half marathon on a whim, figuring that I'd have enough time after swimming ended (February) and before the race (May) to get myself in fighting shape. Well - surprise! - my relay made it to nationals! Going to NCAAs had been my ultimate goal, so I didn't care that my training window got cut in half. I started running for in late March, took some time off due to injury, took more time off over Easter, and arrived at the starting line in Pittsburgh with a pitiful number of miles on my legs.

And I loved it. LOVED. I had the best time. The crowds were great, the weather was perfect, and the miles just flew by. I finished with a semi-respectable time and had caught the running bug for good.

One of these days, I'm going to stop being dumb about racing and actually train for something, or at least have a reasonable mileage base before race day. I can't keep on running willy-nilly or it's only a matter of time before I get hurt. DON'T BE LIKE ME.

Another (fun) bad decision in action

Future triathlete? 
Another one of my life goals is to do an Ironman. I have the swimming down pat and I might be a respectable runner someday, so all I have to do is conquer my fear of cycling. I have a great bike and a willing training partner (B is an awesome cyclist) so I'm the only thing getting in my way. What I REALLY need is a triathlon that reverses the biking and swimming distances - I'd be golden.

Unlike my first experiences with running, I don't think I can fake my way through a triathlon (well, I did once, but it was a super sprint). I will actually need to have a plan and follow it, two things that I'm terrible at when it comes to sports. I blame it on the fact that my swimming coaches were so fantastic and figured all that stuff out for me. Definitely their fault.


Disclaimer: I started this blog to keep myself accountable for my workouts and training, i.e. to keep myself from continuing to be dumb about running. All of my thoughts and opinions are just that - MINE. If you don't like them, you can skedaddle.