Yo Yo Yo!
If you know me and are outside my small group of workout buddies or runners that I coach in Portland and it seems like I fell off the planet, please forgive me. My life has been on full throttle with kids & work (but I’m definitely having fun & finding some balance with my family life)!!! Point of this blog to give a brief run down of what my family & I have been up to. I will also mention YES I realize this website could use a serious makeover.
I’ve been very active on social media, but I obviously have not been getting on the blog. As mention life has been take over by family, faith, coaching & training. If you have any interest in my life, ambitions or upcoming races, I’ve been posting pretty much daily on my personal IG – @runjwebb
WORK aka Doing What I LOVE!!!
For the coaching side of my life – check the other IG I manage – @runcoachjulia This account is the primary means of communication for Nike+ Run Club in Portland. For this Coach Steve Edwards (@nrcoachsteve) and I swap leading sessions every Wednesday 6:34 PM from downtown Nike store at the Home Run (3-5-7 mile paced options or I highly encourage new runners to join a small group session same time – the Ready, Set, Go run) .
Every other week we have a Speed Run on Tuesdays 6:34 PM (typically 3 miles of intervals) at Michael Johnson track hosted at Nike World Headquarter campus. This is for ANYONE outside of Nike – and if you have your doubts I assure you can have an awesome time – just try it – as long as you are comfortable w/ running ~4 miles – and have a 5K ability between 14:00-35:00. The Pacers make sure you have someone to run with and you will be pushed appropriately! This article in Competitor Magazine describes the workout beautifully:
“How Nike+ Run Club is Making Hard Workouts Fun”
Finally, we have started the addition of a Long Run every other Saturday – right now typically offering consists of 5-6 and 10-12 mile options. 
www.Nike.com/Portland for all upcoming session info.. it’s all FREE!
I have started logging every single mile I run on the Nike+ APP (Search “Coach Julia Webb”) -and post just about daily on the feed.
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Other Nike related Coaching I have a track class offered for employees & their families thru the Nike Sport Center (we call it “Run Club”) offered on the WHQ campus every Tuesday at noon. I’m hitting year 2 coming up in January, co-coaching w/ Sean Coster. Typically we get 10-15 runners each week to give them a workout similar to NRC’s Speed Run.
Know any Nike employees who need a group to increase run fitness?—> Nike Sport Center Run Club – Facebook page
High School Cross Country
This fall I also accepted Assistant coach position for cross country at Catlin Gabel school in Portland (last 3 years I was with Westview – but they found the amazing Coach Bob Williams as head, now him and Rebecca Martin lead that team). Catlin is a small private school so we compete in 3A (vs 6A – the bigger schools in State). My teammate Anna Connor has moved up to head (note she does SO MUCH for them and I appreciate her dearly!!) and our assistant Paula (pictured below) has been there for much of the season as well.
The girls are heading to the State meet this upcoming weekend – currently favorited for the win. The boys lost 4 of their top 5 from last year, so unfortunately even racing out of their minds (5 of 7 hitting a LIFETIME PR at Districts) – they almost overcame the odds and missed qualifying by 2 points. It has been fun to work with such hard working kids – both in the classroom & on the run.
Other business…
Alan & I are officially starting a business which is set to open early 2017. Unrelated to ANYTHING we’ve ever taken on, but very excited for the challenge-it’s called Elite Fleet Services, offering onsite repair to service commercial trucks, buses or semis. In mid December we will begin looking to hire experienced diesel mechanics. If you know anyone of that caliber that is considering Portland a home (or already here!?) please contact me!!
Family
Both Joanie (4) and Paula (13 months) have joined each other at Safe Haven daycare. Joanie has been doing since 18 months (3x per week) and Paula just started after her first bday – 2 x per week, although due to sickness she basically has only gone a handful of times. She’s healthy though now.. so it has been a life saver!! Going thru the illness was all part of the deal, Joanie is now so healthy, she rarely gets sick.. Paula loves getting outside, going new places, and fearless meeting people. Fully confident it has been a great decision so I have a little room to breathe!
The kids are both getting along great.. Joanie definitely took a while to adjust, but now she’s loving her baby sister!
Joanie in “Theatre” at Cedar Rec Hills Center.. Paula joins the fun
Faith
This has been a big change, huge shift in our family since Alan attended the Men’s A.C.T.S. Retreat at St Pius X in early October. Basically he came back on FIRE after experiencing the Holy Spirit for what he believes was the first time. He is a changed man. We were married in a Catholic church, and I have been born in a strong Catholic family, definitely went through a strong stage of rebellion and searched til I recommitted in college. We had both been regularly attending Mass together but he was more doing it just as a favor to me. One of the things I have prayed about the longest regarding our marriage and future was that some day Alan & I would be on the same page with our Faith life. I did not want to annoy him or force him into things, but I definitely was not growing any stronger in my own life by going through this solo with limited friends who believe. I always trusted God had a plan, and really believe Alan’s sister & my mom’s prayers were also a strong reason this big conversion has now occurred. I still am miles away from where I’d like to be in terms of being stronger at standing up for my beliefs, or voicing them in general. It’s easy for me to type this, but when I get in a group of non-believers, I kind of just go with the flow and would never initiate a conversation regarding Faith).
Found taped on back of garage — visual for the treadmill
Alan has now committed (on his own terms) to turning Catholic, and we have started to pray for honestly the first time in our marriage beyond a simple “God is great, God is good” type of thing before dinner. Throughout our 5+ years, I would try to start prayers at bedtime only to receive awkward silence (or could imagine eye rolling in his head) in return.. or a few attempts at rosaries with him years and years ago. I am still feeling awkward I will admit because I am definitely not used to this Alan. So yeah, I am beyond thrilled about this to finally be 100% on the same page. We are both very accepting of all people regardless of their religious beliefs or lack of.. but to unite us on this. The last thing I want to do is be in your face annoying on this subject, but just wanted to mention as this has a huge impact on changing our lives. I am speechless. Thank you Lord for answering my prayers.
Another milestone –we just celebrated 6 years of Marriage ^^ at our fav place for “cajunized tots” & beer – McMenamins (yes Alan’s been now enjoying ONE on a regular basis + he has officially fallen in love with Coffee!!!)
That’s all for now, thanks for reading and hope to see some new faces at a run if you visit Portland!!!
RunTeamWebb 