The Honeymooners

View of beach

While visiting Vis, one of the Dalmatian islands, we decided to check out a more remote beach on the island. At most, there were a dozen people there, and we ended up sitting next to two families from the States. After they randomly offered for us to use their snorkel gear (which we did- it was awesome!), I mentioned that we were on our belated honeymoon. One of the woman said, "When my husband and I were on our honeymoon, we decided it wasn't over until we said it's over. That was 29 years ago. We're still on our honeymoon." When we ran into her with her husband later that night, he shared it yet again. Hearing their advice for a second time, I realized this was clearly something they had lived by for the past 29 years. Regardless of where they are - the incredible Dalmatian islands or the kitchen of your own house - they are still on their honeymoon. 

Even after more than two weeks of a time out from the "real world," flying over the Atlantic Ocean now, I can't help but be a little bummed that our trip is coming to a close. Anticipating this moment, I've thought a lot about that couple on the beach and their advice. Sure, we will return home this weekend and while I won't even go back to work immediately, there will be chores to do, bills to pay, inevitable must-do's. I can't stop that from happening, but that wasn't that point of the motto of this couple. Yes, there are daily obligations we must attend to that sometimes cloud the vision of the bigger picture, but there are also things, and more importantly, people, who make our lives what they are.

I've spent a lot of time considering this motto, or really, attitude, over the past week, and naturally connected it to running. Lately, I've run pretty routine runs and have built them into these larger-than-necessary things. Because I want to stick to my training plan and hit certain targets, I have been trying to balance being away with my desire to stay on track to train for the half. I can't always change the facts of these runs and how they turn out, and I don't even need to really, because I can control how I approach them, and choose what set of glasses I view them through. The same run means two different things depending on how I view it. 

Celebrating our first anniversary!

Similar to the word vacation, the word honeymoon carries a certain connotation. Reflecting on it this past week, I realize that so much of it is mental. I know it's easier for me to brush aside the little things when I'm away, but why? Why can't this be an attitude I at least strive to maintain regardless of where I am? 

As the couple on the beach suggested, we don't need to pack away our honeymoon mentality when we return home. My hope is that as Ryan and I unpack our suitcases, we will forgo the routine of putting away the metaphorical (sun)glasses with which we have viewed the past 2+ weeks, and really, this first year of marriage. If honeymoons are mental, then we can, and I hope we will, continue this trip throughout our entire marriage, and rival this couple for the world's longest honeymoon. 

Written last month, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Already

Top of the Schönbrunn Castle in Vienna

This post was written last month, while in Europe.

We arrived into Zagreb, Croatia's capital city, late last night. We're staying in an apartment in the center of what seems like a fairly small, but bustling, city. When we were first looking for places to stay, I was quickly won over by this one's balcony, hanging seven floors above the city- I'm a sucker for a good balcony. I love the easy access to fresh air, but I also love the birds' eye view it gives us. In Prague, we visited the Prague Castle which, high up on a hill, is a step back from the city, and yesterday, when we made a quick visit to Schönbrunn on a stopover in Vienna, again we were able to see the whole city from afar. On this balcony though, I can look out and see far...but I also get to look down and see the details- professionals rushing to work, people biking through the streets, vendors setting up at the market. Like a fly on the wall, I get a peak into life in this new place from the perfect distance.

View from our balcony in Zagreb

While we were in Prague over the weekend, we walked over to the farmers' market near our friends' apartment. It was a beautiful day, without the humidity that makes spending time outside back home something to avoid. Strolling through the stalls, I thought how if I lived so close to this, I would spend much of my Saturday mornings there. But just as quickly as I thought it, I realize that across the world, I do live near a farmers' market. It's not foreign and sure, they don't serve beer, but I have access to it twice a week, a five minute walk from my apartment...and I rarely go. Away from home, it's easy to forget the mundane tasks that fill up much of my free time- laundry, paying bills, completing endless to-do lists. It's easy to get caught in a web of what if's. 

