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!

Time For A Change 😍

Still here, still running, but we are MOVING to Maine! Aka I left Colorado on Saturday with my mom and the cats. Alex will be driving to Maine with Stella at the beginning of June. I didn’t really share the moving news with too many people, mainly because I hate to say goodbye! Also because I’m sure we’ll be back to visit Steamboat & Colorado often. We’ve been driving around 8-9 hours since Saturday and will arrive in Maine tomorrow night! 

Stopped for a break & they aren’t so sure about Ohio... 

It’s been a really stressful few weeks/ months and I’m so excited for this new chapter. I want to put everything together for a nice blog post, but it may not be until the end of the week when the internet is set-up at our new house! 

Goodbye for now, Colorado! You are beautiful! 

So, here’s the shortened-down story for now. I’m going back to school at University of Southern Maine in Portland to get my nursing degree! I’ve always had a strong passion to go into healthcare since Middle School? And so so excited to finally be making that big-scary-career-changing jump. It has NOT been an easy decision OR easy journey to get here NOR will it be easy moving forwards, but what in life IS easy that is also equally REWARDING? 

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 -Ever made a ‘Big Move’?!  

-Anyone live in ME or Eastern NH!?! Let me know! Can’t wait to find a running tribe  here

Travel Thursday: Exploring Oregon- Recap of Our Trip!

Happy Friday-eve! This is the second-to-last day of my official #funemployment. It’s crazy how much faster the week goes by when you’ve got a free schedule as opposed to working all week?! Not really sure why that is, but I’ve been able to get a bunch of things done this week (including almost all of my runs already)! I’ve got some quick pick-ups to do today and hoping the snow/rain will hold off before I can get my run in later this morning. I’m also still reminiscing on our trip last week to Oregon and thought it would be fun to share the trip with you! I did a bunch of research before our trip to see what was on a ‘must-see’ list for the state and the time of year that we visited.

Luckily, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival was still going on and it was on the drive to Eugene from Portland. I highly recommend stopping here if you can. We got there around 11am on a Saturday (it was a bit rainy), but honestly the lines & traffic were nowhere near where I anticipated they would be. We spent around 30 minutes here, but I could seeing spending the entire day there (and SO many cute dogs were there).

In Eugene, we were ALL about getting some delicious food post-Eugene Marathon and eating dinner at The Beer Stein did not disappoint. They had a crazy-good selection of beers, apps, and the steak salad really hit the spot (along with that delicious pretzel)! Highly recommend going here if Brewerys are your thing.

The best place we ate at all week was at Off the Waffle in Eugene. We went to the one in South Eugene and it had a great super relaxed vibe. The waffle was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Perfectly toasted on the outside and sweet/sugary on the inside. We also walked across the street to the used bookstore (if that’s your thing)- it was HUGE and so many incredible deals. I wish we had one of these close to us.

We left Eugene on Monday and traveled about an hour and a half west to Florence. We visited the Sea Lion Caves and it was AMAZING. I cannot believe that there were over 200 sea lions just hanging out along the beach area. So cool to see them in their natural habitat.

We stayed the night in Florence at a hotel overlooking the ocean. Saw the most incredible sunset. It was perfect.

We left Florence on Tuesday and headed up the coast towards Cannon Beach. This was the longest drive we had of around 3.5 hours. It was such a scenic drive of the ocean for the majority of it and we stopped along the way to see Heceta Lighthouse. The lighthouse was beautiful, but honestly the views of the ocean landscape and the seals were the best part (ha).

We kept going along our drive and the Tillamook Creamery was on our route so we just HAD to stop. It was a huge cafeteria/gift-shop area and the amount of ice cream options they had was incredible. I got the S’mores flavor and it was incredible. My mom got the cold brew flavor and it was also delicious. We also got a grilled cheese, which was the creamiest, richest, cheesiest grilled cheese I’ve ever had.

We stayed the night in Seaside along the ocean again (about a 1/4 mile from the beach area) and it was a great place to run along the beach and their boardwalk. Super cute homes there as well to look at. We went to Cannon Beach the next morning and that was so beautiful.

The drive on Wednesday back to Portland from Seaside was pretty fast - around an hour. We stopped first at Blue Star donuts at one of their downtown locations. The donuts were pretty good- heavier than other donuts I’ve had- and really interesting savory flavors. It reminded me of some really indulgent cakes, where you can’t exactly finish the slice, but the bites you are able to have are real good.

The last stop on our travels was to Columbia River Gorge and Multonmah Falls. SO stunning and the pictures do not do it justice. Unfortunately the hike to the top of the Falls was closed when we were there, but luckily the crowds were minimal and the drive to the falls from Portland was also extremely scenic. I could see spending several days here to visit and hike through all of the vast outdoor space this area had. I definitely want to go back.

