Welcome back to my blog! 

I think this might be the third time I’ve re-written this post. Why? Well I’m afraid that I’m going to get burned out on blogging again, and I don’t have a super clear focus on what I want to write about. I created this blog to be about running, so I still want to talk about my experience with becoming a “runner.” However, I do so much more than running. Not right now, because I haven’t started working on anything else. In fact I haven’t even been doing that much running. BUT … I do have a lot of things that I want to do. And this is my last free summer until I retire (knock on wood). 

That’s right, ya girl finished her first year of optometry school! And I had to do the last half of my second semester completely remote/online. Obviously, a lot of people had to go through a major change once the world started shutting down to help stop the spread of COVID-19 — and optometry schools were one of the institutions that had to adjust. Anyway, it was difficult, but I made it through. 

Okay, so let’s circle back to the reason I’m blogging again. Like most things in life, it’s multifactorial. 

1. The only complete summer break I get in optometry school is the summer between first and second year, making it the last official summer break I will ever have. I thought I should take the time to document it. 
2. I’ve technically been on summer break for almost a week  now, and besides helping my boyfriend’s parents move into their new house, I have not gotten the ball rolling on anything. I’ve legitimately taken a nap every day this week so far, and have basically lived on my couch for the past three days. Also, today I baked the worst loaf of banana bread I have ever made and I was just about to sit down to watch yet another movie I didn’t really care about watching when I decided, “Kelly, you need to finish your blog post already!” 

So, now that we’ve established that I’m here to make myself feel less like a bum, we should also nail down the focus of this blog. Obviously, we’ll have to talk about running pretty consistently since the blog is called Running Start. I also have few other non-running goals that I wouldn’t mind writing about, and I think you may even find them interesting. 

• Teach Dolly (my dog) two new tricks

She already knows sit, down, over, and shake so I’m thinking I want to work on stay this summer as well as another cool trick. Any ideas? 

• Read three books

I enjoy reading, but I haven’t prioritized it as much lately. In 2018 one of my goals for that year was to read more, and I did a pretty decent job of turning it into a habit. Then, in 2019 I think I only read three books total. I’ve already finished one book so far this summer, so I only need to read two more to complete my goal.

• Go camping 

I love camping, and seeing as this is my last summer break, I really want to go on a camping trip. I haven’t decided where I want to go camping, but I’ve got a few ideas in mind.

• Run three days a week

Like I said, this is first and foremost a running blog, so I’ll have to run a little. And I actually really enjoy running and would like to make it a more consistent habit in my life. I also really enjoyed the half marathon I did last fall (even though I wasn’t super prepared for it more on that coming soon!) and would be open to doing it again this fall assuming it won’t be cancelled.  

• Start blogging again 

While there were several times last year that I got frustrated with blogging, I still keep wanting to come back to it. If I’m being very honest it’s because I have a big head enjoy writing.

Wrap – Up 

I’m back for now! Who knows what will happen in a few months when school picks back up again. In the meantime, I’m just going to have fun with it. I like having an outlet where I can share some of my stories, and I know there are a few of you out there who appreciate that I share them with you. 

Oh, what’s that? You want to hear about how I actually ran a half marathon last year. Don’t worry that post is written. It’s currently five pages long, and still needs me to go through and do some editing to it. I’m super excited to share it with you though, because I kind of left you hanging there at the end. 

I’ll post it on Monday, May 25 — seven and a half months after I ran the race. It’s a long one, so maybe set some time aside because it’s not going to be as quick of a read as some of my other posts have been. 

Well guys, I’m back! Thank you to anyone who has come across this blog post and given it a read through. I hope you’ll continue to come back and read through my stories during my final summer break — ever!

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