Beginning of trip recap- 2, 225 miles to Maine

We left Steamboat at around 5:30 (later than expected) and had to get to Maine by Friday evening (or Saturday morning at the latest). We definitely had a bit of a time-crunch to get there! 

Stealthy photo taken of Stella spying on us while on the road! The first night we drove until somewhere in Nebraska until around 11pm and stopped for the night at a hotel. 

We were up and out of the hotel by 7 and back on the road the next morning! Hello extra caffeine! Within 40 minutes of leaving the hotel, we crossed the Central Time Zone and added an hour onto our drive (bummer). Driving through Iowa seemed to take forever (it's really really flat there), but we finally hit Illinois and started feeling like we were actually getting somewhere!

We arrived in Indiana in the late afternoon and decided to stop there for the evening. That left us about 11 hours (12 with the time change) left to drive on Friday to get to Maine! 

The hotel that we stayed at (hellllo Quality Inn #2 - also never staying at another one again because we somehow only got these hotels through our priceline deals) had a gym hotel so I got in a quick 3.25 miles before we left around 7:30. 

Also Indiana has REALLY nice rest stops. They had Panera and we couldn't resist not stopping for some healthy eats while on the road. Fuji Apple Chicken Salad #1 please!

We hit the Eastern Time Zone again within an hour of leaving the hotel (definitely a pattern that followed throughout our entire trip) and soon enough we were in New York!

Driving through New York brought back so many fun college memories (I went to Syracuse in upstate NY) and we drove right by the exit that I would get off at when I drove to school after vacation breaks! I wanted to stop, but when we hit it at 6pm and knew we had 7 hours left to go, Alex wasn't all for it...ha ha. 

We arrived in Vermont around 9pm and drove right past Alex's parents house (so of course we had to stop there at 10pm at night and surprise them)! They were pretty surprised especially when we told them several times that there was "no way that we could stop there". 

We finally arrived in Maine at 2am on Saturday morning (pure adrenaline keeping us going at this point) and crashed until 10am! 

It was a really long trip and I think if we could have left a bit earlier on Wednesday, that would have made the last leg of the drive easier, but we really didn't hit much traffic and kept our stops to around 10-15 minutes (but would stop every 2-3 hours keeping our minds/bodies refreshed). The weather on Friday was pretty terrible as well (pouring rain almost the entire day), which slowed us down too- driving on the highway with hail/wind/rain= not so much fun. 

How I went from focusing on the entire run to just one mile at a time

I truly believe that if you only see a run as the total numbers of miles you have to run, it'll seem daunting and intimidating. I think this is my biggest advice to those just starting to run or going from training for a half marathon to a full marathon. Take one mile at a time, very similar to taking it one step at a time.

I also really like this strategy when running a race. Just focus on the mile that you're in, you can't change the past, and thinking about the future will only help you go so far. Stay in the moment and enjoy it! 

I also definitely think this can be applied to anything in life. If you worry about the things/items that may come about the next day, you may never sleep. I've heard a lot of people say that it's good to be nervous/stressed about a race or big interview the next day because that means you care, which I agree to a certain extent, but worrying doesn't get you very far- it certainly won't provide a fantastic race day for you or get you the job. 

SO, worry less and enjoy the ride. As we're finishing up packing and getting ready to head onto the road tomorrow back to New England, I feel like I've needed to remind myself to stay in the moment every ten minutes. It is pretty stressful trying to get everything done before vacation! But, you know what? So what if not everything gets done or something gets forgotten? It really isn't the end of the world and definitely isn't worth the immense stress that we put on our bodies. **I need to try to remember this when those difficult workouts come on my training schedule again**

Onto my day recap! Tuesday was spent doing the usual work (I attempted to get up at 5 to run before work, but getting up early has been really HARD lately) and went for my 3.6 (supposed to be 4 originally) mile run in-between the end of work and before coaching. 

It was in the mid-80s out and super warm. My garmin said that I had 61 hours of recovery time afterwards, I guess that's what I get for 1. trying to fit in a certain amount of mileage in a short period of time 2. going faster than my post-marathon body was ready for 3. running in the HEAT with no water bottle with me

I also came across this sign on a section of my run:

I've seen moose in this area before, but no luck today! Probably for the best, since the trail was pretty busy!

After work, I grabbed us a pizza for dinner and a few snacks for the road trip before heading home. We finally finished up packing (at least I THINK so) and are ready to hit the road tomorrow evening!

It's always a bit of bummer to know how quickly vacations go by and I know this one is no exception, but just take it one day (or mile) at a time! 

I had this Siggi's Yogurt before my run for a snack and it was super delicious! Siggi's really is the best yogurt out there- I'm convinced.

That's all for me today and maybe by the time you're reading this we'll be out of Colorado and on our way headed back East! 

Favorite way to visualize a run?

Favorite snack pre-run?

Favorite way to make sure everything gets done before a vacation?

Tips to run your best while still enjoying the race-cation!

