Recap of 2022 (part 3)
Seattle
So yeah I am writing this on the flight back from Toronto, since the year was finally over and ye. Moving in was pretty interesting. I got some money for relocation, but of course that did not include furniture and stuff. But good thing I had a American bank account from previous internship and stuff. So things went relatively smoothly. I used the Turo app thing to rent a Tesla for a couple of days to move and buy stuff for the apartment. Wanted to try it out, and it seemed similarly priced to other normal sedan/SUVs on like Hertz/Enterprise.
Oh yeah on the second day I kind of started to regret it lol. I guess I didn’t feel too good. I missed home quite a bit. But nonetheless, I was able to set everything up nicely, got some stuff from ikea to decently furnish the bedroom. The living room was quite underfurnished. I did not plan on buying a TV since I did not really see a point of it, hence no couch as well. I did end up getting like a 1.5k $ gaming laptop since it was something I had in mind for quite a while lol.
Getting back to work was pretty solid. I finally started full time work, and only lived a 10 minute walk from the office. I was close to a lot of nice grocery stores and restaurants and all that. Was able to hang out with people whom I was acquainted with previously when I interned at Axon.
Was also able to establish a solid running routine, back to normal, running like every morning. Also had a bouldering routine where I would go with coworkers after work every Wednesday then by myself on the weekend.
Watched a Mariners game, a couple of Storm playoff games which were pretty cool and exciting (walk-off win, series win, playoff losses).
I also did a lot of walking during July-August ish when I was still ramping up on running mileage, so I did not want to run too much. I was able to walk all around the city nicely, as well as able to get in a walk to Jollibee in Tukwila which was pretty nice.
Then during August to December, when I had a more solid running routine, with ~70 miles a week (peaking at 95), I was able to do lots of longer runs on the weekend. That’s when I also started a routine of getting bubble tea every weekend cause nice and Ye. Would sometimes message my friend Thomas to decide what drink to get. Usually, a milk tea with tapioca kind of drink. Lots of money but was able to review different places nicely and compare.
Well I guess I also have to mention that I started volunteering as well. The constant one was Green Lake Litter Patrol every Sunday from ~8:45–10:30am. Was pretty chill and nice since Green Lake is a nice area. Nice time to walk around nicely and pick up litter. That usually happens at the end of the weekly long run which is usually 16–18 miles. Luckily I got a nice hydration pack thing from REI in August so I can nicely run with proper fluids while having a change of pants and a jacket in the pack. Though I would usually just eat a tiny pack of beef jerky. So my recovery routine was very very suboptimal since I ate very little after and continue to walk around for a couple hours, get boba, then probably get chipotle or something at noon (so like 6+ hours of no solid ‘meal’ while running and walking a bunch).
I was also able to do Tuesday, Thursday, and sometimes Friday fleet feet group runs too. A nice way to double. I never planned on doubling, but it seemed like a good way to do so since it’s mostly in evening and I always try to run in morning — makes me feel nicer and nice routine too. I guess that’s how I was also able to keep my mileage pretty high.
The pace was very chill for all the runs, like 8:30 per mile I guess. Literally 0 speed work lol. Was still able to PR in every race I did (though many previous PRs super outdated cause pandemic). Was able to finish 3rd in this Seward 5k and got $50. Then low 37s for the 10k immediately after. Got 3rd in the orca half with 1:22. Then 10th in Seattle Marathon with 2:47 which is something I did not even see coming from a mile away. Super proud of the race. Culmination of the routine and no idea how I was able to hold that pace for 26 miles. Decided to wear the vaporflys as a GTD so pretty clutch on that.
Though sometimes after the Sunday long run routine when I am kinda tired I get invited to play basketball so yeah also super lucky that I didn’t get injured or anything. I guess another thing is that I met a lot of cool people who plays ball a lot, so I end up playing a lot more than I did before (community center, outside, etc).
Also forgot to mention that went from averaging 500 steps in January to like 30k in October/November which is super nice and cool!!! Things are starting to look more normal.
Also did a spartan race in SF which was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Probably not a thing for me until I train enough for it, since a lot of obstacles needed so much strength. And inside Oracle Park stadium so the stairs were annoying. Super rainy in Bay Area too so my knee got destroyed cause slippery. Ye.
