RAGBRAI Day 4 2015 – Ride Report
Ahh, nothing better than a little peace and quiet in the Iowa countryside… with 10,000 of your closest cycling friends!
RAGBRAI (The Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is a week-long cycling trip from the west to east border of Iowa. The route changes every year, and you can register to ride the entire seven days, or register for certain days of your choosing. This event is in its 43rd year (it’s been going on since 1973)!
Last year, Dad and I registered for the final day (Day 7) because it conveniently started near where he lives, and ended in Guttenberg, where my family has homes along the Mississippi River.
This year, we registered for two days (Day 4 and 5) in the middle of the course because the overnight town was Cedar Falls – my Mom and Dad’s hometown (and super close to where they live now). How lucky that the course went so close to the part of Iowa much of my family lives in, two years in a row!*
I was excited to try the middle days and see if they were as festive as the last day (yes, yes they are) and to check out all the post ride hubbub in Cedar Falls. Last year, we didn’t finish with an “overnight town,” but most of what you hear about RAGBRAI is all the partying people do at night!
Last year, Steven and Mom dropped us off in the starting town of Independence and took alternative routes around the course so they could see us in some pass-through towns, then meet us at the finish with other family members. This year was a bit different – Mom drove me and Dad to Eldora on Wednesday to ride Day 4, then drove straight back to Cedar Falls. Since my dad’s mom lives in Cedar Falls, somewhat close to the course finish, we just rode to her house when we were done. Easy peasy!
It’s kind of humorous to be driven 50 miles just to ride 60+ miles back to where you started, but we saw quite a few other cars racked up with bikes headed the same way as us, so we knew were weren’t the only ones doing it!
One of the cool things about RAGBRAI is that you can do it however you want – pick the amount of days, pick how fast you go, pick when you start, when you finish, how long you spend in the pass-through towns, how hard you party, and so on. It’s not a race. It’s purely for fun – a giant party on wheels! Our preferred start time was between 7:30 – 8:00 am both days. We heard of people who started at sunrise, and others who didn’t start until noon!
We pulled off on the side of the road near the start in Eldora, and after packing up my jersey pockets (we wore last year’s official jersey), pumping air in my tires, and a few pics and selfies, we were off!
Right away, we were in group of slow moving bikes with lots “slowing!” and “stopping!” being yelled by cyclists. There were cars in the road with us, and that was slowing us down. It only took a couple of miles until we were free-flowing, though.
I should note, when we started it was 59°F with some clouds in the sky and felt great out!
We slowed to a walk for the first pass-through town (Steamboat Rock) and… nearly every subsequent pass-through town after that. Dad and I discussed that we didn’t remember walking our bikes so much through the pass-through towns last year. I didn’t mind getting off and walking (I liked the break for my butt and didn’t care about pace), but Dad said it didn’t help his legs, ha ha.
We had eight pass-through towns (although one of them we don’t remember and another town had 57 residents and not much more than a funny sign and one booth up!), and I liked that they were so close together (most were less than 10 miles apart) and that it gave me a good reminder to stop, eat and get more water. Sometimes I forget to eat when I am riding my bike for longer distances.
We brought some food with us, but I bought some “real” food too. There are only so many Clif gels and bars you can eat before your stomach asks for something else!
I stopped a few times away from official towns too. I had to get my pickle!
I wasn’t super chatty for much of the ride (like I can be when I am running). Dad and I rode together and mostly commented on other riders (how fun their outfits were, that it was cool they were blasting music, etc.), and other sites (lots of funny signs and interesting facts about the towns) we were seeing. I know the Iowa landscape seems boring to some, but I do find it peacefully beautiful.
It’s such a treat to be with a huge group of cyclists, taking over the road this way and not worrying so much about vehicle traffic. You’re very often getting passed and passing other cyclists yourself, but most people are courteous and watching out for one another. Many warnings are yelled: “car up!” “cyclist up!” “rumble strips!” “on your left!” It’s a real community feeling, even though you are with a bunch of strangers!
