Solo

Last week I posted about my training experience in Greece, yet today I want to ramble on about the one day I had there to explore. Because honestly, a day going solo as a tourist in Athens totally sold me on the you should take the time to travel alone theory.

Cue the eye-roll, wow this is cute Kait, so you're an expert travel blogger now huh?

No, I'm realize I'm far from it.  I'm pretty sure getting my wallet stolen because I didn't fully close your purse while trying to hail a cab disqualifies me as a travel expert.

Yet we've all see those "10 places to travel to before you die" and "12 reasons why you should try traveling alone" type of click-bait articles.  This obviously isn't click bait, it's just something that I now believe in, that I never believed in until I actually tried it.

Athens was a very last minute trip - once I got into the training, we booked a somewhat central Air BnB and flights roughly two weeks out.  I did almost no planning, and it was Thursday night with a 6 AM flight the next morning when it occurred to me I had no idea what my plan was for my free day in Athens.

It also occurred to me I couldn't check into my Air BnB until 3 pm, and would be on the ground in Greece by 8 AM.  So it was a shove 3 days worth of apparel into a backpack type of packing, proclaiming to Andrew (he flew in Saturday morning) that we couldn't dine anywhere that required a nicer dress code than gym clothes (typically my preference regardless).

Anyways, my tentative and only plan upon landing was knowing that I had to see the Acropolis - it was the main attraction, and centralized high up in the middle city; I couldn't miss it.

And I have to say, when I stepped off the Metro into the middle of a crowded Athens square on Friday morning, it was a very liberating feeling.  Not like a - WOOHOO I'm gonna run wild because Andrew isn't here - type of feeling, but more of a, I can literally go wherever I want, and do whatever I want with this day.

So I wandered to Starbucks first, because those aren't located here in Israel.  From Starbucks I could visibly see the top of the Acropolis, and so I started meandering in that direction. I wound up weaving through crazy colorful alleys full of great looking restaurants, and so I eventually stopped at one of my choosing and had a delicious omelette.

I couldn't help but wonder what the table full of high school girls next to me thought, as I sat there alone with my backpack, wolfing down my food as they gazed upon me, chain smoking before school. But it was liberating because I also didn't care; I would never see them again.

I saw three main sites, the first being the Acropolis which is fairly large and took some time.  From the Acropolis I could see pretty much the entire city, and so I picked out other sites on the map that looked of interested to me.  Next it was the Temple of Olympian  Zeus, and then finally the Panathenaic Stadium, whose name I'm still unsure how to announce.

The stadium ended up being my favorite site, probably because of it's relation to sports.  There were plenty of other things I could have seen or done - Andrew spent both Saturday and Sunday exploring, and covered pretty much everything.  If there was one thing I would see if ever back, it would be the Olympic complex from the 2004 games, which is located further outside of the city.

Anyways. Solo Kait took plenty of time to take pictures, and just sit and gaze.  I peed (in toilets) as many times as I want to because apparently I have a small bladder which can be annoying when I'm traveling with others, I'm sure.  I sat in the stadium for probably longer than Andrew would have wanted to, and even grabbed a passerby for a random handstand pic on the track.

duh

I stopped at a cafe and ate cake for lunch, and shortly after got my wallet stolen.  But honestly, even with that occurrence, I fully enjoyed my 12 hours as a wanderer in Athens. I met and had to rely on some great people who advised (and helped) me.  And I think having to overcome some obstacles on my own only made me respect my adventure a little bit more, looking back.

In summary, I'm not saying I prefer to travel alone.  Andrew and I travel well together, and I don't enjoy being alone by nature.  However, it was a great learning experience that felt different than any other tourist experiences that I've had so far, and I'm simply recommending if you ever get the chance but you're hesitant because it sounds scary or whatever, give it a try.  Just a day - maybe you'll love it.

Cheers - 

Kait

Five Things Friday

BEFORE we go any further, I have an announcement. Last night, at my third Blue Crab Crossfit class ever, I did my first double unders! 45 total, strung together about 10 in a row. The coach, Ben, was awesome, and sorry I'm not sorry, I'm a little bit proud of myself.

Moving on.

For Five Things Friday, I’m going to name one thing under each of the five categories that I’ve selected. This has been done mainly to cover the random assortment of things that I want to discuss.

