Nurse on the Run

Have you ever seen the LOVE/hate. New Balance ad?  It’s about the LOVE/hate relationship runners have with running.  And let me tell you…what a love/hate relationship I’ve had lately with running.  The heat that we’ve been having recently has been a killer, in addition to the fact that I’m getting back into running after taking about two months off due to my post-Boston Marathon injuries. 

I started running again about a month ago, and it was like my legs didn’t quite know what to do!  I’ve been running since I was about thirteen years old (junior high cross country!), so my legs clearly had an idea about what is coming.  It almost felt like I’d never ran before, which gave me a little bit of a new respect for people who are trying to get into running.  Not a comfortable feeling by any means!  That being said, the old running thrills came back quickly.

While I was busy highlighting my recent surf vacation in Costa Rica (go check out all the recaps!), I was also busy running in this monster heat wave we’ve been having on the east coast.  Due to my inability to wake up at 6am to run, most of these runs were actually run in the 90+ degree heat.  I don’t know how you Southerners do it…it’s brutal!  Let’s just say I’m not even going to recap most of the runs since they were pretty generic hot, hot runs.

hate.

Wednesday, however, took the cake.  While the stats were nothing terrible (4.03 miles in 33:14, avg pace of 8:15), the run was MISERABLE.  I’d go as far as to say it was one of the worst runs I’ve ever had…it felt terrible, I sat on the side of the road in a little bit of shade, and I couldn’t believe I had to run two more miles to get home.  Two more miles felt like an eternity…I hated running.  However, like any seasoned runner, I knew that this was just another run and the next day could be totally different.

LOVE

This past weekend, I was supposed to run 12 miles, which sadly is a long distance for me these days since I haven’t been running too far as I try to ease myself back into longer runs.  Saturday was going to be the big day, but the heat index was well over 100, and I knew better than to tempt fate with the crazy heat.  I pushed the run off until Sunday.  Welllll, I ended up going out Saturday night (I know, crazy, right?), so Sunday wasn’t going to be the best day either, and it was another toasty day.  However, it stormed here Sunday evening, which cooled us off dramatically, setting up Monday to be a lovely day for a long run.

Making myself get up early (we’re talking 8:30 here…whoa!), I was out the door by 9am in the cool 72 degree weather.  It was magical!  It was still a sweaty, sweaty day, but the run felt AMAZING.  That’s a bit of a lie…the first three miles weren’t my favorite, but I loosened up a little and the rest of the run felt like nothing.  I’ve been missing those days when I felt like I could run forever and the miles just click by.  Compliments of the lower temperatures, Monday was that day.  I looooooved running!

Monday, July 26
12.19 miles in 1:36:52, avg pace of 7:57

Splits for my last two miles?  7:37 for both…love it!  I’ve missed long runs and I’m glad that I successfully got through one…although there are many longer runs to come.

double love

Seven miles were run this morning in the heat…and let’s just say a very attractive man was out working on the trail.  Annnnnd he smiled at me as I said hi…TWICE.  Talk about motivation, haha.

Tuesday, July 27
7.06 miles in 55:48, avg pace of 7:54

How’s your relationship with running?  LOVE/hate?  More love?  More hate?

A final wrap-up of my amazing surf camp vacation in Costa Rica!  If you want to catch up on all the fun activities from throughout the week, check out all my recaps…you won’t be disappointed.

Part I:  planes, trains, and automobiles
Part II:  surf’s up!!
Part III:  becoming a yogi
Part IV:  fun odds ‘n ends
Part V:  more odds ‘n ends

As you can tell, I clearly had an amazing vacation.  I was hoping to get away from it all, have fun, not think about work, and get out of my comfort zone a little bit.  Despite the nightmare that I had about work, I like to think that I met all my vacation goals.  Here are some of my thoughts about my surf adventure vacation.

pura vida

 
“Pura vida” is a phrase used in Costa Rica which means “life is good,” and translated it means “pure life.”  What’s this “pure life”?  A week with no make-up and no hair dryer.  (I think the last time I did this was before I ever started wearing make-up!)  Feeling sick and then getting out to surf and feeling AMAZING.  The first time you get up on a surfboard.  The first time you have enough time to think “Oh my goodness, I’m really surfing!”  Morning walks on the beach.  Just enjoying life.

I realize that all of this is easy to say when you don’t have to deal with the every day issues of working, buying groceries, paying bills, etc etc.  However, being in Costa Rica taught me that you’re supposed to enjoy life.  Anyone who reads my blog knows that I’m not happy with my job (understatement of the year…) or with where I live.  Many people in Malpais were people who came to visit, fell in love (either with surfing or with someone), and gave up everything to move there.  Costa Rica isn’t quite like the United States, and many people don’t have TV, internet, or newspapers…crazy!  While I’m not sure I could be so cut off from the world like that, it’s easy to see how happy these people are.

My surfing group. 

Interacting with the other people in my surf group also taught me a lot.  These people like their jobs and have traveled the world!  I thought I was well traveled (I’ve been all over Europe, except for Eastern Europe) until I met these people…they had discussions about which airport is the best (Singapore apparently has showers…) and compared their African safaris.  Many of them traveled a lot for work, but they all had these great adventures to share.  At the risk of sounding very one-dimensional…all I can really talk about is work.  I don’t know if it’s because it’s all I can think about (the hatred is all-consuming) or if it’s because I’m really just that boring, but I didn’t have much else to talk about.  I’ve never felt so uninteresting in my entire life! 

Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely time, but it really made me think about my life and how I’m not happy with it.  You only get one life to live, and I almost feel like I’m wasting it here.  I realize that not every day is going to be mind blowing and filled with adventure, but there’s much more to life than waking up, running, thinking about how much I hate my job, going to work, and coming home and eating ice cream.  People at work comment how I’m always going somewhere…weekend trips are my new thing!  It’s what I have to do with my time because otherwise I just upset about being in Pennsylvania.  This is great, but the daily life really gets to me. 

So what does all this mean?  I wish I could tell you that I just quit my job, but obviously that is not the case since the entire world would hear me screaming with delight.  However, I am pursuing opportunities in other cities, and I’m trying to figure out exactly what to do with my life.  I need to try another nursing job before I totally jump ship on the profession, but wherever I am next, I would love to work part time in either a running store or bakery.  In the meantime, I plan to try and make the most of being here.  Reading more, weekend trips, doing more than just sleeping in and rushing to work.

In a bigger perspective, I hope to take more trips like the one I just took.  Many people (especially those with families) have told me that they’re jealous about my trip and are shocked that I actually went to Costa Rica by myself.  Just last night, one of the nurses I work with told me, “I wish I had done something like that when I was younger…I can’t do that now that I have kids!”  Not that your life ends when you have kids, but being young and single means that there’s so much that I can do!  I would like to go skiing this winter…I think it’d be fun to learn to sail…and I definitely need to go surfing again.

This is getting long, but my main point is…you only get to do this life thing once, and you might as well make the most of it.  We all deserve to be happy, and while that means different things to different people, life is too short to be spent being miserable.  (Trust me…as a nurse, I know this for sure!)  I really hope that things will be changing for me soon, and I hope to have some exciting things to share with you in the future!

What makes you happy?  Big trips?  Weekly activities?  Have you ever been on an adventure like surf camp that you would recommend?  I’m open to suggestions. 

Hey readers!  Yep, I’m still chronically my recent trip to SURF CAMP in Costa Rica!  Check out some of the beginning parts if you’re a little behind!

Part I:  planes, trains, and automobiles
Part II:  surf’s up!!
Part III:  becoming a yogi
Part IV:  fun odds ‘n ends

I had wayyy too much random odds and ends to post in the last part, so I’m hitting you up with another post of some of the random things we did when we weren’t surfing!  Let the fun continue. 

walking around town

Malpais, Costa Rica is known as a sleepy town…while there is some night life, it’s more of an early crowd since it’s a surfing town.  Surfers want to catch their tide!  We actually didn’t “go out” at all while on vacation…sure, we went out to dinner, but we never tore the house town.  Not everyone’s idea of a vacation, but I had a good time.  Anyway, one afternoon we walked around and checked out the different shops and art galleries.  The signs in Costa Rica are pretty funny, and yes, we had to avoid getting splashed from mud piles when cars drove past.  Ahhh, Costa Rica.

Dude!  No parking!

Yes, I found the bakery in Malpais.

I want this sign!!

 Jeri knows I can’t go a week without ice cream…

running…costa rica style

I took my running clothes and an old pair of running shoes to Costa Rica with me…I didn’t really have solid plans to run, but if I could squeeze in a run or two, that would be lovely.  After a little afternoon surf instruction, one of the other ladies mentioned that she was going for a run and wanted to know if anyone wanted to join her…I’m in!  She planned on running for about an hour, and I had no idea what her pace would be, but away we went.  She had a Garmin, so we could tell how far we were going…love it.  One of the other ladies joined us as well.  We headed out and the second lady turned back after two miles…I believe we were going around 8:45 pace.  We chugged along the muddy road…we talked about how she is planning to do a couple half marathons, and I talked about my marathoning.  She mentioned turning around at 3.33 miles, which was about 27-ish minutes.  On the way back, we were holding about an 8:15, which seemed fine to me.  After about a mile on the way back, she told me to go ahead, so away I went and finished off a muddy run in Costa Rica.

Some of our group the smarter part of the group was sitting in the restaurant sipping wine, so I stopped by one the way to my room, and they asked me if I happened to jump in the ocean before coming to say hi because I was that drenched with sweat.  It’s soooo humid in Costa Rica!  (Really…everything is ALWAYS moist and I don’t think my clothes ever dried out…)  A few minutes later the girl I was running with came in and proclaimed, “Don’t ever run with her!”  Maybe I was being too speedy…

Muddy Costa Rica run!

oh.  my.  goodness.  THE FOOD.

Let’s just say that surfing really works up an appetite.  And when the food is delicious, you can’t help but eat it.  Lots of it.  It’s a good thing surfing is quite the intense workout!

For breakfast, we always had scrambled eggs, rice and beans, yogurt with granola, some sort of grain like pancakes/French toast/etc, bacon, toast, coffee, and cut up mango, papaya, bananas, and watermelon.  I miss the cut up fruit like crazy!!  They also had some sort of juice/smoothie that was homemade every morning…it was usually some sort of papaya/banana/orange juice mixture.  Tasty!  We ate a lot every morning to fuel up for breakfast…so good. 

Lunch and dinner were either at the hotel or we were given vouchers to eat at some of the restaurants in town.  Food varied from salads to Greek food to pizza to pasta to FRESH FISH.  I ate an obscene amount of fresh fish while I was in Costa Rica, especially since some of the restaurants only serve fish that was caught that morning…doesn’t get any better than that!  My favorite fish was either snapper with mango salad, or an almond crusted snapper.  Soooo good.

One of the restaurants…you don’t see signs like this in America!

Trust me…it was about eight million times better than it looks.

