Let’s get the big exciting news off the table first, mmk? Last week J and I had a picnic in a local park for our fourth anniversary, at the end of which he got down on one knee and popped the question! I knew this was coming at some point but he did an amazing job and I was still super surprised and excited. I’m pretty sure I was doing so much crying and saying yes that I forgot to even look at the ring until a couple of minutes later 😉 If you’re into that sort of thing, the ring is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever owned–vintage, totally unique, and very “me.” 
And before you ask–we don’t have a date yet, but we’re planning to get married next summer in Maine. I’m semi-dreading some of the wedding planning stuff but I am SO excited to marry such an incredible guy! We’re having a ton of fun introducing each other as “my fiance” (so weird) and just reveling in the joy of making it official.
After we called and texted and Facebooked on Thursday night, I was basically too jazzed to fall asleep so I woke up bright and early for a quick 3 miler around our neighborhood with J. Friday was a haze of congratulations (you all are incredible, thank you x10000 for the calls, texts, comments, hugs, cards, etc.) and Friday night it was time for the Olympics Opening Ceremonies aka the start of my favorite athletic event of the year! 
This is my third time in a row hosting an Opening Ceremonies party and this one was extra celebratory given our news. All of my thoughts about the actual ceremonies are pretty much summed up here–but holy heck were they just as ridiculous as always. I effing love the Olympics so if you need me over the next few weeks, I’ll be geeking out about women’s gymnastics and obviously all of the running events.
Saturday morning I battled my way through a tough long run with friends (more to come in the weekly update) and then we were off to NH for a gathering with J’s family. We had been planning to camp that night before a Sunday hike, but we decided to treat ourselves to a night at a B&B to celebrate. Thanks to AirBnB, we stumbled onto the cutest/quirkiest little spot, and I couldn’t have been happier to get a great night’s sleep and a delish breakfast before our hike. 
The weather was perfect and we summitted both North and South Twin Mountains–two more 4000 footers down! It was a perfect day hike–definitely challenging with some technical spots, but we were able to wrap up 11 miles and approximately 3000 feet of elevation gain in 6-ish hours. It was really nice to get to spend some time doing something we love together.
All-in-all, it was a whirlwind weekend and my head is still spinning, but I am beyond thrilled. Love is the best!
Leah
Another week down, another weekend away! I spent last weekend down the Cape for a high school friend’s bachelorette. Despite the lack of sleep, I managed to sneak in a 14 miler along the course of 
The keys for me are keeping my Fridays easy, my Sundays empty, and lots of self care in between (aka yoga and massages!) I got my first massage of training this week at the new-to-me 
Has anyone else been singing 
As I discussed in my last couple of posts, this week started off with an extra rest day to 
My travel schedule has been pretty limiting here, but I’ve met some awesome ladies also training for Chicago at track (hi guys!) and am hoping to meet up with them for some upcoming runs. Also, my weekly mileage has worked out to be a little bit lower than I was planning. I’d like to incorporate a ‘longer’ mid-week run of 6+ miles, probably on Wednesdays or Thursdays. My hope would be to average around 40 miles/week–it’s all about learning to run on tired legs so that miles 20-26 of the marathon feel like a breeze 🙂 Lastly, I’d like to make sure I’m doing some tempo running once a week to incorporate speed beyond my track workouts.
Week 8:
Happy Monday, party people! I have a quick update on my hip pain situation I wrote about in my 
So… this update has to start off with a little bit of less than awesome news. During my run on Wednesday I felt something funny tweak in my hip, and since then I’ve been dealing with some soreness in what I think is my TFL (tensor fasciae latae). I was supposed to run a local 5k today but I’m going to take today and tomorrow off in order to hopefully get things back in order in time for my long run this weekend. Here’s hoping ice, foam rolling, ibuprofen, and stretching will do the trick!!
In order news, I had a lovely and relaxing long weekend in Maine with my mom. Even though she lives down the street it’s always nice to get to spend some really good quality time together, complete with reading, lake swimming, and some late season strawberry picking. She even set an early alarm on Saturday to take a bike ride while I did my long run! Be sure to 
We arrived Friday to pick up our bibs at the expo, which wasn’t much to speak of but it was a good chance to get a sense of where the starting line was. After a delicious dinner at the original 
Given the amazing conditions and the fact that I was feeling strong, I figured I might as well shoot for the moon and give a PR a whirl, especially as the showers picked up and despite the hard effort I wasn’t hot or sweaty. I picked a couple of strong-looking folks to pace behind and held onto decent paces–and then started doing math in my head which led to me believe that a couple of fast final miles would lead me to PR. I dug deep and ran a 7:09 and a 7:03 for miles 12 and 13. 
Despite my watch saying differently, I clocked an official time of 1:40:29–two seconds slower than my PR, 12th in my age group and 45th woman overall. Not PR-ing was a little bit of a letdown, but this race felt relatively easy and I’m pleased to see that I was able to hold onto my time without my brother there as a pacer, like he was at the 
Another week of training has come and gone! This one blew by after a whirlwind weekend away in Maine and New Hampshire. We drove up Friday and headed to bed early to sleep before the Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon. Full recap to come, but I really enjoyed the race and (spoiler alert) I kicked it to the end for a 1:40:29 finish–2 seconds slower than my previous PR. Not too shabby for a hilly course!
Everyone was so sweet and grateful… and I was so honored to get to celebrate two lovely humans and their togetherness. Despite the unseasonable cold and rain, we were able to squeeze in some outside photos before heading indoors for dinner and dancing. We stayed over Sunday night and I was thrilled to wake up to an incredible gorgeous morning for a quick lakeside run before we had to head out.
Week 6:
Greetings from another week of marathon training–I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Jeremy was out of town hiking the last of the 48 4000+ ft. mountains in NH (and he did it–YAY J!) so I had a quiet start to the weekend with a solo 14 miler. It definitely was my best training run so far this season–everything really just clicked for me and I felt strong and happy the whole time. It helped that it was a gorgeous morning with temps in the 60s the whole run. I’m really loving running on the Boston marathon route, since it takes me out into my hometown and works a few hills into my training.
I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday weekend! I was thrilled to be in town after so much traveling–and doing my 14 miler on familiar turf didn’t hurt either (more to come in the weekly recap on Thursday). I finish up my first summer course on this week, which means I have one weekend of freedom without having to worry about school before my next class starts up. Of course, we’re going to be out of town–first heading to Portland, ME for a 
I have a very, very strong belief in breakfast. Regardless of 
Shorter and Faster 