Category Archives: travel

Namaste in 2018

Hi everyone, it’s been awhile! I hope we can reconnect like old friends, where it seems like no time ever has passed when you reunite. 2018 has been a busy year so far and has taken us through several snow storms and balmy days (west coasters and southerners, 50 degrees is warm for Boston!), exciting and strange movies (calling out “Shape of Water” here), a soul-gripping Patriots football game (sorry Jaguars fans), and a quick Florida getaway to see my parents.

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Staying Fit While Traveling

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a great week full of Halloween treats. I haven’t checked in since Marine Corps Marathon on October 22nd, but just wanted to say that it was one of my most memorable races to date for several reasons. Stay tuned for a recap and some takeaways from the day!

In other news, Mark and I are in the middle of planning our next getaway- thinking of heading to South America! I have always been intrigued by that part of the world, as I grew up hearing my mom’s travel adventures from when she explored the region when she was about my age. While away, I’d like to keep up my fitness as much as possible but know how tough it can be while on vacation.

With the desire to just lay back and relax for the duration of your stay combined with the temptation of on-the-go treats, it’s sometimes a challenge to keep up with fitness.  Here are some quick tips I have learned over time to keep motivated and focused during your travels.

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Colorado Adventures & Happy 4th

Happy Independence Day! We are having a great time here in Colorado- thank you for all of the recs! Hard to fit it all in, but we are doing our best :)

I wanted to stop by and wish you a great holiday wherever you are! Also congrats to the Jaybird sport winner! Hope you enjoy the headphones as much as I do! Stay tuned for additional Giveaways.

Here are some Colorado highlights so far:

We spent our first full day going all around Denver. We hit up the Denver Botanic garden: so beautiful, even in a sweltering hot day. Hello dry heat!

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New Favorite Gear: Jaybird Headphones GIVEAWAY!

Happy Friday! This week was a busy one, but I managed to get in some exercise at the end of the work day several times. I’m still trying to figure out my next goal (potentially thinking a bit too much about it these days). While I figure out my next steps in running, I’m still enjoying the summery Boston scenes on my runs.

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Canyon City Marathon Review

Happy weekend! Hope yours is off to a great start. I’m heading out on my favorite running path in a few minutes but wanted to stop by to write about one of my previous races since some of you are working towards a BQ!

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Last November, I ran the Canyon City marathon just northeast of Los Angeles (Azusa, CA to be exact). Mark had a work trip in Palm Springs and asked if I wanted to join. Without hesitation I said yes and naturally proceeded to research the local races being held that weekend.  This REVEL series marathon and half marathon were on the list, and situated between LA and Palm Springs, so we signed up!

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Austin Half Marathon Recap

Mark and I spent President’s Day weekend in Austin, TX and we both ran the half marathon on Sunday February 19th. I really enjoyed the race, despite the heat, humidity, and hills, which were a far cry from February in Boston. This race was perfect for my training for the Boston marathon, which seems to be creeping up quickly!

We stayed at a hotel close to the race start, which was very convenient for the 7am start time. I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill to warm up and meet my required long run distance, then I woke Mark up and we were off!

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Wineglass Marathon Recap

Two weekends ago, I ran Wineglass marathon held in beautiful Corning, New York. It was my 18th marathon in my 11th state. I didn’t run my fastest time (3:54), but it was a beautiful race and a fun weekend with friends. My friend Molly also ran the marathon, and had a great race- having her there capped off the experience!

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England Adventure- Part 2

Hope you’re having a great week! I can’t believe that we are almost through September. After starting a new job last week, I haven’t had much down time to blog or even run much!

My last post described part of Mark and my trip to England, so here’s part 2! Stay tuned for some running updates — RRCA coaching and Boston Marathon entry — soon.

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As far as England, one of our days was spent exploring the Cotswolds, a picturesque section of western England full of “chocolate-box” villages, thatched roof cottages and historical British homes.

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England Adventure- Part 1

Mark and I spent last week across the Atlantic with his grandparents and their British friends in Southwest England. We had a great time in this mostly rural part of the country. So much fun in fact, that I couldn’t fit it all into one post!

On our first real day in England, we got to see Stonehenge, Britain’s most iconic archeological site. I won’t go into the details on the history and landscape (that’s what Google.com and guidebooks are for)- but I will say that this 5,000-year-old structure is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the UK. 

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Coaching and Celebrations

Happy Friday! It has been a busy week (a busy month really!) and I finally had some time to sit down and write a post. Last night a group of us celebrated my friend’s birthday and we started talking about how excited we were for a big blizzard to hit Boston…in retrospect, I wouldn’t go that far, but I think we are all ready for a change of seasons to the beautiful fall!

Here are some updates on my life over the past couple of weeks:

-Most excitingly and relevant to running: last weekend I took the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) coaching certification course. The two 8-hour day course was held outside of Minneapolis, MN (the New England courses for the year were filled within minutes!), and was worth every penny. Even if I never coach, I learned a great deal to inform my own training. Official coaching certification happens after I pass a 100 question exam and become CPR and First Aid certified, so hopefully I can call myself “Coach Jane” soon!

