Calm *After* the Storm // Star Wars Rival Run 10K Recap, Getting Vaccinated, + Snowy Photo Spam

 

Happy May, friends! The academic year has finally wrapped and the peacefulness that has followed these last few INSANE weeks has been so welcome. I am currently in my very last 5-day work week until August (summer Fridays, baby!!!), and in my last work week before I take a nice lil staycation next week. When WFH started last year I really didn't think I'd ever want to take time off work if I wasn't specifically going anywhere since I'd already be home. However, after this crazy year, I am SO THRILLED to be having a week to myself. It'll also be my birthday next week, so I'm really looking forward to being able to spend the week doing things that make me happy. That's all I want for my birthday!

A few weeks ago, Snowy (or SnObi-Wan Kenobi) and I ran the runDisney Star Wars Rival Run Virtual 10K! (We made a cute lil TikTok during our run!) I dressed up as Princess Leia and we had an absolute blast (pun intended?). I specifically wanted to run this race so I could get my hands on the 10K medal which features Leia herself, and it finally came in the mail last week! I can't wait to hang it up on my wall. I am so psyched to have it be a part of my collection!

runDisney virtual packaging is top-notch

Such a cool medal! It's fairly big as well - about the size of my palm.
Not bad for a 10K medal!

I also got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine a few weeks ago at Gillette Stadium! It was a super easy process and the volunteers there have the clinic running like a well-oiled machine. As I waited the required 15 minutes post-shot, I was able to sit and look out onto the field which was so cool. I haven't been to Gillette in AGES so it was really so nice to return. I'll be back later in May for my second dose, and then hopefully the next time I'm there I'll be attending a game! 🤞

The day after my vaccine I attempted to participate in Dewey's, but I was so tired that it made reading extremely difficult 😂 I shoulda known! Regardless of how much I read during that 24 hour period, I did make it a priority to return to my book instead of watching TV or scrolling TikTok, which I think is a personal win. Here's somewhat of a reading vlog from the last two weekends, including my failed Dewey's attempt:

Now that the academic year is over, I really want to prioritize reading where I can! I'll be participating in Bout of Books 31 next week (TBR to come!) and I'm hoping to do a couple other fun reading projects during the summer months. I'll of course keep y'all posted!

I wanted to close out this lil life update by SPAMMING y'all with Snowy pictures. If you look through my photos on my phone, it's pretty much exclusively running related photos or Snowy photos. At least I'm on brand? 🙃 She's just so cute! I CAN'T HELP IT! (And honestly, can you really complain about a Snowy photo spam session?) Anywho, enjoy this pup's cuteness:

Laying on the floor with Daddy as he plays games

I got Snowy this teddy bear the last time she got her nails trimmed and she LOVES HIM 😍😭

There was an ADORABLE 2-month old Husky at the park yesterday and Snowy LOVED playing with him. 😭😭😭

Idk why she was sitting like this but it was adorably funny 😂

👁️👅👁️

Cute post-run selfies with my girl 💖

Just always bringing the sass

We're also sitting our neighbor's dog Harper while she is away and these two are like two peas. I will say that Snowy does get a bit territorial of her stuff and of Brett and I when Harper is over (only child syndrome!) but they absolutely love playing together. It's so cute to see them interact with one another!

Staying Afloat // March & April Highlights

Hiiiiiii

End of semester ridiculousness is kicking my butt (per usual) so regular updates here/on my channel have been the last thing on my priority list. On top of all the work stress, Brett and I have been dealing with some tough stuff in our family lives over the last couple of months which, of course, takes its toll. We're just doing our best to stay afloat and be there for our people and each other. Just doing the best we can with what life is dealing us as of late! But because I've always loved sharing pieces of my life with y'all and I think memory keeping is important, I thought I'd give you some highlights from the last few weeks so you know what I've been up to. Here's what's been going on!

-Ran and completed the Yeti Ultra 24 Hour Challenge in March! I'm planning on writing and sharing a blog post on my experience, but for now you can check out my vlog from that weekend over on my channel.

-Participated in the BibRave Pro Virtual Summit for the second year in a row! It's always so great to connect with fellow BRPs. It's such a great community of folks! 🧡 I'll have some exciting updates to share with you on a new campaign I'm on VERY soon, so stay tuned!

-Ventured out to Indiana for the Carmel Marathon! I will also be posting a race review here on my experience running state #15, as well as putting together a vlog from my trip, so you all should be seeing those sometime in the near future. Overall I had an EXCELLENT time and it felt so great to get back to running an in-person marathon. It's made me so excited for my next training cycle and next attempt at 26.2! 