Also went to the Bay Area like 3 times over those 3 months. Super cool experiences, and super clutch that I had a lot of relatives there! Did a lot of stuff there overall during all those times. I guess includes doing nice in SF with cousins, Monterey, nice foods, Rubik’s Cube competition. Oh yeah also did a Rubik’s Cube competition in Everett which was nice. Got PRs and stuff in them which was nice.
Hmm I guess I did not really get involved with the night life too much. Maybe cause I was focusing on running and other weekend routine stuff. Though did go out occasionally for drinks and like board games and other nice.
Oh yeah also sometimes on Saturday there were other Green Seattle volunteering stuff like planting trees and removing blackberries which was decent. Kind of annoying, kind of not sure why I wanted to do it, but felt pretty accomplished at the end of it.
I still played League and fortnite with my friends from home when I had time. Nice and enjoyable! Most memorable was like going 17–1 with Jinx on the night before flying back to Toronto. Very very good memories.
Oh yeah also met up with my family during Canadian Thanksgiving weekend for Vancouver, then they drove down to Seattle where I took them around places. That was pretty fun and cool too. Lots of nice food, and for the first time I was able to treat my family a bunch for meals (mostly because I had a better USD credit card than them lol).
Not sure if there’s anything else to talk about Seattle, but I flew back to Toronto to visit and stuff on Dec 13th. Decided to stay for 4 weeks, since I wanted to, and also plane tickets too close to holidays were much more expensive at the time when I got tickets. Well, looking back, it might have been tooooooo longggggg. Since for the final week, I had a lot of confused thoughts and feelings, not sure what my life’s purpose is, and wanting to move back to Toronto. Not sure whether I want to be a SWE still, or switching to like data analyst, or just doing random other stuff in general. No idea what I want to do or what I dream of and stuff. Been having these thoughts since 2018. Though pretty chronic confusion and stuff. The only difference now is that I have a full time job and there’s no set end timeline unlike university where I would just tolerate it until I am done with the computer science degree.
Well aside from that, I had a really great time. Got to catch up with a lot of friends from elementary, high school, and university. Had a lot of good food, and chilled a lot. Was able to run a good amount too (relative to the usual Christmas period relapse/collapse). Saw some super awesome movies! Got nice bubble tea! Lots of Bingz! Did lots of nice content for Youtube! Yeah I really really enjoyed it. But stayed too long that I will miss it a lot I guess.
Uh yeah, not too sure how much more content to put here. But overall 2022 was super great. A lot of changes happened throughout the year. It got exponentially better! If you told me in March, when I was barely running, that I would do 2:47, it would be unbelievable! So I guess I was able to regain lots of fitness while doing lots of new nice in Seattle. Still producing lots of Youtube content. Not as much work-related content as I’d like. But still wrote a few books about work stuff too. Tried lots of new food. Though the morning post-run routine usually included a frozen fruit + 1 orange smoothie with 2 slices of toast with nut butter. Then ~10 bags of chips at work (RIPPPP) and a bunch of other snacks lol. But somehow I was still able to be really fit and nice with that, I have no idea how. But heading to 2023, I am not sure what my goals were. 2022 in Seattle was mostly to get settled to the new environment and job. Was able to accomplish A LOT in running though. Do I continue this? Uh? Uh? Yeah kind of sucks that I have no goals or dreams in life at the moment (well except somehow easily obtain a bunch of money so I won’t have to work anymore lol :)).
But realistically, I do not know what will happen in 2023. I might still be in Seattle. I might move back home…. With the same job, or a new one? In the same industry or a different one? I don’t have answers to my life, but I guess the safest thing is sticking with a job in this industry. So the main question is to whether or not I want to move back to Toronto. And if I do leave my current job, can I find a different one in Toronto? Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Considering all things, I am super satisfied with life and grateful for everything, especially in tough times like today. But there was always a small piece, lodged in the back of my mind, ever since moving to Seattle, is that I must spend at least 1 year here and see how everything goes. And also that I will not be staying in Seattle forever, I guess max 2–3 years? It’s an awesome city, but some part deep in me really likes home. Even though Seattle is 1000x better for running, 1000x better for like the hobbies that I like to do, 1000x better for exploring around and doing fun stuff. 1000x better in the way that there isn’t as much superficial-ness and such (ie not everyone is wearing expensive sneakers and ye). Volunteering for stuff is 1000x easier and more convenient. Man, life is so confusing.
But yeah, hopefully 2023 will have a recap. And it will be filled with awesome stuff, and I will find some form of resolution for my current life confusion.