Fried plantains…yum.

We did sooooo much in Costa Rica!  Go-go-go…not so much beach time, but I loved it!  I’ll do one more post with a little wrap-up, so stayed tuned!    And no worries, we’ll be back to your regularly scheduled Nurse on the Run posts soon…I’ve been running, that’s for sure!

In case you haven’t been around, I’ve (slowly) been recapping my recent vacation to Costa Rica to go to surf (and yoga!) camp!  It was an amazing week, with the main highlight being SURFING…of course.  You can check out some recaps below:

Part I:  planes, trains, and automobiles
Part II:  surf’s up!!
Part III:  becoming a yogi

In this post, I’ll highlight all the random odd and ends of activities that we had during the week!  This was not a vacation for kicking your feet up and relaxing on the beach, and we were go-go-go most of the time.  Definitely makes you feel like you’re making the most out of your day!  Let’s check out what I did when I wasn’t surfing or doing yoga!

long walks on the beach

Good morning, ocean!

Breakfast was usually at 8am, which is early by the standards of this evening shift girl.  However, we were often so tired from all our activities that we hit the hay by 10:30pm.  This meant that I had my full bajillion hours of sleep by 7am!  The sun rises in Costa Rica at 6am and sets at 6pm (almost year round, I’m told), which makes for a perfect morning walk on the beach.  The air is soooo crisp early in the morning, and walking with the waves rolling over my feet was a perfect way to start the morning.

Afternoon stroll….so pretty.

In the afternoon, we would sometimes have an hour-ish between activities, and my roommate and I would take the opportunity for another walk on the beach.  We’re in Costa Rica, why not??  We chatted as we walked and enjoyed the views.  The beaches in Costa Rica are much unlike the condo-lined beaches in the US, so it makes for some pretty sight-seeing.

A real surfer dude!

On one of our walks, we spotted really good surfers out in the big waves, so we sat and walked them for a little while.  It was cool that we kinda knew what they were doing…maybe one day I’ll be like them. 

zipping through the jungle

Have you ever been on a canopy tour?  You know, one of those activities where you wear a harness and you zip from platform to platform on wire cables?  If you have been, you would know that they’re AWESOME.  I’d never been on a canopy tour before, but one of my friends has been on them in Mexico, and the fact that this was offered as an afternoon excursion was one of the reasons why I picked this trip.  It sounds like so much fun, and the views are supposed to be excellent.

Needless to say, I was super pumped for the canopy tour…that is, until I got up on the platforms and remembered that I’m terrified of heights!  As in…I wouldn’t even jump off the high dive at the local swimming pool when I was little.  The lifeguard used to have to come walk me to the edge since you were allowed to climb back down the ladder!  But anyway, I was still soooo excited for the tour, and after the first mini-zip line, I was hooked and had a blast!  So much fun.

All harnessed in, hanging out on a platform in the jungle!

Faster than a speeding bullet!

With nine platforms and seven zip lines, we had plenty of opportunities to see the sites.  For safety reasons, you could only go on the zip lines straight with your feet in front of you…except for one line, where you could spin, go upside down…do whatever you want.  I figured that I’m only doing this here once, so I might as well go all out…UPSIDE DOWN.  I went from being terrified to hanging upside down on a zip line…pura vida.

Hanging out!

Oh yeah, the view was pretty too. 

 massaged by the ocean waves

Tropico Latino…hotel and spa!

Okay, not literally, although you might consider getting beat up by the ocean while surfing some sort of massage!  A spa was part of the hotel where the surf camp stays at, and included in our camp was a massage.  I’ve only had one massage in my life, and it was lovely, but let me tell you…nothing beats having a massage in an open hut next to the beach, where you can hear the ocean waves behind you!  It was divine.  I actually fell asleep at the end of it, and I shook myself awake because I dreamed that I popped up on a wave…how fitting. 

I had my massage on day three of surfing, which was perfect timing to work out all the sore muscles!  I will never look at a massage with a CD of birds singing and waves crashing the same again.  You spoil me silly, Costa Rica.

more to come!

I have so much more to share with you (if you’re still interested…or I’m at least saving this for when I have a rainy day!), that I’ll share more of my random adventures in another post.  It’s my weekend to work, so I have to hop off to the hospital.  Here’s hoping for a lovely Sunday!  Hope you’re all having a non-work-filled weekend.

This week, I’ve been recapping my vacation last week in Malpais, Costa Rica.  If you haven’t been playing along, you can check out the two recaps so far:

Part I:  planes, trains, and automobiles

Part II:  surf’s up!!

Surfing was a runaway winner as the highlight of my trip, but since we surfed every morning, that means we had lots to do for the rest of the day!  Pura Vida Adventures boasts itself as both a surfing and yoga retreat, so the other major component of the week was yoga!  Yoga and surfing are quite related, as you need balance and strength to be a good surfer.  Plus, they share the same mindset of being in the moment.  So, on with the yoga…Many of you may find this more exciting than the surfing part. 

my yoga background

I haven’t really spent too much time doing yoga, although I did start doing it more regularly about three months ago after I got injured during the Boston Marathon.  I figured it could be good for my IT band, and it’s supposed to help relax you as well, and we could all use a little more of that in our lives!  I’ve done enough that I can name a bunch of different poses and not necessarily have to look around to see what to do, but my downward dog still leaves a bit to be desired.  That being said, I’ve very open to learning and I have high hopes that one day I’ll be able to touch my toes.  So, onto yoga!

the yoga studio

You can see the waves from the studio!