This photo was taken on April 16th on my way into staffing a Spring Day program... #why 🙃

April 17th: Really trying to will spring into existence at this event. It was 35 degrees and raining. 😭
At least it looked springy?

-I've actually been heading to the office a bit more frequently this month, mainly because we've been putting on some larger-scale (by pandemic standards lol) in-person programs to end the year. It's been weird going into the office and staffing events, but it's been so excellent to see my students face-to-face and not over a Zoom screen. While I'm not sure that I want to completely leave WFH in the dust, I am excited about the idea of working with my students in-person for the next academic year!

-I'm running the Star Wars Virtual 10K today! This isn't typically a runDisney trip that I'd be able to take due to the timing of the race weekend clashing with the busiest time of year at work for me, so I'm really excited that I get to partake in the virtual version this year. PLUS the 10K is themed after Leia this year which makes me SO happy! I'm looking forward to dressing up and running 6.2 this afternoon. Pics to come, but for now enjoy my #FlatLeia 🌠

And probably the most exciting update of all:

I've got a vaccine appointment!!! 

I'll be getting my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. Hoping everything goes smoothly, but I'm just going to keep thinking about getting to see my friends and family again, as well as in-person racing becoming a regular thing once more! Can't wait to continue my journey to 50 states and feeling much safer while doing it! 🏃‍♀️✈️

We are this close to finishing the academic year, so I'm hoping that I'll have a bit more free time to blog/vlog more regularly soon. But for now, I've been posting quite frequently over on my Instagram, so you can keep up with me there. I hope y'all are doing well and continuing to stay safe!

Saying Goodbye & New Running Gear | Blogmas Day 7

Happy Monday, friends! I'm coming to you with a bit of a life update for the past week for day 7 of Blogmas. Without going into too much detail to protect privacy, we had two deaths in the family this week so Brett and I were focused on being there for family and helping out with whatever was needed at the time. We attended services today and were able to say goodbye and spend time with loved ones. It's never easy going through this, and unfortunately it's something that we all have to go through. We're both okay and will be continuing to do our best to support the family in the coming weeks.

Outside of everything going on in the family, I've tried my best to keep things as normal as possible - bringing Snowy out on walks and to the dog park, still working toward my #RunMA challenge and tackling miles every day, and trying my best to get back into the reading mood. One exciting thing that happened this week is that Brett gave me my Christmas/anniversary gifts! Unlike most years, I knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas this year and told Brett a few weeks ago. He decided to give me my gifts early so that I could use them right away! You'll be able to see them all in my upcoming Happy Vlogidays vlog, but Brett very generously gifted me with a Gimbal, a new GoPro, and action camera adapter for the Gimbal - exactly what I wanted! I'll be testing them out over the next few weeks and will hopefully now be producing more running content over on my channel. I can wait!

In addition to these items, I was SWOONING over the new Brooks Ghost 13 Splash Collection (like everyone else), and I mentioned it to Brett that I would LOVE a pair in Purple. So this sneaky Santa went ahead and BOUGHT ME THEM! 💜😍

I haven't tried Ghosts before - I've run in Launches and Adrenalines over the last few years. But the design of these were just TOO perfect not to try. I have to say - I LOVE the feel of these! I'm actually surprised at how thick the soles are while not adding additional weight to the shoe. That's honestly what I've been needing recently. I've been having a lot of foot pain and these TOTALLY help! I can't wait to continue to run in these and hopefully continue to have a positive experience.

This week is our last full week at home before we journey south for our holiday trip to Florida. That snuck up on us so fast! I think my main goal this week will be to relax as much as possible before we travel, while also getting prepared for the trip (hello mountain of laundry!). I know the trip will be a lot of fun but also probably quite tiring, so I'm going to savor this week at home as much as possible!

October in Photos 📸

Made a jack-o-lantern at Brett's family bday party!
This design was called "Perturbed" 😂

Hello! It's been a few weeks since my last update, so I wanted to pop in and say hi and let you know that I'm still alive 😂 A lot has been going on at work, my personal life, and trying to keep up with the exhausting news cycle, so I haven't really felt up to updating here or vlogging. My brain just hasn't had the extra capacity to produce content regularly. But I've missed updating so I wanted to share what the rest of this month has been like through photos! (Brace for lots of Snowy content 🐕❆)