I've traveled to a few different races where they involved planes, taxis, rental cars, shuttles, trams, cancelled flights, buses, snowstorms, etc. and now I kinda feel like I've got some pretty good insight compared to the first time I went to one! Here's some helpful tips to help you run your best race, while also finding time to enjoy the location!

1. Plan your travel plans around the season. For example, I now know that I need to not only book a flight in January in Colorado early in the morning (better chance of it either getting delayed rather than cancelled/ being able to still leave sometime that same day) and only book it out of Denver. Work in the worst-case scenario situations (like a flight getting completely cancelled) and know your other options for getting out. 

2. Write down a rough plan for what day you want to go to the expo and a few sight-seeing items that you want to do. This is really important to plan out if those activities include a lot of walking. In Disney, I knew that the expo takes a lot of walking so I got there 2 days before the race so I could do the expo and one park that day and save my legs the day before the race.

3. Research places to eat and know what works best for you (food-wise) before the race. I know that I have a pretty sensitive stomach when it comes to race-day, but I also know that I perform my best if I eat heavier meals (breakfast/lunch/early afternoon snack) earlier on in the day and a lighter meal for dinner. I don't do too much research about meals after the race or two days prior, but I definitely look at a few menu options the day before my race. I also try to plan ahead and know a few fast-food type options that work well for me. I know that I can eat a Starbucks sausage, egg, and cheese and be totally fine (and these are pretty common where my races are held), so I sometimes will have that the day before my race. 

4. Never schedule a race at the end of your vacation. This MIGHT seem like a no-brainer, but I did this before and will never do it again! You're tired at the end of your vacation, running during vacation is sometimes hard, and your diet normally suffers a bit when you're out of your comfort zones. Plan to arrive a day or two before the race and have a few days afterwards to enjoy everything!

5. Plan almost a total rest day (or even half day) before your race. Lying by the pool is normally my go-to afternoon before a race or doing a bit sight-seeing from the car. It's relaxing, helps you rejuvenate before the big day, and gets you even more excited to do the race and see more of the scenerary where you are!

There you have it! A few tips that I've learned when traveling for races. I hope some of them will help you on your next race-cation!

Happy Father's Day! Hope you are able to either spend time with your loved ones or skype/facetime/chat with them for even a few minutes. Family is everything :) 

Any tips on traveling to a race?

Some go-tos for you while you are on a race-cation?

Albuquerque Recap!

We drove down to Albuquerque (about an 7.5 hour drive) on Friday morning & arrived there around 6pm. We drove by the Sand Dunes National Park and we couldn't resist stopping- so our trip took about an hour longer than expected! 

Sand Dunes National Park is seriously so amazing and we are already planning a camping trip there during the Fall! It was so crazy how it was 70 degrees outside and the sand was already burning Stella's paws after only a few minutes. Thankfully there were some muddy streams that we had to walk through to get to the sandy portion (due to the spring run-off) and she was able to cool-off in that. 

You can actually rent surfboards and sleds and slide down the dunes (supposedly you can also ski down the dunes, but I'm not 100% sure about that...). It was so amazing and it's also a really dog-friendly national park (most we have visited have been pretty strict). Once we left the dunes, we were off to Placitas (about 30 min outside of Albuquerque) to our air bnb that we booked! This place was seriously the cutest and the host, her name was Rebecca, was absolutely amazing! It was built in the 1920's and was originally a post office. It was nestled in the mountains and had a ton of hiking trails! 

Friday night we went out to eat at a small Mexican restaurant & went to bed relatively early. On Saturday, we were up by 7ish & I went out for a short shake-out run with Stella while Alex grabbed breakfast! We headed out to the Race Expo to pick up my bib and it was even smaller than I thought it would be (my bib number was 242)! We then headed to the ABQ BioPark Zoo- which was seriously amazing! We didn't end up going to the biopark area and just visited the zoo (to save the legs/ it was pretty hot out- 85 degrees!). 

All the animals were so adorable- including this giraffe! He was the only male and all FOUR of the females were pregnant! What a stud...

We headed out to lunch at the Bosque Brewing Company and had a flight of their various drafts to test out! Had to carbo-load and the Elephant's Parade was AMAZING. It was light, fruity, and honestly did not even taste like beer. We ended up getting growler of it!

I ended up getting the half sandwich (Italian) and half salad (greek) and it was SO good! We headed out to Trader Joes to grab some things for dinner (we were going to cook it and take advantage of the full kitchen that we had) and then back to grab Stella and head out for a short hike before the storm rolled in!

Wind-blown hair don't care. It was beautiful out

After our hike, we headed home to make dinner and relax before race day! Post about the race and my EXCITING PR will be posted shortly and over on my race recap page. 

Stunning sunset in Placitas, NM!

Ever been to Albuquerque or raced there?!?

Zoo, Botanical Gardens, or Aquarium?

What's your favorite part of traveling for races?

Happy Tuesday!