My muscles felt good for the ride, but my left toes were getting numb, and my shoulders were a bit sore toward the last twenty miles of the ride (we put in just over 60 miles on Day 4). I played music from my phone speaker for a bit to get me pumped up. Around 10 miles from the end, Dad told me he was feeling really sore and wasn’t sure how he’d be able to do a second day. Eek! I was worried!
We made it to the end though, and were all smiles when we finished!
We finished around 1:30 pm (it was 78°F out then), and spent just over five hours cycling, and were gone for five hours and forty-four minutes, overall (see Garmin stats here). We averaged 12.0 miles per hour, and had 1,644 feet of climb. It felt mostly flat.
We reconvened for dinner at my Grandma’s and left her place at 9:00 pm to check out the post ride festivities! My brother-in-law’s sister, Julie, had arrived to ride Thursday (Day 5), and came out with us!
I really had no idea what to expect at the event, and was kind of bummed to see it was a bunch of food vendors and a beer tent, and a stage (not sure what I was hoping for?). I had already eaten dinner and didn’t know what the music was going to be.
But! We had arrived right in time for the main show – Hairball, a super fun 80s rock tribute band. If you know me… you know I’d enjoy it. They’d do a few songs dressed up as one band (KISS, Journey, Van Halen, and so on) then do a costume change and come out as another band! I really enjoyed it, because it was most of my favorite songs being performed!
Aunt Sue, Will’s sister Julie, me and Mom
We couldn’t stay all night though. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t try to get a decent sleep. I was so jacked up Tuesday night I didn’t sleep well for Wednesday’s ride (but felt fine during), and didn’t want that to happen again (ha ha, it did, complete with weird dreams about not having my ride “bib” (um, there isn’t one) and other strange things). We left the concert just before 11:00 and were up until past midnight, hanging out with my sister and her husband, Will, who had just arrived so Will could ride Day 5. I guess even if you aren’t out partying, you’re still too excited to get much sleep!
*I know, it’s not likely it will next year. I told Dad we should do Day 7 again, because no matter where it ends along the Mississippi River, we can travel up/down to Guttenberg, after we finish.
Block Island Sunscreen Review (sponsored post)
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine. I received the Natural Mineral Sunscreen – SPF 30 to review. This post contains links to the Block Island Organics websites but my only compensation was the sunscreen.
As you guys know, for several years, I haven’t been wearing sunscreen while I run because I can’t find one that lets my skin breathe and doesn’t feel heavy (like it’s clogging my pores), or doesn’t get in my eyes and sting them. So I recently went to a dermatologist for a free skin cancer screening (the derm said everything looks good) and he recommended I use CeraVe sunscreen for running. I bought it. And tried it. No bueno.
Sigh.
So when Block Island Organics emailed me about trying their Natural Mineral Sunscreen (SPF 30), I was intrigued. It’s organic (derr), lightweight, and free of parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, phthalates, gluten, dyes and artificial fragrances. And even cooler – they don’t do animal testing and use vegan-based formulas! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I didn’t want to waste their time though and told them about my typical issues – that I don’t want a sunscreen that beads on my face and makes me more sweaty and miserable. They told me it’s lightweight and not greasy, and that while they have not tested it for water resistance, it’s worked out well for them when they workout. Hmm, but I sweat like… something that sweats a lot. Would it work for me?
But let’s be honest. I need to find a sunscreen that works and can’t go around spending $10-20 a bottle until I find the right one. I wanted to give Block Island sunscreen a try.
The first thing I noticed when I opened it was that it didn’t have the typical sunscreen smell, which seemed odd at first, but I grew to like. When they say no artificial fragrances, they mean it! It was nice to go out with sunscreen on and not smell like it!
I used the sunscreen on several midday runs. I tried putting the sunscreen on (my face, arms and upper back) right before a run, as well as putting it on fifteen minutes before (per the directions) and letting it “soak” in (my word, not theirs, ha ha).
No matter what I did, I sweated so much that it dripped off. I noticed the directions say to “use a water resistant sunscreen if swimming or sweating,” so I don’t think it’s meant for someone who sweats like me. (Maybe I should try it in the winter when I sweat less?)