Things I'm Enjoying While in Self-Isolation

Hi folks! It's been a while since I've posted here. Between moving and settling in and a somehow extremely busy few weeks at work (who knew things could be so demanding at work when no one is on campus?), I really haven't had a lot of motivation to record what's been going on here on this platform. I have been vlogging and will be posting a couple more weekly vlogs from April very soon (the first two weeks of April are up now!), but I'm hoping now that my work schedule is slowing down I can commit more time to updating the ol' blog. I do have quite a few updates for you, which I'll hop into now:

1. Rock n' Roll Seattle has officially announced that it will not move forward as planned. There isn't solid information if that means it's cancelled, postponed, or what, but that does mean that I won't be racing a marathon in June. As weeks went by, I knew this was going to happen and I'm slightly relieved that it has been made official as I was leaning more toward not travelling out there anyway and was hemming and hawing over cancelling my flights and deferring my entry, but now I no for sure that it won't happen and can have a clear sense of what my summer will look like. I'm still going to be running regularly, but now I won't have to focus on training for a race for a few months when Chicago training gets under way.

2. The students I advise won Organization of the Year! I am so so SO proud of them and this award is so deserved. The students I work with on AIA work around the clock as VOLUNTEERS to manage our university's student activity fee and are constantly trying to innovate their work to be better representatives of the student body, so I am over the moon that they are getting this recognition. 

3. I'm feeling like I'm back in a pretty good reading groove right now, and I just successfully wrapped up my third OWLs readathon! I managed to read 7 books through the month of April and I'm hoping that I can keep up this reading pace through May as well. I'm well on my way to becoming a Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures Professor! I will hopefully be posting a reading wrap up soon for February, March, and April, so you'll be able to see how I rated each book. I drafted the below list a few weeks ago with the intention of publishing it in early April, but I guess I never got around to it! Obviously I've been trying out a lot of different forms of entertainment while practicing self-isolation, and I wanted to share some of my favorite things I've watched/read/done while I've been home. Hopefully you can enjoy some of these things as well! 
VIDEO: Out There: A Journey to the Barkley Marathons
I'm always a fan of anything that has to do with the Barkley Marathons and I'm always looking to check out the experiences of the amazing athletes who attempt this beast of a race. This 50-minute documentary follows Belgian ultra runner Karel Sabbe on his journey to running the 2019 Barkley Marathons. I really liked this documentary because it also highlights the importance of a runner's crew when they are taking on races of this magnitude. A crew plays such an integral role in a runner's success and I love that Sabbe's crew got some of the spotlight!

MOVIE: Parasite

Obviously Parasite won best picture this year, and I will say that I think that award was definitely deserved! This is a Korean thriller that had me so captivated the whole way through. It does get a bit scary about half way through so if you need to watch during the day, definitely do, but I totally think it is worth the watch. It's on Hulu now!

BOOK: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

To be perfectly honest, I've had a bit of a "meh" reading year. A lot of the books that I've been picking up have been just okay. I guess statistically speaking, that's pretty likely to happen, but when I find a book that I love these days, I DEVOUR it! That's what happened with Daisy Jones & the Six. This interview-style book about a fictional 70's rock band was right up my alley and I could not put it down. The characters and relationships were EVERYTHING and this one will definitely be on my top reads of the year.

ARTICLE: Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure
This is an article I *so* needed to read when it popped up on my timeline a few weeks ago. This is told from the perspective of a college professor, but I think the idea applies to everyone. There's a lot of pressure to be taking "full advantage" of the free time that we have while in self-isolation, but that is such an unfair thing to expect from someone. We're going through a global pandemic. There is so much uncertainty in the world right now. If you don't feel like being productive, then you don't need to feel bad about it. I love that this article gives you that permission.
TV: The Challenge: Total Madness
Obviously, Brett and I have been really enjoying the new season of our favorite show to watch together - The Challenge. This season has been so much fun to watch because all the players have to win an elimination in order to qualify for the final. No more skating by! We've been anxiously anticipating every new episode each Wednesday and we can't wait for the next one! What have you been enjoying while self-isolating?

The Week I Didn't Run + What I've Been Doing Instead (We're Moving!)

Sometimes life is just too much to have any motivation to do anything else but exist. That was me this past week. A couple weeks ago Brett and I came to the decision that it was definitely time for us to move out into our own place. This is something we've been thinking about for a while and a direction that we wanted to move in for a really long time. We haven't had a place to ourselves since 2013, and even then we were living on a college campus, where we both worked, so it still didn't feel like we were truly on our own. We've been together for 7 years now and it's finally time that we found a place that belongs to just us. No roommates. No work obligations. Just us.