The BEST place to practice yoga!!  The yoga studio was outside and you could see the ocean from the studio, which meant you could hear the waves as you’re doing yoga.  Definitely a relaxing experience and better than listening to a CD of the waves!

sunday yoga – intro to pura vida yoga

Our yoga on Sunday was a bit of a mix-up, as our instructor didn’t show up and then they had to call someone else into lead the class.  It ended up being fine, although the camp is very proud of their reputation so they weren’t too pleased with the mix-up, but no one else in my group seemed to mind.  Although I’m not too familiar with the different types of yoga, I believe this was a vinyasa class with lots of movements and downward dogs.  Very much like what I’m used to at my gym yoga classes.

monday yoga – more vinyasa

Today was our first day with the yoga instructor, Cristina, who was AMAZING.  She’s great at reading the group and tailoring the yoga to meeting the needs of the group.  With twelve years of yoga practice under her belt, she had a lot of experience to offer and was the TINIEST person I’ve ever seen.  So little, but so strong!  Since she didn’t have the opportunity to get to know us yesterday, we went through another vinyasa-type class so she could see how the group does with yoga and what kind of level we were at.  The yoga studio was outside, and when laying on our backs, I saw a gecko run across the ceiling.  Welcome to Costa Rica. 

With two days of surfing under our belts, I could feel the relationship between surfing and yoga, and I could tell the muscles that I was using while surfing during different positions.  Next time around, I’ll do more push-ups before coming to surf camp.

tuesday yoga – restorative yoga

The third day of surfing is supposedly the hardest day, and I think my entire group was feeling the soreness associated with fighting the waves and popping up on the surfboard.  Cristina led us through an AMAZING restorative yoga class where we held poses for a long time and got deep stretches where we needed it most…in our backs and shoulders.  My two favorite moves included:

1. We placed a yoga block under our lower backs and just laid on the ground.  Awesome lower back stretch…I’ve been doing this at home too!
2. At one point, we were laying facedown on the ground and crossed our arms underneath us with our arms flat on the ground, palms down.  Laying with your arms crossed underneath your chest was a great shoulder stretch…but it hurt!

We all felt soooo much better after this yoga class!  The stretching was amazingggg and relaxing.

wednesday yoga – partner yoga

Have you ever done partner yoga before?  I’ve never really even heard of it before this day at surf camp!  We were asked to buddy up with one of our fellow surf campers to do partner yoga, which none of us had done before.  It was a little awkward to start, as the first thing we did was stare into each others eyes and then place our hands on each others’ chest while “ohm”ing.  (Romantic, no?)  We got through that with some giggling, but then the real stretching began.  We put our legs on each others’ shoulders, got some mini-back massages, and even sat on top of one another at one point.  (Childs pose on top of childs pose!)  I think we were all a little bit weary of doing some of the poses (you want me to do what??), but everyone was willing to try all the different poses, and it ended up being a lot of fun!  A good stretch too.

The end of the class closed with group yoga, where we were all in a circle doing downward dog, putting our legs on each others backs.  My surf group was awesome, so it was cool to be doing this together because no one was too uncomfortable.

I definitely think that everyone should give partner yoga a try…you can help to stretch each other, and it could be a good way to get a significant other into yoga!

thursday yoga – vinyasa wrap up

Our last day of yoga!  We ended with another vinyasa type yoga, with lots of movement.  This day was tough for me, as I was fending off a bit of a sickness near the end of the week.  My throat was sore and I think I had a little bit of a fever in the evenings, which made changing the level of my head in yoga a little difficult.  I made it through and loved the savasana at the end.

yoga wrap-up

I love the connection between surfing and yoga!  Both activities are about being in the moment and appreciating your body and nature, plus they compliment each other well with strength in your body. Surfing made my muscles sore and tired, and yoga helped to stretch me out and get me ready for the next day of surfing.  Yoga is definitely something I want to try and incorporate more into my life!  My gym offers multiple yoga classes per week, and I hope to attend at least once or twice per week.  I think it will be great for my running, as well as good for my state of mind.  Nursing is also tough on your body, and I think that yoga can help relieve the mental and physical tensions that go along with being a floor nurse.  I actually think it would be great to come home from work and do some yoga.

Do you do yoga?  How has it benefited your life? 

And, since I’m looking to do yoga when I got home from work…

Do you have any recommendations for at home yoga videos?  Perhaps ones that are no more than half an hour long?

Last week, I took a solo vacation to Malpais, Costa Rica to learn how to surf!  It was a fantastic week and I’m still sad that it’s over, but I’m having fun recapping it for all of you.    If you missed Part I, check out Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for my story on the traveling part of traveling!

Now…let’s move on to the best part of the trip, and the part I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for…SURFING!!  It was my favorite part of the trip, and I’m SO excited to share it all with you.  Here we go!

Costa Rica is a great place to learn to surf, as the waves can be pretty even and there’s a wide range of waves to choose from, so it’s a great location for beginners as well as more advanced surfers.  I had absolutely no surfing experience prior to showing up in Costa Rica…I don’t think I’ve even seen anyone surf before, except for in the movies.  Six people were at surf camp with me, and only one person had surf experience before, so we were all kind of starting together.

sunday surfing – ground school

Beach where we surfed every day!  Playa Hermosa.

Our first day of surfing started with “Ground School,” where our instructors taught us what to look for on the beach when picking how a place to surf, what kinds of waves to look for, general safety rules, how to lay on the surfboard, and how/when to pop-up on a surfboard.  This last part is pretty much key, as it’s how you go from laying down on the surfboard to standing up.  We practiced on the beach multiple times, and let me tell you…it’s soooo much easier to do on the beach than it is to do on a surfboard!  Something about stability under your feet, I suppose. 

