Rewinding a little: life, travel and workouts!

Dear Lord where the hell has time been going. I've been slacking on here for a week now, mainly because life happens, but that's kind of the point I suppose.

Last week was crazy jam packed with travel, work, workouts and life.

A mini-scrapbook if you will...

Scenes from a puddle-jumper (Chicago to IA)

Fabulous Cupcakes from a little place in town

Scenes from IA

Lots of things with my name on it all week for work

Scenes from Runs in IA (1x8 miler and 2x5 milers)

En route to airport in IA (thought I was going to get hammered by that storm looming!), from the puddle jumper to Chicago I was able to see all the flooding the weather had caused, and scenes from the 737 that took me from Chicago to home!

Scenes from Sunday: a 5k, spin, coffee, lake, and walking with my man...it was a great day!

The short of it: Last week was great to be away and do different things for work, but nothing beat coming home. I missed my fiance, our home, and my "usual routes" along with everything else. I was pretty tired Saturday and was glad I had decided earlier in the week that doing the Oly-Tri was not going to be feasible after a week of travel (got in late Friday night, and race would have been Saturday AM). Saturday night John and I had a little date night since I was gone all week, dinner/movie/ice cream our typical MO but I love it. I knew I wasn't going to see my dad for father's day (He was fishing a few hours away) but it was still a good day for a 5k, and heading to Seneca Lake to be with John's family.

Back at the office today, or should I say offices.  I won't go into details, it's a little confusing but basically I am working for 2 different people now (but they also work together in a way). It's a step in the right direction for me and gets me more exposure with the things that I am studying for my Series 7 Exam.

I hope everyone had a great week last week and a fabulous weekend for Father's Day!

This is for Dad...
1. We have a good time together
2. He loves me so much he has me tattooed on himself (I'm in the hat) and YES he used to show this to guys who came to the house, I think it is more powerful than the "sitting on the porch cleaning the gun" scenario
3. Christmas: NERF GUN WAR...EVERY.SINGLE.YEAR.
4. Marathon #2 finish with Mom & Dad...wouldn't be the runner I am without them, buying my my first sneakers, taking me to practices in high school, all of it.
5. One of my favorite pics of me and my parents, 21st Birthday (9/2009)

Fitness on the Fly

This post was written at a few different times :)

Tuesday--
Good Morning! Bright and early here at the airport in Rochester-- 4:15 AM to be exact.

Thanks to 12 different alarms, I got up and made it here in time! I've told you before I am not good in the morning, so this is huge for me :)

I mentioned recently that I would be going out of town for work this week, to a very small town in the middle of Iowa (why company headquarters is there....beyond me).

This is my first 'business trip' so I am excited-- but knew that I needed to plan ahead to make sure I stay on track with my training while I am gone. Here's a few things I did to help prepare myself best as possible.

1. Choose a hotel with a gym/pool. I didn't get to choose mine, but I got lucky in the fact that mine has a fitness center and a pool. I called ahead to find out what equipment they have so that I could be prepared. They have a treadmill and an elliptical and that is about it. So I knew I was going to have to find someway to bike this week, and get some strength training in on my own.

2. Scope out the area. Thanks to the ever powerful Google- I was able to find that the town I am going to be in has TONS of trails and recreational parks that I can run in. I printed maps and brought them with me, and will check with hotel to see which ones are best (safest!).

3. If your hotel doesn't have a gym- find one! Seeing as mine does, but not a bike (I'd prefer not to go 4 days  without biking while being less than 5 weeks out from 70.3) I searched for gyms online. If you are traveling to a large city, finding a spin studio or fitness classes shouldn't be hard but small towns you might have to dig more. I was lucky enough to find a local recreation center that has spin classes ($5 each for non-members...score!!).

4. Ask locals! I didn't have much success with this yet, but when I get into town it may be easier. Scope out a local running group, or ask social media sites for those in the area to give recommendations. Also asking those at the hotel for any recommendations.

5. Be prepared for anything, and bring your own gym. I know packing light is important but so it being prepared- therefore I made sure to pack things to run, bike, swim, and do general workouts in. I brought my own resistance band, and a few of my yoga DVD's so that way I can do those in the room. I planned some body-weight workouts in advance so I know that I don't have an excuse not to do them.