The next few days after deciding it was time, we reached out to a few different apartments to set up viewings. I gotta say - it's weird apartment hunting when there's a global pandemic going on. It's a risk interacting with new folks while maintaining social distancing and a risk looking at new places that aren't your own. Luckily, this apartment hunt did not take us too long. The process to find the apartment we ended up going with went like this:

Tuesday → Contact the landlord to express interest

Wednesday → View the apartment

Thursday → Submit an application, get approved, sign a lease

And boom, we had a new apartment.

Though the process was quick (it was only about a week of searching), it was stressful and sadly, without going into detail, we're moving again because of a not-great living situation. This is twice in a row that we've felt we had to move quickly because of our living situation being negative, and it's always stressful. Because of this, my motivation to do anything outside of the minimum was at a zero. Add in the fact that it was gray and rainy everyday last week, I had absolutely no desire to go running or exercise.

So, I didn't run last week and I don't really have a training update for you for this week. 

BUT!

Now that our new lease is signed and we have plans to start moving in to our new space next Monday (!!!). Brett and I are both feeling so much better and are truly excited to start this new chapter in our lives together. Physically moving into our space will, of course, be taxing, and it will take a while to get used to, but we're ultimately so thrilled to finally have a space of our own. 

I'm also excited to get back to training this week! Now that this part of my life is figured out and we have some next steps in mind, I'm feeling like I have the mental capacity to get back to my training plan. Rock n' Roll just postponed their San Diego race weekend which happens to be the weekend before Seattle, so I'm really not feeling confident that Seattle will be happening as scheduled. 

With that in mind, I'm going to be tweaking my training plan based on how I'm feeling. With the stress of the COVID-19 outbreak and the additional stress of needing to move, I feel like I've fallen a bit behind what my usual marathon training schedule would look like. That would typically stress me out, but because I'm fairly certain that Rock n' Roll Seattle will be postponed, I'm feeling like running the mileage that feels good to me while still working in my usual 2 mid-distance, 1 short, 1 long run schedule and keeping up my general fitness will be the best for my mental and physical health. I'll keep you posted with my actual runs on a weekly basis!

Here's what I've been doing *instead* of running:

Reading up a storm! As you know I'm participating in the OWLs readathon this month and it's been great to make time for reading each day! This isn't part of my OWLs TBR, but I have a collection of Flannery O'Connor stories that I've been trying to read from every morning when I wake up. It's kind of nice to start the day with a short story and I'm excited to continue reading this. My goal is to read a story each morning until I finish the whole collection. It's been sitting on my "Currently Reading" shelf since last march so it's about time it gets the attention it deserves!

\

Geocaching! This is something that I've been wanting to try for ages and over the weekend I finally tried it out. It is SO much fun! I found two things on my first hunt and I can't wait to go on even more hunts as the weather starts to warm up. I'll be sure to update you on my geocaching adventures on my socials, and probably right here on the blog as well!

Following CDC recommendations :P I barely leave the house these days except to go to to grocery store (which I try to limit to once a week) or to run/walk outside. This weekend I had to go to laundry and since the CDC recommends wearing a mask in public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (this is more so in the event I have it and I don't know it, I won't accidentally spread it to someone else, and not to prevent myself from getting it) I wore a buff to the laundromat. I felt like a huge weirdo because no one else was wearing one, but I want to do my part as much as possible!

All in all, I'm thankful that Brett and I have our health and we have each other in this time. Moving is going to be a huge time commitment and I'm sure it will bring its own set of stressors, but we're excited to finally be in our own space together and I'm sure there are many happy memories in our new home to come. 💙 Updates will of course be shared so soon! 😊

Making the Most of Self-Isolation

I am so thankful that during this time of self-isolation that I'm able to spend time with Brett doing the introverty things I love. I won't say I'm not anxious because I SO AM. I feel like I start off really strong in the mornings and then when lunch rolls around my mood and energy tend to shift, but I'm trying to make the most of this time by doing things that 1. are good for me (exercising somewhat regularly & trying to eat at least one green thing a day 🍃) and 2. are fun for me (reading, watching TikTok [maybe too much TikTok], trying out some of the various IPAs I can find at the store, etc.).

As of yesterday, our Governor has put in a couple more precautions including a stay-at-home advisory (it's still not a stay-at-home order which is interesting) and all non-essential businesses will be closed as of noon today. Things change so rapidly these days that I'm not sure what the next day will bring. As of right now, we're doing our best to stay in except to go out to the grocery store or exercise outside. It can be very hard to stay positive these days, but I'm trying my best to remain productive so my mental health doesn't get too far away from me.

On Saturday we had a Zoom/Nintendo Switch party with our favorites in Pittsburgh & California! We drank, played Mario Kart 8, and caught up on each other's lives. It was actually so much fun to just hang out with everyone in our respective homes and we want to continue to make this a regular thing post-Pandemic since we all live so far from one another!