To get us started, our surf instructors would tell us when a good wave was coming so we could hop onto the surfboard.  They would then tell us when to paddle and give us a push when the wave hit us while instructed us when to pop-up.  You have to wait until you feel the push of the wave behind you, otherwise you’re trying to pop-up in unstable water.  This ended up being my biggest problem, as I would try to pop-up too early, and it’s really hard when you have a bunch of turbulence under you!

I actually got up on a few waves, and my best wave of the day was when everyone was convinced I was going to fall off since two waves collided behind me, but I stuck it and rode the wave most of the way in!  Just gotta get low to keep your balance.

For the record, you could see Gisele’s house (you know…the super model) from the beach we surfed on.  I like to think she was watching us to get some pointers all week.

monday surfing – switching to the hard top

Morning surf chat to check out the waves!

Every surf morning starts out with stretching and pop-ups on the ground so we can remind our muscles how to do them before doing them in the water.    My instructor told me that I was being upgraded from a soft top surfboard to a hard top surfboard, which means I was doing something right on the first day!  Beginners are started on a soft top board because they safer (less fins, softer top) and float better so it’s easier to get up on.  The hard tops have more fins and are better for turning since you have more control over them. 

We got some more ground instructions on how to speed up (put your weight forward), how to slow down (put your weight on your back foot), and how to turn (put your weight on your heels/toes), then we headed out into the water.  Due to a big storm the night before, the waves were choppier and quite relentless, which gets quite tiring in the water as you fight wave after wave.  Since you learn to surf on the white water (after the wave breaks, vs the green water which is before the wave breaks and is where more advanced surfers surf), you don’t just roll over the waves, but you have to jump over them.  Surfing is a great workout!

After fighting a bunch of waves, I finally caught a great, long ride!  It was awesome, and I actually had a moment to think, “Oh my goodness!  I’m doing it!!  I’m surfing!!”  Best feeling in the world!  You’re never more in the moment than when you’re up on a surf board, and it’s an amazing feeling.

tuesday surfing – crazy waves

Surfer chick. 

Like I said above…surfing is tiring!!  My whole body was sore, and everyone says that day three is the roughest because you know what you’re doing, but your body is really tired from all the work it’s been doing.  My hips and ribs were especially sore since they lay on the board.  The waves today were absolutely CRAZY due to (another) big storm we had the night before.  The waves were huge, choppy, and many came in sideways!  The waves you want to ride in on are regular and are going straight in to the beach,

They videotaped us yesterday, so at breakfast we were able to see how what we were doing and what could be corrected.  I had a tendency to pop-up to early, which I already knew, but was evident in the videos.  I tried waited an extra couple seconds to pop-up, and it made a complete difference!  Telling myself, “Wait…wait…” and giving an extra few paddles really made it much easier to stand up and I fell a little bit less than before.

A photographer came out for Tuesday and Wednesday surfing, so she got some great shots of each of us out on the waves.  So good!

wednesday surfing – have faith in your feet

Rockstar.

On Wednesday, we switched our surf instructors so we could get a different perspective on what we’re doing and how we could be better surfers.  My new instructor liked to have group meetings with goal setting beforehand, so we had a little chat prior to heading out to the waves.  My goal was to wait to pop-up since that was what was giving me the most trouble.  One of the other women’s goal was to “have faith in her feet” because she never felt like she was standing on them, even though she was.  I loved this saying instantly, as I think it applies to surfing and the rest of life, especially as a runner.  For a moment, I even thought about changing the name of this blog to “faith in my feet.”  True story.  (Thoughts??)

This was THE BEST day of surfing out of the entire week.  The waves were amazing and a million times easier to catch than the past two days.  I was catching a ton of great waves, and at one point everyone else in the group went in for a break, but I stayed out, so I had the ocean to myself and a little one-on-one instruction with my surf instructor.  Can’t beat that!  My instructor asked me if I ever surfed before (nope!), and she said she was impressed and that I was doing great for a brand new surfer!  The conditions were awesome, and I even caught a wave allll the way in, to the  point where the fins hit the sand!  Love it.

thursday surfing – final waves

Turning on the waves! 

I can’t believe how fast the week went!  Soon enough it was our last day of surfing, and I just hoped for a good day so I could end up memories of surfing instead of getting beat up by my surfboard.    The waves weren’t quite as good as yesterday, but I was still able to catch a few good waves.   By this point, I was much more confident in popping up on the surfboard, and I even would turn down the wave to get a little longer of a ride.  So good!  When it came time for the last wave of the week, I caught an excellent one but somehow ended up sitting down on the board…not ideal, but I had a lovely last ride in.

surfing wrap-up

Surfing is AWESOME.  Really, there’s nothing like getting up on a wave and having a moment to realize that you’re surfing.  You’re totally in the moment when you’re up on the board…not thinking about work, not thinking about what’s for dinner…just surfing!  Love it.  Surfing was an amazing experience and I’m so glad that I got to learn and that I wasn’t too shabby at it!  I definitely plan on surfing again, this time with a little more clue as to what I’m doing.  I think everyone should try surfing (really…do it!), so you should let me know if you want to plan a surf vacation…I’ll totally go with you. 

some more photo evidence…because it’s cool

Surf group with our boards and instructors!

I fell…A LOT.

WAR PAINT.  Or faces covered in zinc to prevent sunburn…hot stuff.

Falling with a smile on my face.

