So we're moving to Seattle. In two weeks time, we'll be moving into our new apartment (that is HALF the cost of our rent in San Francisco with, I'm pretty sure, more than double the space) and nearly eleven months after leaving our first apartment together, we'll be creating our first home as husband and wife. #allthefeels Aside from the fact that we won't be living out of a suitcase or sharing space with anyone else we are excited to actually be doing this in Seattle for many reasons.
If you follow me on Insta, you've probably seen me post about the GRRLS a few times. Back in November, I ran Ragnar Napa on team #GRRLS and we WON. We were 3rd team overall (2nd "regular", non-ultra team) and first women's team... by several hours. I'll back up. I joined Oiselle Volee in May. I love the sense of community this company has sparked and the connections I've made have been so impactful. There is a team portal and my now friend Jules posted that she was looking for a couple more women to fill her Ragnar Napa women's team. She wanted them to be fast. I responded, we chatted, and I joined the team. Over the next several months, Jules built a fast team of women - even faster than she had originally intended. The majority of the women on the team live in Seattle and are either members of the Volee or the Seattle Green Lake Running Group (or both) and she was able to fill all the spots with women that could run (much) faster than an 8 minute pace. Looking at our projected times, I felt confident we would win the women's division... I thought we may even have a chance to win it all. We were so close - finishing only 15 minutes after the first team. When you've just run nearly 200 miles, 15 minutes is such a small margin. (Only 2 seconds per mile, if you want to get specific.) We did, however, make it into the exclusive 24 Hour Club. With a finish time of 23 hours 08 minutes. (An average pace of 7:35 per mile. NBD.) So frickin' proud. What I loved about the experience - aside from winning, because that was fantastic too - was that every woman on the team showed up and knew why they were there. We were competing. This was a race and we all took it seriously. I think it's hard to get 12 people with that mindset in the same place on the same team, working for that same goal. (And that are super fast!) But this is the spirit that the GRRLS embody and it was such an inspiring team to be on. Even better than just racing on this team called #GRRLS, is that this is an actual Seattle-based community. The Facebook page was just created and I love our description:
The GRRLS community is a supportive and empowering space for unapologetically speedy female-identified runners to connect. GRRLS collaborate to form competitive relay teams, gather for group runs, organize social activities, and offer support, both in real life and virtually, to each other as we pursue personal and shared goals... I've done so much running on my own over the last couple years, but I think that will soon change and I'm excited by this new opportunity. I'll also be joining team #GRRLS again for Ragnar Northwest Passage in July and for Hood to Coast in August (where we're raising funds for ALA). You'll soon be able to find me: setting up our new home, figuring out my new job, adopting a pet (or two!), and running around Seattle with some fast AF women.
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AuthorA Midwest girl gone global. I choose happiness everyday: I run, eat well, travel, and love completely. Archives
March 2022
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