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Halfway Back to Reality

Yesterday, my views included cannons and brilliant blue ocean.IMG_1482IMG_1489

Today is my first day of work and working out in 2013. I’m halfway back to reality, spending the next few days down in Titusville, Florida to kick off Meghann’s wedding weekend!

Meghann picked me up at the airport last night around 8pm. It was so great to see her and the bridal glow that she is truly radiating right now! It’ll definitely be a crazy few days leading up to the wedding but I tried to remind her that it’s like this with every wedding and just how lucky she is to have all the support. It’s awesome to watch her mom, dad, siblings, family and friends help with every task!

We were both starving so dinner was at a Mediterranean restaurant near the airport. While neither of us had ever been there the Yelp reviews were true and it was inexpensive and delicious! After very few fruits and vegetables the past week I was craving a salad in a huge way! Their salad with chicken was so filling that I brought half of it home today for leftovers.

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After going to bed earlier than I have in the past week, we woke up this morning ready to enjoy a few miles together. Anytime I go without a workout for more than a day or two I get nervous and anxious. What if my body has forgotten how to run. What if a pushup is no longer possible. Therefore, one of my tricks, whether a placebo or not, is to baby step my way back into working out and healthy eating to ensure that I’ll enjoy it. A heart crushing workout is the last thing I wanted today. Running together, chatting about the wedding with Maddie tagging along at our sides was the perfect way to enjoy a 3.6 mile run that has me ready for an even longer run tomorrow.

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After our run we enjoyed breakfast together, compliments of her father, before I hunkered down in her brother’s childhood room. IMG_1506

I’m working remotely today, which is the perfect way to transition back into the work world. Views of her family’s front yard, warmth streaming through the windows, a sparkling seltzer, and some soft music has made this quite a nice morning among multiple conference calls.

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I’ll be posting a few more St. Croix updates in between my daily posts recapping the house that we stayed at, our overall view of St. Croix, and tips for planning a group vacation with friends or family.

How do you transition back to working out after a few days away?

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ashleyd /

A Glimpse Inside Our Vermont Vacation

I can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve! We’ve had such a wonderful time here so far but the time is flying! This is the first day I’m not skiing, instead spending my morning with my mom and sister in law baking Christmas cookies! I have a few different posts I’ll be doing today, one about last night’s sleigh ride and another the workouts we’ve done so far.

A Glimpse Inside Our Vermont VacationBut, for right now, I thought it’d be fun to give you glimpse inside the snow globe, aka what we’ve been doing each day.

Breakfast The past few days are some of the busiest ski days of the season since Vermont received fresh powder and there are so many families up here for the holidays. Therefore, each morning our alarm clock went off at 6:45. After getting dressed, before hitting the slopes, we’ve eaten a protein filled breakfast at home that will hold us through four hours of skiing. My usual breakfast has been a bowl of 0% Chobani, blueberries, raspberries, banana, and Bab-A-Louis Bakery granola.

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The weather each day has been around 20 degrees on the mountain and therefore I’ve dressed warmly to ensure I enjoy myself. The last thing you want to be when skiing is cold!

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Here is what I wore each day, which takes advantage of my favorite winter running gear as well! Up at the top of the mountain the temperature dropped to a wind chill of 5 degrees!

I was warm and toasty until yesterday around noon when the temperature plummeted and the winds started gusting. But overall, this gear was perfect for four days of Vermont skiing! As you can tell, most of this is pretty inexpensive or dual purposed winter running gear. Since Bo and I only ski a total of 4-6 days a season each year we haven’t invested in anything beyond ski socks, pants, jackets, and goggles. I think the next thing I’d invest in is either a helmet or boots.

Stratton Mountain  As always, we had a blast skiing Stratton this year. It’s about 15 minutes from my family’s home so while it’s further away than Bromley, the conditions are about 10x better. Most of our visit they had at least 4 different lifts open and over 40 something trails. Each person in our group, whether skiing greens, blues, or black diamond trails was happy with the options available even though the windy conditions limited some of the lifts. I love that Stratton offers multiple green and blue runs from the top of the mountain versus just blacks. Our group had a great time riding the lift or gondola up the mountain together, taking in the sights and watching people take on the moguls under the lift. This was also the first year that I felt comfortable enough as a skier to go down blue and green runs by myself versus having lesson. That in itself made me thrilled to be out there!

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The snow capped trees reminded us of something out of a Dr. Seuss book they looked so unreal!

