Well, here we go….another year I didn’t blog yet feel the need to recap an entire year’s worth of stuff into a blog post with less than 36 hours until 2023.
WINTER
We took Burton on many snowy runs and bike rides at Camp Edge – he loved frolicking through the snow!
A few snow days at work which meant sneaking out to the trails with Burton once I ran out of work to do and seeing pretty snowy scenery!
On 2/2/22, I ran two 2.22 mile runs. Fun way to celebrate a fun calendar day!
Continued coaching the Reactors through frigid temps – bundled up to the max in attempt to stay warm!
Claude Giroux played his last game as a Flyer. It was a game I wish I could’ve been at but the Flyers did a great job honoring his time in Philly.
We geocached at Brandywine with my parents and the Koerings on a cold winter day but made lots of fun finds!
Winter is winter – hibernation mode and survival mode getting through tough weather. Nothing else really happened.
SPRING
I attended NICA OTB 101 with several other coaches throughout the league. It is a known fact to all coaches and trainers that I consistently failed at bike-body separation.
I volunteered at several South Jersey NICA races. Most of the volunteer positions went smoothly; however, there was a gang of off-road hover boarders at CCC that REALLY irritated me. It was a rough time in that position that day. Otherwise, the Reactors were crushing it and took the W at several races throughout the season. At the end of the season, they won the overall state title which was AMAZING and SO exciting! What an honor to be a coach on the team!
I started training for the World’s End 50k. Mileage consistently increased for about 2 months. I was doing long runs every weekend and hill repeats to prepare as best as possible for June’s race. A lot of sacrifices happened in the training block and I was praying it would all pay off!
During my school’s spring break, AKA the start of Easter weekend, I started my training with iCanBike at a camp in Groton, MA. Kaitlyn and Kent took me under their wing and trained me at an amazing (but cold) camp in a quiet town in Massachusetts. Being a part of that camp was so rewarding, and although I felt overwhelmed with a wealth of information and responsibilities, I embraced the fun and mentorship. This trip also offered me the opportunity to try Indian food and Thai food for the first time ever as my co-workers loved both types of food. We ate Indian food on Easter Sunday since no other restaurants were open. My takeaway from Indian food was that naan is so so good. The Thai food was equally as delicious; albeit spicy. On the last day of camp, we hiked up to an old castle – Bancroft’s castle – and got to see a beautiful sunset!
I competed in the Sasquatch 5k by volunteering with course set-up and racing in the race! I finished 1st overall female and won awesome, customized Sasquatch awards!
The CSA with local farmers began in the spring and I continued it through the fall season too! Having delicious, fresh, and local veggies available for meals each week was amazing! I also came to love acorn squash in the fall season from our crop share!
We also had our backyard garden. We only planted in one of our two gardens though since we had the crop share and I knew I would be gone for long periods of time in the summer. It was still great to have fresh veggies from our garden!
Josh & I took a weekend trip to Chincoteague, VA for Clem & Marie’s wedding. This was the first time we had visited Chincoteague together. It rained a lot (it rains at all our vacations). We got to enjoy many of the eateries on the island, visit Assateague and go on the beach to look for cool seashells. Josh found a conch! This was the first time we ever went to a beach together in our 6 years of being together! HA! It was an enjoyable trip exploring the area!
Josh and Dad competed in the Transylvania Epic 3-day stage race. Mom & I went up to camp with them for the final 2 days of their races. It rained all day for their 2nd day of racing. Mom & I hiked around a lake while waiting for them to finish. We enjoyed camping with Burton, Gwin & Zoey in the comfort of my parent’s camper. The guys did an AMAZING job despite hardships on the course. I am proud of them both!
On June 4th, I suffered through the Worlds End 50k. This race literally destroyed me physically and mentally. Despite months of training, the course absolutely kicked my butt. The endless rocks hurt my ankles and knees to the point of no return. However, highlights included seeing a sunset in the endless mountain range, camping at the Worlds End State park, seeing a bobcat from very far, and visiting Knoebel’s on the way home where we rode The Phoenix, log flume, carousel, and ate periogies! I still don’t think I am mentally recovered from this race because I have absolutely no interest in running an ultra any time soon. I am grateful for the opportunity to race it, learned from it, and can honestly say “one and done with that course!”.
I finished my first school year as an OT at the beginning of June. HALLELUJAH IT WAS SUMMERTIME!
