Feature Friday: How To Ace Your Online Classes

OK. I have most certainly taken a lot of online classes in my day (and yes, even before the pandemic)! I received my entire Masters degree from an online program, while also working an average of 45 hours a week, and then finished out my Nursing degree entirely online as well. It was TOUGH. Online classes are certainly not for everyone, but I’m here to say that you can do it. If you’re struggling, know that it is possible to thrive and succeed!

Tip 1: Adjust Your Attitude

Attitude is honestly a huge factor in whether or not you will succeed. If you believe it, you can achieve it. If you believe that it’s not a possibility or you don’t have enough time or you just can’t learn something online, then it’s not going to happen. Adjust your attitude now! Believe you can and you are honestly- halfway there.

Tip 2. Create a schedule that works for you.

Know when the best time for YOU is- that means when you study and thrive the most. I’m much more likely to be productive early in the morning and Friday afternoons? Forget about it. I create a schedule that works for me. I know that running and having breaks is vital to me getting things done, so I work my schedule around those things. I create a schedule (sometimes weekly, sometimes daily, sometimes monthly) and stick to it. I’ve found that if I start to become too flexible with my schedule, then I don’t take my work seriously enough and things do not get done. However, also know that things need to change from time-to-time and acknowledge that you do have the flexibility of “working from home”. Maybe I study an hour less today, but I can tack it onto the next day. It’s not the end-of-the-world and I can take advantage of the flexibility of online classes.

Tip 3. Find Your Study Space & Schedule Breaks

This took me a while to learn, but there are spaces in our home where I am super productive and others where I just do not get any work done. I know that when I’m at my “desk”, it’s serious study mode. I like to put my timer on my phone and have a clear space to get my work done. I’m much more likely to be distracted if I’m trying to eat breakfast, while also reviewing my notes. Multi-tasking doesn’t work for me (and honestly, it’s been shown that it doesn’t work for most people), so I set a timer for 50 minutes of dedicated study-time and then I go grab a snack for 10 minutes or get up and walk around. If I need to throw in some laundry, I know that I have time to do that during my break.

Tip 4. Have something outside of studying and classes that you enjoy doing.

Schedule your “me time” into your day. Whether it’s running, taking a bath, yoga, strength training, taking the dog for a walk, or reading for pleasure- make sure you have time in your day to do that. I’m more productive, happier, focused, and relaxed when I give myself some ‘me time’.

Tip 5. Be kind with yourself and adjust accordingly.

Know when you need a break or a day-off. It’s really easy to fall into a ‘I have to do: x, y, z today because I’m home’ vibe, however it’s not healthy and you’re putting yourself at-risk for burn-out. Give yourself a break and know when to call it quits for the day. Sometimes I take a run in the middle of the day when I find myself ‘glazing over’ or I take a longer lunch break to help reset my mind. Also- know when to ask for help from your professors or fellow classmates. If you’re struggling, then you’re most likely not alone. Reach out and ask for help. You’re paying good money for your classes and if you’re getting everything out of it that you want, then speak up.

Feature Friday: Black Mtn Backpacking Trip Recap

Happy Friday! Look at me- I’m blogging twice in one week! I can’t remember the last time that I did this…maybe not since last year? I wanted to do a blog post about our backpacking trip that we did a few weeks ago to Black Mountain in Jackson, NH. First of all- we love Jackson. Kinda obsessed with it. It’s such a quant little New England-esque town and if you are looking for somewhere to visit in the White Mountains, I highly suggest going there! We booked this campsite via the Recreation.Gov app on my phone-> so easy to have all of my information saved in there and to easily browse campsites/cabins. This hike wasn’t too long (1.3 miles with just over 1,000’ elevation gain) and the parking lot was easy to find with the directions that were included in our email confirmation.

The trail was very well-marked and it took us about 40 minutes to get up to the cabin. We didn’t see anyone else on the trail which was amazing. We also had a bit of service at the top which was nice to still have the capability of using our phones, but not wanting to actually use them!

It was also really nice to have a cabin to stay at rather than bringing our tent with us (less weight)!

We had the most amazing view of Mt. Washington at the top as well. We could actually see the view from the top of the bunkbed -> it was an inexpensive place for a stellar view.

It wasn’t overly cold out the night that we camped, but had to take advantage of the wood shed next to the cabin and had a fire in the stove. It was so nice and toasty in there.

There were four rooms with each having one set of bunkbeds and everything was in really great shape.

