Yup, I missed the April roundup so now you get a two-for-one. By the end of March, beginning of April, the year mark of COVID, plus marathon training, plus CrossFit, plus work…had me feeling pretty physically and emotionally tired. Nothing terrible, just more tired and more emotionally sensitive. Work has been really exciting as we build an awesome software product (that came somewhere from the recesses of my brain even though I never imagined myself building software…hello, Data Science unicorn). The result of all that, however, is that I’ve had several 60-80 hour work weeks. It’s fun and exciting when you get to work with an awesome team, and feel fully supported, but it’s still a lot of time and effort. I learned how to give myself some grace and be ok with skipping some mid-week runs. However, being busy is no excuse to forget what your body needs, and your body needs movement. If I missed a run, I definitely made sure to at least get to the gym. Even my husband, who often worries about how much I try to fit in 24 hrs, would often poke me to get away from my desk and go to the gym because he knows how much my body and brain really need it. All in all, it only took a couple weeks to reset my mind and body and feel ready to dive back into the end of training for Grandma’s Marathon. It also helped that earlier in May I was, finally, able to graduate/celebrate my PhD. I officially earned my degree last July but, of course, not much celebrating to be done at that time. Kennesaw State had their first in-person commencement ceremonies since December, 2019 and 2020 grads were all able to participate. I definitely wanted an excuse to 1) wear my fun wizards hat, and 2) have a gathering with all my vaccinated friends and family. Successfully accomplished both. You’re welcome. After that energizing weekend it was back to full steam ahead with the longest training weeks and I’ve now officially reached taper! Less than 3 weeks until race day, and 1 week of that will be at Bike Ride Across Georgia so I won’t be running at all! Once home from BRAG, I’ll have a few days to get some shake out runs and then off to Duluth, Minnesota! Woohoo!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

APRIL Stats:

• Running miles : 133.2; year-to-date : 612.02
• Cycling miles: 232.17; year-to-date : 573.67 –> Ran the Tear Drop Half Marathon with a PR of 1:48:19 !
• Crossfit workouts: 19 year-to-date: 70

MAY Stats:

• Running miles : 170.72; year-to-date : 782.74
• Cycling miles: 153.87; year-to-date : 727.54
• Crossfit workouts: 18 year-to-date: 88 –> for test week I hit PRs in CrossFit total, pushups, and did my first “Murph”!

Goals for June:

• Running miles : 150 miles –> accounting for taper, BRAG week, and post-marathon rest
• Cycling miles: 500 –> BRAG!
• Crossfit workouts: 12 –> accounting for travel
• Yoga: 1 x / week

Current 2021 Goals:

• Running miles : Still on track for “running the year”. Yay!
• Crossfit: unassisted pull-ups/kipping pull-ups in all workouts by the end of the year, 5 unbroken double unders