Covered Bridges Half Recap!

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Race: Covered Bridges Half Marathon
Date/Location: June 5th, 2016 in Woodstock, VT
Weather: Constant rain for all 13 miles
Pre-Race: Coffee, half a banana and a Lara bar
Post-Race: Harpoon Cider and vanilla ice cream 😉

This was my third half marathon (1, 2) and it’s a trend that I have never loved to train for them. I started running in 2010, was consistent through 2013, but then put running on the back burner for most of 2014. It took me until basically the end of 2015 for me to even feel like a ‘runner’ again. I ran a lot last fall and winter, but training for this half officially started in March. I signed up with 2 friends, Kay + Josh, and having them to keep me accountable with runs during the week was helpful. We encouraged each other from afar and it was awesome. My training was pretty on point, miles-wise, minus our 2 week trip to Italy in April, but I got back on the wagon as soon as I got home.

Going into this half, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be anywhere close to as fast as I was the first two times. YUP, my training definitely proved that. I was bummed at first, but eventually had to accept the fact that I’m slow (for now, but I want to work on that!). I set a rough goal of 2:40 based on my training runs, but told myself I wouldn’t be mad if I went slower.

GET TO RACE DAY STEPHANIE, they said. 😂

Nate dropped us off at the starting area about an hour before the start. As it turns out, a few women from my town PLUS a good friend from childhood/life, Erin, and her friend, Mar, were all going to be running too! (as well as my 2 friends I already mentioned! squad!🙌) It was really easy to find each other because the area was small and we all had to pick up our race bibs anyways.

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It had already started raining before the race started, so Kay, Josh and I took cover under some trees to stay as dry as we could before being continuously soaked for 2.5 hours. About 10 minutes before the start we got into our loosely divided corrals and waited/stretched. Josh went up to a fast corral, while Erin, Kay and I stayed near the 2:30 pacers. Kay and I decided to try and stick with this group for a bit, which we actually did for about 3 miles. Then we kinda fell behind, but kept a strong and steady pace on our own. (Erin was going strong with the pacer though!)

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I was feeling good and optimistic until mile 7, when I drank maybe too much water and my stomach was heavily gurgling. Luckily I walked it off quickly. I knew mile 8 was where Nate was cheering for us, so I looked forward to seeing him. It gave me a boost of energy for a minute! But only a minute, because then we had to go up a huge hill! 😳 It was steep and Kay and I both walked it. From 8 to 9 Kay was ahead of me and I honestly felt like walking the rest of the way. Nothing was hurting too badly, but I was just tired and very wet haha. But I checked my watch and realized that I might actually be able to make the 2:40 goal, so I sucked it up and picked up the pace. Right around mile 10 is when we realized Erin was in front of us! So we caught up to her over the next half mile and pretty much from 10.5 to the end, the 3 of us were running together. It was really cool, actually.

Kay took off sprinting the last, maybe, 800 yards and finished at an EVEN 2:40 time! And Erin and I came in ONE SECOND apart, 2:40:41 and 42 (all our finish photos are together! awww) We all had our struggles during the race, but we all pushed through 💪 and it was really special to finish it with two of my oldest friends (Erin since kindergarten and Kay since we were 15).

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The name of the half is the Covered Bridges half, so you’d think we’d run over a couple covered bridges, right? Nope, we only ran OVER one bridge, and ran PAST two others. They were still cool to look at, though. The whole course was gorgeous, even in the rain. Oh yeah! And every few miles there was live music! A high school jazz band, a troop of boy scouts and their drums, a local folk group, a guy and his guitar, and most notably… a bunch of kids playing recorders. Ha! I thought that was a really cool addition to the course. OH VERMONT.

Overall, minus being soaked to the bone, it was good and I’m glad we went through with it and I love Vermont. And I might sign up for another half in November. 😆

My 27th Birthday!

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I was officially old when I turned 25, but now that I’m 27 I think I’ve finally accepted it haha. Only took me two years.

First of all, about two weeks before my birthday, Nate had to REMIND ME that it was approaching. Never in my life have I had to been reminded about my birthday, so that right there was a strange way to start off 27. Once he reminded me, I couldn’t stop asking him what he was getting me. JK, I actually mentioned that I’d much prefer an experience over a thing, if he were to do anything at all (because he could have simply surprised me with a pint (or 2) of Ben + Jerry’s ice cream and that would have made me pretty happy.)