Arrows pointing to all the sunscreen dripping down me during the middle of a 5 mile run
Sunscreen pooling up then dripping down my elbow
HOWEVER – this is the first sunscreen I have found that DOES NOT sting when it drips in my eyes. It also did NOT make me feel like I couldn’t breathe. It felt lightweight, like they said. But what use is that when it’s dripping off? I never had a noticeable burn after a run, but, maybe I wasn’t out long enough to get one?
I tried it during cycling too, where I sweat less. Oh yeah, it stayed on. YOU COULD SEE IT ON ME ALL DAY. Ha ha! I couldn’t get it to rub in! It made me all white, wherever I put it! It’s nice to be able to see where it’s applied, but I thought it was odd it never faded away, even after I rubbed at it. Of course, I don’t mind looking like a goof, so it didn’t bother me, as long as it worked…
See how white my face and arms are?
But sadly, I still got burned. However, it says to apply every two hours, and I think I applied every two and a half hours and was in the sun all darn day, so I am not sure how well any sunscreen would do. Although, three of us bikers used this and got burned and one person used a spray-on sunscreen and was okay.
My burn from RAGBRAI Day 4
My burn from RAGBRAI Day 5 (it looks glossy because I had aloe on it)
The next day, the burn didn’t hurt much and turned in to a tan. But I am not sure if that was my tan base, or the sunscreen that made that happen.
I really want to like this product because it’s organic, natural, vegan-friendly and chemical free, but it just doesn’t seem to work for me, since I am a crazy sweaty beast. I DO like that it does not make my eyes sting, so I plan to continue using it my face, however, it’s a bummer that it will just come right off if it gets wet (which I witnessed when I got sprayed with water (on purpose) while riding my bike) or I sweat.
I DO like that Block Island Organics is a family owned company (named after the town where the business was started – fun!) and that they are on a mission to educate consumers, provide quality products and simplify the skin care process. It just seems like I need the water/sweat proof version of this sunscreen for it to work for me! I’m grateful I got to try this and will use it on my face, but the search for a whole-body sunscreen for running continues!
If you’d like to check out their site and more about their mission and other products, you can visit their website, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine. I received the Natural Mineral Sunscreen – SPF 30 to review. This post contains links to the Block Island Organics websites but my only compensation was the sunscreen.
Training Week 301
Highlight of the Week: Spending so much time exercising with family members!
Monday | July 20, 2015: 4 m run (inlc. 4×400) + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 77°/77°, Time: 37:29, Pace: 9:23 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: beat, itchy
Strength: AireX pads & medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | July 21, 2015: rest
Wednesday | July 22, 2015: RAGBRAI Day 4 (61.7 m w/Dad) + 6.5 m run
Loc: Eldora to Cedar Falls, Temp: 59/78°, Time: 5:08:41, Pace: 12.0 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good (just numb toes/tight shoulders)
Loc: Waterloo, Temp: 78°/79°, Time: 1:01:36, Pace: 9:28 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: shockingly good
Thursday | July 23, 2015: RAGBRAI Day 5 (76 miles w/Dad, Julie and Will)
Loc: Cedar Falls to Hiawatha, Temp: 60°/80°, Time: 6:25:07, Pace: 11.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: really good
Friday | July 24, 2015: 11 m run (4.6 m w/Dad)
Loc: W’loo to Evansdale, Temp: 68°/68°, Time: 1:52:12, Pace: 10:12, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, steady!
Saturday | July 25, 2015: 5 m run
Loc: Waterloo, Temp: 70°/71°, Time: 49:52, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, a little slow to wake up
Sunday | July 26, 2015: 16 m run (w/Dad on bike)
Loc: Cedar Falls Trails, Temp: 71°/73°, Time: 2:49:58, Pace: 10:37 avg, Difficulty: medium to easy, Felt: good
Notes:
- RAGBRAI was a lot of fun (and different than last year)! I’m looking forward to spending a few days processing it all and reviewing the photos my GoPro took and typing up some ride recaps. It was fun to spend a day riding with my dad, then to spend the next day riding with him, and my brother-in-law, Will, and his sister, Julie, and seeing how they reacted to their first time doing a day of RAGBRAI!