6. Pack healthy/travel smart! In my carry on you will find green tea bags, Lara bars, EnergyBits, Power Crunch protein energy bars, Cocoa Via Packets and other little healthy snacks to keep me from hitting the vending machines in the airport. I am also wearing my Zensah compression calf sleeves under my jeans, my legs will thank me for this later!

7. Plan ahead for healthy eating! I have healthy snacks packed for the week that I can keep in my purse. I also scoped out where a grocery store is near my hotel so that I can get some fresh fruits and yogurts to keep in my hotel room as well once I get there. The hotel provides continental breakfast so I know I can count on juice, bagels, and fruit to stay healthy in the morning. I have NO idea what the company will provide for lunches, so I plan on packing some things in my bag each day so I have healthier alternatives if necessary. I also printed a list of local restaurants and their menus so that I know what my best options are for finding a yummy meal.

Layover in Chicago-- 6 AM-8 AM (local time)
I fully admit to having a "blonde" moment and being confused when flight attendant said local time was 6 AM, forgetting that I had gone back in time an hour. I hadn't planned on this, but minor details I suppose.

Happy to have caffeine in me....Chicago airport had at least 7 different Starbucks that I passed between my terminals...

Here's a fun fact: I'll be flying in a puddle jumped from Chicago to IA! I've never flown in such a small plane before so this will be an adventure!

Landed in IA: time for rental car and journey through IA to hotel! [9:30 AM local time]

At least my rental is something cute to bee-bop in...sun roof and all!

Drive from Airport to hotel was easy, all highway. Blue skies for miles and miles and no city skylines to be seen. 

I did have a good day of traveling, but ready for the rest of the week to get started! 

What are your travel tips?

My mom travels.... ALL.the.time. I don't know how she manages it like she does, I give her so much credit! 

Does your city have any places that visitors MUST go to?

The End is Near

I can't believe it's Friday already...

Taper is FINALLY almost over!

In case you missed my 2 dedication posts to the taper....

The T.A.P.E.R Acronym

Stages of Grief: Taper Edition 

Yesterday was a good day, got a lot accomplished at work and then had time to run a few errands before heading to Syracuse. Spent the evening at dinner with Hollie and her dad at Empire Brewing Company Restaurant in downtown Syracuse. Let me tell you, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, it's 100% obvious where Hollie got her awesomeness. We had a yummy meal (served with their Black Magic Stout, which will be one of my favorite beers besides Guinness from now on), and talked lots of running (her dad is a runner too).

Dessert was The Black Magic Stout (yes the beer I drank) sundae! It was beer ice cream, with pretzels,chocolate and whipped cream and lots of yumminess. I could feel my ass getting bigger with each bite, but it was 100% worth it.

It was a bittersweet evening though. It was great to kick off marathon weekend spending time with them, but it was sad knowing this was her last night in NY. Word's cant describe how much I am going to miss this girl. I have had lot of "friends" over the years, but can truly call Hollie one of my best friends. So the good thing is, even though she is moving I KNOW we will keep in touch and see each other often.

I don't know where I would have been without this girl the last few months...

I'd also like to point out that Hollie took advantage of my taper emotions and made me cry.
She gave me a package and told me to open it when she wasn't around (probably good or we BOTH would have been sobbing idiots crying women.)

I.tunes gift card for marathon music, starbucks mug (she knows my addiction), and lots of protein and fuel for recovery...all with a note...yeah that note made me cry.
Hollie--I will get you back for that. KARMA :)

Today is a day of packing, traveling, 

and preparing myself for the weekend to come.

262 miles from my house to the hotel in Cleveland (is that a sign?)

13.1 miles from our hotel to the expo (weird, I know)

and Sunday 26.2 miles from start to finish

and of course the 262 miles home.

Finally packed and ready to roll.... 
Less than 2 days from now I will have finished Marathon #5!!!
:):) Another state down!

I'll update my twitter constantly. 
Mainly to try and stay sane and vent on the road trip.
5 people....1 car....
bring on the madness!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Good luck to all who are racing!