Hello, My Pretty!

Disclaimer: As a member of the Brooks Run Happy Team, I received a complimentary pair of the Brooks Ghost Max in exchange for social shares. I really do love them!

So much prettiness again this week! My sister and I wrapped up our trip to Banff and headed home on Monday. Luckily, we had decent weather in Chicago, which helped ease the landing. Work was insane, but I was still riding the wave of a nice trip with my sister. Even better, our fall colors are peeking right now, so there's plenty of beauty right here at home. We headed up to the lake on Saturday where the colors are spectacular. There was a little bit of sunshine, but the clouds blew in and kind of dimmed the glow. It was still pretty for my run!

Wrapping up the Week in Banff

Buckle up, pour yourself a drink, get a snack, because I'm recapping not only my experience spectating the Chicago Marathon, but also the first part of my weekend in Banff. My sister and I traveled to Canada for our 11th annual sister trip. It's hard to keep topping our previous trips, but our long weekend in Banff may have been our best trip yet. I have so many photos and it was hard to pick just a few to share here. Oh, and I had a big run on the Ice Age Trail in there too! And did I mention I met Des Linden?

What a week!

A Change of Scenery: Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone

This was quite a week! As I mentioned in my last post, after a year off, my sister and I resumed our annual sister trip and heading off to Jackson Hole. Actually, we stayed in Jackson, Wyoming. This was sister trip #9 and we both agreed it was our best one yet! We hit up 2 National Parks, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. With only a day to spend in each park, we nailed down an itinerary that allowed us to hit the main attractions. As always, we had a lot of fun, a lot of good food, and a lot of activity. 

Coffee Talk

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Let's catch up over coffee! Did you know that yesterday was National Coffee Day? Every day is coffee day at my house! Anyway, I just love this monthly coffee date. I'm having my usual Dunkin with a scoop of GLG collagen and a splash of half and half. What are you having? What would you tell me over coffee?

Happify sets a positive tone to my day!

Catching Up

I may have missed last week's recap, but I have the perfect excuse. My sister and I took our annual sister trip--this year was #8-- to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We had a great time even in spite of spending a day with Tropical Storm Nestor. We shopped. We ate some amazing food. We laughed. We made memories.

And yes, I ran on the beach.

I don't normally like to run on the beach, but I couldn't say no to this stretch of wide, flat, and packed sand. People ride bikes on this beach! It's probably arguable but the beach on Hilton Head is one of the most perfect beaches I've visited.

Here are some of the highlights from the past 2 weeks of workouts.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

After a week of bad news and an RA flare, the annual sister weekend we had planned was a welcome break. Timing is everything, isn't it? My only regret about our timing is that it was the Chicago Marathon and I would be missing it. I don't know what I was thinking when I gave my sister the date. I will admit to a little FOMO, seeing everyone's photos. Congrats to all the finishers!!!

My goals for the weekend were: destination sunshine and relaxation. Maybe we'd squeeze in a little fitness. Let the fun commence!