2016: Year in Review

Happy New Year!

In each of my previous years’ recaps — 2013, 2014, and 2015 — I usually talk about all the wonderful places we’ve traveled, PRs I’ve run, and the 1,000+ miles I’ve run for the year. 2016 was different – it was the year of family. Josh and I welcomed our baby girl to the world in July. While many would like to forget 2016 and believe me, there are definitely parts of the year that were challenging, however, it will always be one of the most memorable years of my life.

—We started the year living in Connecticut and the announcement of our pregnancy. I tried to recap the pregnancy throughout the trimesters as transparently as possible without scaring away all readers! You can catch up on that here if you’re interested — 1st trimester, 2nd trimester, 36 week recap, and initial postpartum thoughts.

—We traveled to Southern California shortly after that and enjoyed our trip very much in Los Angeles and San Diego. A couple of weeks after that we went to Atlanta to celebrate my brother in law’s wedding. The last remaining trip before the arrival of the baby was to Providence to cheer on Coach Brian as he ran his 50th state marathon.

—We moved back to Hoboken in May. While this meant leaving my job, ending our lease early, and switching doctors late in the pregnancy, this was ultimately the right move for us. We’re happily settled back now and look forward to sharing more of our Hoboken favorites with our little one in the upcoming year.

—On the running front, the longest distance I raced in 2016 was 10 miles. I ran 4 races pregnant and 4 postpartum. Total mileage for the year was slightly under 300.

—And most importantly, 2016 is the year that I became a mom!

Cheers to a wonderful 2016 and a memorable 2017!

Sunday Snaps #8 – San Diego Edition

Southern California, I’m really going to miss you. The weather was amazing, the food was great, the attractions and the people all very nice. We enjoyed the last four days in sunny San Diego and are not ready to come back to reality. We stayed at The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla and enjoyed sightseeing in San Diego and La Jolla, hikes and runs in Torrey Pines State Park, and catching up on our reading by the pool.

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The sunsets were incredible in San Diego. This first picture is of the sunset from The Lodge at Torrey Pines overlooking the Torrey Pines Golf Course.

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The ocean is incredible after a hike through Torrey Pines State Park. The cliffs and the views were breathtaking.

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We enjoyed a day at the San Diego Zoo. Josh’s favorite animal was the koala and I really liked the polar bears, elephants, penguins and giraffes.

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Then we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Juniper & Ivy, one of Richard Blais’s restaurants. Our dinner was excellent, another one for the books. We’ve been doing really well with Top Chef restaurants. The pictures never do the food justice but let me assure you the picture above of the General Tso’s Cauliflower is incredible.

img_4594The next day we enjoyed a relaxing day at the hotel and then an evening stroll along the coast in La Jolla. We saw another incredible sunset and views of the Pacific.

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Also, the seals in La Jolla Cove cannot be missed.

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As if we did not do enough activity, we capped off our last day in California with a morning run to Torrey Pines Glideport. It was too foggy and early for gliders.

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However, we did see some surfers on their way down to the tides.

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And I finally ran more than a mile with Josh! We ran for over 3 miles!

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And another hike later in the morning through a different trail down to Torrey Pines Beach. Finally a bump picture I don’t hate to commemorate the 20 week mark.

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday!