Where I've been in 2015

Shamelessly following the same theme that Sarah used....

ONE Duke Fuqua School of Business MBA Degree!

TWO Injuries: L Calf Strain (October) and R Achilles (November through January)

FOUR Weeks of Injury:  Tight Calf (L)

2,780 Miles between me and my husband (California to North Carolina)

60,000 Airline Miles:  FOUR Countries (Chile, UAE, India, Turkey) & NINE States (AZ, FL, NY, SC, CA, MA, PA, IL, OH)

83 Days off from running in 2015, with 43 consecutive days off from Nov 15th until the end

• January - 10 days off
• Feb - 0 days off
• Mar - 0 days off
• Apr - 1 day off
• May - 1 day off
• Jun - 10 days off
• Jul - 1 day off
• Aug - 1 day off
• Sep - 4 days off
• Oct - 10 days off
• Nov - 15 days off
• Dec - 30 days off

2015 wasn't exactly what I had planned in mind.  I was hoping for a exuberant ending to my MBA, followed by several weeks off work for the holidays, with the capacity to pound the pavement for some solid training leading up to the Olympic Trials.  For the first time in exactly ten years, I was sidelined for more than one week with a real injury.  With an injury that was unapologetic and unwavering in its persistence.  With an injury that stole away my chance to finish a race at my second Olympic Trials.

That's right:  at this point, it's very likely that I won't finish the Olympic Trials Marathon.  The silver lining is that now I have the opportunity to try to run fast on the track at the Stanford Invite or perhaps even on the roads.

But, I don't want my injury in 2015 to blur away all of the great things that happened in my life.  I made so many great new forever friends through my Duke MBA program. I got to travel to four different countries, immerse myself in the culture, and run the streets with my classmate Katie.  I got a big promotion at work, leading to a move to sunny California where I can really challenge myself.  I hiked Patagonia! I hiked Big Sur! I hiked the Marin Headlands!  I ran a 10K PR at the Cooper River Bridge Run.  I spent my 30th birthday surrounded by people who were willing to pay money to hang out with me on the big day.  I'm very, very fortunate and grateful for the many wonderful things that I did this year and I'm confident that I'll bounce back from my injury to have a fast (and happy) spring.