Congratulations to my gym, Annapolis Athletic Club, which tied with Big Vanilla to win What's Up Annapolis magazine's best gym award for the 7th year in a row! I was excited to hear about this because (a) AAC is awesome and (b) both of the top gyms are locally owned operations which beat out several major chains in order to win. I often get frustrated at the number of big chains taking over Annapolis. Thankfully I can still walk up to the little shopping center at the end of my street to take a great class at AAC, grab coffee at locally-owned Ahh, Coffee! and eat really amazing pizza at locally-owned Squsitos. Makes me feel like part of a great neighborhood.
This weekend, I am also celebrating my 31st birthday! Looking back, I realize that 30 was one of the toughest and greatest years of my life. It was tough due to a rough breakup, the loss of some great people (including Dr. Murray), and a truly punishing work/school schedule. AAC had a lot to do with what made it great.
After hearing about its stellar reputation for many years, I finally joined this past August because I knew that I needed a healthy way to cope with the stress of my breakup and schedule. I had my doubts that I would be able to get there with any regularity, especially since I had to go at 6am in order to get to work on time. Once I went to my first class, though, I was sold. The atmosphere and people there are just really positive and motivating. As I've written before, my time at AAC quickly became my "recess" from the grueling 10-13 hour work days.
In addition, the strength and confidence I built at AAC motivated me to get more serious about running. So, instead of looking back at 30 as the year I moped over a breakup and drowned in stress, I can look back on 30 as the year I met great new running friends; completed my first 5-miler, 10-miler, and half-marathon; and signed up for my first full marathon.
I know that 31 will be the year of the marathon and the year I continue to enjoy the gym. Hopefully, it will be the year I finally finish grad school (after 6 straight years). I'm excited to see what else awaits me this year!
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