Early October in Portland is one of the most pleasant times of the year. It’s sunny and crisp; that perfect fall campus weather for being outdoors without freezing or sweating. As we had today off from work (statewide inservice day), … Continue reading
Alllllrrrrriiiiigggghhhhtttt technically my goal was to make a CLAM chowder, but with a freezer full of Alaskan halibut, I modified. It’s my blog and I’ll chowder how I want. WHY is making chowder a goal this year? Thor can attest that … Continue reading
Do you ever get asked that question, “What’s your perfect day?” I can never come up with an answer, but my final day in Indianapolis comes close.
When I was first told that I would be working in Indianapolis, I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly excited. But when most of my colleagues were rushing to catch late night flights on our last night, I was relaxing in my hotel bed because I scheduled an extra day. This ensured that I could finally get a full night’s sleep, a big breakfast, and go for a run. In other words, meeeeee time.
Downtown Indianapolis is possibly the flattest place I’ve ever been, with a concrete horizon of government monuments and mini-parks. It is also possibly the cleanest city I’ve ever visited (at least downtown).
Being close to the university, I thought surely Purdue would be the place to see some of the city’s history – WRONG. While the university was well-paved and safe, I was surprised to only find newish looking architecture (and nothing very exciting) and not much green space. (Hey Purdue – y’all are lacking a charm aesthetic – get on that.)
There were a few parks (mostly dedicated to wars) and some waterways – so overall, a decent place to run.
Once I hit four miles, I called it a day and spent my last couple hours at the Museum of Medical History (nestled a little ways from downtown, in the former Hospital for the Insane) before catching my flight home.
A full night’s sleep in a comfy hotel bed, a run around town, a big breakfast, and a tour of medical deformities. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.
Technically, I completed my 10th run last weekend in Rockaway Beach (but I was busy too busy to blog) so that means I only have one more run to cross off my goal of running in 12 different cities.
As per usual, I’m on a quest to be less annoyed, with a soft goal of being less annoying. When I purchased an Apple Watch, the intention was to track my running mileage without a giant bulky phone on my … Continue reading
Last year, the Oregonian posted a pathetic 4-paragraph article entitled, Grasping the Last of the Oregon State Fair: A Guide for Your Personality Type, and I lamented that my friend, Courtney, and I could have written a far more insightful … Continue reading
Back home in Portland, it’s difficult to drag myself out of bed. I still get up early, but it’s a real struggle. In Hawaii, however, I’m basically springing out of bed by 5:30am so that I can start the day. … Continue reading
What is the criteria for an “expensive steak”? In the tradition of some of my previous goals (“drink an expensive wine” and “taste expensive caviar”), one of my goals this year is to eat an expensive steak. Obviously “expensive” is … Continue reading
Before you think I’m crazy for wanting to hike 30 miles, I would like to point out how many people run marathons. That’s 26 miles running so while hiking 30 miles sounds intense, there is zero running involved*. Now that we’ve … Continue reading
When you’re 5’0″ tall and built like an 80s action figure (miniature with all quads and calves) it’s really hard to find clothing that fits. Over the years, I’ve done pretty well to find an array of dresses and workout … Continue reading
Every summer I have a lot of rituals and routines. I visit the State Fair, bonfire on Sauvie Island, do a puzzle…you get the idea. One ritual I revisited last week was a nice sports injury. Inevitably, every year I’m so excited to finally have time off from work and get back to my fitness goals that I overdo basically everything. Last week, while jumping for a header with the soccer ball, I felt my calf pull like taffy.
Luckily, it wasn’t a huge strain, I went home and gave the appropriate compression and rest, and was mostly back in business a few days later – except when it came to running. And what a bummer to not feel 100% when I was spending several days on a beach perfect for running.
Instead of beating myself up, I just did some very short and easy runs. Both mornings I went with 2.5 mile runs.
Topsail Island at low tide is perfect for running as the beach is several miles long, there are very few people, and the sand is packed well enough that you don’t feel like it’s an insane amount of work. On my second run, the wind had really picked up and that was challenging, but overall it doesn’t get much better.
And when you’re done, you can retire back to your beach rental and watch the surf, or jump in for a swim.
This means I only have four more runs in *new* cities to check off this goal – and as I have multiple business and pleasure trips planned, I’m pretty confident…assuming I don’t injure myself again.
