A New Chapter - Philadelphia Freedom

First things first...

Thank you all so much for all the wonderful, kind words you sent my way from my last post. I know I have been awful about replying back, but I want you to know that I read every one and they all meant the WORLD to me. Thank you all so much, thank you, thank you, thank you...

I have been meaning to catch up with everyone and update this thing for the longest time, but life has been crazy the past few months and I always find an excuse not to do it. Mostly, it's because I'm lazy, I mean let's be honest, but there are other reasons as well. :)

I have slowly been reading and trying to catch up with your posts even though I haven't been leaving comments. Although I must admit after a few minutes of reading, I feel like a fake. I know it's stupid but I have been having a REALLY hard time getting back into running again. There were a few months there I really was barely even trying. With everything that has been going on it's been hard to find my rhythm. I'll do great for three weeks only to get to a week where I barely squeeze in one run. This is when I realized I needed your guy's help again. I needed to jump back on here and catch up with you all and try to get my head back in the game. And I have two good reasons for it.

1. The Philadelphia Distance Run (Half Marathon) , September 21st.

2. The Philadelphia Marathon (Full) , November 23rd.

So maybe you're thinking, "Gee Laurel, why are you traveling to Philly for TWO races this year?" Or maybe you're not thinking that, but let's just pretend. Well, one of the main reasons life has been so hectic these past few months is that we moved to Philadelphia four weeks ago.



Yes, that's right, the City of Brotherly Love. Or Killadelphia, depending on who you listen to. Either way, it's a good move, made at the right time for a million different reasons.

Long story short:

Jeremy and I had always been struggling with whether or not we wanted to settle in Miami or not. We loved all our friends there and we loved the fact that my parents were so close (3.5 hours away) but in reality, we weren't really happy there. We weren't in love with the city, we couldn't afford a house there, we hated the hot weather (trust me, it get REAL old, fast), and we were not totally excited about our jobs anymore. But at the time we were pregnant so we figured, we would stick it out, have the kid and see what happens.

When I was still pregnant J got a call for two interviews, one from Temple University in Philly and one from another school out west. We figured he would go interview but that we really weren't going to leave (because of baby). Then fate stepped in (refer to last post) and a week after all that happened he went to interview in Philadelphia.

The interview went really well but we still didn't think we would leave. I mean, I really was in no state of mind to pick up and leave my friends and family and move to a strange city. But after he brought me up for a couple of visits and we toured the city, I was hooked. The people at the University where he is working are WONDERFUL and made every effort to make us feel like family and it didn't take long before I fell in LOVE with the City of Brotherly Love. After a month of sleepless nights, therapy, major decisions and finally blessings from our family and friends, we made the decision to leave Miami and move to Philly.

Before we left I told him I needed a race to train for. Now, with no baby I could run a race again and maybe make up for the injury last year that made me miss the Miami Marathon. So we decided the best thing to do is train for Philly in November. That way we can spend a few months training and running and getting to know the city. After we signed up for the full, we leaned about the Distance Run and decided that would be a great half-marathon to run as part of our training.

So that's where we are at now. We are in Philly and loving it. Of course, life is still not perfect and this move hasn't solved all the problems and pain we have encountered in the past year but it's the first step in a new direction. It's the path towards healing and starting new. I still have days that are rough and admittedly there are days when I miss my friends and yes, even my job so much it hurts but that's all part of it. We have moved across the country a few times now and while each time it is hard, it's always a fun adventure (although I would feel better about this adventure if I could find a job, but that's a whole different post).

And deep down inside I have to wonder about fate. Yes, fate, the thing I went ON AND ON about in my last post. The thing I was sure did NOT exist. But when all is said and done, sometimes I can't help but wonder if things really do happen for a reason. I mean, in reality, every move you make, every word you speak, every nano-second of your life paves the way for everything that will happen in your future. So many random events in my life these past two years have led to where I am sitting right now, I can't help but wonder why...

Anyway, I promise my next post will be about running now that I have you guys back to motivate me. I have a lot to catch you up on ;)