- I spent Tuesday evening through Sunday afternoon in the town I grew up in in Iowa. I stayed in a part of town I haven’t before and got to run some new-to-me routes and also got to run with my Dad (while he biked)! I was lucky enough to have two overcast/somewhat rainy runs on Friday and Sunday that felt AMAZING! The others were hot and humid!!! Summer weather is definitely here! It doesn’t feel as much like death this year to me though, I think, because I’ve been doing lunch runs to try to get used to it.
- I’m really surprised I got my goal 40 running miles in for the week, with all that cycling. When I was leaving town today my dad said he wished we lived in the same town so we could workout together (awww) because he knew I would get his butt moving. Well, he definitely is the one who got me moving on my long run on Sunday, so it goes both ways! He can pretty much count on me expecting him to join me for a long run when we’re together, and I count on him to ask about it and make sure it happens.
- No swimming this week (well, beyond a hot tub at a surprise birthday party, but more on that later) and my swim lesson had to be canceled for pool cleaning. Bummer! I hope I can still fit one in, at some point!
When the driver yelling at you… is a good thing
Two interesting stories from my run today:
- This lady driving a van stayed stopped at a stop sign to let me run in front of her. Cool. Then I see her turn down the residential road I am running on and swerve toward a group of four girls walking (facing traffic, as they should). What the heck?! When I ran by the girls I asked “Do you know that person?” One answered “Yeah, it’s my mom.” Um, phew, but… yeah, that freaked me out. Nice way to say “hi,” mom, ha ha!
- Also, when I was out on my run, a driver rolled down their window and yelled “good job!” And it didn’t sound sarcastic! I thought that was nice.
Of course, the highlight of my day was riding 61.7 miles from Eldora to Cedar Falls, IA, with my dad! But more on that when I have more time to write it up! We’re riding 70 miles to Hiawatha tomorrow!
Ten Year Blogiversary
Hey! My blog has made it to 10 years! Woot woot!
Last night I said to Steven, “Guess what tomorrow is?!”
His answers: “The 21st?” “Tuesday”? “10 days from your birthday?!” <— very good answer, Steven, ha.
“No! It’s my ten-year blogiversary?! Should I retire?!”
Then he asked me what kind of pension plan I have, and what I have to show for 10 years of blogging.
I don’t think he was expecting a serious answer, but, I actually have A LOT to show for those 10 years. Many of my closest relationships are with people I met through blogging. There was a time when my ONLY friends were bloggers! So, beyond my blog giving me a place to speak without interruption, and document parts of my life, it’s connected me with so many amazing people. Thank you for reading!
I was hoping to have something cool (I don’t know quite what…) planned to celebrate, but my mind has been all over the place getting ready for RAGBRAI (my first day is tomorrow!) and planning a party with my snister*!
So… maybe next year? Ha.
*She is doing 99% of the work
Training Week 300
Highlight of the Week: Not feeling like death during a super humid long run.
Monday | July 13, 2015: 5 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: hood, Temp: 75°/78°, Time: 48:30, Pace: 9:42 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: too hot, but okay
Strength: AireX pads & medicine balls, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Tuesday | July 14, 2015: 7.4 m run (first 3.8 virtual w/Kelly) + 1,000 meter swim
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 71°/70°, Time: 1:12:18, Pace: 9:46 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake Pool, 50m freestyle/50m breaststroke x 10, Time: 24:22, Pace: 1:26/100m avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Wednesday | July 15, 2015: rest
Thursday | July 16, 2015: 6 m run (incl 1/2/3/4, 4/3/2/1 up/down ladder)
Loc: hood, Temp: 68°/67°, Time: 52:00, Pace: 8:40 avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: good, but like I might slip
Friday | July 17, 2015: teaching strength class + 1,500 meter swim + 3 m run
Strength: AireX pads & medicine balls, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake Pool, Time: 37:20, Pace: 2:29/100m, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but sore shoulders
Loc: Volo Bog, Temp: 83°/81°, Time: 28:34, Pace: 9:31 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: so so annoyed
Saturday | July 18, 2015: 15 m run
Loc: Around town, Temp: 73°/76°, Time: 2:44:32, Pace: 10:58 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | July 19, 2015: 7.3 m ride + teaching fitness boxing + 7.7 m ride + 4 m run
Loc: home to Efit, Temp: 75°, Time: 33:52, Pace: 12.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: body weight and boxing, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Efit to home, Temp:79°, Time: 35:54, Pace: 12.9 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 79°/79°, Time: 39:54, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: itchy / beat
Notes:
- For about two years, I didn’t run with music, and now I am again (when it’s safe to). I wonder how long I’ll stick with it this time. I definitely like it for speedwork!
