Second year has begun...

Before school started in late August, I participated in Hood to Coast… a 197 mile relay race from Mt. Hood to Seaside, OR. I was on a team organized by one of my sorority sisters… the final team roster was a somewhat random group of 12, but we ended up having a great time. I didn’t train much before and was pleasantly surprised to do better than planned. I always run at about a 10:00 minute pace, but the excitement of the relay kicked me to gear with 8:30 miles. I ran the 9^th, 21^st, and 33^rd legs… this grouping was ranked as the hardest. I didn’t have terrible hills, but I did have the longest distance to run. My brother ran with a different team and Ryan ran with yet another team. After the two day race Ryan and I stayed at the beach with his parents and then came home so I could get ready for the next day… my first day of school!!!

Second year is thus far just like first; classes are from 8-12 every day, one day a week we have class from 1-5 too, and one day a week I shadow a physician. I started the year off working hard because our first test (two weeks into class) was going to fall on a Monday morning just following a trip to Las Vegas for Kara’s bachelorette party!!!

Vegas was amazing! We stayed at The Wynn and truly enjoyed laying by the beautiful pool… don’t worry, we stayed away from the topless pool. We spent one night out on the town with a limo and a trip to the world famous show “Thunder From Down Under”. We spent the remainder of the night allowing 40 year-old men (a bachelor party) pay for a wild and crazy time at a night club. Let me just say that staying out until 5am, getting up at 11 just in time to check out and get to the airport, and then flying back to Portland was not the BEST way to prepare for my test. Nonetheless, I got an 89%!

I had much more time to prepare for my second test, yet I got about the same score (90.57%). My third test was today and followed a busy weekend filled with Gabe and Mia’s engagement party and the Portland Marathon. The party was a great time with about 30 guests (friends and family) at Serrato in NW Portland. Unfortunately, I had to leave right after dinner to get home and get a rest before the race. I ran this marathon two years ago; at that point in my life I had loads of time to train correctly. I ended up hitting a wall around mile 22 and really struggled at the end. This year I didn’t train as much and really just wanted to finish and feel good at the end. Because of this I didn’t hesitate to walk when I needed to and I stopped at many aid stations for water, juice, candy, whatever they were offering! Treating myself so well on the day of the event sure paid off because I ended up finishing in 4 hours 22 minutes (12 minutes faster than my previous time!). Unfortunately, I couldn’t fully relax post-race because I had to study for my test. This morning I went to class, feeling slightly unprepared, and ended up getting a 90.63%! We have one more small test in this class (the first four tests make up 50% of my final grade in this course) and then our final. So far, so good…

Other than school and running, I have been keeping busy with dance. I go to Clackamas once a week and lead a conditioning hour for the dance team girls. I’m having a great time with them and really enjoy teaching them about fitness and nutrition. I also am now a volunteer advisor for the Willamette University Pi Beta Phi chapter. What can I say? I like to stay busy! When I finally get some free time I love to come home and play with my adorable little Colbie (who has doubled her weight in the past month and is now 3.25lbs).