Keep Calm and Job Hunt On - Or Go for a Run

I've been back in California for just under three weeks now - kind of unreal. I am starting week two at the new job, still living in temporary housing, and am dealing with a great bit of uncertainty and "what ifs" than one would imagine after just landing back in her home state. But that's another conversation.

Not always easy, but always done.

What I really wanted to write about, after numerous questions and "Jeezo, how did you do that?" comments about running while on the job hunt. I spent the better part of June on a plane, or in multiple time zones during which red-eyes totally kicked my behind. However, June was also the core month of the #RWRunStreak, a challenge I'm proud to say that I met (even though it sometimes meant doubling up on runs). Whether you're job hunting in student affairs (a pretty taxing, ridiculous interview process) or in some other field, it's still not easy to maintain a regular fitness schedule while also remembering to check in for your flight, make sure you have all your interview materials, and are still mostly staying sane... let alone remembering your socks, shoes, and shorts.


How did I do it? I couldn't really tell you. But I have a few tips, suggestions, and ways to make fitness really pay off during those interviews.

1. Channel your nervous interview energy into a run! Morning interview jitters? Try and jog 'em out, either around the city you're visiting (ask for tips from locals or from the hotel desk), or even on a hotel gym treadmill. Knock out those butterflies, give yourself an endorphin boost to get the day started, and feel motivated and empowered to rock their socks off.

2. Use a run to discover your new (potential) home. There is no better way to get to know a city than to run its streets - for good and bad. I mean, stay safe, get recommendations of places to go and places to avoid, wear your Road ID, but also use that time to discover those hidden trails, parks, and places to check out. You can't see everything from a car window!

Ah, California scenery.

3. Go for a run to learn more about the place you could work for. This heavily applies to student affairs, as we're lucky enough to get to travel to campuses all over during our interview processes. This often includes a campus tour sometime during the day, but if you can talk about places you've already seen, or sights you appreciated during that morning jaunt around campus, why not talk about it? They'll appreciate that you've not only done your research reading that campus historical marker plaque, but that you loved it enough to talk about it! If you're also a student affairs nerd like me, you can even make a to-do list like this one - see how many campuses you can knock off of your "Campuses I've Run" list! (I've only got one that I've actually run on, despite having visited many of them)

4. Pack fitness clothes as if it's second nature. Suit? Check. Dress shoes? Check. Shorts? Check. Shirt, sports bra, armband, Garmin, socks, running shoes, check? Just as you would ensure that you have a full interview assembly packed and prepared, pack your favorite running clothes too! You're more likely to actually put them on if you bothered to pack them and haul them across the country with you.

5. Keep calm (no, there is no 'and...' to close that off). If you are the runner that truly gets outside (or on a machine) just to stay sane, continue to do that! There is no reason that travel or time zones could or should prevent you from maintaining a mental health regimen. If you know that, like me, you are a happier person when your day starts with a run, ensure that you make the effort to do so -- it'll make you happier during a long day, but also contributes to a more pleasant demeanor and likableness during those interviews!

I was lucky enough, despite seriously long flights and layovers, that my trips were all to the west coast this time around. When it comes to getting up in the morning, it was no struggle given that my brain and body were still usually on Eastern time so 5 am Pacific was no sweat (usually).

I put in more treadmill miles in June than I have in the last year, which I hated, but I was more happy to be running, putting in the work, and making the effort, than to be a sitting duck just because I wanted a little more sleep. They weren't always happy miles, and they were usually only in sets of two miles (and less), but it was mo
re than nothing and more than sitting more - especially after long flights, that was the last thing I usually needed. Running sets my days off on the right foot (or left), and I knew that made me a better person, much stronger, and more confident during those interview days.

Other tips or suggestions for running on the job hunt? How many campuses have you run on?

Cocktails, Conversation and Chocolate

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I had the really cool opportunity to attend this on Wednesday night:

I was really excited as first, it was my first real bloggers' event and secondly, I'm excited to say that I'm serving as an ambassador (of all things chocolate) for them again -- but more on that in a minute!

