I guess you can tell from the title where I stand on today's Tuesdays on the Run topic of whether or not t0 run on vacation. I can't think of a vacation in the last 10 years that hasn't had at least one run - and most have more than one and at least one race. In fact, there was a time period not to long ago where even our family vacations revolved around whether I could find a race or not. That has become less of a priority, but I still try to get in a few runs on every vacation. How do I always manage to run on vacation? I pack for as many weather possibilities as I can - I always throw in compression socks and arm sleeves. These added layers can make it possible to run in unexpectedly cold weather, without taking up a lot of … [Read more...]
5 tips for using AirBNB or VRBO
As I mentioned last week, we just got back from a trip to Grand Rapids, MI for a week. We had a lovely week and one of the things that made it lovelier was renting a house through AirBNB. This was our first time using AirBNB for a whole house, but I've stayed at another AirBNB before and we've rented 10 or so houses, including two in Ireland, through VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner). I love my kids, but I love them more when I have separate rooms from them. Even a suite in a hotel gets old after a night or two. Not every house has been amazing, but thanks to the tips I'm sharing below, every house has been as expected and had only minor disappointments. And some of the houses? Nicer and better locations than my own house. Get … [Read more...]
Lions, and Hellcats, and Beers, oh my
It's a really long ways from Washington DC to Grand Rapids, Michigan, especially when you are the one riding in the back seat. Just 'sayin... We just got back from a lovely week in Michigan. Other than the long drive and the fact that heat decided to follow us, it was an amazing trip. We left crazy early on the Friday before July 4th. Trust me, you do not want to be trying to get out of DC any later than you have to on a holiday weekend in the summer, so we hit the road at 5:30am. This meant we made it to Cleveland and the Great Lakes Brewing Company in time for lunch. Priorities, people. After lunch (and some amazing beer), we headed to the Cleveland Zoo. It was a lovely zoo and we managed to spend more than 3 hours walking … [Read more...]
CyberMonday Deals + Planning my 2016 calendar: Serial Racing Review
You all know I love to race. I had no idea just how crazy my race schedule would be when I started this blog. After all, I just wanted to train for and run the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon. But somewhere along the way, I got bitten by the race bug and started setting all sorts of weird goals for myself: racing in all 50 states (now changed to a half marathon in all 50 states), 13 half marathons in 2013, reaching Venus with Half Fanatics (done by running 13 half marathons in 79 days), 14 half marathons in 2014 (oops, did 17!), 5 half marathons in five days, 6 half marathons in 6 days... Yeah, I'm a little bit race crazy. Luckily I have a husband who loves to travel, I've gotten a few free races thanks to this blog, and I have learned a … [Read more...]
DC to Cape Cod or Bust
Happy Monday! I'm sitting in an inn on Nantucket Island this morning. It feels like way more than a few days since I left home! I'm doing my usual Monday linkup with Tara and Erin today to tell you about the fun I'm having. Wednesday morning, after we got the kids off to school, Beer Geek and I headed to the airport for a quick flight to Boston. Everything went smoothly (how often does THAT happen?) and we were heading to Hull by early afternoon. We checked into the Nantasket Beach Resort, which I highly recommend if you are ever in that area, as it was lovely. It's also a short walk from the start line of Ragnar Cape Cod. This was the view from our room: … [Read more...]
There’s no place like home
We just got back from a week long vacation in Kentucky. I've never been so happy to roll up to our front door! Of course, that probably has something to do with the fact that we put more miles on my Pilot last week than we usually put on in a year. I'll do a post about everything we did, but I'm sure you are wondering "Why Kentucky?" Well, why not? Growing up as a military brat, I saw a lot of the U.S., most of it from the back of our station wagon or van. My dad was stationed in California, North Dakota, Alabama, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Virginia while I was growing up. I didn't go on my first plane trip until high school. So, guess how we got everywhere? Yep, driving. I have been to every state at least once and most of … [Read more...]
Escape to Chincoteague
No, that's not the last book in the Misty series. It's what we did for the last four days. And it's the real reason I didn't run the Army 10 miler. Our county schools always have two days off in October for elementary school conferences. Normally this coincides with Columbus Day, but this year it was later. I didn't even realize it until well past the Army transfer date. (And, for the record, I was not the only parent in our county who was caught completely off guard by the change.) Anyways, we rented a small cabin (at Dove Winds, if you are curious), packed my Pilot full of kids, clothes, and food, and headed to Chincoteague Island. And it's been pretty much nothing short of amazing. Seriously. The weather was nearly … [Read more...]
Energized!
I have a lot to say about the two weeks we spent in Oregon and Washington. We did a lot of really cool things and visited some awesome places. I'll get to that over the next week or so, but the most important thing this vacation did for me was to relight my inner fire. Pre-vacation, I was struggling. My runs weren't going well. I was totally burned out by the heat in Virginia. I was just tired all the time. I constantly found myself escaping to the computer, but not to actually do anything productive. I just needed a break from "real life." For two weeks, I took a nice break. I mostly left my job at home. I only ran 3 times all week and two of those were races. We ate out way more than we have on any vacation since we had … [Read more...]
Wordless Wednesday
State 19: Oregon AKA the accidental trail race
Some day I'm going to choose a race that's "flat and fast". But, that would require actually reading the race course description before I sign up. I recently completed Oregon by running the Deschutes Dash 10k in Bend, OR. I thought I was running a flat race on a paved path by a river. I was right about being by the Deschutes River. In fact, at one point, I was mere inches from said river. The race was a very low key part of a multi-sport event. There were also an Olympic distance triathlon, an Aquabike, and a duathlon going on at the same time. The race start was in a parking lot near the transition area - very few signs for it and no one quite knew where to go. Once we found the start, we were informed that there were no … [Read more...]
TTT: Garmin gone bad, private yoga, and new states
It's been (is still being) an expensive week around here. February is when we end up purchasing our tickets for our summer vacation + summer camps AND we are having some technology issues. Even though we save up for it and I have the money, I swear I can hear my credit card crying from overuse. 1. Last week, my Garmin went from perfect to refusing to hold a charge for more than a day. I have to give it a soft reset every single time I use it and it now resides on the charger whenever I am not actually using it. Anyone else had this happen? I'm not loving the runkeeper app (seems to run down my battery super fast + isn't as accurate, which may be the phone, not the app) and I really really don't want to buy a new Garmin right now. … [Read more...]
Useful things I learned in St. Martin
We spent our entire vacation on the French side in a lovely little hotel (Bleu Emeraude) in Grand Case. Best.decision.ever. Some useful things to know if you choose to do the same: Paying $1 to pee in a *clean* men's room at the mall in Marigot = best money ever spent. Orient Beach is lovely and a great place to spend a day at the beach. Get there early. Park at the Club Orient end near Pedros. Be prepared to see a lot of old willies as apparently the demographic most likely to take advantage of the "clothing optional" end of the beach is 60+ year old men. Don't forget your bikini. "Mom Suits" stick out like a sore thumb. Vibrams make decent beach shoes. You will get even more weird looks than you do in the U.S. Always … [Read more...]