Loooooove it.

I’m back from surf camp!  I left last Saturday and got back on Saturday…two days were spent traveling since Malpais is really hard to get to, but the other five were spent in Costa Rican paradise!  I’m going to break my adventure up into a few different recaps since it was a jam-packed week!  I’ll post them throughout the week so you’ll have something to look forward to.

a little background

Why did I decide to go to surf camp?  Well…why not??  Growing up in Chicago, no one really surfed, or at least no one ever talked about it.  It was always something that looked cool on TV, but clearly people don’t surf in Lake Michigan.  Surfing was definitely something that I would say I would try if anyone asked (not that they ever did…I lived in Chicago!), but nothing I ever really planned to do.  My (half) marathon running buddy Paul went to surf camp within the past year, which planted a bit of a bug in my ear.  At the wedding I went to in January, I learned that one of the other bridesmaids surfs in New Hampshire, which I thought was totally awesome!  Got me thinking a little bit more.

When it finally became time to plan my vacation, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do!  Since this was the first vacation I was doing solely on my own, I kinda wanted something with some structure and something where I could meet other people since I didn’t want to be traveling totally by myself.  The idea of learning to surf kept getting back into my head, so I researched various surf camps and picked Pura Vida Adventures in Malpais, Costa Rica.  Go big or go home, right?  So worth it.  Here we go!

traveling – planes, trains ferries, and automobiles taxis

For the record, traveling to Costa Rica is NUTSO.  I worked on Friday night, getting off work around 11:30pm, and had a 6am flight the next morning.  Since it was an international flight, they recommended being at the airport two hours before the flight, so I left for the airport around three in the morning.  No sleep for me!  I was a wee bit excited so I had no trouble staying up.    My flight from Philadelphia left on time, and I had about an hour layover in Miami.  No worries…grabbed some coffee and waited at my gate.  Welllll the plane was I supposed to be on to San Jose had “mechanical difficulties,” so they delayed our flight.  And then delayed it some more.  Then some more.  Then got another plane.  Then changed our gate.  Needless to say, we left three hours later.

This would all be fine and dandy, but I had another flight in Costa Rica to catch!  I knew it was going to be close, so my parents were calling the airline to let them know that I’d barely make it and to see if they could hold they plane for me.  Since the flights can only carry about twelve people, they will sometimes do that…and they said they would!  I actually thought I had a chance to make it when we starting taxiing to the runway.  However, we had to turn around and go back since the closure on the luggage door wasn’t closed all the way.  Away went all my hopes of making my flight!

Fast forward to Costa Rica…I made it!!  I pushed my way off the plane (I was “that girl”), just to find myself waiting for a bus to take us to customs.  Waited in customs, ran and grabbed my bag, and ran to find the next plane.  I looked lost, and some man grabbed me and ran with me towards the other airline.  My flight was at 2pm, and the man was pretty convinced I wasn’t getting on my flight, but I could see my plane sitting on the runway, I was hopeful.  When I got to the desk…no dice.  Not allowed on the plane.  Another woman was waiting at the desk, and she had gotten off my flight from Miami and wanted to get on my same flight in Costa Rica.  They wouldn’t let either of us on the plane even though we could see it sitting on the runway!  Neither of us were sure what to do, and after a minute or two, we both realized that we were going to Pura Vida, which changed everything.

The taxi drivers around kept telling they could take us to a ferry, but that seemed a bit shady to do on our own, but with the two of us it seemed like a good idea.  The next flight out was in the morning, and the taxis/ferry would get us there that same night.  Away we went!  An hour and a half taxi ride, an hour waiting for the ferry, an hour on the ferry, and another hour taxi ride later, we made it to Malpais!  Glorious…

Just got on the ferry!

Looking awesome with no sleep and lots of travel stress…

The roads in Costa Rica and specifically Malpais leave A LOT to be desired.  Some of them are “paved,” but that doesn’t really mean much!  Most are muddy (especially in the rainy season!) with lots of ruts around…every morning we had to patch the road to the beach with rocks and palm branches so the van could get through!  Many people just drive around in ATVs, which is probably the smartest way to travel.  I can’t even begin to explain how they drive in Costa Rica, but they’re all crazy.

Example of a REALLY GOOD road in Costa Rica.

My hotel was right on the beach, and it was a cute area with little walkways everywhere…really dark at night, but pretty during the day!

Pretty hotel walkways.

We pretty much got around town by walking or taking a taxi.  Our group of seven would pile in and away we went!  These types of taxis are pretty standard…I think because they need to be able to fit surfboards since the only reason people really go to Malpais is to surf!

After one of our adventures…taxi time!

The end of the week was much like the beginning of the week…it POURED all night before I was supposed to leave and showed no sign of letting up that morning.  The regional flights were being canceled so people needed to leave early to taxi-ferry-taxi to San Jose.  The last thing I wanted was to get stuck in San Jose overnight because I missed my flight, so five of us headed to San Jose the same way I came.  I’m a pro at this point!  Plus, it gave me another chance to experience the crazy taxi drivers of Costa Rica.  I’m shocked we didn’t see any accidents!

My flight to Miami got off without a hitch, and we landed around 11:30pm.  My travel  buddy missed her 2:45 flight to Miami (by minutes…literally), so she was on my flight.  We had overnight layovers, and I had already planned to just sleep in the airport since Miami doesn’t have a hotel in the airport and I’m too cheap to pay $120 to sleep for four hours.  For the record, sleeping in the airport is THE WORST IDEA EVER.  I didn’t get a wink of sleep, and I really wish I had a picture of me curled up on the floor cuddling with my bags.

