Typical, Very Excited, Currently Doing This A lot

It’s raining here and wow, do I love the sound of the rain on the tin roof. It’s probably one of my favorite sounds. That and a good coffeehouse playlist on Spotify really help get me motivated to get some work done. It’s actually pretty hilarious how little I’ve blogged since starting school and especially since this quarantine. I keep saying that I want to make regular appearances on here again and then….IDK. I find lack of motivation? lack of inspiration? other priorities? All of the above maybe. I started to create a schedule for myself today and honestly I’ve been the most productive today than I’ve been since this whole craziness started. Dare I say that maybe I’ve found my ‘secret sauce’?!? I just ordered my 100 miler sweatshirt and they’re shipping it to me so yay for something to look forward to! The sweatshirts are extra that you can purchase and all the proceeds go towards helping them upgrade their equipment (last year they did hats and ordered an Atrial Defibrillator for the race, which I think is so awesome). I also just forgot how to add photos to my post, so I guess that’s where we are on blogging level again.

I’m starting a ‘mini-taper’ before my ‘Sugarloaf Marathon’ at-home edition. I ran 16 miles yesterday and the middle miles were supposed to be at tempo pace, but they were a bit slower than I would’ve liked. Still happy to be training and giving it my best. Some days just are not great and you just need to accept it and move on.

I guess this is typical attire at work now. Wearing masks for an entire 8.5 hour shift with just 30 minutes to take a break (for meals) is really challenging. I get super hot in them and my face is definitely breaking out all over the place because of them. Such fun times. At least we’re protecting our patients though.

We’ve been baking up a storm over here and these Vegan Brownie cookies (recipe on Pinterest) were AMAZING. Like, devoured in 3 days. Ha.

Saw this playlist and thinking that we will definitely need one of these songs for our Wedding dance- right?

I’m very excited to be back running on our Rail Trail! I ran there last week early and was the only one on it. Can’t wait to take my bike on it again!

I’ve been doing a lot of wine and reading lately. Which I typically never finish a glass of wine (neither does Alex), so really just mainly doing a lot of reading for fun lately. It’s been SO nice!

It’s also been so nice to be getting out more with Alex and just going for walks or hikes or hanging out together more. Anyone else finding that they’re spending more quality time together with their significant other?

9 days left of my Spring Semester and then 3 finals. I cannot believe I’ll be done in AUGUST!

View from this mornings run before the rain came in. It WAS beautiful out. I just love running in 30-degree morning weather- anyone else??

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-Favorite kind of weather to run in?

-What have you been doing with your extra ‘down time’ lately? We’ve been doing a mix of household projects, reading, lounging, and getting some extra sleep

-Are you a ‘schedule’ type of person or not so much?

10 Things And A Race Recap- Wedding Updates, REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS, This Was A Bummer

I’m BACK. Momentarily. Well, now maybe i’ll be back a bit longer since our campus is switching to online classes after Spring Break next week. So I’ll have a bunch more time since I don’t have to drive everywhere. Maybe, just maybe I’ll be back on here more often? Maybe I’ll just be CRUSHING MORE PR’s- Like what I did at the Hamptons Half Marathon last weekend. My race recap is HERE.

We’re deep into the Wedding planning over here. So far, I’ve fallen in love with my Brunch (the morning after) outfit. Also obsessed with my awesome haircut by Sara Ghelfi (Lotus Organic Hair Studio in North Conway for any locals out there!).

Also got all of my earrings for the Wedding weekend- including these for the actual Wedding day!

It’s been a heat-wave here (or well, maybe our thermometer no longer works/ is in the direct sun….yeah I think that’s much more realistic). Ha.

I got to go skiing!!! ONE DAY THIS WHOLE SEASON. WOW. Remember when I used to go like three times a week? Yeah…

I think I already announced this on here, but I got in the Mt. Washington Road Race again! YAY to running up crazy-steep mountains.

I’m trying to swim one time per week and it’s still so hard. Convinced that swimmers are the real deal athletes.

I rewarded myself yesterday with an Iced Coffee and donut yesterday. Good thing that Stella ate my donut for me before I could have a bite……

I’m in my Labor & Delivery clinical (hoping we can still go since classes are online after Spring Break) and so far, haven’t been able to catch any babies!!! I HAVE been able to hold a 31 week old little nugget, which was literally life-changing. I cannot believe that I graduate in August?!?!?

And some of the BIGGEST NEWS YET!!! So excited to announce that I’m part of the Brooks Run Happy Team for 2020! Can’t wait to help spread my love for Brooks Running this year.

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Anyone have any Wedding suggestions for me?!? I NEED YOUR TIPS!

Favorite Brooks Running outfit?

Anyone else a Nurse that loved their L & D rotation? I’M OBSESSED.

7 Things

-10* out yesterday morning = Freezing cold run. I have no idea how I ran 6 miles in it, but I did 🥶

Saturday morning I started my day off with yoga and animals. Also I had my coffee to help kickstart the day

Also a good part of my weekend included studying and snuggles.