SUMMER
In June, I worked three consecutive bike camps – Tampa FL, Milford PA, and Hoboken NJ. Although this was three weeks away from Josh, Burton, and my family, it was three incredible weeks of being in new places, meeting great people, and teaching individuals with disabilities how to ride a bike!
In Tampa, Jess & Kelly mentored me through my 2nd week of training. We did yoga in the scorching Florida heat, visited the beach, saw crazy lightning in a summer storm, and survived the dense humidity throughout camp week. Of course there was also delicious food & ice cream throughout the week!
The Milford camp was the first camp I did as the only floor supervisor. The hosts, volunteers, and riders had such big hearts and were aweinspiring throughout the week. Kent and I visited the tri-state rock where I got to stand in 3 states at one time! We also ate delicious ice cream in town. There are some riders from this camp that I will never forget. Their perseverance throughout the week was truly amazing. On our way to our next camp together, we also stopped at High Point and hiked up the High Point monument! Great views from the top of the monument.
There was a significant difference transitioning to city life in Hoboken after the mountain views in Milford! The Sunday before camp, Kent and I took the ferry into NYC to do some sightseeing. We visited the 9/11 Memorial and walked around other areas of NYC. At the camp, there were amazing, energetic volunteers who dedicated A LOT of energy to their riders throughout the week. A parent of twin boys we were working with at camp treated us to dinner at their Italian restaurant. It was truly a 6-course meal and the food just kept appearing! SO SO good! Throughout the week, we also enjoyed a lot of great food throughout Hoboken. We had so many riders riding around the outdoor track by the end of the week – it was rewarding to see; however, city life is not for me! I was happy to go home after three weeks of camps. I was exhausted and ready to relax with my boys!
Pitman Freedom 4 miler – after a full week of not running, I was totally winging it! I was pleasantly surprised with my time. I think the endurance I had built up from the ultra helped me. It was a great time racing with Brianna and cheering on other runners before going to Woodstown for the parade with the Reactors! A fun-filled day!
S&S invested in an app as a timing system to better time/score short track races throughout the summer. Mom & Heidi definitely had a learning curve to using the app but the racers were appreciative of electronic results. I am also happy to have electronic results available since it cuts down on the time I spend on results post-race! I spent many Wednesday nights in hotels during bike camp weeks sifting through results to ensure accuracy. I think by the end of short track season, the app was very useful, especially for races with larger crowds!
I returned to Florida in the middle of July for a bike camp in Jacksonsville, FL with Kelly. We visited the beach, hung out with one of her friends several times, and ate delicious ice cream. We also visited St. Augustine and got to see a beautiful rainbow! The riders did great and the host organization provided us with delicious garden-based meals each day. Another memorable and rewarding camp week!
Josh & I vacationed in Snowshoe, WV at the end of July to spectate the UCI Mountain Bike Race. As usual, it rained throughout our trip. We spent the entire last day of racing spectating in the pouring rain. It was cold, foggy, rainy, muddy, crazy! It was fun spectating the professionals, being in a crowd of people (most of whom were drunk) cheering on the riders, and seeing American racers do great! Our Vrbo was cozy (thank goodness) and provided us with reprieve from the rain. We also watched part of an outdoor concert in the interim of racing. It was fun & Snowshoe was a beautiful place despite the rainy weather!
I am grateful for times I got to catch up with friends throughout this year including double dates with Bri & Luke, Marino’s outings with Megan, and hanging out with friends in familiar places!
Burton enjoyed trips to Camp Edge where he went canoeing with me and tried swimming for the first time ever! He unintentionally launched himself off the dock trying to chase a bird and ended up doggy paddling back to shore! It was hilarious! He also went paddleboarding with Josh on the lake. Gwin & Zoey enjoyed swimming equally as much. It was a great time for all the dogs!
I started to volunteer as a sighted guide with Ian at the RRCW runs in August. There was definitely a learning curve to being a sighted guide but giving Ian the opportunity to participate in a sport that he loves with a great group of runners is what it’s all about. I continued to serve as a sighted guide through a few fall runs as well.
Josh & I hid some geocaches in town for other caching enthusiasts to find!