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Lunch

We’ve skied each day from 8am-12:45, making it home by 1:15 for lunch with the whole family. It’s been an easy way to save some money this trip while also taking advantage of delicious leftovers and catching up with everyone. I’m trying to enjoy a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snacks during the day so each evening I can enjoy a few glasses of wine and delicious dinner. This is one of the ways I find balance while on vacation, especially when I know that in a few short days I’ll be on a beach in St. Croix!

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Afternoon Adventures

Each afternoon my mom and dad have driven into Manchester or to a nearby town to explore and see the sights together. Grafton was the cutest of the towns we visited, decorated in fresh white snow and holiday decorations!

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I love this historic home’s decorations including a traditional fruit wreath and the lamp post with a warm hospitality greeting of pineapple, ribbons, and greens.

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Condensed and Intense Circuit Workout

Good morning from the friendly Delta skies. I have heard this line many times but today especially, I really have such gratitude for the Delta team at JFK.

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I had a really bad taxi experience this morning as we arrived at JFK and the taxi told me his credit card machine wasn’t working. After some tough words and the help of a nearby police officer he finally “fixed” the problem. I was so flustered thinking about this and getting excited about the bachelorette weekend that as I went through security, I left my carry on suitcase. I didn’t notice it because the weight of my computer bag on my shoulder and how rushed I was to make it down to the gate in time and get breakfast. As I walked to the gate they asked me if I needed a pink tag. That’s when I looked down and realized I didn’t have my bag. I am so blessed that they did everything in their power, with only 10 minutes before the plane door had to close, to get my bag back to me. Sweet Dorothy drove like a madwoman screaming in her Jamaican accent that I had a wedding to get to and had to get my bridesmaid dress at security to anyone who stood in the way of her cart. This sounded better in her opinion then “move this woman has a bachelorette to get to and a race to run” but it was hilarious regardless. The security team even met us halfway since we were going all the way from Delta terminal 2 to terminal 4. So while I know that Delta, nor any airline for that matter, is perfect, they definitely one a point in my book today. I wish I could give each of them holiday bonuses!

Now that I’ve shared a story of gratitude with y’all let’s get on to the post!

Breakfast

If you are a long time reader, then you know that my go to travel breakfast is Starbucks. A perfect oatmeal, banana and iced unsweetened green tea just can’t be beat! I normally add the package of nuts to the oats for some added protein and healthy fats along with a dash of the brown sugar.

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If you’ve never tried adding brown sugar to your oatmeal you definitely should as a little bit goes a long way and the flavor can’t be beat!

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I’m enjoying this morning’s oatmeal with a banana and a side of studying. I am getting PADI Scuba certified this year, finally, and it requires some studying in advance. On December 11-13th I will spend time in the pool each night from 8-11pm with Pan Aqua in New York doing all my course work and after completing the 3 nights and passing 4 tests I’ll be able to do my 4 qualifying dives down in St. Croix over New Years!

Condensed and Intense Boot Camp

I realized, going through pictures this morning, that I forgot to share an awesome boot camp Bo created for us last week. We both wanted to work off some of the wine and turkey we enjoyed on Thursday and figured that a boot camp together was a perfect option. But, don’t worry, this workout can be done on your own at a gym as well. The entire workout took us 45 minutes but you can do bits and pieces of it or just 1 circuit group if you’re short on time!

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Cardio Blast #1:

  • 1 minute jumping jacks
  • 1 minute jump rope

Strength Blast #1

Cardio Blast #2:

  • Set a treadmill to 1 incline and spring 1/2 mile as fast as possible while maintaining the same speed the whole time and ensuring you don’t overexert yourself. For reference, Bo went at 8.5 and I went at 7.8.

Strength Blast #2

Cardio Blast #3

  • Set a treadmill incline to 11.0 and walk a half mile as quickly as possible, pumping your arms for momentum. For reference, Bo and I both walked at 4.0-4.5 for the half mile.

Strength Blast #3  (repeat #2)

Cardio Blast #4

  • On a rowing machine set the resistance to flywheel resistance to 7 then row 1,000  meters as quickly as possible ensuring proper form is maintained the entire time to reduce risk of injury.

As always, be sure to do some gentle warm-up and stretching before any workout and go at your own pace.

Question: I’m working on a video series of workouts that you all can do on your own over the holidays whether you’re in your parents basement, in your tiny apartment, or at a hotel. Any special requests? My goal is for the first video to go live by next Friday, in time for those people starting the holidays early!

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