Feature Friday: 21 Questions I Need Answered & Another Book Review!

Wohooo it’s Friday! What a long short-week I had at work. It’s been so nice to be able to get out on my lunch break to run in the sunshine (also because it’s been way too cold to run in the early mornings) . Yesterday’s 8 miles were lovely and I’m excited to do my first ‘back to back’ longish runs today! I’ve got 12-14 miles on the schedule and will hopefully be able to run outside since it’s supposed to be a low of 10* I think? 

I’m focusing on really slowing down for my easy runs, but still getting in those hills! I climbed 500’ yesterday, but hoping to get in a bit more today!  

I thought it would be fun to list out 24 questions that I’ll answer, but I’d also love to have you answer too!  

• Where were you born? North Conway, NH 
• How old are you? 28
• Favorite day of the week? Wednesday’s  
• Favorite ‘splurge’ after a running race? A burger & sweet potato fries!  
• Favorite thing to do when tapering? Mani/ Pedi
• Favorite food? Any type of pasta & fresh rolls
• Favorite dessert? Tiramisu  
• Ocean or lake? Ocean, but I also love lake houses!  
• Mountains or beach? Mountains
• Favorite color? Buttercream yellow
• Favorite smell? Freshly roasted coffee
• Last meal on Earth? Napolian Pizza fresh in Italy  
• Favorite place you’ve traveled to? Either Yosemite or Italy!  
• Favorite season? Fall
• Favorite TV show? Gilmore Girls  
• Favorite movie? Miracle
• Last best book you’ve read? Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• Favorite book? Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer
• Best song ever? Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
• Trails or Road? Trails!  
• Your favorite place to relax? In my heated blanket or outside on the trails far away from civilization  

I’ve got another book review! I loved this book by Becky Wade! She describes her year of travel to various running communities throughout the world. I loved how she described each running culture & how different they all were. It’s a fun and quick read, but I really felt like I got to know the runners along the way. Definitely a great read for anyone who loves to travel and run! 

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Give ME your 21 question answers!  

Tips For Incorporating & Sticking With Your New Years Resolutions!

Happy Friday-eve! I am still slightly in denial that the Holidays are over. It just goes by so fast! But I’m also equally excited to get back on a regular schedule (hello type-A personality ; ) …). I’ve been feeling a bit run-down lately, so I’m trying to listen to my body more and slow down/sleep in (or skip a run) before it becomes a full-fledged cold. I’m unfortunately not one of those people that can just slow down on a run and NOT get sick. It’s funny how it’s taken me this long to realize that, but I’m also excited to finally come to that realization and hope that maybe this means I won’t get another sinus infection this year?!? I’ve also come to the conclusion that this is one of the best desserts- greek yogurt & homemade granola (SO much less sugar when you make your own too- and it’s super easy!).

When it’s too cold for a morning run (it was -14* yesterday!)- I love streaming this yoga video (AND it’s only 10 minutes and free on youtube!).

Also- read this book on my New Years Day (I rented it at the library, but loved it so much that I ordered my own copy) and incorporated her 50 miler training plan into my current Hanson’s Marathon Method. The plans were honestly pretty similar in weekly mileage (until April and then it’s all about those longer distance runs), so I stuck with similar mileage and kept the Hanson’s speedworkouts/ temp runs (cut down the warm-up/ cool-down miles) and then increased my runs on the weekend. I’m also going to be adding in some negative-split runs in my longer runs, along with alternating every-other week speedwork with hill repeat work instead. I think it will be a nice blend of the two and I can still keep my speed steady (not exactly increasing it since I’ve already trained for this marathon time goal within the past year) while increasing mileage. I’m also going to be really present on slowing way down on my easy days (I’m thinking 11:xx pace) to keep my heartrate low and maximize my speed. I love this story and will not just be thinking about my race as ‘spreading the peanut butter’, but also my training that I need to spread the PB evenly.

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Tips For Incorporating & Sticking With Your News Years Resolutions!

In 2018, I actually wrote down my new years goals (I don’t really like the word ‘resolution’ because we’re all growing and improving rather than a full-on ‘cut something bad out’) and then incorporated what my ‘long term goals’ were into monthly goals. While I didn’t accomplish all the goals I set out for myself in 2018, I felt like I accomplished so much more since I kept track of them (writing them out in a planner/ on a piece of paper that I often look at). I also believe that this is one of the main reasons why I hit my MS Run The US fundraising goal.

• Write them down somewhere you can see them EVERY DAY.

• Make a few larger goals for the year and then make monthly goals to help you reach your larger one. Make sure that they’re something that’s in your control and that’s honestly achieveable. I.E. When I wanted to raise $10,000, I had an A, B, and C fundraising $ goals. My A goal was really achieveable, but my C goal was my ‘dream fundraising $’ for that month. This can also be helpful if you want to run ‘x’ amount of miles, incorporate new fitness goals into your routine, cut down on ‘x’ in your diet, or lose ‘x’ amount of weight. Nothing will happen overnight or in a week, so be patient and work on it in small increments.

• Re-assess after a month if you’re still unable reach your goal. Is it not attainable? Do you need more support for your family? Are you able to move things around in your schedule to help you reach your goal?

• Cross them off your monthly goals when you achieve something! Nothing brings my more satisfaction to cross something off my monthly (OR yearly!) goals. It makes me feel like I’m really getting somewhere with my goals and gives me that extra boost to achieve something else on my list.

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Favorite way to incorporate Yoga into your schedule?