For two weeks in August, I worked bike camps – Grand Rapids, MI and Appleton, WI. Kent & I met amazing volunteers and riders at these camps as expected. We made bonds with volunteers that dedicated so much time and effort in making the camp a success. In Grand Rapids, Kent & I saw a swing dancing party downtime, ate delicious ice cream at Jersey Junction (the irony?!), and went to a hibachi grill with a rider and her mom! In Appleton, the sunrises were picturesque, we went to 2 free outdoor concerts where we saw a rider we were coaching & his family on both nights, and celebrated SO MANY solo riders throughout the week. I also took a final summer camp run to Lake Winnebago the morning before my flight home. SO PRETTY & PEACEFUL! Again, these camps were memorable and the midwest was so fun! iCanBike is truly amazing and I hope to work more camps in the future. The camps provided me with such rewarding experiences and opportunities I never thought I’d have.
Sneakers & Spokes celebrated its 7 year anniversary. I ran 7 miles to celebrate 7 years with several runners – it was great! We had our post-run/ride party at the brewery. It was a fun time celebrating!
We went on a double date night with Bri & Luke to Chesapeake City Inn! Always nice to enjoy a meal with friends by the water!
FALL
I started my 2nd year as a school-based OT. Here we go again.
Josh & I attended Oktoberfest. Many people thought he looked like Aaron Rogers….lol.
I hosted a 9/11 run in Woodstown. We had a great group of runners to honor and remember the lives that were lost on that tragic day.
Patti & Colin visited in September. We enjoyed dinner at Filomena’s and shared many laughs!
I raced the Ramsey Farm 8 miler! I truly enjoyed every mile of this race and had a FUN time. It had been a while since I actually enjoyed racing a longer race (again, I think that 50k earlier this year destroyed me). I finished as the 2nd overall female and was so happy to have raced that race!
Josh, Dad, & I competed in the Uncontainable Adventure Race at Nottingham State Park. We planted 6 trees to restore the forestry in the park and got to every checkpoint. Josh has now been labeled as “the laborer” while Dad & I navigated and planned for the next checkpoint. We encountered many sticker bushes throughout the course. We finished 2nd overall co-ed team! It was a very enjoyable time!
I ran my first race guiding Ian in the beginning of October. It was the first 5k road race I had competed in since 2015!!! We ran faster than his goal pace, although I know for sure that I was holding him back. My legs would not go! We finished in 23:13 as the 6th and 7th finisher overall and me as the 1st overall female (although Ian pulled me through!). Two days later, Ian completed an indoor Ironman to raise money for seeing eye dogs!
Burton continued to be cute as usual. He got to chase bikes in the cooler fall weather and join me for many runs along the river.
For Halloween, Burton & I dressed up as Ty Beanie Babies for the S&S Halloween run. It was fun & he’s the cutest little beanie baby!!!
At work, our department dressed up as the Spice Girls! I was oregano lol
We cheered on the Phillies during their World Series attempt! It was an exciting time to be a Phillies fan and it was the talk of the town each day they played! Unfortunately, they did not win but it was fun to cheer them on (although I am very much a bandwagon fan since I never typically watch baseball).
Josh & I took a weekend trip to Jim Thorpe. We did some hiking, running, and geocaching. It was pretty chilly since we went in November but had fun exploring a new place. Hopefully one day we can go back and bike on the rail trail!
Burton & I ran our first ever race together at the Woodstown Turkey Trot! Burton CRUSHED IT! I am still so proud of him for being a good boy during the race. I went into it with no expectations because I figured it would either go really really well or really really bad. Turns out, he was locked in trying to catch up to the other racers so much of the normal environmental distractors were irrelevant to him. The top 3 females finished within 7 seconds of each other! I finished 2nd overall female (seems to be the theme this year) and Burton finished unofficially as the first dog! We ran 20:54 – a sub-21?!?!?! I was NOT expecting that. I hope to do more 5ks with him in the future because it was SO fun. Wes also did his first ever race with his hand bike! It was a fun morning.
Amanda visited NJ for Thanksgiving dinner and we got to meet her dog, Riley! Normal Thanksgiving shenanigans were in place that night.
We started fostering our first foster dog after Thanksgiving. Her name is Jessica, nicknamed Jessie, and she is a 4-year old cattle dog. We are still fostering her now as 2023 approaches and hope to find her a lovely home in the new year!
Although the Sneakers & Spokes group runs had thrived throughout the year, they continued to be a great start to my week throughout the colder months of the year. I look forward to these runs due to the good company and accountability they provide – no matter the weather – cold, heat, and rain. This year we got caught in a lightning storm (not good!), welcomed new and previous runners, and even had a few dogs join our runs! Burton also values them and gets so excited seeing all the people he gets to run with!
