Europe prep

Holy Guacamole!!!! I leave for Europe in about 7 weeks! That snuck up quickly. Europe prep is in full swing over here, we have one day were we take the train 4 different times (we are cramming in everything we can) so we just bought our train tickets for that day so that we don’t need to worry about navigating ticket counters or worrying about currency when we are on a strict time table, a gondola ride has been booked and paid for for Venice, a coliseum tour has been booked and paid for for Rome. We are prepaying what we can so we don’t have to worry as much about spending money when we are over there.

That is my quick Europe update now lets talk about normal things.

July is over!! I got some good mileage in (good for me at least hahaha) my goal for next month is 46 miles!

Got my juicing in though I switched it up, morning juice was green

and afternoon was orange-ish

 

Artemis enjoyed another bone I bought her at the beach

I made 2 new running calendar things for me to keep track of my running as I want to start really building up my miles.

 

the first one is super simple to see me month mileage progress and keep me honest, a quick something to look at, like an at-a-glance thing

the 2nd one is a bit more in depth to really dive into each run and analyze the week. I want to get used to doing this so next year I can buy a running training journal thing and know I will actually keep up with it so I don’t waste the money.

And i found this to put on my wall to remind me to stretch

Tidbits

Does anyone use It Works! stuff? A friend/coworker started selling it a few months ago and my roommate jumped on board and has been slowly having me try things…..let me tell you samples are how you get me hahahaha!!!! I have been taking their probiotics off and on and TMI warning! It definitely helps get my but back to regular when I have been eating poorly. I tried and now just ordered their Thermofit which speeds up the metabolism and gives you extra energy, which is something I am in desperate need of. I had 3 energy drinks last week, ewwww!!!! I am really excited to get that. And today that friend and coworker dropped off a few samples for me to try.

Below is their much more natural energy drink. The taste is pretty good, it is not as sickly sweet as say Monster and so far I feel good, not jittery or anything like that just like, hmm what else can I get done? Which is exactly what I want and need, nothing crazy just enough energy to keep going until everything I need to do is done.

Below that is the Greens chew, you take two chews a day and it gives you a bunch of fruit and veggie stuff and antioxidants and a prebiotic. Take a look at their website. (I am not being paid to say this, all thoughts are my own)

 

OOOOh I found this at Safeway and am in LOVE with them!!!! They are sooooo tastey! I have limited myself to only packing 3-4 clusters a day and mixing them with a trail mix otherwise the bag would be gone already.

 

We have tulips!!!!! We have several tulips starting to bloom around our house that we planted last fall, so much color, I love it!!!!

Yesterday the power was out at our house from around 7am to 11pm. We had about an hour where the power came back on then nothing. We hit the dollar store and bought lots of cheap candles to light and give off heat….and now the wind and rain just started so hopefully I get home to power today.

That’s all for now!!! Talk to you soon!

Runner Safety Tip #2

(Image from google)

Be seen!!!!! This is one we hear all the time but maybe we hear it so much it doesn’t really sink in. When we are a pedestrian or runner we think everyone sees us, how could they not? But there have been many times I have been driving in my car and been in a rush or just not paying great attention and after the fact I think, did I check that cross walk?

There has also been many times recently as I have started taking public transportation into my new job and have to walk about 1/4-1/3 of a mile when I look down at my clothes and realize I am in all dark clothing……Not the best way to be seen.

It has gotten me to think about my running clothes, most of my clothes came from Fabletics or the clearance bin at Target so they are pretty bright and I can be hard to miss, which is perfect! But there are a LOT of dark colored workout clothes out there so think about that the next time you pick out a new workout outfit…..do you want to be seen by that car or not? Especially here in the pacific northwest where it is overcast and rainy so often.

Believe me, in a gym or on the street I do not love to draw attention to the weight I still have to lose or the form fitting clothing I am wearing but I would rather be a little embarrassed (of course once I get into the groove of running that feeling goes away because I am focusing on something else) but I will take the embarrassment over broken body parts.

(Image from google)

Pick out bright colors!!!!!

What do the majority of your workout clothes look like?

Marmot pass day 1

We were out the door by about 7:30 and hit McDonald’s for a high calorie breakfast. Both dogs were excited but unsure what was going on as well. 

The roommates little dog dog got too excited/nervous and barfed a little. So our start was cleaning

Then we were off on the 6 hours drive!

It took us about 5 hours to get to the area then another hour to go the 15 miles on dirt/gravel/pot whole road to the trailhead. 

And we are off!!!!

The first 3.5 miles of the trail were beautiful!!

Had nice rolling hills and crossed the water several times.