- Ha, during my speedwork this week, I found out my light speedwork shoes are VERY slippery in the rain. Yikes! I was worried I was going to fall when I was doing my repeats!
- To try save myself from getting overheated during my long run, I did a run 9/1 (minutes) run/walk ratio. I normally don’t do a run/walk because the walking makes my knees lock up, but, it was a success! I never felt too hot and think my overall pace is better than it would have been had I run the whole thing. Of course, whenever I stopped to walk it seemed like I was always around another runner, ha ha. I swear, I’m running, guys!
- Gah, I need to start carrying body glide in my pack so I can use it on the go if need be. I decided during my long run I couldn’t wear a shirt any longer and put it in my pack… which proceeded to chafe the hell out of me. Ouch! But it was worth it not to have a shirt on.
- When I swim laps I’ve been doing a combination of freestyle and breaststroke (for different laps, not in the same lap) because the freestyle makes my shoulders a bit tired. I wonder if I’d feel less tired doing it, if I wasn’t always coming from some other fitness activity, to the pool. But, based on the pool lap swim hours, that’s how it works with my schedule.
- I wanted to bank some running miles this week since I’ll likely run less next week (because of RAGBRAI WOO HOO!) but… I didn’t. Oops! I’ll just have to see what I can do this week (it will probably be a cutback week).
Trail running and I are in a fight
Volo Bog is now on my sh*t list for places to run. Screw you and your pretty views!
Sigh.
Okay, I should actually thank Volo Bog for giving me a trail running experience worse than last Saturday’s.
What could possible be worse than running through this?
That would be running for 3 miles surrounded by this:
Bugs! Not nature (ha ha)!
Tell me, how many bugs do you see?!
Yeah, I had at least five of them buzzing around my face, hitting me in the face, shoulder, chest and hair for the 2.5 miles I stayed on the trails. It was HORRIBLE. And yeah, I had bug spray on.
We had really hot temps yesterday, so I drove to Volo Bog because it’s shaded. And it was right after it rained so that dropped the temp a bit. But… brought all the bugs out? It doesn’t help that it’s a freakin’ BOG. Probably no amount of bug spray could help me. Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Kim!
I was miserable the whole time, and escaped the trail at 2.5 miles to finish at 3 on the road, where the bugs followed me. But! I ran fast, for a trail, for me. Ha.
Gah, this makes me REALLY happy we were only dealing with mosquitoes at the muddy race last week!
I woke up today with a super itchy shoulder. Ouch –
I’m sure that’s the first welt of many. Well, at least my running backpack will cover it on my long run today… which will be on PAVED trails, hopefully away from standing water, and not in the deep woods.
Yeah, trail running and I are definitely in a fight.
The MBP bracelet
Ooo, Christina got me good.
I was unpacking my suitcase Sunday night and… wait a minute… what is that hidden between my clothes?!
Ha ha ha. I die. The ‘ole MBP* bracelet.
So last July, when Steven, Rachel, Mom and I were in Kansas City, and we were about to start the drive back home, Christina pulls up next to us in her car and motions for us to roll our car window down. We do, figuring she wants to say one last goodbye, but instead, she throws something in the car, laughs, then drives away.