ANYWAYS, a few days before, Nate told me he had a legit surprise for me. The more I asked questions, the more he stayed quiet. He’s good at keeping surprises. On THE DAY (June 1 btw), all he told me was that I needed to drive into Boston by 5:30 and wear something “nice but not fancy”. I obliged and met him in the Commons after he got out of work (late, so I had time to go to my favorite coffee shop, Thinking Cup.)

So, what was his surprise?

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A nice, quiet dinner at Durgin Park near Quincy Market, and seeing the BLUE MAN GROUP in real life! What! BMG is something I’ve always wanted to see, but haven’t had a chance to go. Nate knew I wanted to do something together rather than receive something, and this was the perfect option. The show was colorful, funny, and loud. The theater is pretty small, so everyone had a great view (we happened to be up in the balcony). I truly expected more mess, paint and throwing of things, but even so it was still a really fun show to witness!

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A week into year 28 and it’s already pretty good. 😉

Memorial Day Weekend 2016

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This year our Memorial Day weekend was also known as “crazy wedding weekend”! Crazy in a good way. Nate’s sister, Erica, got married to Greg on Saturday! This happened to be the hottest day of the year so far, so you can bet sitting in the non-ACed church was tough on everyone, bride and groom included! They took a fan and water break halfway through the ceremony :O ! One of my favorite memories was our super legit family dance party at their reception. We definitely got a little wild! Then on Sunday, Nate’s brother, Jesse, and our new sis-in-law, Kim, had their stateside wedding reception (they got married in Italy, remember?). So we changed our fancy outfits to different fancy outfits and partied for another day! One of my favorite memories from Sunday was the bonfire we had in my in-laws backyard after the main celebration was over… it felt like summer had officially begun!

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Let’s be honest, two back-to-back wedding celebrations can take a toll on you. So Monday was our day of rest. We spent the afternoon uncovering and cleaning our beloved kayaks to take them on their first ride of 2016. Then we hopped on over to Dug Pond in Natick (like a 1 minute drive from our house) and paddled around for about an hour. It felt so good to be on the water again. These kayaks have made me love summer twice as much as I already did.

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I’m gearing up for my birthday (tomorrow!) a half marathon (on Sunday!). Come back next week for pics and stories from both of those events! OR! follow along on Snapchat if you want to be in the moment 🙂 (@ st3ph-kr1st) ~S

Barcelona My Heart

- Stephanie Leave a comment

7 years ago I spent 6 weeks in Barcelona doing a study abroad program. During these 6 weeks we basically got to make cool things out of glass and be tourists while sketching in our sketchbooks. All this for college credit 🙂 After about 3 weeks there, I fell in love with the city and it’s art and architecture and people and sangria 😉 Coincidentally, I left a piece of my heart there when I had to go back to the States. I know that sounds beyond cheesy and dumb, but so true. This thing is, I never thought I would go back. Life is short and you want to see new places, so going back to a place you have already been seems silly because you’ve already been there.

Anyways. When Nate and I were planning our Italy trip, we toyed with the idea of also going to Switzerland or Austria. But then I was like, we’re gonna be ONE minute plane ride away fro Barcelona, can we PLEASE go? And Nate said but you’ve already been there! and I said PLEAASEEE but you haven’t been there! And he said OKAY let’s do it. So we booked our flight from Rome to Barca for the last 3 days of our adventure. And if I can be totally honest with you, those last three days were what I was looking forward to for the entire trip.

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When we walked up the metro stairs to the familiar square, I had to fight back tears. Sidenote: THIS IS THE CHEESIEST BLOG POST EVER. Don’t care. I was so happy to be there. I kept saying “I can’t believe I’m back!”, I swear it took me almost 24 hours for the reality to actually sink in! I really can’t explain just how good it was to be there, so just know that I was REALLY happy.

Over the next 2.5 days I took Nate to all my favorite tourist spots. I hate being a tourist, I’d much rather find the cool unknowns, but Gaudi’s Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia are both REALLY beautiful and worth it to explore. Mosaics and unique architecture and big ideas! The artist in me loves it. This photo was taken from the very, tippy top of a big hill in Park Guell, and it’s one of my favorite views on earth.

