I Run Like A Girl

I hope your weeks are off to a great start! This weekend was once again packed with activities back to back that I’m excited to share with you guys:

Friday: hanging with a Columbia friend

After a loooong work week (even though it was technically a short week with holiday), I was so excited to meet up with a friend from college. I showed him my stomping grounds in the Marina and afterwards we met up with his friends for a few drinks. A great way to start off the weekend 🙂

Saturday: Alamere Falls hike + Dan’s birthday

The highlight of the weekend by far was hiking with two of my very close girlfriends from college, Therese and Meaghan. We all live in opposite ends of the bay (Meaghan is in Millbrae and Therese is in Walnut Creek!), but we all made the effort to meet in the middle in SF (lucky me 😉 ) early on Saturday morning to drive up and go hiking up in Point Reyes.

The hike was 8 miles roundtrip with the Alamere waterfall as the main attraction. It was the perfect cloudy day in the 60’s – perfect hiking weather :). The majority of it was flat and super scenic along the coast:

It was so comforting to be with these girls who have known me since we were 17. Our hike was filled with endless joking around and girl talk. I was able to talk about some things that were sitting in my heart…these two know me so well and gave the most caring advice – I felt so grounded afterwards and was so grateful for the time we spent together <3.

Closer to the falls was a more narrow and technical portion. We were on all fours to get down the steep cliffs!

When we finally made it to the waterfall, it was oh-so worth it. The waterfall fell right onto the beach and it was quite the site.

After our photoshoot, we climbed back up the steep path and found a lovely spot overlooking the beach to picnic 🙂

After our 8-miler, we were beat and definitely in need of a treat! We drove down to the Stinson beach town and found a cute outdoor cafe for OYSTERS. Prior to Saturday, my only oyster experience was from the Chinese buffet in my hometown…so I never really was a fan until I ate these babies – they were SO fresh and delicious!

I am so beyond glad to have Meaghan and Therese in the bay area now. We are all HUGE fans of hiking too so will definitely be going on more of these day trips!

The late night the previous night + 7am wake up call that morning = I took the greatest nap when I got home. Right after, it was time to get ready for Dan’s birthday party! I met Dan my very first weekend in SF through Scott. He recently found a job here in SF and officially has moved to the city – I’m so excited to have him around!!

The party was at Dan’s apartment and a great time. A lot of our friends came – even Scott made a guest appearance (he has been busy with travel lately so it was lovely catching up with him!). Afterwards, the Marina guys and I headed back to their apartment for a few more hours to chill. Definitely made me happy ending the night with the fam ❤

Sunday: mental health day + football kick off

A combination of a tough work week + two late nights of going out in a row made waking up on Sunday quite a struggle. It felt like weeks in a row that I was going off of caffeine and adrenaline, and it all finally all caught up to me up Sunday morning. I used my last bit of adrenaline to get in my long run for the week: 8 miles along the Marina that frankly felt like crap.

Afterwards, I knew I needed a day off . I cancelled my plans and spent the afternoon in bed and going to the park. Even a few hours of me time did wonders and it definitely reminded me the importance of spending alone time for mental health!!

In the evening, Ben and I headed over to the Marina guys’ apartment for football, pizza, chilling on the couch. Watching football with the fam will definitely be a tradition these next 16 Sundays!! It was just what I needed. Viggy/Matt/Karan’s apartment feels just like my own home at this point, and great food + great company was the perfect recipe to unwind and end the weekend.

---

 

Week 1 of marathon training:

Not gonna lie, running was TOUGH this week. Every mile was a fight, and this was probably the hardest start to marathon training yet. These past few weeks have been pretty unhealthy for me, and my runs definitely felt it. I’m focusing on getting the miles in (no matter the pace) and trying to get more sleep/keep my stress levels down so that I’m not just running on caffeine/adrenaline like I mentioned earlier.

It was definitely daunting to think that just next week I will be running double digit miles, but the best advice I ever got about marathon training was don’t look ahead – just focus on what you have to run today. I’m hopeful that getting on a more regular schedule will do wonders to my running. Until then, it’s all about baby steps.

Monday: 5 miles (9:34 pace) along the Marina

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: 4 miles during my lunch break (9:41 pace). Was super caffeinated and it all felt off.

Thursday: 3 miles in the evening (9:22 pace). Ran at a fast-ish pace to get the run OVER with

Friday: REST

Saturday: 8 mile hike

Sunday: My garmin wasn’t working so I just ran for 1 our and 20 min to round out 8 miles