Just before we left Ann Arbor, I was running through the Arboretum near our apartment, and saw a poster on the notice board at the entrance that said "If you're too busy to run today, then you're too busy." For me, this is just another reminder

of something I have spent much time thinking about in the last few years. On vacation, it's easy to stand back from my every-day life and see all the potential that lives in a place. I get to watch people doing what they enjoy, outside of work and the mundane tasks they must complete within their homes. For me, of course, I get to enjoy that, with no restrictions on what I have to do, nothing being dictated. I get to imagine a life where time is a gift, rather than a restriction. But there has to be a middle ground, I place where I can continue to "live like I'm on vacation,"even after I have returned home. 

Maybe it's like wearing metaphorical bifocals. I'm not going to ever be in a financial position where I can just travel and peek into others' worlds, and I don't even want that. I like being connected and settled.  Instead, I seek the feeling of wonder, perspective, appreciation. I don't want to be so busy that I don't have time to discover the new things, or enjoy my favorite things. I know you can't make more time, but you can certainly find it, and I don't need to travel around the globe to find time to pause and just be. 

Like a Girl

Catching up on some articles I bookmarked before our trip, I read this goodie from Runner's World. The article is written about the video below, and is about the difference between how little girls and young women view the term "like a girl." It's exactly what I thought about on my run this morning, pushing myself. Worth the watch and read!

"There is no proven way to teach girls that running like a girl, hitting like a girl or thinking like a girl is a compliment – other than living it."

Run, Run, Run

A friend shared this with me MONTHS ago, and I just recently watched it for the first time. I like it for a lot of reasons, and thought it was worth sharing. 

Bump in the Training Road

We interrupt reflections of world traveling to bring you a hard dose of reality. (Cue the breaking news sound byte)

While away, I wrote a few posts that I'm in the process of finalizing, but honestly, they're fluffy in relation to my current training, which makes sense. I ran while I was away, but it was a bit fluffy, and that's completely fine. I wanted to run while I was away, but I didn't want it to in any way impede my trip. So the posts I'm working on are meaningful to me and true to my experiences, but in terms of running, it would be dishonest of me to skip over today's run. I honestly just need to process it.

I had a long run of 7 miles planned for this morning, and I did it. I can't feel worse about a run than I would feel if I hadn't run at all, but it's not easy. This has happened before- I've struggled through a long run, just to go on and have a super successful long run the next week. I know it's not necessarily indicative of how the next 6 weeks are going to go, unless I let it be. I do think it is important for me to reflect nevertheless, as I don't want to continue to feel this way, both physically and mentally.

When I trained for my first half, I was super disciplined, finding what worked for me and sticking to it. Since then, I've found myself rediscovering things I already know and that were once routine for me, and that's okay. I need to continue to view this as a process, a journey, because when I look at it like that, today is a piece of the puzzle. It's hard to differentiate between what really impacts my performance, and what is just a head game, what is just me psyching myself out. 

A friend recently made me think about the differences between reasons and excuses. Today's run is behind me and I have no one but myself to "answer" to, so there are no excuses to be made. Instead,  I seek to identify reasons that may have caused today be challenging, so I can adjust accordingly for upcoming long runs. Here are my take aways:

-Choose flat over variety. I like weaving my way through town and mixing up my routes, but I need to forgo creative runs and minimize any additional challenges when mapping out longer runs. I don't usually blanket avoid hills/route challenges, and I won't, but I need to create long runs that are as gentle as possible. The course in September is flat and if my goal is to hit a mileage marker on my long runs, that needs to be my top priority.

-Cross train. This is something I was planning to start sprinkling in this weekend anyway, but I'm reminded that it's a super important part of my plan. Runs need to be my top priority, but some other form of working out needs to be up there too. I want to protect my long runs, in that I never want to go into them sore for a day of cross training, but doing so between shorter runs will definitely do me some good. It's a good reminder that I can, and should, push beyond what is comfortable and easy. 

-Revamp the play list. I typically create and wear out the same playlist, so I've become a huge fan of Songza as a way to mix it up. I think for shorter runs, it works, but for longer runs, I need songs that I know will energize me. My music could definitely use a makeover, but I like knowing what's coming, knowing that every song will push me.