Wow, has it been 3+ weeks since I last posted? I’ve been busy, but not with running. Here’s a quick run through of what’s been going on:
- I paced the 2:30 group at the Tiburon Half Marathon. This was the first race I paced, so I was happy to pace this again and celebrate my first anniversary with the Trivalley Running Club. I forgot just how hilly the course is — I’m really glad I switched to the 2:30 group because it was tough! I made some new friends and ran into some old ones, too. Yet again, it was a very rewarding experience, being able to help people accomplish their goals. I won’t write a separate recap because it was much of the same as last year — it’s a scenic course with solid organization and logistics, and great swag. I love that they have kombucha and acai bowls for post-race refreshments, and lots of vendors giving out free samples. Two thumbs up!
Pace team ready! (photo courtesy of Peter Chan)
At the finish line (PC: Peter Chan)
- I went to the East Coast for 6 days. The first part of the trip was a job interview (more on that later), the second part was a girls’ trip to Naples, FL with my hometown crew in celebration of our 40-ish birthdays. We treated ourselves to a luxe stay at the Ritz Carlton. I’ve never stayed in such a fancy hotel before! The spa was so nice and all of the staff were very friendly. We even lucked out with the weather. Hurricane Nate headed toward New Orleans, while another unnamed storm stayed far enough east to not cause any problems. Seeing that our hotel had just opened the week before (it took a while to restore power after Hurricane Irma), we were very fortunate.
Celebrating 26 years of friendship ❤
- I got a new job! So, one of the main reasons I’ve been holding off on signing up for a spring marathon was that I was in the process of interviewing. I figured that starting a new job would require a lot of mental energy as well as adjustments to my schedule — something that doesn’t mesh well with marathon training. The good news is that I’ll be working from home, so I’ll hopefully be getting invaluable time and energy back that I usually lose during my BART commute (2 hours every day). However, the first month or so will require some travel. I’m flying out to Chicago at the end of the month for new employee training. At some point after that, I’ll probably have to go to Philadelphia for more training — the rest of my team is in a suburb 40 minutes northwest of Philly.
While I’m really excited about my new job, I’m also a little sad about leaving my current one. Sure, there were parts of my job that I didn’t enjoy (no job is perfect), but I will really miss the people. Also, I’m realizing just how much knowledge I’ve gained in the past 3 years — I’m damn good at what I do, if I do say so myself. It will be a difficult blow to my ego to basically start all over again (not from scratch, thank goodness), but I’ll definitely be the least knowledgeable person on the team for a while. Finally, there’s the scary bit about going from the familiar to the unknown. Will I get along with my manager? Will I enjoy the work? How am I going to feel about working from home? For now, I’m trying not to overthink it, and enjoying my last week (!) of my current job. It’s a nice feeling to wrap things up and have people tell me they’ll miss me.
- I haven’t been running much. The week after Tiburon, I was traveling and had to rely on hotel treadmills. At my hotel in Pennsylvania, I was in a place with zero sidewalks. Oh, surburbia! I didn’t have a car either, so it was impossible. Then, when I went down to Florida, it was freaking humid. 84 degrees with a real feel of 100. Lovely. So, yes, I opted for the treadmill, which I must say — if you have to run on a treadmill, do it at the Ritz. Each treadmill came with a bottle of water and a towel already on the machine. Halfway through my run, the attendant came by with a chilled washcloth that had been soaked in peppermint water. It was amazing.
When I got back from Florida, the North Bay was beset by wildfires. It was very sudden and I felt so terrible for everyone who lost their homes and businesses. There was so much smoke from the fires that the air quality index got into dangerous on a few days. I played it safe and ran on the treadmill for 2 out of 3 runs last week.
Which brings us to this week, where I’ve run twice for 3 miles a piece. I feel like I’ve been struggling all year to get a decent base (20-25 mpw for me), but life keeps getting in the way. I’m not stressed out about it, but I know that once I start working from home, I’ll need the physical activity to keep me sane and to keep my waistline within reason. (Related: I just got a pair of Athleta joggers — i.e., fashion sweatpants with a drawstring waist — and I love them. I’ve decided that they will be my official work from home pants.)
- I turned another year older, so I bought myself a fancy pants Nespresso machine. I make coconut lattes with it and the Gypsy Runner and I joke about how bougie we are.
Not only does this make great espresso, but it also looks beautiful and is really well designed. It makes our kitchen look bad in comparison.
So, that’s my last few weeks in a nutshell. What’s been going on with y’all? Any tips on working from home?
Howdy! My name is Jen and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like to eat, run, and blog, but not usually at the same time.
Running Tangents 
Congratulations on the new job, the ability to work from home, and the new sweatpants. (I’m laughing because I just got the leggings version of those pants and am wearing them with a button-down to work from home.)
I wish some of my races had acai bowls at the finish! How Californian 🙂
Congrats on the new gig. Can’t wait to hear how it goes.
I want that coffee maker…
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