Beer, Bookended by Running and a Trip to Ikea

Monday starts one of my busiest weeks since we moved here and to get up the energy to make it through, I decided to go on an all-day brewery crawl with the local MSU alumni club, then spend two hours at Ikea before another several hours unpacking, putting together a bookcase and doing other random chores. And I fit in two runs; it was such a beautiful weekend, I wish I could have spent the whole weekend running!

This is what Saturday looked like.

And each morning when I went out for a run it looked like this. Yep, pretty much perfect.

My first race in Denver is this coming Saturday. I’m both excited and apprehensive about it. I’ve been running quite a bit lately though, so hopefully it’ll be a good morning for me! I’ll let you know.

Before I sign off, I want to give a quick shout out to Mary, who was my 100th follower on Instagram!

What helps you get through a super-busy week? * Do you hang out with other alumni from your college? * What was the highlight of your past week?

Another Weekend, Another Trip

I love to travel. Exploring new places, seeing friends, trying new food, learning the history of the area, and of course, going for a run (or two). but before I went to Georgia the other weekend, I hadn’t traveled since I went to Minneapolis in March for my awesome nephew’s 5th birthday. I guess some would call our four day cross-country drive a trip, but I just call it endless hours sitting in a leaky Penske Truck.

It just so happened that the two trips I’m taking this fall happened two weekends in a row. First Georgia, then Michigan. Woody and I headed back to Michigan this past weekend and stayed with my parents for a few days.

We spent some time on campus (Michigan State University), walking around, checking out my Dad’s latest projects – he’s worked for the University for 40 years! – and of course, got ice cream at the MSU Dairy Store. I have no idea how I don’t have a picture of this, or my friend Jenny and her two adorable sons who met us there!

Of course, we timed our trip so that we could go to an MSU Football game! We happened to pick homecoming weekend and the Spartans beat the Hoosiers 42 – 28! Back in the day, I spent my fall semesters as an alto in the Spartan Marching Band. Much like being on a sports team, it taught me discipline, teamwork, leadership skills, and at a school of more than 42,000 students, I had an instant family. It also often kicked my butt. The SMB is a hardcore marching band and you had to be in shape, or you got in shape during pre-season drills. One of my favorite parts of being in the SMB was the march to the stadium, so of course, we watched the band march to the stadium before the game. I’m pretty sure I could still do The Series today if someone asked me to!

We also took a little road trip with my parents over to Saugatuck, a little town near Lake Michigan, went to the beach and watched the sun set from a state park in Holland (we weren’t the only ones with that idea!) before finishing the night off with dinner at a brewery. It was a little chilly, but a beautiful and fun day.

In between all of this we managed to find time for a run, a workout at the local Powerhouse Gym (a day pass is only 5 bucks!), a few meals with friends and family and lots of time to catch up with my parents and play with their cats! It was a fantastic, action packed weekend that I wouldn’t trade for anything. That said, I am looking forward to this weekend and having time to rest and get over this cold that decided to ruin my week. Oh, and go spectate the Rock n Roll Denver Marathon with my Oiselle teammates!

Do you have any trips planned? * Are you racing this fall? (I have two on my list that I just need to pull the trigger on and sign-up for!)