First, Jamaica...my husband and I had such an amazing time. We went to the same resort where we had our honeymoon so it was nostalgic and insanely relaxing. We spent almost the entire trip just laying on the beach, talking, reading, relaxing and drinking yummy cocktails interspersed with swims in the ocean or snorkeling trips. Before I left for Jamaica I had committed to my training program for the half marathon so I really didn't want to get off track. I did my long distance run right before we left but I still had 4 runs that I needed to do in Jamaica-3 three mile runs and 1 5 mile run. I am so happy to report that I met my goal! I did 3/4 of the runs, skipping one of the 3 miles because we were doing a long snorkeling trip that day. Even with the one missed run, I ran 11 miles on vacation which is 11 more miles than I have ever run before. Plus, we got back late Friday and I went for my long run of 10 miles the next morning and felt great (although I think I was sweating pure rum). Here are some beautiful Ocho Rios sunset pics:
Anyway, once we got back I cleaned like a mad woman and then had a lovely week long visit and 26th birthday celebration with my mom. She actually left just a few days before Irene made her presence known-good timing since the airport ended up closing and tons of flights were cancelled. Irene was my first hurricane and we got pounded pretty hard but were really lucky in that we didn't lose power. I have tons of friends and professors who are still without power and many are on well water which needs electricity to pump water into the home so no water-Ick, I can't imagine how much that would suck. We ended up with some tree damage but nothing major, just took me about 3 hours to clean up on Monday. Unfortunately lots of trees were really damaged and/or uprooted in the woods behind our house, it's really sad to see.
The first day of classes at UConn were canceled on Monday so I started my Ph.D. on Tuesday! So exciting but really intimidating since everyone seems so well qualified and knowledgeable. I already have so much reading to do but it's kinda fun, especially after my year off.
Exciting news!!! I registered for the Surftown Half Marathon today!! That's right, after randomly latching onto the idea a few months ago I am at least trying for it in just two and a half weeks. I have almost completed my training program-I have my longest run this Saturday and after that I am just tapering until race day. I did find out that there is a strict 3 hour time limit which works out to a bit over a 13 minute mile average. I know I can do it-I have trained for this, ran almost 200 miles for this and I will really push myself that day. It's going to be a year of challenges: getting my Ph.D., adjusting to a new school and running a huge distance (for me)...what a way to start my 26th year.
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