Miami Airport at 3am

We ended up playing cards at 3am because neither of us could sleep, and I said bye to my travel buddy on her 6:15am flight and waited a little more for my 8:15am flight to Philly.  I curled up in my seat and fell fast asleep on the airplane…one of the perks of being little is that economy can be comfortable!  Landing in Philly around 11:30am, drove home, and got back around 1pm.  I spent 26 hours traveling to get to Philly…can’t say I’m happy to be back, but it was a great week!

That was the traveling portion of my travels!  I had to start with the boring stuff otherwise it would seem even more dull after I talk about surfing!  Stay tuned. 

mini work mention

I can’t really begin to explain how happy I am right now.  As I was driving to work, I got a phone call saying that an extra nurse showed up, so they wanted to know if I wanted to stay home tonight…YES PLEASE.  My night last night was straight out of a nightmare…six patients is wayyy too many for evening shift, in my opinion.  Multiple nurses were crying and it was NOT fun.  I felt like I was developing an ulcer while I was at work…so glad that it’s over and that I get today off!!  While I should work since, you know, I’m going on VACATION on Saturday, I’d rather have my sanity.  Thank you.

Plus, now I have more time to pack and get ready to leave bright and early Saturday morning!  Gotta love it. 

In case you were wondering, I’m trying to cut down on how much I talk about work since I’m nervous someone from work will find my blog.  Also, being so negative all the time about it isn’t going to get me anywhere.  Yayy impromptu days off!

it may be cooler in costa rica

So, it actually appears that it will be cooler in Costa Rica than it is in Pennsylvania right now!  The high temperatures have hit 100 the past two days, while it appears that the temperatures are in the high 80’s in Costa Rica.  Perhaps I should take a sweatshirt with me.  All kidding aside, I’ve been braving the heat…taking water with me and only doing short runs.  I’m drenched after about half a mile, and I’m currently sporting a lovely sports bra tan, but the people in my town have been enjoying my shirtless runs (okay, I made that part up), so it’s all good.

Tuesday, July 6
6.05 miles in 48:31, avg pace of 8:01

WHAT A SCORCHER.  Probably not the best idea, but I made it and then chugged water when I returned home.  I’ll take it.

Wednesday, July 7
3.04 miles in 24:30, avg pace of 8:03

My mouth was dry before I even started…I’ve been trying to hydrate all day so I hope that’s kicking in, but it’s hard when I immediately start sweating when I walk out the door.  I won’t complain too much since I much prefer summer to winter…it could be 10 degrees outside!

the marathon plan

In theory, you should follow some sort of training plan when running a marathon.  While I do know people who just show up and wing it, I’m not one of those people.  Plus, I like to run a lot so obviously training is a good idea.  For my first three marathons, I used good old Hal Higdon, as his beginner and intermediate plans were right up my alley.  For my fourth marathon, I decided to switch it up and try the Pfitzinger plan, since so many people use it with speedy results.  I used his 55 mile/18 week program for Philly, and attempted the 55 mile/12 week program for Boston. However, I got injured during both training cycles, and while I’m not sure what to attribute the injury to (the training plan?  new terrain?  my job?), I’m a little hesitant to try Pfitz right now.  Therefore, my grand plan is to go back with what works.

And what might that be?  Hal!  Since I’m just coming back to running after two months off, I don’t want to dive into super high mileage, but with about 14-ish weeks until the Chicago Marathon, I have to start somewhere.  Therefore, I’m going to be combining the Intermediate I plan with the Beginner plan.  I plan on using the intermediate plan for every run except the long runs, during which I will use the length of the long runs on the beginner plan.  I’m not ready to run 12 miles quite yet, but this plan will still let me comfortably squeeze in a 20 miler before race day.  Sounds good to me!

Time to pack for COSTA RICA!

In case you’re new to my blog, you may not know that my favorite thing to do on the weekends is LEAVE where I live, which is why this summer has been filled with weekend trips!  The Fourth of July holiday weekend was no different, although, no, I didn’t have Monday off!  The hospital doesn’t recognize it as a holiday, and let’s face it…I worked on Christmas so I don’t expect to have these “observed holidays off.”  Anyway, it was still a perfect time to head down to DC to visit my college roommate, Sara, who happened to be in town to visit her boyfriend for a little while.  DC is only about three-ish hours from me, so it’s totally do-able for a weekend trip. 

Saturday morning started off with my first “long run” since Boston!  I was ready to test myself and see what my legs had in me, so away I went into the heat.  The most I’ve run so far is five miles, so I was originally only planning on doing seven…but a “long” run doesn’t seem long until it’s at least over an hour, so eight miles it was!

Saturday, July 3
8.1 miles in 1:03:50, avg pace of 7:53

Although this was a little toasty, it was a lovely run!  Pace was good too.    I hit the trail  near my house, so it was fun to see people actually out running and biking.  Let the marathon training begin!!

After my run, I packed up my car and headed to DC…I got there around 5pm, and then we headed out to dinner in Adam’s Morgan.  July 3 is Sara’s birthday, so a bunch of her friends from DC came out for dinner, and then a mix of people from DC and college came to the various bars for the night.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROOMIE!!  (Yes, we still call each other “roomie” despite not having lived together for three years…totally normal.)

S^2 + Karilee…miss these girls!

After a few drinks at a low key bar, we headed to another bar for some dancing.  It was packed and I was a sweaty mess, but it was lots of fun!  DC is a wee bit different than the tiny, tiny town that I live in, and it really makes me want to move into a big city.  (Side note:  I just applied for a job in LA…fingers crossed!)