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For the rest of our time in Barca was spent walking around and exploring! Barcelona is a big city, but I remembered my way around my favorite areas pretty well and how to get to a lot of not-as-touristy spots. We hung out in the Barceloneta beach/boardwalk area and at Parc de la Citudella, a huge park with a gorgeous fountain/statue in it (below). We also went to the top of the Catedral of Barcelona for another great view. La Boqueria, which is a massive food market, was another stop we had to make because I knew Nate would be amazed at the rows and rows of fresh, colorful, yummy food! We ate empanadas from the market for lunch one day, and also enjoyed a few cups of fresh kiwi and strawberry juices.

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One of best part of our days in Barcelona was being able to catch up with friends I had made 7 years ago. Pau and Debbie welcomed me into their friends group at the church I went to and they were dating at that time. Now they are married and have the cutest baby! It was so great (and kind of surreal, as the whole 3 days were) to be able to be there talking and laughing with them in person and not just through a Facebook message!

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Showing Nate around Barca was nothing less than awesome. I loved seeing him so amazed at some of my favorite things. He let me reminisce about my summer there, but I somehow managed to hold back from too much reminiscing so that we could make new memories together. And there are so many. Eating really delicious tapas and sangria for dinner our first night. Setting our new Fitbit record on our first day! (26,560 steps!) People watching in the park. Eating the most amazing chocolate croissant. Eating the most amazing roasted chicken with plums (sounds weird but GUYS). Walking to the beach and sitting on the rocks. And so many other things!

Thanks for reading! And let me know if you ever need recs for Barcelona, I could write a novel 🙂 <3

10 Tips for Touring Italy (that no one ever told you)

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hey ya’ll! Thanks for being patient with my blog hiatus when I was on vacation!! I have a ton of photos and stories form Italy and I am spending the next few days writing and prepping those to share with you! Here is the first post: a list of semi-random tips that Nate and I personally learned while traveling around Italy.

ten tips for touring italy

  • Italian streets are all cobblestone, mostly uneven, which makes rolling a suitcase pretty tough and noisy. If I’d known that, I would have packed lighter, and in a large backpack or duffle.
  • For packing, bring more undergarments than you think you’ll need and less other items of clothing than you think you’ll need. You can re-wear jeans and even some shirts, but you can’t re-wear socks or underwear. Though OVS in Rome has a great selection of both.
  • If you’re traveling longer than a week, pick a “midway” Airbnb that has a washing machine. Note that laundry in Italy takes 3-4 hours per load! :O
  • We took the train a lot, and it’s very easy. Just don’t forget to “validate” your ticket in the little green machines before you hop on or else you will get fined! (this didn’t happen to us. just a word of caution!)
  • When looking for an Airbnb a big city, like Rome or Florence, spending the extra money is absolutely worth it. Unless you want a dark garden level where the hot water only works at night. I may speak from experience.florence italy - arno river
  • In our experience, most pillows over there are down, so if you have allergies bring those meds!! Itchy eyes suck, especially when you have so much cool stuff to look at.
  • Iced coffee doesn’t exist in Italy, but you might be really craving it and do some internet research to find out what is similar. I did that and found the answer for you: Ask for a Shakerado (shake-air-ah-doe). Doesn’t have ice IN in, but they shake it with ice so it’s nice and cold!
  • Always (I MEAN ALWAYS) have tissues or toilet paper with you, especially at train station bathrooms and in Cinque Terre. Also always have a euro or two with you because public bathrooms cost money to use!
  • Pack small spray bottle of a refreshing essential oil/water mix that you can spray over your suitcase to keep things fresh. I brought lavender and it worked great. (Obviously this tip doesn’t only apply to Italian travel haha)
  • If you’re hiking the tiny trails of Cinque Terre, know that the trek is more difficult than most tour guides/books make it sound. Definitely wear sneakers and bring lots of water. Extra deodorant wouldn’t hurt either.
  • Wine is everywhere and it’s the best. That’s not a tip, just a fact. 😉 😉

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So if you’re heading to Italy anytime soon, definitely refer back to this list before you leave! And stay tuned for more photos and fun of our adventure! ~S