Surely by now you've heard of the chocolatey goodness that is the Hot Chocolate race series. If you haven't, you're clearly not a chocolate lover and clearly not paying attention. These races span everywhere from San Diego to St. Louis and Chicago to Dallas, and feature both a 5 and 15K at each race, coupled with pretty much the most delicious post-race party ever -- and some sweet swag to boot!

Wednesday night's event was at the super snazzy Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA - it's still a trip to think that I live here now. Beautiful hotel, gorgeous rooms and decor. I digress. I showed just about 6:05, which is rather early for LA time given the traffic, and was one of the first non-RAM racing folks to show up. At first I was a little intimidated, no lie, but soon found Josiah (the awesome ambassador coordinator who does a whole bunch of marketing fun stuff) and connected and got to talking with him and another guy who was just as "early" as I was, from the LA Running Club.

Hangin' with Steve.

Soon people were milling all over, and while I hardly talked to most of the other bloggers or local race directors or other folks, I had a great time meeting the staff from RAM and interacting with a few other local runners. I'll find my niche here at some point!

Steve Ginsberg, one of the founders to RAM Racing, spent a few minutes talking about RAM's history, how it came to be the racing company that it is, and covered everything from their original races (like the Bucktown 5K and the Cinco de Miler) and eventually, how Hot Chocolate came to be! The discussion then turned to the future. Hot Chocolate races obviously provide you with steaming hot chocolate at the end, thus typically holding races during the cooler months (October-April in most locations). What RAM realized though was the opportunity to do the reverse and not necessarily give up some months just because they're warmer. Runners' safety is accounted for, of course, however, there are chances to do other great things! And thus...

Los Angeles is serving as home to the first Frozen Hot Chocolate! I know, I know 'frozen' and 'hot' don't belong together, but as they assured us, it's truly a frozen chocolate drink (the final agreed term was 'malt' but don't hold me to that). And being that the weather is a little too warm for that famous tech hoodie, the swag bags for the frozen race will include both a tech shirt (they are so soft - both in men's and women's cuts!) and one of two choices of sport sunglasses (two color options each too)!. Still a pretty sweet deal if you ask me (pun intended).

Since I served as an Ambassador to the new Atlanta race for 2013, and pending my move (at the time), I was able to snag a spot by serving as an Ambassador for Los Angeles, now that I'm here and settled! Pretty exciting, if you ask me. So what does this mean for you? Extra swag!

use code LAmug1 

when you register to add this adorable travel mug to your chocolate swag collection!

Who will I see there? Will you be doing the 5K or the 10K?

As an ambassador, I do not automatically receive a race entry, merely various RAM racing products and marketing supplies to aid in the recruitment of runners for this event. All opinions and thoughts are my own and do not necessarily reflect that of RAM Racing. I like chocolate, I like running, and I definitely like running for chocolate and would probably do so without all the extra fun stuff that Ambassadors are privy to!

Rave Run: Pittsburgh

For as much as I travel, I wish had always thought to do one single post on the run I'd taken in that city and showcased some of the highlights of the running adventure. Last year in Salt Lake City, interview adventures in various cities, and now most recently: Pittsburgh! While Pitt is not necessarily a new city per se, having kicked off our Ragnar adventures there last September (has it almost been a year?!), I hadn't run the city itself yet.

My sorority's national convention was in downtown Pittsburgh this past weekend, Thursday-Sunday, so I took the time to ensure I got some running time in with Shannon and Cathryn as tour guides. Our hotel was downtown in the Bigelow Square area, not far from Point State Park, Duquesne, and some other really cool landmarks in downtown. Shannon and Cathryn came and picked us up at 6:15 am on Friday to drive to the Point and get in some miles.

Pretty much going to be all photos, but you'll get why I could imagine running here all the time. The river reminded me a lot of Austin's Town Lake area and was a great place to run - minus the fact that it was crazy humid that morning, it was perfect all around.

Gorgeous morning scenery!

Pirates weren't home this weekend, but at least we got to crash PNC Park!

I made a new friend.

North Shore trails are awesome - perfect for the number of bikers and runners we saw. Loved it!