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I was very impressed with the scientifically-based running agenda and loved our instructor, Cari Setzler. Cari is a competitive runner herself, an RRCA certified coach, a writer for Women’s Running Magazine, and on top of that- a Veterinarian. She kept the class entertained with her funny and engaging style. Fellow classmates had a variety of running interests- some were specializing in 5k distances and enjoyed working with young runners while others were passionate about the ultra-distance and wanted to increase their knowledge of the sport. It was so interesting hearing their stories, and we all enjoyed talking about running non-stop. I hope to keep in touch with some of these fellow runners! Stay tuned for another post with more details on my experience and the course itself.  For now, I have to get back to working on the exam!

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What I Learned from My First Trail Race

Happy Monday! For some of us, it’s back to the grind. I spent the weekend in New Hampshire with my family, including my brother and cousin whom I hadn’t seen in awhile. I always find it tough getting back to the bustling world of work and the city, so am slowly adapting this morning. Hope you all enjoyed your summer weekends wherever you were!

My time up north included a lot of outdoor activities and micro-adventures on either side of a tremendous storm that hit the mountains on Saturday night. Losing electricity and water for a few hours following the storm was fun, but I was happy for these amenities later in the evening once the power returned.

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10 Running Goals Unrelated to a PR

Last weekend I ran my first trail marathon, and it was the most fun I’ve had running in a long time. Since trail running is a new and exciting territory for me, my goal was to simply finish this race feeling strong and confident (and as muddy as possible). 

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A Getaway and a GIVEAWAY

I am back in Boston after being in one of my favorite places in the world over the past few days: Cape Cod. I was there with my family and was able to have a mix of work and play down there.

I’ll describe the play in photos:

Taking my sister and her husband’s dog Rio on walks. Really, he went on strike and laid down on the grass whenever he got tired.



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Back to Blogging on a Tuesday

Hope you enjoyed celebrating America’s birthday and the associated food and drink, time spent with family and friends, fireworks, and all things red, white, and blue. My long weekend was the basic New England “fit in as much as possible during these summer days off” situation.

Before I talk about my weekend, I wanted to share that I am excited to be back in the blog world! A couple of months ago, I decided to take a break from blogging about my life. In reality, what I needed was a mental shift away from running (and subsequently writing about my little obsession with the sport) after my last big race. It has been a restful recess, but I have now started to train for my fall marathon (Wineglass in NY), and am eager to return to my writing routine! My next chapter of posts will focus on everything from marathon training to the adventures and “micro-adventures” (as Alastair Humphreys would say) ahead in Boston, New England, and beyond. I encourage you to: 1) follow along 2) stay in touch and 3) after you read my posts, get outside and enjoy the short-lived summer weather. Looking forward to catching up and hearing how YOU are doing!

Back to the long weekend. Here’s a recap:

Saturday: Started off with a long training run in my home town, followed by a family party with lots of hydrating and non-hydrating beverages. This was followed by more food, drink, and games with friends later that night. No photos to capture these moments unfortunately!

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Farewell, for now!

After a lot of thought, I have decided to take a break from blogging.

I started JaneRunsWild to narrate my marathon training, fitness goals, travels, and log my race reviews. These races have defined much of my post-college life, even if they were run “for fun” and without much training, and I have loved recalling each transformative experience. It has been so interesting dipping my toes into the blogging community- you guys are full of creativity, motivation and inspiration, and gave me the momentum to keep writing.



When I initially did not make the 2016 Boston Marathon cutoff, even after qualifying, this blog was my outlet. JaneRunsWild was a platform for me to defend my passion for the sport, and ultimately helped me reach my goal of running Boston after I had received a bib from Clif Bar. I am more optimistic that I will make the cutoff for Boston 2017 after qualifying at Phoenix in February, but I may have to re-live this journey again if not. JaneRunsWild my partner, once more!

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Rainy Week and Ultra Advice

This morning was met with cloudy skies, the first reprieve from the rain that we’ve seen this entire week! I’m looking forward to the hovering English weather to make way for normal New England spring weather next week. If only marathon Monday could have had cooler temperatures as this week!

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Soul & Wanderlust

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a great week! I cannot believe that Sunday is May 1st. Although the past few months have been full of excitement, I am looking forward to the month ahead and the beginning of the summer season! Bring it on, May!

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Boston Marathon Weekend is HERE!!!

Happy Friday! What a week it’s been back home, seeing friends and family, starting to think about wedding plans and the marathon of course! Life is so unpredictable, full of highs and lows- and I am just going to ride this high for as long as I can. I am so thankful for the loved ones in my life and for the opportunity to run this Monday. It will be a humbling experience to be running alongside so many incredible runners. Thank you again Clif Bar for making Boston a reality for me!! You can read about the #NoHeartbreakHere contest and about the other winners here.

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Back in Boston after an Exciting Week!

We made it back to Boston yesterday and cannot stop reflecting on the wonderful week spent in Paris and the French countryside! There is so much to write about the trip, but instead of spilling out all of the details, I’ll give you the main highlights/thoughts of our France adventure:

-The biggest news is that Mark and I got engaged! And to top it off, our friends who came with us to France- Ann and Jon- also got engaged! So much celebrating and happiness this week :)

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Heading from Boston to Paris

Hope your week is going well so far. Mark and I are eager to finish off our work days before flying to Paris tonight!

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t put on some Sex and the City Season 6: “An American Girl in Paris” as I packed last night. While the Paris scenes got me very excited for our trip overseas, I decided to leave my Carrie Bradshaw outfits out of the suitcase. :)

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