8.5 miles @ 8:27 average… the conversation was so intense that I forgot to push start on my watch, so I’m just going off my friend’s watch because they can do two things at once (talk and properly record their runs;) and I cannot.
I’ve made it a goal to make sure I am doing more ‘little kid’ activities. The big kid’s activities/school/friends keep us busy right now, but I want to prioritize taking these two on more of their own adventures, too. They sit at a lot of soccer games these days!
Cliff Notes from our 2.5 hours in the mountains together:
*I saw a friend running and said she recently came across fresh bear droppings on her run in the area… um, I need some bear spray.
*It rained on us, and Skye said the rain made her feel free.
*It was the most peaceful I have felt all week. The mountains make all of the stressors melt away.
*A lot of Pirates Booty was consumed.
*We met people who were hiking there, traveling from Sweden.
*Beck did fantastic, and I only carried him probably 1/4th of the time, but then he fell when we were ten steps away from the car. I swear this always happens to us.
*We came across mountain goats and sat and watched them for 20ish minutes. I’ve never seen mountain goats so low.
Beck and I slowed Skye down on the downhills. She has one speed-> run.
Afterward, Skye asked if we could get photo booth pictures for her to take while staying at her grandparent’s house in a few weeks.
Let’s talk about some favorite things!
*We are officially signed up for Budapest! It turns out it is harder to register for a marathon in a different country because I didn’t understand which spot to put my first and last name in;)
*Our Costco lights are up in the backyard and I couldn’t be happier about them.
*Andrew and I are loving this documentary on Netflix. We are trying to soak in every lesson these different communities have… I’ll be sitting on the ground more often now.
*The SAMBA. I bought these for our trip to Budapest because I only want to pack my running shoes and one pair to wear for the rest of the trip, and these won that honor;). I’m bringing shorts, a skirt, jeans, and a dress to wear with them… they go with everything. The other white sneakers that I wear most often outside of running are these, these, and these (I have the older version).
Bear spray? Give me a good recommendation, please. One that is easy to carry, too!
Have any Friday night plans? Tell me about them!
Do you tend to register for races early or at the last second?
Have a favorite sneaker outside of running shoes?
23 comments
Molly S
Lifestyle shoes are a must for Europe, great choice!
Steve Magness says that nature is great for recovery. Win-win!
Yesterday I accidentally paused my watch instead of lapping during my third 400. I let out a single word of frustration when I checked to see how much was left of that interval. Ooops.
Jenn
You have black bears in Utah (not Grizzlies) so just read up on how to be bear aware and you don’t need spray. Spray is illegal in a lot of places with black bears because it’s not necessary and people end up using it incorrectly and spraying it in their faces/on their kids.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Interesting… hmmmm I didn’t know that it is illegal in some areas. Thanks for the help, Jenn! I really appreciate it!
Jenna
oh! get bear GEL not spray…. spray+wind == terrible :) This is what I have for Colorado: Sabre Tactical Pepper Gel:
https://a.co/d/2Dx4IX6
The Hungry Runner Girl
BRILLIANT!! Thank you, I’m grabbing this!
John
We have this bear spray and belt:
https://www.rei.com/product/144687/counter-assault-trailrunner-neoprene-bear-spray-holster
Best of luck to you and Andrew in your upcoming marathons!
The Hungry Runner Girl
That belt looks awesome! I need it! Thank you!!
Mariah
Relaxing tonight! It was my first week at my new job. And tomorrow is a friend’s wedding, so will be busy with that the rest of the weekend!
Outside of running, I love Toms sneakers. They have ones that look more like sneakers than slip-ons, those are my favorites.
The Hungry Runner Girl
YOUR FIRST WEEK! What do you think of it? Have the best time at the wedding and I love Toms too. Happy weekend, Mariah!
Wendy
What a fun hike with the youngers! I love that you’re doing stuff like that with them.
Arrived in Denver last night, yay. So this morning my sister and I will grab the groceries for the cabin, then head up to the mountains. I am so looking forward to getting up there. You’re right, the mountains just make all the stresses melt away! I’m also looking forward to getting in some good hikes.
Have a great Friday Janae.
The Hungry Runner Girl
It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the big kid’s things so I really need to make the effort. Okay, I am so jealous of your sister weekend. You get the mountains all weekend. ENJOY!
