Why I’m taking a Social Media Break

Social media is great for so many things. I love the connections that it makes and the community. I also really enjoy sharing in others success and commiserating with my fellow runners when you just have a bad run. It makes me feel less alone, but I feel like a lot of these reasons is why it also makes it necessary to take a break. I found myself being less connected to the world surrounding me and more connected to the small virtual world that is social media.

I would waste hours of my day just scrolling. Sure, sometimes it was productive to either help promote my little business here on the blog or connect with my friends who are all across the country, but a lot of the times it was just wasteful minutes. Maybe (actually yes, definitely) comparing myself and my situation to others. It wasn’t productive- more just self-destructive. I didn’t feel ‘connected’ to others and it felt like a struggle to come up with something creative to post about. I wanted to still be a part of the organizations I’m with because they are the BEST, but with that comes needing to post ‘x’ amount on social media and that is where I struggled. Every post I did felt like pulling teeth and very ingenue.

I’ve struggled so much this past year with running. I miss racing. I miss training. I struggle with wanting to train, but also knowing that there might not be any races on the calendar again for 2021 and that just sucks (just being completely honest here 😂). I also really don’t like to push my body so much when I’m not training for a race because I want to run for a really long time. And yes, I know that all of these things are very shallow and totally the least of anyone’s problems, but this is what brought me to taking a break from social media. I wanted clarity to re-assess what I wanted in the next year.

And so, I still am not sure what my particular goals are for next year, but I’m feeling more free since breaking free of social media over Thanksgiving. I think I might hire a running coach because I’ve been feeling so much faster recently and would love to have just some day-to-day training goals (even if there may not be a race on the calendar in the near future). There will eventually be a sense of normalcy-this, I’m sure of (even if it might be our ‘new normal’).
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-Have you ever taken a social media cleanse? How’d it feel?

-What are your goals for the upcoming year?

Workout Wednesday: Trail Running Tips

Happy Wednesday! I wanted to share with you some of my tips that I’ve learned from trail running over the years. I’m still (by no means), a great trail runner (nor will I ever excel at it), but I love when I can get out there. I always make sure to budget extra time. I know that I’ll be hiking some and will just take longer to cover the distance.

I also want to make sure that I bring enough gear. That includes snacks, water, gels, extra layers, another pair of socks. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten my feet wet and not had a dry pair to change into.

Take time to enjoy the views from the summit. That’s one of my favorite parts from being on the trails. I also take time to snag a lot of photos when I’m out there. No need to rush (in my opinion!)

What are your favorite parts of trail running?

Any other tips you have?!?

Feature Friday: Self Care

Happy Friday! I originally always wait to put up our Holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving, but I’m kinda thinking that I might put them up earlier. I LOVE the holidays so much and the 4 weeks that our decorations are up never seems long enough. Anyone else put their decorations up earlier than normal this year? I think we’ll still wait for our tree though because this scene happens every year 🤦🏼‍♀️

I wanted to do a post special for self-care because it’s the Holiday season and with the pandemic, everything just seems like A LOT. Especially if you’re working in the healthcare industry (or have a spouse/family member/ friend that works in it)- always worrying about bringing the virus to/from work and dealing with all of the extra special precautions being mandated or restricted now. It’s tough and certainly not easy.

Know your limits. Know when you’ve extended yourself too much or when you’re starting to get burnt-out. It’s ok to take a step-back. You’re not doing anyone any favors if you’re not able to take care of yourself first. It’s OK to acknowledge that you haven’t been - don’t beat yourself up over it - acknowledge and move forward. I love to over-commit myself and have slowly learned that I’m doing a disservice to everyone when I do that. Rested is best.

Find your favorite hobbies and make time for them. It doesn’t need to be running. It doesn’t even need to be anything active. Maybe it’s reading for 30 minutes or having an extra cup of coffee/tea. Just give yourself some time to ‘fill your cup’ however and whatever you want to fill it with (wine, anyone? 🤷🏼‍♀️… JK, unless a glass of wine is your self-care then go for it!)

Don’t feel guilty for your time. Even if you have fifty other things to get done, it’s so important to do ‘you’ first. Maybe that means getting up earlier (OR sleeping in more rather than getting up early)- try out some ways to help you give yourself some time to rejuvenate. It’s ok if not every meal is hand-made or that you didn’t set the coffee maker or laundry doesn’t get done today. No one is perfect and no one is ‘doing it all’ .

The most important thing? Be kind. To yourself. To others. Because these are challenging times for all🧡

7 Things

Technically it’s my weekend now, but I’ll bring you an update from the past few days since I’ve been working so much lately (7 days with only one day off). Very grateful to have had a bit of time with this little one lately.

Once in awhile, we splurge and get bagels at the grocery store. Cream cheese & ‘everything but the’ is one of my favorites.

14 miles on the treadmill last week and still LOVING it. Alex has been on it almost everyday (he’s really been enjoying the iFit hikes that they have). We also invested in the mat that goes underneath the treadmill-> it’s SO QUIET NOW! 🎉

We got a crazy heat-wave the past few days and it felt SO WEIRD to be wearing shorts & a t-shirt in November?!?!

I’ve been working both days & nights, so my body is all sorts of confused. It felt really weird to be eating soup for my ‘dinner’ at 8:30 in the morning. I guess that’s the Nurse-life though!

Since I’ve got a longer commute to work (while we save to buy a home), I’ve been staying in Air BnB’s / hotels in the surrounding areas. While it certainly keeps things interesting, it’s also been so much fun to explore new areas by running!

I ‘ran’ the first part of the Boston Marathon with my treadmill (iFit) feature last week during my long run and WOW did it inspire me to keep chasing that Unicorn Dream even more?!? Cue: dreaming of all the potential Marathons in my future. 🤩

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-What’s the next race you’re looking to doing?
-If you could only run one race again, what would it be?

-Favorite type of bagel and cream cheese?

7 Things

Happy Monday! I have a few more days off until I work again and I’ve really been loving the extra time to run. I ran on my treadmill yesterday (it’s just so beautiful I always want to be on it!) and ran along the Ku’ai (sp?) Half Marathon course. This just made me want to go there even more.

I also did a 30 minute Pop Ride from the Peloton App on our bike trainer and it kicked my butt. So much so that refueling post-run & ride & strength was yogurt straight from the jar and a giant glass of Nuun.

I tried to find some of those Pumpkin pre-packaged Sugar Cookies from the grocery store, but they must have been all sold out (or maybe they don’t make them anymore?!). So, I made a batch of Vegan Peanut Butter cookies. They are so good (recipe is on my Pinterest page).

This was the most amount of celebrating Halloween as we did this year. Very thankful that I still kept my old skating costumes from 12 years ago and that they still fit.

Very excited that it’s Bath season again. Also- having an awesome claw foot bath tub is a must in our next home (I’ve always wanted one)!

One bonus with the extra hour is that I’m up earlier in the morning and can enjoy the bonus time with coffee and a good book.

Homemade French Onion Soup to end the weekend.

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—Favorite cookie recipe?
-We got our first snow flurries here today! Anyone else excited for the Holidays?
-Favorite half marathon course?