Countdown to the new chapter

This past week was my last week of work as well as the week before the beginning of LGO program.  As much as I had been looking forward to LGO, I couldn't help feeling bittersweet about leaving my work.  Luckily I had a busy week and didn't really have time to feel sad.


My parents drove me back from Cooperstown after my triathlon/duathlon and we spent Monday together before they left with my brother. For the past 3 weeks, my brother stayed with me for his medical residency elective at Tufts Medical Center.  We ate out almost everyday together and in the end I gained 2 lbs, while my brother gained 7!  We had a lot of fun together.

On Tuesday, Evelyn (my work bestie) and I went to the first Boston Bike Party where hundreds of bikers met at South Station and biked the city of Boston.  We focused on South Boston (Castle Island) and ended the ride by the Prudential Center.  We had music, drummers on bikes, and policemen who helped us take over the streets.  It was definitely a blast, and I will definitely do it again next time (June 11!).  Check Boston Bike Party on facebook for updates!  I also hung out afterwards with Dan and Jeff.  They were so cute and made sure I biked between them with Jeff leading and Dan following me, making sure I was super safe biking on the street.  I will miss Jeff a lot as he moves to UVA to start his MD/PhD in a week.

On Thursday, it really hit me that I was leaving work and starting a new chapter.  My boss took me out to lunch near work at Amrhein's, one of the oldest restaurant in the U.S.  Afterwards, I went around to visit my technicians from 1st and 2nd shifts, making sure I got to say goodbye before I left.  I wanted to do it on Thursday and not Friday in case I got too emotional on my last day. I also cleared my desk then. I left work feeling a bit sad, which resulted in a 19 mile bike ride followed by a few miles running to get my legs to feel normal again.

I will surely miss Gillette gym and its awesome staff and classes.

Friday was my last day.  It definitely felt odd to be leaving.  I left work at 2:30pm to go to Barlow's the local bar/restaurant where all Gillette-ers go to after work. There we had a going away party. Luckily despite the extremely hot weather, a bunch of people could still make it.  Eve surprised me with a cake; she had taken a half-day vacation to go get it, telling me she wanted to leave work early to go home and change.  I made fun of her for wanting to change into something even cuter; now I feel bad for doing so cuz she just wanted to surprise me with a cake.

And look! My LGO friends (pictured here: CK, David, Weng, and Esther. Not pictured: Maxine) came to support me too!

Eve, Liz, Mike, Mike's old college roommate Craig and I went out after to help me not get too sad about the last day.

I will surely miss my time at the company.

Since I said I didn't want to get too emotional about this change in life chapter, I packed my weekend with awesome activities with my amazingly supportive friends.

Although we had just gone out the night before for my last day, Liz and I met up in the morning to run our first 5K!  Liz and I have been running buddies for over a year now, and we have done a 10K, a 10miler, and a half marathon, but not a 5K!  Luckily Julie told me about this free 5K called the New Balance Let's get movin', an East Boston program to help kids stay healthy and active.  Besides from my duathlon last week and a 10miler in March that I ran with an IT band injury (bad idea), my last real race was my October B.A.A. half marathon, which I did after having run somewhat regularly for 6 months.  My pace then was around 10:30 min/mi.   I have been running 9min/mi for a while according to my mapmyrun, but I hadn't done a real running race in a while. Liz and I ran the 5K in 95F weather; I couldn't believe it! especially since I had just done a duathlon in below 40F weather last weekend!  Anyhow, it was my PR at pace of 8:55min/mi!

 We rest for a bit before heading to NH for Evelyn's family get-together.  Eve, Liz and I are such 3-musketeers!  I always have amazing times with these besties. Earlier this week, I invited Eve to have dinner with my parents and brother.  It was a joke that at the rate we were meeting each other's whole families, we would be married by next month.

Wow, lots happened on Saturday, but more eventful stuff were present on Sunday as well.  It's like deja vu that I had yet another 5K on Sunday!  Julia, a bunch of our friends, and I had done a MIT Getfit, a 12-week challenge to work out, and at the end there was a 5K planned.  Because of all the craziness that happened in Boston in April, they postponed the 5K.  I was able to enter the race for free.  And guess what?  Another PR!  8:38min/mi this time in 85F weather! Julia had her PR too!

Afterwards, we went to Nahant Beach.  It was so pretty.  It reminded me more and more of why I love Boston.  It's a city, but nature is just everywhere. Awesome beaches and mountain hikes are just a short car ride away.

Unfortunately, it was too windy to have a real tanning day.  This is our towels when we got up from laying in the sun. We were all covered in sands as well, surviving only by covering our faces with clothes.  We had an awesome time anyway.

 And look what I brought to read at the beach! "The Goal" - a book LGOs should be reading this summer for a class. 

 I ended the weekend with a get-together with LGOs 2015!  John Kang and Maxine took group pictures, so you should be reading about it in their blogs soon :)

Well, my countdown to the new chapter has almost come to an end!  Tomorrow is my first day at LGO! From P&G ID to MIT's, I reflect on my experiences.  My goals are to learn lots, appreciate new friends while maintaining my current friendships, and reflect on experiences so I can apply my learnings into practice.  Goodnight all! Wish me good luck for tomorrow!