I could see this cabin being a lot of fun with a group of friends in the winter (more body heat too)! You can book it throughout the winter, skin up to the cabin, and then ski down. I’ve always been really interested in doing something like that, but it also frightens me a bit because I do NOT like being cold (so winter camping = I just think of it as being really cold).

We ended up bringing our own water, but there was supposedly a water site near the cabin (we never did end up finding it, but I just don’t think we went far enough). There was also a really nice newly built composting privy there for the ladies (if you don’t enjoy going in the woods, which doesn’t really bother me too much - just as long as we bring a good shovel) and the cabin itself was really clean. We did bring some cleaning supplies (because COVID), however felt safe while in the cabin.

We watched the sunrise right from our front doorstep and brought our jet boil to make some dinner. It was so peaceful just being in the outdoors, but also feeling like we were ‘stepping up’ from camping in our usual tent too.

The hike down was a lot faster (took us something like 30 minutes), since it was basically all downhill. I think that it would be pretty fun to ski down it!

We definitely need to work on packing our packs lighter next time (hello, we’re two overpackers here), but it certainly was great cross-training! The cabin was $40 for the night and our reservation included the entire cabin (a steal compared to the ones in Colorado like this were usually over $100!).

STILL HERE!

Hello! I’m still here and busier than ever. I’m currently relating my schoolwork to ‘triage’. I’m only focusing on the immediate tasks at hand because if I focus on the larger picture, then I get REAL overwhelmed. Going back to school is TOUGH as an adult. Studying for exams, so many readings, MATH again…it’s crazy. I had my first exam on Wednesday and I learned A LOT about what I need to focus on for the upcoming weeks and I’m already learning so much (benefits of being in an accelerated program like mine). So, most of my views lately have been something like this:

Extra sugar, studying at 9pm at night (my usual bedtime), and something light like McDreamy-day Grey’s. Also Alex and Stella arrived here Wednesday afternoon (YAY), so on top of all of the studying and schoolwork and figuring out my finances and trying to assimilate to a new area, we’ve also been UNPACKING.

We unpacked the kitchen and living room items yesterday so at least that’s done. Most of our clothes are still in suitcases, I’m still wearing clothes that were in this house when I went to HIGH SCHOOL, and we’re carrying 5+ bags of trash to the dump every trip. BUT we’re here, we’re so happy, and I’m just trying to really savor those moments of peacefulness/I don’t-need-to-do-anything-right-at-this-very-second moments <—- keeping me sane. OH! I also went on two runs this week. One on Wednesday morning along the Back Cove in Portland (ran from campus) and one this morning. Both easy 30 minutes with minimal hills and conservative paces. I’m just running when I can and when I want to and putting 0 pressure on myself <—- haven’t done THAT in a while!

My hope is to still post 5 days a week (Monday-Friday), BUT until I get on a schedule and figure other life-things out I’m not so sure that’s realistic. SO hopefully I’ll be back here again on Monday, but if not I’ll be back real soon ; )

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-How do you ‘triage’ when life gets real crazy?

-Favorite Trader Joe’s sweet thing?!?

Feature Friday: Updates, This Was Exciting, And Think This Will Last?

Hi!!! I’m still here! We FINALLY got internet yesterday afternoon and my clothes are officially unpacked, so -dare I say- I feel a weee bit more settled than say Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s pretty nice that I’m on the taper for my 50 miler because there is no way that I’d be able to handle any crazy training schedules right now. I’m excited for my upcoming race solely because I’ll just have the entire day to RUN. You know things must be a bit hectic when running 50 miles seems, well, easy. At least my new run views here in Maine are pretty spectacular.

You also know that it’s clearly a happening Friday night when you’re in your new ‘office’ writing blog posts, organizing your upcoming schoolwork schedule, and managing your finances. Ha. At least I’m setting myself up for success! Any other Type-A organizational people out there like me ENJOY this kinda stuff (super exciting to me)??

I also enjoyed coming ‘home’ to this balloon. So nice to have family so close-by again. Something that I definitely took advantage of previously. I’m also hoping that it will last until Alex arrives here in a few weeks… Mission- Procure the balloon!

The cats seem to be adjusting pretty well too! We lived in a MUCH smaller town home in Colorado, so this home is kinda like a palace to them. Most days, I have to really search to find them and they’re exploring more as the week passes. I’ve kept them mainly in my bedroom/ bathroom area for the first few days (so they can secure a ‘home base’) and they’ve started to explore a bit more of the second floor and some of the first floor. They clearly love the wrap-around porch (as do I).

