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About
- About
- New? Start Here!
travel
- France
- Europe
- USA
- living abroad
- travel tips
running
- race reviews
- running gear
lifestyle
- sustainability
- blogging
Contact
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Category: running

I Ran a Marathon

June 4, 2016 4 Comments

PC: Hana Estice Whoa, I’m still alive. It’s 6 am, May 1st–race day. As hop…

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@imperfectidealist

{June 2019} The Jurassic Coast stretches almost 10

{June 2019} The Jurassic Coast stretches almost 100 miles along the southern coast of England. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site best known for its geological history, sweeping landscapes, and turquoise waters. If you're ever in the London area, the Jurassic Coast is only a couple hours away by car and train—though you'll need a car to get around, or you can also join a tour. I have an old blog post on the best places to visit in the area, if you want some travel inspiration for whenever it becomes safe again (link in bio). In the meantime, keep staying safe at home, if you can!
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French word of the day: heritage—le patrimoine

{February 2019} There's a mouse in our apartment,

{February 2019} There's a mouse in our apartment, and we're so on edge about it that when I dropped a brussel sprout on the floor, my roommates thought it was the mouse and started screaming. I then started screaming and jumping around since I thought the mouse was right beneath my feet. Only after a huge episode of horror movie screaming did I realize that the "mouse" was a brussel sprout. At least the whole thing gave us a good laugh 😭😂
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(This is a photo of a lovely fishing village just 20 minutes from Nice, France and has nothing to do with mice)
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French word of the day: a mousetrap—une souricière

Strava is kind of like the Facebook for athletes—you can use it to track/upload your workouts, follow people, and give "kudos" on each other's posts. I've always had a love/hate relationship with Strava. It lets me follow along and support my friends' training, but it's also sometimes just another social media "highlight reel" that breeds insecurity.
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While I share all my runs, "good" and "bad," I know people who don't share their "slow" runs because they're embarrassed about their pace (or they'll inflate their pace with auto-pause when resting in the middle of a run). So, I wrote a whole post about why you should also share those "slow" runs on Strava (link in bio). I have a few points, but the main ones are that it's important to have an accurate training log, and that I believe in highlighting the entire training process, including its ups and downs. What makes running meaningful aren't the impressive and fast runs, but all the challenges you struggled through to get there!
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And yes, I had a mask with me when this photo was taken but slipped it off quickly for the shot when no one was around, and I do run with a mask/gaiter because they're required in Brookline!
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French word of the day: a (neck) gaiter—un cache-cou/cache-col

{February 2020} Been having a lot of wild dreams l

{February 2020} Been having a lot of wild dreams lately. The worst were: ending up in a Hunger Games team survival competition (though my team survived & I became valedictorian? Not sure how that's related??), getting kidnapped by Al-qaeda, and running away from a serial killer after I watched him stab my friends with kitchen knives and I couldn't stop him (huge yikes!). The best dream was probably winning The Voice 😂 Most of them have been pretty bad and gory though, as you can tell...😬
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French word of the day: gory—sanglant(e)

{July 2019} There are certain places I don't mind

{July 2019} There are certain places I don't mind visiting more than once, and Annecy is one of those places. Called the "Venice of the Alps," Annecy is a colorful town in France at the foot of the mountains. The nearby lake has the clearest turquoise water - in the summer, you can rent pedal boats, and some even have built-in slides for you to take a dip. There's also a free beach with the mountains in the background, and if you're feeling adventurous, you can go hiking or rent a bike to do the 40km loop around the lake. The town itself is full of pastel storefronts and traditional restaurants with crêpes, galettes, and ice cream 🍦
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French word of the day: a slide (sloped surface you go down)—un toboggan

{April 2019} Happier that the weather's been getti

{April 2019} Happier that the weather's been getting nicer, and spent almost all of Sunday outside in the backyard with roommates. Gave 2 of them impromptu haircuts, foraged dandelion greens for salad, and roasted sweet potatoes in the fire pit. Am tempted to pitch a tent and camp out in the backyard next weekend 😂
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French word of the day: to garden/do some gardening—jardiner; also remember that a vegetable garden is generally "un potager" and not "un jardin" (that's more for backyards and botanical gardens)

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