There has been a ridiculous amount of change and upheaval in my life over the past few months, and I have only posted very, very veiled re-posts concerning all of it. So here goes…
On July 10th, I come home from a fantastic day at work and my boyfriend of 9+ years says “sit down we need to talk”. Nothing good follows those words, and over the course of the next hour or so we break up (given that this is a public forum with just enough identifying information I will spare polite company the details of our split, but lets just say it wasn’t exactly pretty. It could’ve been worse, but it shouldn’t have gone down the way it did). I spent the rest of that night on my friends couch, rocking, sobbing, and saying “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
By the next morning, I was starting to feel better. I went to the store I worked at to pick up some boxes and let the girls there know. Went back to the apartment (he vacated, staying with some friends) and started packing up his stuff. It felt good. Liberating. Soon I was putting together a plan. Wanting to move closer to my family and friends without moving ‘home’ I decided it would either be Pittsburgh, PA or Columbus, OH–both places where I knew people and would have an easier time finding a job while still being different and distant enough to start over.
The city of Pittsburgh has a siren call. My on-again-off-again love affair with it started with our sixth grade class trip. Then I went to college about 2 hours outside the city. Then the aforementioned boyfriend lived there for awhile. Then, the piece de resistance, I ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in 2011. So I started looking for jobs, and the next thing I knew my decision was made–I was moving to Pittsburgh.
This is still my running blog…don’t worry, I’m not diving off into the deep end of my failed relationship (follow my other blog for that 30-ish.tumblr.com), what’s important and relevant is how big a factor running played in my decision. The vast majority of my running friends live in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Moving here meant that I would get to run WITH PEOPLE instead of by myself most of the time, with one person waiting at the finish. And not just run in the same races, but actually run WITH someone–the friend I am staying with at present while I sort out the rest of my life is at my level and we are good at pushing each other. I’ve been here just about 3 weeks and we’re both already seeing improvements–just from having someone to run WITH.
Yesterday it all came to a perfect head for me. I ran the Great Race 5k with my friend and I PR’d. And I fell in love with Pittsburgh running all over again. It’s truly a beautiful and hospitable city to run in. I absolutely love it here, and this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.