I could barely run 3 miles on Jan 1st this year. And this month, I ran 13.1 in a half marathon. It’s crazy the difference 4 months of consistency can make. This was maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Physically of course, but mentally too. The last few miles felt like forever and I had to reach for every ounce of determination that I possessed in order to make it through.

I’m not a naturally athletic person, so the 4 month journey felt kind of transformative to me. I wasn’t going for time, just distance and completion. Endurance. I didn’t want to stop when running (and I didn’t!). This meant every time I was able to run an additional mile, it felt like a victory. Something I’d never done before. An accomplishment. It also meant I was able to be very forgiving when I couldn’t finish a distance I’d planned. Too tired to finish 9 miles? No biggie — 6 miles is still more than I could do before.

My next goal is to run faster. The half marathon motivated me to start running consistently, but I’m pretty slow. I’d like to improve my mile time. I think I’m going to sign up for a 5k next to help motivate myself. Though the thought of running during the summer when it’s muggy… well, we’ll see. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from the last 4 months, it’s that I can accomplish anything I want to.

It’s official— I moved! Today is my first day in my new apartment and… wow. This is weird. Things felt so bittersweet in the weeks leading up to the move. But now that I’m all set up, I don’t think about my old apartment nearly as much as I thought I would. Funny how things happen that way. I’m sure with time I’ll miss certain perks of my old living situation. The neighborhood was cleaner and the apartment was more spacious. I had a great view. But there are so many things about my new location that I just know I’m really going to appreciate. It’s closer to my office. It’s closer to the climbing gym. It’s closer to family. I’m excited to spend the coming year at this place. I think my life is going to change here.

It seems like short posts is the trend I’m going for in 2024. Ah well, that’s life.

This month I decided to move out of the studio apartment that I love dearly and into a new neighborhood. This is a big deal for me. I agonized over this decision for weeks. At one point I nearly chose to lease a different apartment just a block or two over from where I currently live. But as appealing as that idea felt, I knew I would just be playing things safe. So I decided to ignore all my fears of moving somewhere unfamiliar and just go for it. Sure, maybe I’ll miss how things are now. Maybe I’ll hate the new apartment. Maybe I’ll wish I’d never moved at all. But maybe I won’t! Maybe I’ll love it. I have to have some faith and take that chance. So I guess this means April’s short post might be about my new living situation. And hopefully I’ll like it!

The entirety of January was an attempt to get back into a routine. Sleeping consistently. Managing stress. Prioritizing the things that should be prioritized. I continued this for about 3 days in February before giving up. I let myself skip workouts when I felt like it. I lazed on weekends where I should have gotten things done. Because here’s what I realised — thinking about not being in a routine was stressing me out way too much to be worth it.

In a few days, I’ll be going on vacation for two weeks and everyone knows there’s no routine on vacation. My plan is to focus on eating well and sleeping well and having a lot of fun. And then I’ll revisit real life when I’m back.

It’s been a weird month. I set some goals for 2024 and went about it totally differently than last year. The key this time around is focus. I tried top roping and loved it. Next step is to purchase a harness. I presented at work, despite hating public speaking. I got weird sick — I didn’t have a cough or cold or anything but I was drained as hell and lay in bed for like 3 days straight. I read a book that had so much potential but ended up falling flat. I completely messed up my sleep schedule. I ran for longer than I ever have in my life. I cancelled my pilates membership. A weird month indeed. I’m kind of a huge fan though. I hope the rest of 2024 is just as fun. Minus the getting sick part. I don’t need that energy.

I’m falling into a bit of a pattern with these year end reviews. One year I make a graphic, the next year I don’t. And so on. This year I’m just too tired to even consider doing it. Plain text it is.

This was a really weird year. I did my first solo trip. I read less books than I planned. Last week I ran a 10 minute mile — a personal best and 2 full minutes better than my previous time — without having run in months. I also did a terrible job of documenting the year, so I have no idea what made this year so busy and crazy. Anyway, here are some of the things that I did this year.

1. Traveled to 2 new countries — Mexico and Spain
2. Ran a 10 minute mile
3. Climbed my first v3
4. Wrote 12 blog posts
5. Got all 12 Duolingo monthly badges
6. Read 15 books

I’ve never been to a spa before. I’ve never really felt the urge to. But I’ve been seeing Korean spas all over social media, and now that it’s getting cold in the Northeast, it felt like a good time to give it a shot. And I loved it.

I loved sitting there for hours in the oversized spa uniform. I loved feeling truly warm after constantly being subjected to the winter cold. I loved the different saunas and feeling my pores open up. I loved the satisfaction of sweating from every square inch of skin. I loved the refreshing coolness after leaving the sauna. I loved eating the Korean spa food and trying the different desserts. I loved chatting with my friends in between saunas. I especially loved that going in and out of the saunas meant we were effectively forced to be phone free for the entire day.

So I’m a spa girl now. I’m already scheming to go back again next month. And the weather be colder, so the spa will feel even better.

I’ve loved traveling for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been dreaming of doing a solo trip for a long time. After putting it off for years, this month, I finally did it. I took a trip to Spain by myself.

A bunch of things were imperfect about this trip. Life got in the way of planning, so besides my flight, I didn’t have logistics settled until the day before I left. Because I was booking so last minute, my options were limited. I almost didn’t get the hostel that I really wanted to stay in and trains were more pricey. And then the morning of my flight out, I got incredibly nervous that I was in way too deep and had no idea what I was doing.

But once I got to Spain, everything seemed to fall into place. I landed in Madrid, and then caught a flight to Sevilla, where I spent two nights. I took the train to Granada, spent another two nights there, before heading to Madrid for four nights. I met a friend there, and spent three days exploring the city with her. After she left, I did a quick day trip to Toledo on the fourth day and then caught my flight back to the US.

I enjoyed the entire trip. I had complete liberty to do what I wanted. I could be incredibly selfish about how I spent my time. There was no pressure about expectations. The only person to make decisions was myself, and the only person to please was myself. It was nice to have the mix of solitude during the day and company when I got back to the hostel. I’ve also been casually working on my Spanish for the last few years, and while I’m far from perfect, it was really cool to be able to use what I’ve learned in real life both this time in Spain, and last month in Mexico.

Some things I would do differently next time — I’d love to travel for a longer period of time, but at a slower pace. During this trip, I visited four cities in eight days, which got a bit tiring. I would look up dining etiquette ahead of time. In Spain, people seat themselves at restaurants. I didn’t know this initially and had quite a few awkward situations before I finally figured things out. I also would do more hostels. I’d booked half hostels and half hotels as a failsafe, since it was my first time trying out shared accommodations. I ended up having a great time and meeting some really cool people, and would definitely do it again.

Overall, this solo trip was such a success, and I’m so glad I was finally able to check this off my bucket list.

Things that happened in September:

1. visited Mexico
2. took a trip to upstate New York and did all the fall things
3. started drinking protein shakes
4. got sick twice
5. visited Orlando and went to Disney World

It’s been another busy month and at this point, I’m just waiting the end of October when things calm down and I can finally just breathe again. But I’m having fun and living life and that matters too!

Things that happened in August:

1. reunited with a friend that I hadn’t seen in 5 years
2. saw a Broadway show
3. went home and celebrated a family birthday
4. visited Las Vegas for the first time
5. tried a gymnastics class
6. reunited with another friend that I hadn’t seen in 4 years

It’s been a busy month and I’ve been so tired that I’ve napped like 10 times in the last 3 days. This is all I have the energy to type out right now.