Trip to Portland

This past week I have been in Portland, which is why I haven't posted in a while, so let me catch y'all up...

I was in Portland all week for work and LOVED the weather (never got above 80 degrees and no humidity), and got to work with great people, as per usual.  Of course, as during all these trips, there was a lot of work related stress that fed my need to exercise.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to workout as much as I wanted to, which is another norm during work events. 

The hardest part of these long trips is the food, no questions.  There is always too much everywhere and very few good choices.  So I overloaded with fruit (apples, oranges, and bananas, how boring!) to keep me from eating non-stop M&Ms.  There was so much trail mix and M&Ms, it was overwhelming.  Mars candy is always plentiful at work events because they are our parent company, so this is not going to change, I just have to learn to deal with chocolate everywhere! lol
 

Who doesn't love M&Ms?

So, Tuesday I arrived at the hotel and did a hard core snoopy dance when I found out they had a FOAM ROLLER and MASSAGE STICK!!!  When I saw those in the little hotel gym, my left hamstring was literally tied up in knots and I was limping.  Darn sitting on a plane all day will do that to you.  So I walked, stretched and foam rolled/massaged for almost half an hour and was able to walk it out enough to get a 2 mile run in.  In beautiful 65 degree weather.  It was awesome!  There is proof in the pudding on foam rollers and why I will continue to roll every day.  Also realized when rolling that my IT band was where the majority of my tension was.  If you have never rolled this area or any area that you are tight before...hold onto your britches cause it HURTS. If you are a baby like me there might be tears, groaning, and cursing at the foam roller.  Then you will kiss and make up because you will feel better.  This was nowhere near as bad as that one time my calves were so tight that foam rolling made me actually yell and cry.  Adrian seemed quite worried as I rolled around on the floor of our living room in agony.

So freaking true....and that is one hard core roller!

So in preparation for a long run the next day, I went back to the gym after dinner and walked, stretched, and foam rolled for another half an hour at least.  Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like a freaking rock star, no joke!

So I went out and ran 5.5 glorious, pain free miles. Temperature when I left the hotel: 47 degrees F.  On June 20.  HELL YES!!!  I ran on this beautiful bike/running paved trail right on the riverfront. Literally.  The river was actually just a pile of rocks away, down a little bank.  It was no doubt one of the most beautiful runs I have ever had the joy to experience.  Not only was the temperature PERFECT for a nice run, but the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon and there were birds were chirping and playing in the water.  Seriously picturesque, people.

For dinner that night, we took the scenic route to Multnomah Falls in Bridal Veil, Oregon.  It took us through the mountains and gorge and it was completely worth it, even though it added about 30 minutes to the drive when we were all starving and exhausted.  Supposedly it's the tallest year-round waterfall in the country.  I REALLY wanted to hike up to that bridge in the picture but nobody else in my group did so alas, we headed into the lodge in front of the falls for dinner.  And dinner was DELICIOUS!  I got the petite filet with double veggies and a side salad.  The bread was also to die for and we demolished it as a group quickly because we were all starving.  I had the running munchies and bad, but I am glad I made the right choice instead of the pecan crusted salmon that I really wanted. Just too much fat with the salmon and pecan crusting!

beautiful Multnomah falls in OR

So the smartest thing I did during the 3 days spent sitting basically the whole day- I wore my compression socks all day, every day.  I washed them each night in the sink and they made SUCH a difference- no hamstring tightness even with all the sitting, including the TERRIBLE plane ride home.

Thursday I warmed up on the elliptical and then powered through an awesome full body strength training workout and a long stretch and foam roll/massage stick afterwards.  I might just need to pick myself up a massage stick, it was a nice addition to rolling.  Thursday night's dinner was a disaster of epic proportions, particular the portions of the food I ate.  We were all mega stressed after a bad day and we went out as a huge group.  With about 8 appetizers ordered, it was overwhelming and we were all so hungry, so we feasted.  I ordered the most delicious veggie burger ever with a side salad so my dinner was very smart- just not what I ate before hand.  I tried to count everything but I am quite annoyed at myself for this dinner.  And the trail mix I had earlier in the day, too.  If I gain this week on the scale- it will be because of this day, no doubt about it.

Friday I took a very purposeful rest day since I knew I would A- be up until 2am the next day traveling home and walking a lot in the airport. B- then would be running the Spirit of Gettysburg 5k on very little sleep.(Race recap to come soon)  C- desperately needed the extra sleep after a late and stressful day.

Friday night's trip home was a nightmare.  Friday morning I got a call from the airline that my flight from Chicago, Midway to BWI was delayed 2 hours (REALLY ALREADY?!), what a terrible way to start your day.  In the end it ended up being delayed about an hour, which wasn't too terrible because I got to have a nice sit-down dinner (fish and veggies) with a work friend and I walked around the airport for 30 minutes to make up for the rest day. The sucky part came once we landed in Baltimore.  First, we circled the airport for 15 minutes before landing.  Then we had to sit on the tarmac for 20 minutes more before getting to our gate. THEN we waited for 45 MINUTES for the luggage to come through the carousel.  SERIOUSLY?!?!  Of course, my luggage was last to come out, and then I had to wait another 15 minutes for a shuttle to my car.  I actually almost broke down in tears while waiting for the luggage, I was so exhausted and frustrated and knew I had an hour+ drive home.

And then.....about 30 minutes from home, I got pulled over and got a ticket for speeding.  SERIOUSLY?!  I had been so careful up to that point.  I kept setting my cruise control so I wouldn't let my lead foot take over and the one time I didn't, I got nailed. GARRRRHHHH.

So I finally got home at 3:30 AM.  My darling husband was so happy to see me, even though I couldn't have been grumpier and just wanted to head straight to bed since I was waking up in a little over 3 hours.

More to come about my weekend, which was FANTASTIC!!