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've been using this time at home as an opportunity to try out some of the beers that we have at our local grocery store. There's actually a pretty decent craft beer selection and I've been really digging White Lion. This weekend I picked up an IPA called Purrlicious and it purr-fectly (lol) matched my leggings I wore for our Zoom party! I've already picked up another White Lion IPA for later this week that I'm super excited to try. I'll report back soon!

There was a sneaky round of 24 in 48 this weekend! I really enjoy this readathon. There's something about reading for time that just makes me read SO MUCH MORE than reading for a page count. I haven't really been reading a ton over the last year and it's really hard for me to hunker down and focus on a book these days. However, participating in 24 in 48 allowed me to finish two books and absolutely devour half of a third! (Also, can we talk about just how good Daisy Jones & the Six is?! Can't wait to finish it.) I'm hoping that I can use this time as an opportunity to read more of my dozens of TBR books!

As you saw in my last blog post, it's back to marathon training for me this week. I got back into my running routine last week, though, and it has been such a great reprieve from all this anxiety and uncertainty that's been coursing through my body. I was able to go on three runs last week - Tuesday (3.5 miles), Friday (4 miles), and Sunday (7 miles) and it felt so good to get outdoors and run through the stress. I feel like if there's one thing I can take control of at the moment, it's running.

Sadly I found out today that the Providence Marathon and all attached races has officially been cancelled. The race organizers are looking into a postponement option and we will hopefully know if they are able to by early April. I'd also be happy with a virtual race option is postponing isn't possible. Either way, I am not surprised by this news and it is ultimately the right decision. I'm still hopeful that Rock n' Roll Seattle will be able to happen, but only time will tell.

One thing that I have been really loving participating in is the Pandemic Run Club on Instagram! They've been putting out some virtual running missions that are free to participate in and are actually a lot of fun! I've completed Mission #001 (go on 3 runs between 3/17 and 3/22) and Mission #002 (Recon: explore a new location that you haven't ran before) so far, and they just posted Mission #003 last night. Join in with me if you can! I'll be representing TEAM BLACK! 🖤 

"Mission 003 - complete before 3/30

Team Yellow - 19K total distance for the week
Team Red - 19 miles total distance for the week
Team Black - between 19km and 19 miles in one run!

19km ~ 11.78 miles
19 miles ~ 30.64 km

Which squadron are you linking up with? Time to get after it! We need all hands on deck!

#washyourhands
#runsolo
#knowyourcity
#pandemicrunclub"

Left: I spruced up my at-home work space to make it feel more office-y and less kitchen table-y

Right: Paying attention in all these Zoom meetings has been a struggle haha

I've been working remotely since last Monday afternoon and it has been an interesting transition. I'm having kind of a hard time figuring out my schedule. Like I was saying, I feel really good in the morning and then I start to feel not so good in the afternoon. Last night after taking a few hour break in the afternoon I felt good enough to keep working at like 7pm. Why? No idea. But maybe that will just be my workflow now haha. Either way, I've been loving all of the WFH memes that have been flying around the internet and I relate to ALL OF THEM.

I was wondering when the news about the Olympics would be coming out, and it looks like the IOC finally made a decision today to postpone the games to 2021. Another huge bummer because as many of you know, I'm a huge fan of the Olympics! But again, it's totally the right call. With athletes, coaches, families, and spectators coming from ALL OVER THE WORLD that closely after a pandemic (and who knows if it will even be over by the time the games would take place), it just does not make sense to have the Olympics go on right now.

This morning Brett and I went on a mission to find toilet paper. After getting to our 4th store of the morning, we finally found some! (I went to 5 stores yesterday and each store was completely out, so it felt AMAZING to be able to buy a few packs!) The limit was 2 per customer so we each grabbed two so we hopefully won't be needing to restock for a while. It's so wild to me that the shelves are still ALWAYS EMPTY? Maybe I don't know how supply chains work but you'd think they would have caught up to the new buying habits of consumers... but maybe not?

v. proud

Because non-essential businesses are closing in MA today, Brett and I have been ordering take out for the last few meals. This morning we stopped at my fave bagel shop in town one last time. Hopefully we'll be seeing them soon!

Overall this has just been a really, really weird and overwhelming time and I honestly don't know how to act, but I'm trying to make the most of it. I'm hopeful that this will be over in a few weeks and we can get back to reality, because what's the harm in staying hopeful? In the meantime, at least we can all laugh at coronavirus memes.

Remember: