#laurenruns

[laurenele]

once again took some time away from this space. i don't know why it is so hard for me to stay consistent but i'm going to try my best to post as much as i can in these next few months. since i last posted here, the biggest things that have happened are:

getting interview invites and starting to attend virtual interviews. i am extremely grateful that i have been lucky to get many more interviews than i could have dreamed of. of course, there have been disappointments right alongside the excitement but that is all part of the journey. and to be honest, the disappointments have not stung as much as i thought they would since i'm very much adopting the mindset that i am striving to be fully and authentically myself throughout this process and want to end up in a place where that authentic self is fully embraced and uplifted. i am confident in my self worth and the doctor i know i can be and that security tempers the uncertainty in this tumultuous and unpredictable process.

i had an absolute blast training for nyc marathon. that process was not without hiccups (including 3-4 niggles that randomly popped up in the last few weeks of training) but i listened to my body, pulling back when i needed to and pushing when it felt right. and i was rewarded with the most amazing marathon i have run to date. not only did i PR, i negatively split the race (on a notoriously tough course), overcame a major fear of mine when i puked and rallied at mile 25.5, and shared many amazing memories with the runners and spectators around me. grateful doesn't begin to cut it. and it left me feeling excited and buzzing with anticipation for the next race.

took a full week off of running after the marathon (which i haven't done in probably almost 2 years!). now im building back up, gearing up for boston in april. another historic race that i am so psyched and grateful to be running in. just need to add that i am incredibly lucky to have such an amazing running coach who is very much on the same wavelength as me in terms of his training philosophy and general approach to running. he is pushing me out of my comfort zone and i absolutely love it!

i have been home for the holidays for the past 10 days which is an absolute blessing. so lucky to have this time with family relaxing, as i know so many do not have the time or flexibility to do this, and i know that my schedule will not be so forgiving after this year. what a treat. i fly back to nyc tomorrow, and while i'm sad to be leaving family, i have to say that i'm looking forward to being back in my own space and re-establishing a schedule. so excited for early bedtimes and reading books in bed all cozy with winnie and getting up early to have a productive morning.

this is a long one but i think i've caught you up on all the big things. will try to post more consistently here this week!

[laurenele]

perks of being a fourth year ✨

this month i am on a medical education elective which i am so excited about! i love teaching and want to get better at it so this will be a great opportunity to work on my skills. plus the schedule is very nice hehehe and i had the whole day off today!

scheduled a last minute doctor's visit for this morning which was in midtown and decided to make a little adventure out of it! i had a 7 mi easy run today so i planned out my route starting from midtown and ending in brooklyn so i could check out bandit running!

i ran through the streets of manhattan to get to the williamsburg bridge and my goodness, what a sharp contrast to my views from a week ago!

there was this moment i was running down broadway in soho on the street in the bike lane and the city views were breaktaking and i felt in a flow state

i've never actually been running in brooklyn before so this was a first for me! ended my run at maman to get some fuel and the went to bandit. ended up not getting anything (the store is pretty tiny and they didn't have a lot of things in stock/in my size) but it was still so fun to browse!

love the rush of joy i get when i see there's a new SWAP podcast out. listening to these folks for 1.5 hours every week makes my heart happy. the little things!

took winnie to the dog park for over an hour to play fetch

now relaxing on the couch, sipping my athletic greens that i shook up with ice in a blender bottle and poured into a fancy glass to make it feel like i'm sipping a mocktail :)

life is good. happy tuesday!

[laurenele]

1.5 easy miles today with that post-run pigeon pose sweaty glow 💦 first monday running without walking intervals! feeling proud of this progress 👏🏼 this run was a refresh for my mind + body and exactly what i needed after today. grateful for this sport i love so much to be my constant to fall back on when everything else seems to be falling apart. it gives me perspective and reminds me how precious this life is and how much i want to fill it with things that bring be joy, challenge, and purpose. i love running and i love being a runner. ordered a few tracksmith goodies earlier today as an early bday present and could not be more excited!!! feeding the running🔥 grateful grateful.

[laurenele]

last run in the ‘burbs

• gonna miss this place and the grass and the trees and the fresh air i get to enjoy on my runs

• gonna miss our cute little garden with the best/most nostalgic snack on the planet aka a cherry tomato fresh picked with a sprig of parsley

• gonna miss the people most of all

• how lucky am i to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard

• the last few months have been hard in more ways than one, but i am lucky i got to spend it here with these people and i wouldn’t have had it any other way

• onto the next adventure! NYC and M2 year here i come ✨

[laurenele]

a little Thursday summer magic 💫

• summer break has been soooo good to me so far. i’m doing a research this summer with a mentor/in a field i am so excited about! at first i was a little bummed bc 1) the original project i had planned on doing wasn’t an option any more bc of covid and having to work remotely, and 2) the research program began the monday after we finished school on friday, essentially leaving us with 2 “true” days of summer (i was hoping to have, i dunno, a week to recover from an intensive year of school?). BUT i have been pleasantly surprised bc i switched to another project that looks like it will be even more interesting than the original one! and! bc of administrative obstacles, i can’t work on the project until next week, leaving me with this WHOLE week off to relax and reset! very very grateful for this time. it has been glorious. i actually found myself a bit bored yesterday 🤣 it’s funny how i spent so much time during the year wishing that i could do nothing all summer, and now that I have a taste of what nothing feels like, i’m actually really glad I’ll have a project to work on.

• watched an ultrarunning documentary on Courtney Dauwalter this morning with some coffee laying on a blanket in the shade in the yard. WOW. that woman is inspiring as hell and makes me want to run 100 miles. her attitude and joy and humility are everything. watching that amped me up about running so much!

• went on a nice long walk with winnie, listened to the 1619 podcast (high recommended by many - i concur). then did 2 min run/1 min walk x8 completely pain free! did some strength and ab work afterward and it was the perfect temperature with a light breeze and i just felt very happy that i have this summer to take time to heal my injuries and get back to running.

• current status: laying in a hammock with the evening sun streaming through the yard. winnie stole a towel and chewed it up and is now zoomie-ing in circles around the backyard. and drinking from the bird bath. classic.

[laurenele]

update: just finished my first weekly runners workshop (a virtual (free!) group strength class held by my PT/running coach!) and i am exhausted! in the best way possible. i was sweating sooo much only a few mins in, winnie was running around being a goofball the whole time, trying to play tug of war with my beach towel (aka my yoga mat for the day) & i got this overwhelming sense of “this is exactly where i am supposed to be and what i’m supposed to be doing right now.” so grateful that i have re-fallen in love with running. it’s given me an invigorating sense of purpose and excitement these last few weeks/months. this class was an absolute blast & left me feeling humbled and wanting more. can’t wait for next week!

[laurenele]

slow saturday mornings with coffee in bed will always be one of my most favorite things 💫

i’ve been reading the tracksmith journal pieces on weekend mornings and have found them to be so inspiring and relaxing and they get me jazzed up about my long runs! it’s wonderful to have a hobby that is my own little piece of the world, separate from the bubble the rest of my life resides in. don’t get me wrong, i love being in medicine and feel exceptional gratitude to be where i am professionally, but as RBG so eloquently put it, “each part of my life provided respite from the other and gave me a sense of proportion that classmates trained only on law studies [or in my case, medical studies] lacked.” 

today i’m feelin grateful for sunshine, blue skies, a v fluffy pup, weekend long runs, and the post-run nuun i am already looking forward to ☀️

happy saturday!