Back to school. Back to school to prove to dad I’m not a fool. Well, sort of. Today ,Yesterday Two days ago was the first day of school and the return of the crazy life. Before things get too busy, as you can see in the prior crossed out words things have already started to get busy, I wanted to take a few moments to savor my many great summer moments and memories while also reflecting on my 2013 goals.

This summer I had the chance to run some great miles in great places before and even after hurting myself. In June I was ramping up my mileage in what I was planning to be a new PR attempt in September. I was putting in some great mileage weeks and even ran a few two a days. I met goal #2 on my 2013 list by running my fifth half marathon this year; this is the most I’ve completed in a year. In October I will look to add on to this goal at the Honky Tonk Half in Wisconsin Dells. June also brought the chance to run in several locations in Houston, TX while visiting my sister.

The month of July began on the road with chances to run in more beautiful places (with more great people) like…
Mustang State Park-Padre Island,

Ocean Drive Corpus Christi,

And…
St. Louis, Missouri!

I got to visit some great places (and people) in Texas such as…

and

and

I, well really we, but you know whatever Ms. K. wants is what Ms. K gets, so I got to visit New Orleans…

And Memphis.

Then came the injury of the summer during what would have been my sixth half marathon this year, the Dances With Dirt Half Marathon. Little did I know it wouldn’t be a simple two or three weeks off. I’m still dealing with swelling after each longer run and when standing on my feet all day. The injury though was responsible for me doing something I hadn’t done in far too long-biking!

August snuck in faster than I care to admit, but brought more chances to travel and run in fun places such as NYC! My long run walk route is detailed in the photos below.
Midtown Manhattan to…

To Union Square Park,

to Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment, to…

Greenwich Village to…

the Hudson River Trail to …
to 
Battery Park to…

the Statue of Liberty to…

Financial District to…

the Brooklyn Bridge to…

Brooklyn to…

the Manhattan Bridge to…

Manhattan to…

Chinatown to…

the Subway to…

eat this yummy cupcake for a famished runner!

Then of course there was the miles of walking to take in the sites like…
Grand Central Station,

Times Square,

Central Park,

FAO Schwartz,

And so much more!

I have a lot to be thankful for. Despite the ankle, this summer was awesome! When life gets stressful this school year I need to come back to this post to remind myself that life won’t always be like that. There will be a chance to catch my breath, run in great locations, and visit amazing cities again.

Until then I’m gearing up as best as I can for my marathon NEXT (insert major freak out sound) weekend. I’m so unprepared all I can do is laugh and hope I don’t fall down the canyon to an untimely death. Or maybe at that point it will be a welcomed break from the pain this race is going to ravage on me.

What summer memories will you cherish in the years to come?