50 miler finishers out there- any tips for a beginner?!?

How do you stay accountable with your goals?

Eugene Marathon Training Week 1 RUNdown 12/24-12/30

If there was a theme last week, it was probably ‘survival’. I knew it would be a super crazy week in both my office job and teaching skiing at the mountain, so I just wanted to fit my runs in regardless. I did manage to get them all in (besides cutting down Sunday’s scheduled 6 miles to 5.25 instead), so that’s a success. More runs were on the treadmill than I originally wanted, but it was COLD early in the mornings and since I had zero flexibility to run outside most days, it was indoors for my only option. Oh well- new year, new week right!?!

Monday, 12/24: 6.5 easy miles on the treadmill

Tuesday, 12/25: 6 Christmas miles easy 788’ up & strength

Wednesday, 12/26: REST DAY

Thursday, 12/27: 7 miles with 4 miles @ goal marathon pace (8:11) & strength

Friday, 12/28: 6 miles easy at 10:45 pace early

Saturday, 12/29: 8.15 miles easy @ 9:58 66’ up. I only planned for 6, but had the opportunity to run outside (despite the 15* temps) so I took advantage of it and went a bit longer!

Sunday, 12/30: 5.25 miles easy with incline varied 1% up to 5% and then worked my way back down to 1%. 10:10 avg pace & strength

Total mileage: 38.9 miles

Total Elevation: 825’ up

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How’s the weather where you are?!?

What’s the temperature outside where you decide to take it to the treadmill?

Goodbye 2018 & What I'm Most Looking Forward To In 2019!

Happy New Year! Did you stay up all night? We always make it to 12am EST (so 10pm our time) and then go to bed! We did celebrate with some pulled pork rice bowls for dinner and popcorn and some fresh baked cookies, but that’s about as crazy as it got around here. I also had the day off from teaching skiing yesterday (yay for first day off since Christmas Day!) and got to rearrange/ redecorate my ‘gym/office’!

ALSO I had the best chef’s salad on Saturday from Gondola Joe’s (located at the base of the ski resort) between teaching lessons. So amazing- definitely check it out if you come ski here!

I also celebrated yesterday with lots of kitty cuddles first thing in the morning. Heated blanket + coffee + kitties= purrrfect morning (see what I did there? ; ) …).

Looking back on my 2018 goals, I had a pretty great year!

• I ran a new marathon & 1/2 PR

• Raised $10,000 for MS

• Became an ultramarathoner

• Decluttered a lot of the spaces in our home

• Checked off one new race state

• Visited One New National Park

• While the beginning of the year I had trouble spending money on only needs, not wants- I feel like I did a much better job of it in Fall of this year

• I began crocheting again!

• I made two recipes from scratch

• I mostly incorporated yoga 1x/ week (sometimes I missed it, but overall much better than previous years!)

• Began journaling once a week!

Here are my 2019 goals!

• Work on owning my accomplishments and following my gut more. I really want to own everything that I’ve done thus far and to question myself less.

• BQ the marathon

• Run a sub 1:40 half marathon

• Run a 50 miler

• Save $5,000-$10,000

• Continue to purchase needs, not wants

• Crochet a blanket

• Run in one new race state

• Pay off one student loan

• Practice gratitude

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What are your 2019 goals?

How did you celebrate the New Year?!?

Feature Friday: TOP TEN POSTS IN 2018

Wohooo! We made it to Friday! Finally! I’ve got 6 easy miles on tap this morning and will be on the treadmill again since it’s going to be in the negatives (and I’m on Stella-duty early this AM before work). I’d also really love to skin up the mountain or go for a swim, but my schedule is pretty tight right now! Still a toss-up! I’d love to get in either one more hike session on the ski mountain or in the pool before we enter into 2019, but a new year is no reason not to make new goals and create new exciting schedules! Also did anyone else feel this way when getting a gift this Christmas (..obviously we feel this way on the inside because let’s still remain classy!).

This weekend is super busy for me with teaching skiing (tis the season), but it’s not so bad since I get to spend the entire day outside playing in the snow! I also have Monday (NYE) completely off, which is really exciting. I can’t wait! I have a million things I’d like to get done and will probably only get to like two of them. Ha. Anyone else think like this with to-do lists and days off?!? I’m all gung-ho until it’s the actual day-off and then I’m honestly pretty lazy! Let’s get to my top ten most-viewed posts this year!

Top 10 Posts in 2018!

10. The Post Where I Shared What My Training Will Look Like For Eugene Marathon!

9. The Post Where I Recapped My First Day of my MS Run The US Relay Segment #7 Where I Ran Up And Over Rabbit Ears Pass!

8. The Post Where I Describe What I’m Doing This Weekend In Memes

7. The Post Where I Share How I Fundraised $10, 581 for MS Run The US!

6. The Post Where I Share The Article On My MS Run The US Journey from The Summit Daily

5. The Post Where I Talk About The Importance Of Courage & Taking Time For Yourself

4. The Post Where I Share The Top 5 Songs On My Playlist Right Now

3. The Post Where I Share My Goals For MS Run The US Relay

2. My Entire Compilation of MS Run The US

1. Sharing My Tips To Mentally Crush That Last 10k of a Marathon!

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-Three things you’re doing this weekend?!? —> teaching skiing, running 6 miles, doing some yoga!

-What are your favorite memories/ experiences from 2018?

-Give me some of your GOOD NEWS! I love to spread good news and would love to hear what yours is!