Kalamazoo

I took the train to Kalamazoo to visit my grandparents. We had a great time catching up over good food and drink.

Laura's wedding

After my last final I headed to Utah for my good friend Laura’s wedding. It was so great to see Jeff after 6 weeks apart! It was also great to see all my Calvin friends. The wedding was very fun. I had never been a bridesmaid and it was fun. I went on an awesome trail fun as well. Fun fun!

Exam week

Wow that was an intense week. We had an oral final, a lab practical final, a written final, and a video final for each subject. It feels good to have survived. I can’t say that I nailed them but I it’s over and I graduate on Friday. It has been a fun 10 weeks. Friendships and memories were made during my time a at Northwestern. Bittersweet.

Chicago Marathon

Well I have had a week to digest my race. ..My overall feeling is that I am proud that I put it all out there and really can say that I had nothing left. The hard part is that I don’t know what to do now. I am still confused as to why I die at the end of the marathon. I feel like most of the elite runners I know do not die like I have the last two races. In Eugene, I thought it was that I didn’t fuel properly but during Chicago I did. Perhaps I went to fast but if I would have gone slower, would have I still died but not had as much of a time cushion? Not sure…I need to figure this out. One thing about the race was that it was a really special experience that I will remember for my whole life. I had SO many people cheering for me from all different parts of my life. It was really special to hear “Go Christina!” every couple minutes and look up and see someone from Michigan, Portland, Gradschool, Calvin, Fleet Feet…it was truly amazing.

Pre Chicago

Sorry for being so MIA on this blog. School and training have been keeping me very busy. I am very excited for the marathon tomorrow and have good feelings about it. Looking forward to a fun and fast race!

Focus Group

This morning I met Heather to do some strides and talk to Coach Leach one last time before the marathon. The strides felt fluid. Heather and I then drove to the race expo where we participated in a Nike Focus group. They wanted information from Elite Runners on watches. It was fun and they rewarded us with a gift card and a shirt. We then went to get our packets. We didn’t stay long because there was some mad nervous energy in the building and I didn’t like it. I stopped to by some roast beef on my way home. I always have a roast beef sandwich the lunch before a goal race. It makes me feel strong for some reason- I’m sure it is mental : )