I attended a Christmas concert with my mom and grandparents as part of their 25 days of Christmas gifts. It was so festive and a fun experience.
In December, my family flew out to SLC, UT to celebrate Michael & Amanda getting married. Unfortunately, Josh had to stay in NJ because he got COVID, Mommom was sick in Utah, and I was fighting sickness as well. We got to visit the Christmas village in Ogden, eat good food, and see the snow covered mountains! The wedding was fun (Gian was hilariously dancing), and all of our travels went relatively smoothly. Being sick was not fun, but we shared many laughs throughout the trip.
Sneakers & Spokes hosted its annual Santa Run. We collected over 600lbs of dog/cat food and supplies and had a great turnout of festive runners. Jessie got to join Burton in donating the food at the shelter after the run too and our donations were much appreciated.
We went Christmas tree hunting locally again and Josh & I and my parents bought trees at the same Christmas tree “farm” we visited last year! Our tree was beautifully decorated and I love keeping the lights on throughout the day to see it twinkle!
Christmas was quieter this year due to sickness going around but nevertheless enjoyable! There was SO much food and cookies. Burton loved all of his new toys. Josh & I both got each other can openers for Christmas – lolololol. Over Christmas break, I got to relax and read, spend time with friends (shoutout to Angela, Megan & Brianna), geocache, run, and recharge!
Running Stats of 2022:
- Total Miles: 1240.0 miles (vs 2021 at 1,035.4)
- Highest Monthly Mileage: May (165.5 miles) (vs 2021 at November 113.8 miles)
- Races: Sasquatch 5k, Worlds End 50k, Pitman Freedom 4 miler, Ramsey Farm 8 miler, RRCW Race Down Broad Street, Woodstown Turkey Trot 5k
- Shoes: Altra Escalantes, Altra Torins, Altra Superiors
- States I ran in: NJ, DE, MD, PA, MA, VA, FL, WV, MI, & WI
Cycling Stats of 2022:
- Total Miles: 195.4 miles (vs 2021 at 314.8 miles)
- Highest monthly mountain bike mileage: May (33.4 miles) (vs 2021 at May 49.1 miles)
- Highest monthly road bike mileage: no road bike miles this year
- Highest monthly combined mileage: May (33.4 MTB miles) (vs 2021 at May 64.8 miles)
- Total Road Bike Miles: no road bike miles this year
- Total MTB Miles: 195.4 miles (vs 2021 at 267.6 miles)
- Races: none
Other activity stats of 2022:
- Total walking/hiking miles: 220.3 miles (vs 2021 at 244.8 miles)
- Adventure Race miles: 13.9 miles (included in totals above)
- Race: Uncontainable Adventure Race (mtb, running, and planting treees to restore forestry)
Total woman-powered miles: 1,655.7 miles (vs 2021 at 1,618.8 miles)
I am happy to have increased my running miles over the course of this year. Although the 50k nearly destroyed me and now I have limited interest in doing another 50k in the near future, I enjoyed a lot of other races with friends, running partners, and Burton! I am happy with my fitness overall and thrilled that I’ve found some speed again in the shorter distances. I think that 2023 will bring more races with Burton, shorter endurance races (10-15 miles; no more than 25k), and fun with running friends new and old. The highlight of my running year was the Turkey Trot with Burton because he pulled me through a sub-21 finish which I NEVER expected. He was truly a rock star that race!
Reading stats of 2022 (courtesy of Goodreads):
- # of books read: 28
- # of pages read: 9,517
- Favorite reads (I rated all of them with 5 stars): The Book Thief; A Dog’s Purpose; The Candidate; A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, & Me; Deaf Like Me; War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History & Love
Geocaching stats of 2022:
- Finds: 152 (snagged #200 on 12/31/2022 with an 8 cache day with Josh & Burton)
- Hides: 6
- States: NJ, PA, DE, MD, MA, VA, FL, WV, MI, WI, UT
This year has brought a lot of new adventures, exploring new places, meeting new people, and hanging out with loved ones – family & friends from near and far. I am grateful for all the opportunities that this year as afforded me. I have enjoyed running (for the most part), occasionally biking, taking vacations with Josh, going on adventures alongside Burton, and trying to make the most of the free time I have had, especially weekends!
I hope that the new year brings new adventure, new places to explore, good health for all, and plentiful memories with family & friends!
Adventure Awaits Me 