Virginia

Just keep running…

This Saturday I participated in the Ukrops Monument Ave 10k for the first time! It is something that I had been telling myself I wanted to do for a while and I finally plucked up the courage to just sign up for it. So after about 3 months of “training” I was so excited that the day had finally arrived. Collectively, I probably ended up running about 4.5 miles and jogging/walking the rest of the time, and finished in roughly 90 minutes. Keep in mind that I, in no way, consider myself a runner, so the fact that I finished the race without stopping..or dying..is probably one of my greatest accomplishments.

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Since this was my first year participating in this historic Richmond event, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Needless to say I was overly impressed by the entire event, from start to finish. I always forget about the sense of community that the city of Richmond builds around events such as this. For the entire 6.2 miles, there was not a single block without spectators with signs of encouraging words or community partners cheering us on. It was truly motivating and was probably what kept me going throughout the entire race. I was also very impressed to see the amount of people who had traveled from out of town to participate. It is definitely something I plan on doing again in the future.

Side note: I was writing this post when I heard about the horrific explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. My thoughts go out to everyone who was affected by this tragedy. It scares me that this incident was purposeful and all of runners who had put forth so much effort preparing for what should have been an amazing accomplishment were unable to finish the race, or worse suffered distress or injury. Events such as these are supposed to create pride, happiness and sense of community, not fear.

Obligatory blog introduction post

It’s December 17. 8 days until Christmas. 14 days until the New Year. 28 days until I start my last semester of undergrad. 145 days until graduation. It’s time to get serious about the future.

I’ve always been partial to blogging, but recently I’ve been thinking about my experiences during this last year of undergrad and how others may be interested to know what life is like for an almost college graduate, trying to figure out what to do with the future.

I’ve learned lessons like, it’s probably not a good idea to drink more than one cup of coffee an hour, unless I enjoy feeling like my heart is about to beat out of my chest. I’ve also learned that it is possible to successfully complete 7 semesters of college while simultaneously having a job and internship, without ever pulling an all-nighter.

Other things I’ve learned from the dozens of cover letters I’ve written and numerous interviews I’ve been on this year. Like how you may think it’s okay to wear the same dress to an interview that you wore to your friend’s birthday party if you just put a blazer over it. Wrong. Or that it saves time to write one cover letter and just change the employers name for each job. Also wrong.

Throughout this year I’ve also learned to be more realistic about my future. We all (especially PR kids) have big dreams of finishing school, getting that dream job offer in New York or LA and doing what you love. You know, that thing that you say every first day of class when the professor asks each person in the class to go around and say why they chose their major? I’m not saying that dreams don’t come true. I’ve learned to be practical. I’ve lived in this city for the past 4 years of my life, and it finally hit me that Richmond is my home. 5 years ago if you had told me I would be applying for graduate school and jobs in this city I would have laughed and said “yeah right”, but my views have changed! I’ve really learned to love this city and all that it offers young professionals and I may as well get as much out of it as I can before pursuing bigger things.

So anyways, as 2012 comes to a close, my resolution is to blog. And not just say I’m going to blog and be a flake but ACTUALLY blog about experiences and topics that are relevant to my life and others can relate to.

ENJOY! 🙂