There were some interesting water crossings

Artemis was a little hesitant of the flowing water in the beginning then she got a little more comfortable 

We had some fun kookie moments

So after those nice 3.5 miles we took a little break, had some pop tarts and snacks, love trail food, and drank some water and Gatorade. Poor Carra got stung by a bee. Then we headed out to do another 3.5 miles to the top……except these 3.5 miles were straight up! 1500 feet in about 2.5 miles. 

I was pretty slow on the uphill so she would stop and wait for me to catch up. She is sooooo freaking cute and sweet!!! Or she would turn around and come find me. 

I was dying a little. 

I stopped and took a break about 1 mile from out stopping point because the direction milage was a little off and I was dying!!

These block got me through the last mile. 

She settled in behind me for a little rest behind me

We slugged it the last mile and settled in. 

Got our tent set up

Nice little view from out campsite 

Can you find Artemis?

Someone passed out really quickly 

We ate, listened to a little bit of a book on tape and tried to sleep

It was a loooong night. I finally dozed off around 9:30 then at 10:30 Artemis got up from our feet where she at been sleeping and bounded up toward me shaking. The poor thing was freezing. I got her halfway in my sleeping bag and cuddled up. She warmed up and I turned my sleeping bag into a blanket for us. She warmed up got comfy and fell asleep. But every hour or 2 either she would wake up and move around or part of my arm would go numb cause I was laying funky trying to keep her warm. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well. Of course once I was awake it took me another hour to fall back asleep. 

I got 4-5 hours of sleep. 

But overall it was a good day. 

Post New Years and randomness

Hi!!!! I hope you had a great New Years!!! Mine was fun but too excessive.

I went out in New Year’s Eve with my roommate, we went dancing and drinking. My intention was to party and i did. I dont drink much anymore so 6 shots in about 3 hours resulted in some lovely alcohol poisening for me. I couldn’t even keep water down until about 2pm on Friday. Then i ordered a pizza and stuffed cheesy bread that i snacked on the rest of the day. Between the greasy pizza and gatorade and water i survived. But this endeavor did prompt me to decided to give up alcohol for the 2016 year. I just really don’t need it and  never feel good with the after effects. I have also gone back to being a vegetarian. I just feel so much better without meat in my system.

My desk at work is ready for the new year.

image

image

A fun dake aquirium from my roommate to help me look forward to Hawaii!!

Remember those PR and run 50 states boards i liked. Here is what i have so far

image

I don’t think thats too shabby.

image

image

Yep, i made that! Lol
My christmas/new years gift to myself is this

image

It has some super awesome stuff in it!!!

image

image

image

image

I am super stoked for it. It is really going to help my training and see where i need improvements and where i can back off. It’s going to be great to help me get safely though all my races this year.

How was your New Years?

Tuesday tangents

Howdy!

I decided to enjoy a day off from my calorie counting and be bad lol.

Lunch

image

Was freaking delicious and i loved every bite of it!!!! Of course today i ran slower than a slug.

image

Damn the dollar bins at target.

I had to hit target to get stocking stuffers for my roommates. We did our Christmas last night.

image

I finally caved and got an Eos chopstick. I like it but am not 100% sold yet.

image

I failed at wrapping this year.

image

Every year my roommate C makes ornaments for everyone who lives here :mrgreen: my initials are on the other side.

image

I got this awesome comfy sweater from my roommate E. How awesome is this pattern?!

image

This was C’s gift to me. She bought me a luau while we are in Hawaii!!

image

My mom got this for me hahahaha along with a kickass REI raincoat that is super cute. Its fashionable and functional.

image

But i have to admit, this is what i got most excited about lol. Its a calendar!!! I’ll get new tips and facts everday!!!

How was your holiday??

More checks off the list

Hi everyone,

The trail is fast approaching!  With that I am gathering up the last few things I need.

image

Got my watch, which tells the date and time as well as being water resistant to 100m. I already tested it in the shower to make sure it can survive in the rain.

image

Got some cheap and lightweight camp shoes……I know, my socks and tights are awesome too hahaha!

image

Mom’ago gaiters

image

My gaiters, I was drawn to the honeycomb design, hopefully that is a good sign…..

Gaiters are things that go over the top of your shoes to help prevent rocks from getting in.
We got ours from Dirty Girl Gaiters.

image

image

Colapsable, lightweight trowel……I think you can figure out what that’s for…..here’s a hint, there are no  toilets in the wilderness.

image

Yummy snack

image

These give me electrolytes and energy.

image

Cute postcards to send to friends and family!

image

Cold weather gloves….on clearance at REI 🙂

image

This was my mom’s suggestion, you dip it in cold water and put it on your neck to stay cool.

image

Cheap clearance goggles!  These are for those crazy windy days…..and yes they happen and it gets that crazy windy.

image

Necklaces to wear on the full moon and new moon…..gotta stay in touch with nature. Moonstone and labradorite (I think I spelled that right)