 

Can you beat this?

Sweaty friends!

 All in all, we got 4.3 super sweaty, humid miles in along North Shore, past PNC, under and around bridges, and past the Andy Warhol museum. Pretty cool sights, and I wish I had had more time to explore. However, this run turned out to be all the sight-seeing I got to do at all this weekend, so I'm grateful for that! All photo credit to Shannon and Cathryn. Thanks guys for a great tour!

Have you ever been to Pittsburgh - ran Pittsburgh? Favorite city to run?

On the Road Again: We're Home!

We made it!

Yesterday's trip was Albuquerque to Phoenix, not terrible, and certainly more scenic than the Texas flatlands up north. The mesas and colors in New Mexico and northern Arizona never fail to astound me!

Please ignore my foot in the photo.

We stopped in Winslow, Arizona, for a fun little side stop:

Last night we got to stop in Phoenix with Jon and Tina, one of my beloved besties and regular road trip stop. When I moved to Georgia, Dad and I got to hang with them for a night (and by night I mean we were there about 8 hours and slept about 7 of them) - and I hung with them in Phoenix for a week on my way out of Texas. Love them and am so grateful! Anyhow, so we met up with Monica and Todd and their cutie pie, Jace, for dinner to catch up - I didn't think to get a photo. I was way too tired!

This morning, we slept in a little bit, knowing we had a fairly short drive ahead of us (shortest drive of the whole trip), and got out of Phoenix about 10:30 this morning. After a stop at the Colorado River for Molly to get a little swim in (check out my Instagram for more road trip fun), we were finally in state #10! Hooray!

State #10 and our final state line!

And now... we're home! We got to my parents' house about 4:45 this afternoon after an easy 5-hour, where sleepiness promptly punched me in the face, so I'm off to bed here soon! Can't wait to sleep in with plans to go nowhere... mostly.

Tomorrow: to nowhere! We're here!

On the Road Again: Days 2 & 3

So sorry I didn't get to post last night - it was a long day, and we actually go out and had a little fun last night in Oklahoma City. Sunday, or Day 2, as I'm trying to keep my days, dates and time zones straight, was from Memphis to Oklahoma City. Not terrible, but a pretty decent drive.

We made it to OKC just about 6:30, and headed down to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum - while the museum was closed, we got to walk around the memorial and listen to a park ranger for a bit. While I was young when this bombing happened (5th grade), and I don't think it resonates with me as hard as say, 9/11 or Columbine, walking around the memorial and listening to all the stories and different aspects of the memorial and why it was designed the way it was made it very real. A beautiful memorial; I would love to get back to see the museum at some point.

After that, we headed over to Bricktown to walk around a bit and grab dinner - our first non-fast-foody kinda food finally! We had a great dinner at Bourbon Street Cafe and enjoyed being outside. Bricktown is a seemingly very mini-version of San Antonio's Riverwalk (which I love), and the weather was decent enough to enjoy it. Being a Sunday, it wasn't super alive, but I can certainly tell this is quite the place to be!

And today I write from...

Day 3! I'm tired. Have I said that yet? This morning we left OKC and headed down to Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma. More student affairs nerdiness at its best! While it was almost an extra hour we were on the road, it was a fun trip and another neat campus to see. I'm grateful for Doug putting up with the nerd in me - I think I keep him amused by making sure we stake out each campus' football stadium. Wins for everyone!

After blasting through Oklahoma, we were finally into Texas (Molly's home state!) and got to stop somewhere I've always wanted to go check out: Cadillac Ranch (more)! I was so excited - and truthfully, not disappointed. You really have to be in to such randomness, but the concept is really quite cool. We signed about four cars, so hopefully our names stay for a liiiiiitle while (they say that if you bring spray paint, also bring a camera because your art will be there less than 24 hours).

{ source - since my photos aren't uploading}

Doug drove all day today (he's the best, have I said that?) and we are chillin' here in Albuquerque for the evening where we were greeted with a pretty substantial summer monsoon. Happy Monday, friends! Good night! Tomorrow: to Phoenix!