1 (one) thing I loved this week – My run on Wednesday after work. Temperatures were hovering right around 55, and I was able to pull on shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. It was magical. I did a couple laps around Patterson Park and then a short jaunt down by the water, totaling just over seven miles for this girl.

1 (one) thing (I realized) I dislike this week – The fact that Starbucks doesn’t offer almond milk. Am I being outrageous here with this expectation? I guess I just figured that enough people across the country now drink almond milk almost exclusively… it would just be an awesome option to have. Is anyone else with me here? Hello Starbs, are you listening to me??

1 (one) thing I (oddly) miss – I never in a million years thought I would say this. But while I was in the office kitchen earlier this week, another dept. was setting up for their team breakfast, and a woman was setting up one of those electric griddle things. See below.

It flashed me back to my time working in the Sunflower Deli back in good ole’ Fort Collins, CO (which is now apparently a Sprouts). Once a month we had a senior breakfast, and would set up about five of those griddles at 6 AM to cook up a plethora of pancakes, sausages, etc. At the time one of my favorite hobbies was b*tching about that job, but looking back, it was a job that kept me incredibly active, I worked with very caring people, and got to interact with a ton of (mostly) happy customers on a daily basis. I mean we were in Colorado after all – everyone is pretty much always happy there.

me, in Colorado, being very happy.

1 (one) thing that makes me sad – My leg still hurts. My right hamstring to be exact, right up under my butt. The thing is, it isn’t sharp or jabbing or anything that is super restrictive (hence why I still allow two runs per week) but my sadness comes from the fact that it has been lingering since late September. If I had to wager (I’ve been doing some reading) it’s an obnoxious case of high hamstring tendon apathy – you can readthis post on it, or this article, and then shake your head and agree with me.

I’ve started implementing some of the mentioned exercises and should probably get a little more aggressive with them. Any other suggestions or comments on this matter is more than appreciated.

Last but not least –

1 (one) thing that makes me excited – USA men’s hockey vs. Canada, today at noon EST. A win puts us in the finals – fingers crossed!

Zach Parise

Linking up with #Backthatazzup Friday – enjoy the below jam!

Cheers to ‘Merica!!

And last, but not least - an extra Friday thing. This late V-day gift - a giraffe named Sphincter - showed up on my porch last night. I love him like he's my own son.

Tell me some things you love/hate/miss/are confused by/pumped for this week. Ready go-

Kait

Selfie Nation

 It seems Weird Wednesdays are slowly turning into random Wednesdays but hey, no harm no foul right?

I want to talk about three specific things, none of which are related.

1. Meryl Davis' arms. Holy. Ripped.  In case you didn't hear the amazing news, our U.S. superstar ice dancing pair - Meryl Davis and Charlie White - won Gold for the first time ever for the USA on Monday. Outside of the fact that the couple absolutely killed it, can we talk about Meryl's arms really quick?

Seriously, google image her. She's ripped. It's impressive.

2. Speaking of superstars (yet going down a completely different avenue) this song came on yesterday in my car on my drive home -

It made me realize that I miss the days when Miley was normal and sang nice normal songs and kept her tongue in her mouth. I'm not looking to open a 'let's bash Miley' forum - I would be lying if I said I didn't love Wrecking Ball when it first came out. But back in her 'Party in the USA' days, man did I have a girl crush on her.

Those days are gone now.

Long. Gone.

Last but most importantly, I got a badass box in the mail today.

For those of you who have never heard of Warby Parker, in short, you select 5 pairs of frames from their website that you think you may like. They ship them all to you, for free. You have five days to try them on/test them out (the lenses don't have a prescription in them) and then you ship them back. If you like a pair, you buy them. If not, then no hard feelings. And they come out pretty inexpensive, compared to normal eye docs.

Help me out, would ya? This girl snapped her glasses in half back in December, and is desperately in need of a new pair. Feedback appreciated.

#1

these may be my favorite...

 #2

                                                    #3

 #4

have some blue spots on the frames

#5

Jet Black is a little too intense for me.. it was still fun to try though.

Vote in the comments, pretty please?

Cheers to Wednesday - 

K

Taking Care

Well, it's Monday. And let's be honest we could all use a little pick me up. Some candy perhaps?

