Santorini Archives

Wow, what a year 2015 was! I know I say this about every year but each year keeps getting better and better.

On the running front, 2015 was the year of many milestones.

—I ran my first international marathon (and race)! I ran the Virgin Money London Marathon in April 2015 and while the race was not what I had hoped it to be, it was an incredible experience. My sentiments post-race helped me find my love for running all over again. I also fundraised over $1,800 for AgeUK for the race.

—I completed 15 races ranging from 1-mile to marathon. Last year I was excited for all the PRs and while it proved hard to beat, I managed to pull out a couple of course PRs this year.

—I’m most excited for my running milestones this year. I just started distance running three years ago and in that time I have completed 8 marathons, 10 half marathons, and over 4,300 miles! To say I am addicted is an understatement.

—I will end this year with over 1,300 miles under my belt which tops last year’s record! 1,300+ miles for me is over 212 hours of running, almost 300+ miles further than the distance from NYC to Orlando and almost 4 times the distance from NYC to Montreal.

—In July, I officially became a Road Runners Club of America coach. I am excited for my certification and to help others achieve their running goals.

—This year, I also helped coach the Athletes to End Alzheimer’s NYC Marathon team. It was definitely a different and rewarding experience from the other side and I am fortunate for this experience. By assisting the team, I ran the NYC Marathon this year with a very different perspective and enjoyed every minute of it.

For as much as I love running, I love traveling just as much. I wish I could travel as much as I run but I appreciate every chance I get to run while on vacation. 2014 was certainly the year of travel and in 2015, we were still jet setting every opportunity we had.

—This year, I logged miles in every city/country we visited: St. Maarten, Pittsburgh, London, Athens, Santorini, Hartford, Block Island, Orlando (twice), Bermuda, and Montreal.

We’re fortunate to have so many opportunities to travel for ourselves, for marathons, and to travel to spend time with family and friends.

This year we also sold our apartment and moved from Hoboken to Stamford for my new job. This is by far one of the hardest decisions and changes we made in recent years. I still look back on the last couple of months wondering how we made all of this happen so quickly and my heart still swells thinking about our time in Hoboken. However, we’re looking forward to what 2016 brings in our new adventure in Connecticut!

Without a doubt, I am fortunate for the best friends, family, and husband a girl could have. I know all of this running, traveling, and changing jobs/moving would not be possible without everyone’s support and love and I am forever grateful.

Thank you for a wonderful 2015 and an even better 2016!

Santorini stole our hearts! It was the perfect end to our vacation – London, London Marathon, Athens, and Santorini. We enjoyed beautiful weather and sites on the island and hope you enjoy the pictures (some appeared on my Instagram page), though no picture can do the views justice, half as much as we enjoyed the trip.

Food – We continued our trend of eating salads with almost every meal, especially Greek salads with feta cheese or the Santorini salad with fresh cherry tomatoes, capers, and homemade chloro cheese. Aside from breakfast which was served to us on our balcony at the resort, we made it point to eat at top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor. All of the vegetables on the island were extremely fresh, especially the cherry tomatoes, fava beans, and olives which were local. We ate at some amazing restaurants including Cave Restaurant at our hotel, Avaton Resort & Spa and Kapari Wine Restaurant.

Activity – After all the walking and sightseeing in London and Athens, we wanted a break in Santorini. However, the island was the perfect blend of activity and relaxation for us. Since we only had 4 nights on the island, we tried to keep it as low-key but active as much as possible. We hiked from our hotel in Imerovigli to Oia along the most scenic and challenging paths. The hike was over 4 miles long and took us a little over 1.5 hours with a lot of stops for pictures. We also did a run from Imerovigli to Fira and back all along the cliffs overlooking the caldera. The run was about 5 miles out and back on a very hilly, stone-paved/uneven path. A perfect, yet very tough recovery run. On our last day in Santorini, we went to Perissa Beach. The water was cold since it’s the beginning of the season but extremely calm.

Shopping – I love browsing through all the local shops on vacation to see the arts. I wish we had more space at home or a big enough suitcase to bring back some of the beautiful pieces we saw in Santorini. We did some browsing and shopping while we were in Oia and Fira. I do recommend shopping in Oia over Fira as everything appeared to be more local rather being a tourist locale. If you happen to be in Oia, I recommend checking out Aquamarine Jewelry as the staff is extremely friendly and they sell gorgeous pieces made in Greece.

Sights/Relaxation – There is so much to do on the island from catamaran cruises to wine tours, but we really wanted to see as much as possible but also relax and we did just that. We made sure to sleep in as much as possible, start the day with a leisurely breakfast overlooking the caldera, and then decide what to do next. In addition to the activities mentioned above, we read by the pool, enjoyed the amenities of the spa, and I even had one of the best massages ever. While everyone talks about the sunsets from Oia, we enjoyed the sunsets each night from Imerovigli and they were incredible. Our hotel is right at the edge of Imerovigli, so we had unobstructed views of Oia but also of the caldera, which we felt was the perfect spot for the sunsets.