I'm alive!

Yeah, I haven't written a blog post in a long time. I've honestly haven't wanted to write after my DNF, but I am in a better place mentally and have been doing some fun things:

• I was scheduled to do an ultra relay at 20in24, but the city of Philadelphia decided to cancel it due to crazy heat and storming. I was bummed at first, but I ended up being able to spend a lot of time with some running friends from NYC who were down for the race. Had we raced, none of us would have hung out like we did that Saturday and it was a really fun time!
  

  

  The group of us hanging out since we couldn't race. Had a blast!

• Marathon training is officially begun! In less than 16 weeks, I'll be toeing the line of Richmond and Philly. Yes, two marathons in one weekend. It's not my fault that they are planned on the same weekend, but they are, so I'm doing both. I am 7.5 minutes away from a Boston Qualifying time. I think if I train hard enough and race smart enough, I can hit my goal time in Richmond, using Philly as a victory lap. If I don't BQ at Richmond, I doubt I can do it the next day at Philly, so again, I'll just take Philly as a victory lap. My boyfriend, John, signed up for the race, so the plan is to run Philly with him. Yes, I am STUPID excited to run a marathon with my boyfriend. 
• I'm all signed up for the Runner's World Half Marathon Hat Trick races. This means I'll be racing a 5k and a 10k on Saturday, then a 1/2 marathon the next day. It wasn't even my idea, but one of my girlfriends from college, who has recently become super into running (love!), told me about it and I couldn't say no. I am really excited for the two of us to have a fun race weekend!
• I'm almost done with the Best Body Bootcamp and it's been a fun challenge. I can't say that I've loved every workout, but I've done two strength training workouts each week for the last 6.5 weeks, which is longer than I've ever done that. I can do more push-ups, hold a plank for longer, and I am starting to get a weeeee bit of a bicep. Am I magically 3 sizes smaller? Sadly, not. Will this be a great base to keep my running form in line for my 2 marathons? Yes!
• I am realizing that I need to make food (and my love of preparing it) more prominent in my life. Ha, that sounds like I'm not eating, but I mean that I think working in food is my future somehow, but I don't know how yet. I bake a lot and bring it into my office, but I am finding myself needing a bigger outlet for my desire to be in the kitchen. I haven't figure out what will fulfill this need, but baking and attending the quarterly Philly Food Swaps has helped a bit, at least. 
• I wrote an article for Trail and Ultrarunning about getting over a DNF. It was really great to write it and I hope it helps anyone who has sadly gone through that experience. You can find it here.

That's it! How has everyone been? I hope the last day of July is good for everyone (July is almost over? Wasn't I just watching fireworks for July 4th? Goodness...)! I'll leave you with this awesome photo my mom uncovered, which shows that I always have been a carb-loving fool, even as a baby:

Yes, that's a spaghetti sandwich. Deal with it.