No Longer a Michigander

What a whirlwind it has been.

10 days ago I packed up a truck (and my car) with all my earthly possessions and moved them four hours away.

Nine days ago I traded in my boring white Michigan license for a shiny red Ohio one.

Seven days ago I started my new job.

Oh yeah, and in five days, I'm running another marathon. The best laid plans....

It's hard to believe all that has happened over the course of two weeks. It feels like about two years. There's a lot to adjust to here - my commute is 15 miles but takes an hour (can't wait until we move and I can take the bus!), my beloved Meijers is gone, and there's hills on every running route I seek out.

But there's so much more good than bad!

The library system here is amazing - there are 28 branches, 3 in my city alone, and I can see the closest one from my window. I managed to restrain myself and only check out five books this past weekend, and I binged on one in two days. (It probably would have been faster if not for March Madness.)

The book mentioned twice how terrible my previous employer was. I'll take it as a sign!

The Metropark system is also phenomenal. It's called the Emerald Necklace - since it forms a necklace-ish shape around the city of Cleveland. I thought having a couple metroparks by me growing up was awesome, but here there's more than I know what to do with, all within an easy drive. In fact, this past Saturdat, I drove five minutes to a parkway in the system and enjoyed a wonderful 10 mile run through quiet neighborhoods along a creek.

There's also tons of races in the area! I haven't had much to do at work yet, and one of my coworkers tipped me off to the big racing company in the area, so I finally found a comprehensive race calendar for Northeast Ohio. I spent quite a few hours yesterday drooling over it. Because not only are there actually choices, they have good start times (like 9 or 10 AM!), and lots of them have fun themes. I'm not lying when I say we have two different pierogi races within a three week span.

And speaking of work, I love my job! I've only scratched the surface, but it's a really nice change of pace to go from a for-profit chemical company to a non-profit hospital. I don't have any patient contact, but it's much more fulfilling, since I'm supporting clinical research. Plus, since we're a hospital, wellness initiatives are our jam. Right now I'm waiting for a free pedometer to come, so I can convert my daily steps into gift cards. How awesome is that?

This little guy is about to be my best friend.

But probably the most amazing thing about the move is getting to live with Michael. After being long distance for our whole relationship, it is amazing to be able to see him every day. Plus, since he leaves work an hour before me and has half the commute time, he has been doing most of the cooking. But even if he didn't, just being able to sit in the same room together each evening is so nice, even if we each do our own thing.

It also makes planning our trips so much easier! It was wonderfully easy to plan our Knoxville trip side by side on the couch, as well as to look at flight options for Montana. (If you missed it on Twitter, we got our vacation time approved and will be spending a whole week there in July! So so so so excited.)

How is Glacier a real place?

On the topic of Knoxville, I feel surprisingly good for the race this weekend. I was feeling really stressed about it before the move, but I realize now that I was just channeling all my anxiety into that one event, instead of thinking of every single stressor involved. (I guess there are worse coping mechanisms?)

I have noticed since moving that my easy pace has gotten substantially faster, despite the hills. I had a hunch that RLRF was stressing my body quite a bit (mostly because I gained a little weight and couldn't lose it no matter what), but this just seems to confirm it. I think my body has had enough time to recover, and I'm bouncing back with faster times. I had been a little nervous to try for a 4:45 again, but after keeping a 10:36 pace without trying (too hard) Saturday, I'm ready to give it a shot.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some downtown traffic to fight.

Any tips for dealing with driving in a major city?
Any tips for not crying when I look at how expensive flights to Montana are?