I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but we moved into my family home (my great-grandfather built it)! It’s an older farmhouse that needs some spiffing-up, but has so much charm. It’s amazing how once I arrived in Maine, it felt like a great big hug being welcomed back. I’ve also carried out about a million trash bags filled with trash from my teenage years and so many clothes to be donated.

I also can’t remember if I mentioned it, but I’m beginning the accelerated nursing program at the University of Southern Maine. My ‘big goal’ is to become a Nurse Practitioner (get my MS & someday my DNP), but this is my first step. It’s a 14 month program and is pretty INTENSE (i.e. 18 credits each semester)- it’s really weird going back to school, but oh my gosh I’m so happy. It’s always been my dream to work in healthcare and work with patients of some sorts, so I’m super happy to finally be making steps towards that. I picked up my scrubs and my very own stethoscope the other day -SO exciting.

SO, clearly I’ve kept this a secret so quite so time! And yes, it was hard to finally make the decision to move, leave my cushy-salaried job (where I had just gotten a promotion), and go back to school full-time. And no, it wasn’t hard because it just seemed like the RIGHT decision for ME. There have been many challenges along the way (um hello, I’m not going to be bringing in really any, if at all, INCOME for a year) including figuring out how to finance it (I financed my previous two other degrees with no help from my parents regarding tuition), if I could feasibly commute an hour to school potentially everyday, and where would that leave Alex and mine relationship. It was NOT easy and yes, I lost sleep over it. But, honestly, we’re both from Maine and wanted to return there at some point.

It was really hard leaving Colorado. I have so much appreciation for its beauty, trail systems, and outdoor recreation spaces, however I also had a really hard time finding my tribe of friends. Steamboat is a really seasonal town, so I would make really great friends and then they would move away after a year and I just got tired of making the effort of finding friends to just move away. I’ve found it’s SO hard to make friends as we get older (especially when you move away from your college-town)- so if you have any tips for me let me know!

We’ll be back to our regularly-scheduled programming here on Monday - I’ll also have last weeks training RUNdown ready for you tomorrow morning.

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-Tips for making a balloon last for a month?!?

-Tips for making ‘adult friends’?!? Ha.

-3 things you’re doing this weekend? Dinner out with my Mom & Grandmother, Bunch of Reading, Cleaning, and a trail run since it looks like it finally won’t rain!

CURRENTLY: Sorry In Advance, Making THIS, All Things BOSTON, I'm Determined.

I’m sorry in advance to my co-workers on Monday because I WILL be streaming the Boston Marathon and will 100% be cheering the entire 2+ hours.

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I think I only get excited for Mondays when it’s Marathon Monday. The weather is looking similar to last years, but definitely warmer. There’s nothing worse to run in (I think) than cold, windy rain!

I rounded-up some of my favorite articles surrounding the Boston Marathon:

• This one by Erin Strout (LOVE her!) regarding equality at the Boston Marathon. It’s time that the men were moved to the same standards that the women have been at for years. It’s a step-forward for gender equality and a win (I think!) for women! I also think that it’s good that they’ve opened up the earlier professional starts to anyone who has obtained an OTQ (Olympic Trails Qualifier).

• This one by Emily Abbate sharing her mental tips to conquer the Boston Marathon (or really any marathon/ race). Mental strength is something that I’ve continued to work and am convinced it helped me get a break-through half marathon PR last month, when I had little actual ‘speed’ under my legs. Also- make sure to check out Ali On The Run’s Podcast Episode with Emily. It was SO good.

• This one by Sarah Lorge Butler sharing Jordan Hasay’s journey to the Boston Marathon this year.

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• This one by Daphne Matalene about a runner’s 9 year journey to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. If you only have enough time to read one article, let it be this one. Daphne’s story is so incredibly inspiring, I want to read it everyday. It gets me excited to see where the running years ahead of me will lead.

• This one by Cindy Kuzma aout Roberta Groner’s amazing sub 2:30 marathon. I’ve been a huge fan of Roberta’s for a while (thanks to Lindsey Hein’s amazing podcast episode with her)- she’s a single mom, full-time working nurse, and unsponsored runner in her early 40s. Another incredibly inspiring story.

I will also definitely be making this recipe that Amanda shared on Instagram! Also make sure to give her a follow because she is SO inspiring as well (and Boston-based)! YUM

I updated my lock screen on my phone- I’M DETERMINED. It will be a lot of hard work and won’t happen in one or two or three training cycles, but I will get there.

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-Anyone running Boston? Good luck!!

-Marathon Monday- better than Christmas? Possibly…

-Favorite recipe to carbo-load??