My Foundation Is Built And 50 Miler Training RUNdown Week : 4/29-5/5

Happy Humpday! It’s a nice transition to focus all of my attention solely on the trails. It’s certainly something that I’m not really great at, but that I enjoy. I got my last back-to-back long runs done yesterday (34 miles in 20 hours with 2,500’ elevation gain) and they felt pretty good! I’ve been focusing on engaging my glutes more and also strengthening them, since I will DEFINITELY need them to do my Mt. Washington Road Race next month!! Ekkk! I’m not sure what will be more challenging- Mt. Washington or my 50 miler. Ha. I’ve also been doing some heat-acclimating since I know it will be plenty warm this summer (but hopefully not for my races)! Monday & Tuesdays run were both in the low 60’s with not much cloud-cover. I’m looking forward to a nice break from running AND training after my 50 miler in just 17 DAYS?!? What!?

Last week I just listened to my body and didn’t hold myself to any sort of training schedule (for the most part). My FOUNDATION of my training has been built and now all that I’m doing is securing it for my upcoming races. There’s no need to do anything crazy at this point and that’s oddly satisfying. I think back to those training runs when I REALLY wanted to quit, wasn’t feeling it, or pushed through some crazy moments of doubt and am really proud of what I’ve already accomplished in 2019. I’ve been able to give myself more grace when I didn’t feel like running or hitting ‘x’ mileage and carried more gratitude with me on every run.

Monday, 4/29: 6 miles easy. 3 min slow run / 2 min walk in Eugene. The amount of trails that are present in Eugene was amazing and the views from this run did NOT disappoint. So glad we stayed within 1/3 mile of the trail (AND mile 14 of the marathon course)!!

Tuesday, 4/30: Rest day. Did a nice long ~5 mile walk along the ocean, but otherwise took the day off of any sort of exercise.

Wednesday, 5/1: 8.02 miles easy. 3 min run/ 2 min walk in Seaside, OR along the beach. Couldn’t ask for a better view and softer surface to run on than the ocean floor!

Thursday, 5/2: 12 miles easy. 4 min run/ 1 min walk in Portland, OR on the hotel treadmill before flying back to CO. I felt really comfortable on the treadmill and was going to go outside at one point to finish up my run, but just went with the flow and stayed comfy on the treadmill with a nice view of the traffic outside.

Friday, 5/3: 6.01 miles easy 10:43 721’ up. Back in CO in the mountains. I had fasting blood work done in the morning, so decided just a few super easy miles were the best idea since I didn’t feel the best post-blood draw.

Saturday, 5/4: 6.26 miles easy 9:40 150’ up. Some easy miles before seeing the Avengers movie!

Sunday, 5/5: Rest day. Did an afternoon hike, but otherwise took the day off and felt 0% guilty about that.

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Total Mileage: 38.31 miles

Total Elevation: 1, 049’ up

Training Tuesday: Keeping Those Sweaty Clothes Fresh

Tuesdays. Not quite ready to let go of the weekend, not quite ready to start thinking about the new weekend. At least tomorrow is hump-day right? Flashback to yesterday’s long run. 22 miles and last 20+ miles until my first 50 miler!

​Also saw this after I got back from my run.

Disclaimer: I received a bottle of Win Detergent to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Does anyone else have really nice workout clothes? I honestly spend way more money on my running clothes than my everyday work clothes. I know that they get the most usage and a cute new race outfit = gives me a HUGE confidence boost. They are the only clothes that I continually hang-dry and wash on a delicate cycle, which is why when I had the chance to try out sports-specific detergent I knew I had to try it.

I’m also super picky with my detergents. I always want something that will work with my sensitive skin, has no crazy amount chemicals added, a fresh scent, and can actually get rid of all of my sweaty scents. After running 7 marathons (and all of those training cycles), my clothes kinda STINK. You know that jacket where you wear anytime it’s cold/rainy/sleety outside? Yeah, mine kinda smells disgusting all the time no matter how often I wash it.

This detergent had BIG shoes to fill and it didn’t let me down. I love how it has a specific sensitive-skin formula, a fresh scent, and can really get out those stinky scents in my precious running clothes. I basically live in my running clothes on the weekend and will sometimes (i.e. often) wear the clothes I ran in to the grocery store, getting gas, running errands. So they have extra time to really let the sweat sink in. Ha. I’m also a pretty heavy sweater (not sure if this is how you spell that, but we’re just going to go with it), so for this detergent to get my clothes clean is pretty amazing.

Make sure to grab yourself a bottle and you can use code WIN4RAVE at checkout to get 20% off any WIN products off Amazon here.

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-How do you keep your sweaty clothes fresh and clean?

-Are you a fan of WIN?