FOURTH

On Sunday, Sara and her boyfriend hosted a BBQ as a July 4th/birthday gathering/going away party since her boyfriend is leaving to drive across the country (touring in an RV!) in a few weeks.  Sara made some lovely food (check it out!), more friends came over, and it was a fantastic time.  Sara had requested baked good for her birthday, so I whipped up some lemon cupcakes with blueberry frosting, which were quite delicious if I must say so myself.

mmm blueberries!

For the record, it is TOTALLY normal to simmer blueberries for blueberry frosting at 1am on a Friday night.  Normal people do that, right?  So good.

Anyway, as the night moved I decided it was about time to head home, but as I got closer to Baltimore, I talked to one of my friends from college who lives there, and he mentioned that I should stop by since he was having a party.  He lives about three minutes out of the way, so I swung by.  It was perfect since he and his friends ate the rest of my cupcakes, and I was able to catch some fireworks at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore!  What a lovely place for fireworks, although I do miss Chicago’s display.

It was better in person!

Post-fireworks, I headed home and got back to Pennsylvania around 12:45am…still way before my bedtime!  I had a fantastic weekend and got to spend it was some of my favorite people, so you can’t beat that. 

monday funday…

While many people in this world were basking in the glory of the three day weekend, I prepared for just another week at work.  The morning started off with a hot run, followed immediately by me switching into my swimsuit and heading back outdoors.  Gotta love it. 

Monday, July 5
3.06 miles in 23:51, avg pace of 7:48

Short but sweet!  I picked my training plan (which shall be revealed in the near future…), and I forgot how not every marathon training run is long!  Three easy miles and I was done.  I’m looking forward to following a training plan again, and I must say…I’m loving my new shoes so far!

I hope everyone had an awesome (three day??) holiday weekend, and a special shout out to those of you who had to work some (or all) of the weekend…I’m glad I wasn’t one of you this time around!

So…what do this:

And this:

And this:

…have in common?

Well, well, well…let’s just say, they all relate to my UPCOMING VACATION!!  That’s right…a week from Saturday, I will be jet-setting to COSTA RICA to attend surf camp!  If you remember my running buddy Paul from the Philly marathon, he actually attended surf camp earlier this year, and I thought to myself, “Oh, that would be fun!”  I actually had to request my summer vacation time off wayyyy back in December, so I randomly picked a week without any idea in mind what to do.  May rolled around and I still had yet to plan my vacation (or even decide where to go!), so after a little bit of research (and not too many other ideas for solo travel…), I decided that surf camp was in my near future.

Why surf camp?  I think the better question is…why not??  I’m 26, have no strings attached to anything, and can basically do what I want.  I think it will be awesome to learn how to surf, and Costa Rica sounds like an amazing place to do it!  I’ve heard great things about Costa Rica, and I can’t imagine a better week!  After doing a little bit of research into various surf camps, I decided to go with Pura Vida Adventures, which describes itself as a surf and yoga retreat for women.  The week I’m going actually happens to be coed, which I think will be just as fun (boys are nice?  haha).  I’m a little bit nervous about going on vacation by myself, but I just have to remember to be my happy, smiling self (she’s in here somewhere…) and all will be well.  The camp told me that a few other women are traveling by themselves, so at least a few others will be in the same boat!

So what will my day look like?  Let’s take a peek…

Morning

• Yoga
• Breakfast
• Surf Instruction

Afternoon

• Lunch
• Relaxation (scheduled massages, poolside, hammock, and/or siesta)
• Optional Sunset Surf Session

Evening

• Dinner (occasional outings to other restaurants)

Well, that looks fantastic!  Opportunities are also available for hiking, snorkeling, a canopy tour (!!!), biking, salsa dancing…sooooo much to do!  I’m excited and can’t wait to live it up in Costa Rica.  Here’s an excerpt from an interview with the founder of Pura Vida Adventures (full interview at Girl Get Strong):

GGS: Okay, Tierza, so spill – please tell us all about Pura Vida Adventures: what is Pura Vida all about, and what can women (and men) expect when they visit?

TD: Pura Vida Adventures is all about its namesake, the Costa Rican phrase which translated means “pure life.”

Coming to Pura Vida Adventures mean you live this phrase of enjoying each moment for exactly what it is—whether it be catching a perfectly warm wave as the sun goes down, enjoying a local meal with new friends, breathing deeply in an ocean-front morning yoga class, or simply sitting on the sand soaking in the sun’s rays.

I think Pura Vida is all about having the ultimate active vacation for people who want a combination of exhilaration, relaxation, empowerment and culture. You can expect that this vacation will challenge and inspire you all in one.  It’s hard to explain what to expect because each person experiences something different, but in general it has such a powerful impact on people lives that goes way beyond just learning how to surf. They learn how to live in that pure life.

Does that sound like something I need right now?? You bet!  I’m hoping to have an amazing time and come back with a refreshing outlook on life.  Not to mention a killer tan.    Eight days til COSTA RICA!!

*********************************************************************************

In an attempt to get myself ready for Costa Rica, I’d been going to yoga classes, but have been slacking a bit lately.  I tried to go on Thursday morning, but the yoga instructor was out sick and the only sub they had was a pilates instructor.  I’ve never done pilates before, but I figured I was there so I would give it a try.  While certain moves were definitely challenging, I’m not totally sold on the idea of pilates…I’d have to try it again some time.  Hopefully I’ll squeeze in some yoga before I leave for Costa Rica.