Kristine
White leather keds.sometimes I register late but I just registered for a half marathon in Feb. I haven’t run a road race in like 9 years so should be interesting! Lol
The rain is the best I agree with Skye!
Have a great day Janae!
The Hungry Runner Girl
First road race back! This is exciting, Kristine! I hope you get some rain on a mountain adventure soon! Have a beautiful day and tell River high👋🏻
Heather
I agree with Skye – I love the rain.
That’s a great picture of the critters. They’re actually bighorn sheep – they are pretty common where I live and we see them as low as 4,600 feet sometimes. I love how sleek and strong they look, and I’ve been lucky enough to see mamas with babies a few times.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Bighorn sheep! Okay, that is so good to know. I was confused why they were so low. I seriously could not believe their strength as they were moving along the mountainside! Have a beautiful day, Heather!
Katie A
We have black bears in the park reserve where I always run and I just make sure I have something noisy along so I don’t accidentally sneak up on them. In the fall, the crunchy leaves work well, and I added a couple small bells (swiped from a Christmas decoration) to my handheld waterbottle for the rest of the year. I was going to buy a whistle, but the bells seem like they’d work to make noise if I encountered one too. Thankfully I have not come across any bears myself, yet. I am hoping it stays that way!
Great job to your littles on the hike! I need to get my kids out to practice more – we have professional whiners when it comes to hiking or walking places sometimes. :)
The Hungry Runner Girl
Katie, you have it figured out. That is SO smart and I think you haven’t come across any because they hear you:). Bahaha professional whiners, how are kids so good at it?!? Hope you have a good weekend!
Amy
We have black bears, and I usually only worry about them in places where people have constantly been feeding them or they have gotten used to humans, such as the Smokey Mountains. Otherwise, I don’t see them as they hear you and are out of there. I’ve carried it for years, and have never deployed it but feel more comfortable having it on me. I’m actually more worried about Moose generally lol.
Please only carry approved bear spray if you are going to take it, it is pepper spray but not the same strength as personal protection pepper spray – it’s actually more potent and sprays further so you can deploy it from a further distance. REI does a good job explaining how to use it, and you should spray it once (safely) so you aren’t fumbling around figuring it out if you actually do need it.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Moose. Freak. Me. Out. Too. Thank you thank you thank you, Amy for the help! Such a good point about being more worried about them in areas where they are used to humans. I’ll make sure it is approved and that I test it out first. Hope you have a beautiful day!
Marissa
I cannot imagine having to run with bear spray! Good luck!
I am going to watch one of my former runners run a college xc race today! And then dinner and games with friends tonight.
I usually register early for races bc I am cheap and I want to pay the lowest fee possible. Ha!
I wore my Adidas non-tie Ultraboosts all over Europe :)
Grace
You may want to do some more research before you buy or carry bear spray. Bear spray is generally unnecessary (and often illegal on Forest Service and National Park land) unless you’re in an area with grizzly bears. Utah has brown bears, not grizzly bears. Brown bears are basically overgrown cats…they’re terrified of humans and will run away the second they hear/smell/see you. The major threat that brown bears pose to humans is not attacking them, but rather destroying property (like cars or houses) when people leave food in their cars at trailheads or leave a window open in their kitchen. Bear spray is also very dangerous to people and children because it’s way too easy to accidentally trigger it and end up with a face full of bear spray, which requires a trip to the hospital.
kelly
That hike with the littles sounds so sweet!!!
Did you get your birthday enter right? We go with the day, month, year. My kids used to double check expiration dates on food just as backup because they just couldn’t believe it was day then month.
Budapest is super easy to navigate. Are you going to do most of your sightseeing before or after the marathon? Keep in mind that a lot of the bottled water in Europe is mineral water so check the sodium content before you mix in salty drink mixes. I look for in German: Natriumarm, which in Hungarian is alacsony nátrium tartalom. (low sodium) I’m super sensitive to high sodium bottle water like Gerolsteiner so just want to throw that out there in case you travel with ELMNT or Liquid IV which tend to be sodium dominant. Also a lot of the bottled water is bubbly so make sure you’re getting still/naturell which is flat water. That is unless you want bubbly which I love, just not for sports!
I can’t wait for you to visit Budapest!!!
Amy
I’m a marathon runner from Alaska—absolutely need personal protection from wildlife (and two legged creatures for that matter) up here!
I use a Scat belt to hold my bear spray, phone, and keys when running, biking, walking, and hiking. https://scatbelt.com/