Phelps & Lochte, top USA men's swimmers

Eye candy, that is. No thanks necessary.

I have to start off with a confession. I said I was going to keep the weekend non-impact up until my 11 mile run yesterday morning.

I didn't.

I couldn't. The track was calling. The good news? I cranked out some 400 repeats, and hit 1:26-1:27 every time. I was pretty proud. I also got a little swimming and biking in as well.

oh cool look what i did! so crafty.

Aaaaand aside from the above, my weekend was extremely low key. Other activities included taking cheesy pics of myself photography...

... rearranging the furniture in my room.... and lastly, a lot of taking care of myself. Something I've realized I don't do enough.

Outside of the realm of healthy eating, vitamins and icing... I really don't do much as far as prevention. I honestly don't even stretch, which I know is a controversial topic to begin with but let me make the bold statement that I'm possibly the most inflexible human being on the planet.

So Kait, what did you do this weekend as a means of taking care of yourself? Don't hold your breathe, this is actually a pretty lengthy list. Aside from my typical stretching and hydrating...

-I foam rolled, something I hate doing but am really trying to work on. Hurts so good.
-I bought this juice:

100% tart cherry juice. It's PACKED with antioxidants and is supposed to be a natural anti-inflammatory. So I've started taking a swig in both the morning and night, because I figure hey why not?

-I sat in the hot tub for awhile and rested my foot against the jet. I'm not sure if this is actually 'healthy' or not, but it felt great.

-Following the hot tub, I went into the sauna and stretched. Or at least attempted to stretch.

-I also soaked my angry right foot in Epsom Salt the night before my 'longer' run, as it supposedly relaxes your feet and reduces inflammation. Are you seeing a pattern here? Inflammation = the devil.

And post-run? I relaxed. I sat still, something borderline impossible for me to do. I gave my feet a nice rub with some delicious minty lotion and painted them up all pretty. And then I sat on my ass and watched the Olympics.

guess that sport...

I'm not really one for sitting in front of the TV, but when it comes to the Olympics, you can find me on the couch.

Anyways, there's the updates. Anyone else have different preventive measures that they swear by? Always looking for tips.

Cheers!

I used to be an Olympian. Kind of.

I read something interesting the other day.

I read that recent Japanese research has found that ripe bananas (with brown spots) are actually really good for you, and have the ability to fight abnormal cells (cancer).

This intrigued me, mainly because I feel like ripe bananas tend to get a bad rap. Guilty as charged; I prefer them more on the green side versus brown. However, knowing this, when glancing at my bananas this morning when making a smoothie, I got happy that I was able to add some cancer-fighting action to my daily drink.

Anyways, what was this post suppose to be about? Oh yeah, how I used to by an Olympian.

Obviously that a semi-false statement. Let's correct it to be a little more true: I used to live, eat and train among Olympians. There we go.

whose that in the green ring? me.

I know I've mentioned this before, and that it's in the My Story section, but I couldn't help to feel extra proud while watching the opening ceremonies last night. Sidenote - did that opening sequence showing all of the amazing athletes make anyone else cry? #Guilty

Source

Spring 2010 I had the opportunity to intern at the Olympic Training Center out in Colorado Springs. It truly was a mind-blowing experience, even just to live in the dorms on the campus, dine at that state-of-the-art food hall three meals a day, and use the same workout facilities that some of these athletes we are watching over there in London used.

I got to swim in the same pool that Michael Phelps did.

No, that is not the pool.

Seriously though, aside from experiencing the sport administration side of things as an intern there, just seeing the day-to-day efforts these athletes put in was extremely humbling.

This is posted up at the Training Center. I love it.

Speaking of being humble, I've been trying to put forth effort the past two days in taking care of myself and listen to other's advice, and so have been doing all non-impact training. Yesterday I even managed to swim four consecutive laps in the pool, no stopping. I know that sounds easy, but for me it's not. I was quite proud.

I AM SO PROUD

So, as I sit here in my living room watching Phelps and Lochte tear it up in the pool over there with our Brit friends, I can't help but feel inspired to head over to the club and do some more laps today. I figure today should be fairly light, as I'll head out for 12 miles early tomorrow morning.

I can't remember the last time I ran 12 miles. Maybe sometime in May?

Cheers to a great weekend!