The excitement and challenges that lay ahead

Exciting news: I have accepted a job as a reporter with Capital New York, and am beginning the process of relocating to Albany.

The job offer happened so quick, amid an already crazy week, so it has just been in the past few days that I've been able to catch my breath and start to get really excited.

Capital New York is a startup project run by Politico, a publication that I've always admired and sought to work for. It's growing, it's profitable, and I agree with the direction the company is going in. 

After my layoff, I had my hesitations about staying in journalism. But there's one area of journalism that is staying strong: Publications with a niche audience. Politico has mastered the business model, one that is a hybrid model of free and paid content. The bigger stories are free, but the more specialized stories that you can only get from us are behind a pay wall.

My new colleagues are some of the best in the business, and I'm considering it an honor to have my byline next to theirs. 

I'll be covering campaign finance, ethics reforms and lobbying, all issues I am passionate about.

But it does mean another move. Another stop on Jessica's east coast and Midwest road show. And that was the hard part about taking this job.

Purple: College. Blue: Professional life. Yellow: Albany.

Post race recovery, and what's next for me

First, happy Ironman World Championships day. I'm excited to check in on the race, especially Jennie Hanson, from Rochester, who is competing.

It's been a relaxing week of laziness following the Wine Glass Marathon. I haven't run at all, and haven't done anything outside classes and dog walking.

I did cycling just two days after my race, and spent the class pedaling with no or little resistance on the bike. I think this really helped my recovery, allowing the blood to start flowing without impact or pressure.

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt a slow 3 or 4 miles followed by yoga and maybe a half hour swim.

Things will be changing for me. I have accepted a job in the Albany office with Capital New York, which has recently become an arm of Politico. More on that in coming days.

Race report: Wineglass Marathon, and running with Bart Yasso

Note: My tired brain is posting tonight, since the running buds want to read it. I'll clean it up tomorrow, fix the typos and add more links!

I went into today's race knowing it wouldn't be great. My training wasn't great to begin with, I had some burnout after my half ironman, caught a cold the week before then rolled my ankle last Wednesday.

I managed my expectations and set a reasonable goal and race strategy. Then, when the race strategy wasn't working out, I took a break, reassessed, and changed my plan to something that did work.

The goal was to beat my Flying Pig time of 5:21, and I ran the Wineglass Marathon today in 5:11:08. The race started in Bath and went to Corning. I'm proud, not because it was a PR (4:13) or anything close, but because I was realistic, resisted the temptation to try to do something I was once capable of, and ran smart.

I also found myself running side-by-side, and then getting career advice from none other than Bart Yasso, the Chief Running Officer of Runner's World magazine.

Me and Bart after the race.

There were beautiful fall colors, on a course that ran through a series of spectacular towns. At the end we got a wine glass (of course), a split of champagne and a HUGE medal made of glass.

The medal needs two hooks

A busy day of race prep: Wineglass Marathon tomorrow

The leaves haven't started to change in Rochester yet, but they are in full bloom an hour and a half south, between Bath and Corning, where I'll be running the Wineglass Marathon tomorrow.

This out-the-van-window photo does not do the scenery justice.

Shirt and number.

My running buddy Tara and I drove down to Corning this morning to pick up our race packets and check out the course. The Wineglass Marathon is a nationally reknowned race. It's also smaller field and sells out quickly. The course is beautiful. It is 26.2 miles point-to-point, and they shuttle you from the either the finish to the start or the start to the finish, depending on where you park.

Starting in Bath, we run through Savona, Campbell, Coopers Plains, Painted Post and then arrive on Market Street in Corning. It's all country roads, and is cumulatively downhill. All the uphills are very gentle. 

At the end, you get a wine glass (of course), champagne and a beautiful glass medal.