Long Overdue

I'm back!

The end of my time at First Coast News was hectic. I'm so thankful for the people I met during my time there. Even though I leaving the television news business, I learned many lessons and skills I'll carry with me throughout my career.

Although I have been staying busy since then with a big trip and various projects, it's been nice to take a break from full-time employment. I could feel myself breathing easier almost instantly!

The trip to Portugal was amazing. I need to dedicate some blog entries later this week solely to it. If you want to see 8 days worth of photos, they're up on Facebook!

One project that's been keeping me very busy is working on the Taste of Golf fundraiser for The First Tee of Jacksonville. I'm helping out with public relations and am the Celebrity/VIP Guest Liaison. I've been inviting sports celebrities and community leaders to attend the event. So far Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, former Jaguars player Tony Boselli and golfers Bill Kratzert, Len Mattiace, Jeff Klauk and Mark McCumber are all attending!

I'm also on the public relations committee for the Much Ado About Books fundraiser for The Jacksonville Public Library Foundation. We've only had one meeting so far but I'm already brainstorming ideas for promoting the event, particularly through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

Job searching is also now taking up a lot of my time these days. I'm still in search of the perfect communications/public relations position.

Finally...26.2 with Donna training! It's going really well! This past Saturday, I ran the most I ever have. . .seven and a half miles! Towards the end, I was really starting to feel it but thankfully some awesome ladies in my pace group helped me stay motivated.

This morning I did five miles on my own. As George pointed out, that was a little more than I was supposed to do according to the schedule. But Wednesday, I'm going to stick to the schedule. I just wanted to push myself a little bit.

This Saturday, we are running five miles at Focus Fitness in Jacksonville Beach. It's a Magic Mile week, which means we all run one mile as fast as we can. Your pace determines which smaller group you run with. The first time we did one, my time was 9:50, so I'm in the 9-10 minute pace group. I've been doing well keeping up with that group but I don't think I'll be able to move up. I'm fine with that though because at my current pace I'll still be able to finish the marathon in the time I want to!