Sunday morning my skaters had their first competition! They collected some golds, silvers, & bronzes. Also 5 year olds in rhinestone dresses skating might just be the cutest thing ever. Also pretty sure my toes are still frozen.

I never thought that running at 5am would be something that I’d do consistently, but here we are. Getting up & getting it done is the best way to ensure that I’ll actually get my run in.

2 snow days from school on Thursday & Friday should have meant that I would get a bunch of things done, but in reality-> I mainly spent my days going to the gym, running, studying, oh and watched Taylor Swift’s documentary on Netflix. I normally don’t like those types of things, but I did really like it! Seeing things from their perspective helps you appreciate their lifestyle a bit more.

Also very thankful to have my long runs on Mondays right now (it’s my only day off from school)- it feels good to look back on my week on Saturdays and remember that the big work has already been done ✅

How was your weekend?

When do you normally get your long runs in?

What’s the weather where you are right now?

New Favorite Item, This Was Fun, Wedding Updates, Do You Take The Time?

I recently purchased my new favorite item EVER and it was only $14. No, not running-related, but definitely POST running related! I got this amazing sweater/pullover at Target on sale and I love it. It looks super similar to one that I’d been eyeing at Prana for years, but about 1/4 of the cost! Also don’t mind my getto headphones- I pop them on to cook when Alex is still working in his office.

I made the most amazing and favorite dinner right now- brown rice (cooked a giant batch), Run Fast Eat Slow Runner’s High Peanut Sauce (made a giant batch), with sauteed veggies/tempeh and a drizzle of siracha on top. SO GOOD.

I took the time yesterday to not run and instead bike for 30 minutes and get my strength work in. I did a super slushy/snowy run on Monday and think it was too much for my achilles (it was a bit achy Monday night), so I took the time to take the day off and rest/ice/stretch. Do you ever take the time off to help your body recover better and prevent injury?

I’m also LOVING swimming right now. I went on Sunday and will be going again this afternoon! I love how it helps ‘flush’ out my legs post run and I also get a bit of a workout in there too. I’m convinced that swimmers are in fantastic shape because 10 minutes for me = heavy breathing!

Currently reading these two books for the new year! I’m trying to get both of them read before I begin classes in less than 2 weeks. Think I can do it?!?

We taste-tested our potential wedding dinners (we ended up changing one item) and it was amazing. So SO delicious and cannot wait for June to come soon enough!

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-Anyone else a fan of target sale items? I’ve found some of my favorite sweaters there!

-Do you take the time to prevent injury and rest/stretch/ice when something feels off?

-Book recommendations?

Life Updates Lately, Discount Codes For You, and How I'm Building Back Up

It’s been a MINUTE. I have been so busy and am super thankful that today was a snow day. I ~finally~ feel like I’m almost caught-up on life lately. It has been a whirlwind since the beginning of November. Let’s start by saying that we finally got a wedding date- June 6, 2020! So a lot of my time has honestly been spent putting together our website, ordering save the dates, and invitations. We’ve got a lot already planned, but it’s taken up so much of my free time! Cheers to finding the perfect venue and getting married in 6 months!

I am also officially obsessed with this coffee! Anyone else tried it? I might need to stock-up before it goes away.

We’re all decorated for the Holidays over here! We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving (the earliest we’ve EVER done)! Who else has their tree up already?

I also feel like this almost all the time right now. 2 weeks until finals!

Brady is still trying to poison himself over here- this time with red berries from our Holiday decorations.

I also started back up running a few weeks ago (YAY)! I’m not going to lie, it was really challenging to get out the door the first few runs. I was super sore after my first 3 miler back (hard to go down the stairs sore) and then it slowly started to feel easier. It felt so good to be back to my old running routes, but my brain definitely had a hard time adjusting back to the ‘longer duration’ activity mode. I had to keep pushing through the tough parts to get miles in the first 5-6 runs, then it started to ‘click’ again. Perfect timing for my Providence Marathon training to start back up again after the New Year! I also really missed the morning sunrises.

I found that when I wasn’t running I was a bit more anxious, had less energy, and missed the daily structure that running gives me! I filled my time with a lot of yoga (jasyoga is my favorite platform!), barre on-demand videos (I used the free trials!), and doing strength work at the gym. We also started eating mainly plant-based a few weeks ago, which helped take my mind off running and I think it helped me ease into the diet. I don’t think I would have been able to switch my diet and be in crazy-intense marathon training right now! My goal for the next few weeks (probably until the end of the year) is to get between 30-40 miles per week. This week, my plan is to run 6 days a week with each at 5 mile increments, along with 3 quality strength training sessions (normally around 30-40 minutes). I’ve also reached out to a run coach to get some insight into what I can improve upon in my training for the future!

PS while you’re here, come sign-up and run the Providence Marathon with me! The swag that you get for both the full and half marathon looks AMAZING!

There’s also still time to sign-up and train for the Bahamas Marathon happening in January! We were planning on going, but with the wedding date set we really need to focus on saving funds for that. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to go because I’ve always wanted to run on an island!