8 miles!

I ran 8 miles today. I had planned to do 6 miles but then I overshot where I was supposed to turn and ended up at SLAC. When I passed SLAc, I knew I had gone way too far. This run took way too long because I after I realized I had missed the turn, I spent some time running around a parking lot looking for a way to go east without backtracking. This turned out to be impossible. And the route made me cross a lot of streets so I had to wait for the light at some points. I did manage to run nearly all of it though, which is quite the accomplishment. I think running Dish loops which has a net elevation gain of nearly 500 ft over 3 miles has trained me well. It's so easy to run on a flat course now.

So, I think I want to run a marathon next year. I think that will be my new year's resolution. I think I can definitely do a half marathon. I think it will be do-able to train for a full marathon. Oakland is holding a marathon this year but the full marathon course is uphill for the first 10 miles and then it goes from 700 ft to 0 in about a mile. This scares me. The SF marathon route looks tame comparatively. Anyway, I think I'm definitely going to sign up for Bay to Breakers, which is a 12k. It's something I've been wanting to do ever since high school. Bay to Breakers is a quirky SF road race where people dress up and do crazy stuff. Seems like it would be a lot of fun. I think I'm addicted to running. I've been cranking up the mileage and it feels good to feel myself physically improving by the week. I think I will try running a mile on the track sometime just to see how fast I can run a mile. Hopefully it will be under 10 minutes. ha!

Anyhow, classes are over! I have a final on Wednesday night and a take home final that is also due on Wednesday. I seriously need to start studying. I couldn't do anything today after running so much. I did make brownies and invited some friends over though.

On Friday, the structural group had a winter party. There was lots of good food, which was much appreciated. The Blume center is kind of small for this type of thing though but I guess it's easier to bump into people and chat with them. It's really good that we have some kind of event or happy hour every month since I really want to chat with these people but I always feel like I should keep the conversations short because they might be busy. I think it's really important to get to know people better. I've made it sort of a policy that I will grab the chance to chat with people rather than say, spend more time studying. Given the chance, I would rather walk back to the grad residences with people and even take a detour if it means I get a chance to get to know them better.

There are two second year Masters students in my program. One is applying to stay for a PhD and the other is going to work. Both of them are very smart and interesting people. The one who's working is going to work for a very small startup in Portland. His company sounds interesting. That another summer option for me!