What the heck? We looked at what she threw in, and sure enough, it was this bracelet. Which she received at a bachelorette party.
Instead of throwing it away (like a normal person), I held on to it. Later that summer, Steven and I left it hanging somewhere in my parents’ cabin. Then my mom snuck in back in to my snister’s place later in the year. Then the two of them TRIED to hide it in my coat on New Year’s Day, but I found it and had Will hide it in Christina’s makeup bag. Muah ha ha.
And then I forgot about it. Until now. Like I said, Christina got me good!
Now the bracelet is back at my house, but lucky me, I am seeing both my mom AND snister next week. So it won’t be here long!
Aren’t family shenanigans fun?!
*male body part
Random Thoughts Thursday 74
- I’m still knitting! I haven’t dedicated time to learning any new skills, so I’m still just knitting lots of washcloths for my mom and her mom. However, Mica sent me some DPNs (double pointed needles), I still want to make those cacti for my snister, and I just received these fun knitting books! So I have some ideas for what I want to try when I get around to it. And I want to start holiday gifts soon. Keeping them secret while I work on them is going to be hard for me, ha ha!
- Have you ever had to take one of those personality tests for work? The one where they tell you your strength and weaknesses in areas like leadership, influencing others, working in a team, etc.? I always score low in the area of influencing others/selling ideas, because I HIGHLY DISLIKE TRYING TO INFLUENCE OTHER PEOPLE. Especially when I don’t have the authority to do so. I don’t want to be a sales person, period. I am more of a “live and let live” person – in all areas of life. (Ha, that doesn’t mean I don’t often wonder why people do the things they do, just that I don’t want to tell them how to do things, myself.)
- We had a beautiful lightning storm here Monday night! I could have stayed outside all night watching it, but… that’s not safe! Ha.
- One of my goals for the year was to take a swim lesson (to see how my form is) and I have it scheduled for this month. I am excited about it, and hope that I am able to remember all the things the coach is bound to tell me are messed up with my form. No, I am not doing a triathlon. A few people have asked me lately “Why don’t you just do one?” since I run and bike, and sometimes swim. Eh, just not interested in it right meow. Maybe someday though!
- Oh my gosh, talking with a coworker yesterday about her daughter coming back home from a three week summer trip reminded me how mean I was to my mom and sister when they picked up me and my dad from the airport on our return leg from Spain in 2002 (when I was 17 years old). I did NOT want to be coming home. And they were so excited to see us, and I think even made “welcome back” signs. And I was just like “eh, whatever.” Sigh. I still get this hurt feeling in my heart when I think about how I treated them. But… that was thirteen years ago! Ha! Hopefully they don’t ever think about it.
Underpromise and overdeliver
I received Meb for Mortals as an early birthday gift. YAY!!! I am ready for all your “secrets*,” Meb! Ha ha.
So far, I’ve only read the first chapter, on the importance of setting goals (basically, using the SMART criteria). I like that Meb emphasizes that goals DON’T have to be pace based and I especially liked what he said about goal sharing:
I’m not advocating telling the whole world your goal. Stick with a small group of people who you know will care enough to want to help you reach it. With everyone else, underpromise and overdeliver.
When I read that I was hoping he’d go in to more explanation behind his thought process on underpromising and overdelivering, but he didn’t. Obviously, I get that you should share your goals with people who actually care about your progress and will help you be successful. But with some athletes being more publicly open about their specific goals (see Shalane Boston 2015), I wonder what it is that tells Meb to keep some things to himself – is it an innate feeling or something a coach advised him on?
I wonder because that’s how I am – I share very little (if I have a goal at all). It just doesn’t work for me** to publicly announce a goal and have more than those few, caring people know about it. I hadn’t thought about it as “underpromising and overdelivering” with everyone else though. That’s interesting. I wonder what other things I’ll read in the book that make me go “hmm.”
Who would be in your small group of people you share goals with? Or does broadcasting them work for you?
*Which he specifically says aren’t “secrets,” ha ha.
**And I am not denouncing this method for other people! I just know what works for me.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
