For months now I have been talking to my husband about leaving. I’m not positive where I want to go or for how long, I just know that I wanna get away. Soon. I’m not talking about a vacation either but actually living with my family somewhere else (anywhere else!) for a few months or maybe a year. The need to travel, to leave, to move to just go is so strong, and there are several reasons for it.
At least I was able to get away to Maine last weekend for the annual trip with my aunts, but now that I’m back, I need to really think about Denmark or Canada or Finland or Sweden or…

The gorgeous view from Anchorage by the Sea in Ogunquit Maine!
WEEK OF OCTOBER 8, 2018
RUNNING
Running toward 13.1 in Las Vegas on November 11 continues with a vengeance! And I love it. I had a long run of 13 miles last week and it was a perfect opportunity to ponder all the places to go and all the potential running spots I can check out when I do.
Monday – easy run on the beach | 5.18 miles | 8:29 pace
Wednesday – 5 miles at 5-10 seconds faster than HMP | 7.09 miles | 2 mile warm up then 7:32, 7:04, 7:10, 7:37, 7:30 | there were some hills to navigate and the weather decided it was summer again so it was a battle, but I won.
Friday – long run | 13.1 miles | 8:05 pace
Sunday – VT running | 5.44 miles | 8:59 pace
Total = 30.81 miles
CYCLING
Sadly, the only cycling I was able to squeeze in this week was on the trainer in my basement. I love my Wahoo KICKR bike trainer and I highly recommend it if, like me, you’re facing a long winter of indoor rides. Although, maybe I’ll get to go somewhere and ride outside this winter…
I love that so much.
Tuesday – indoor interval ride while watching Shameless | 1:15:48 | 20.5 miles
SWIMMING + STRENGTH
I’m putting these together since the only swimming I did was as a warm-up to a killer strength session with Andre at Star Hill Athletic Center in Tolland. You know when you think you’re working out and then you do a workout with someone who WORKS out? Well, let’s just say the strength training I was doing was absolutely nothing compared to the strength training I’m doing with Andre.

Ab pull-ups on the bar. I took this post-workout since Andre doesn’t yet know about the blog. He may never know.
It’s been years since I did a leg press or 21s for bicep curls or, apparently, a proper row that engages my rear deltoids, but I’ve now had two sessions with Andre and I’m back to doing all those things. Of course I hate it while it’s happening but afterward I feel empowered. Another important note is that I was sore, but not overly so, after training with him. I think that shows he knows what he’s doing and the kind of workouts I need to then be able to run and bike for two hours the following day…or the same day. #TriLife
THINGS I LOVE
Researching where I want to travel, move or whatever in the next year.
First I Googled “best places in the world to raise a family”
Then I tried “best places in the world for women to live”
According to the website, they collected data based on a score of 1-10 for human rights, gender quality, income equality, progress, and safety.
The United States was number 16. And I’m sure that was before Trump was president and Kavanaugh was on the Supreme Court. The U.S. has most likely made the list of “top places of aw hell no!” #VOTE
At least I have the perfect shoes for my move (and for fall). I found these adorable shearling Birkenstocks while in Maine. Technically I found someone wearing them and then promptly ordered them from Amazon. They were at my home before I was. I love you Amazon.
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
Once again I fell for the “huge twist you don’t see coming” when selecting a book. A few of my so-called friends even recommended this one to me:
It was certainly well written and the characters developed nicely but you don’t see the “twist” coming because it’s ridiculous. Truly. Also, the book could have been a lot shorter since a lot of time was spent on mundane chatter and description of routine. I’m not sorry I read it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
I also would not recommend the book I’m currently reading for book club…at least not when you’re eating or thinking about food or have just eaten. You get the idea. Radium Girls is a true story based on a time when women were painting a radium mixture onto watch dials during and after the war in the 1920s. Guess what? They were unknowingly ingesting poison on a daily basis so the long term effects are scarier than any Halloween movie I’ve ever seen or could dream up. The fact that this is all true is the most terrifying part. I can’t wait to finish so I can go back to eating normally and also so I can Google everything about it.
MOVIES
I can’t believe I actually went to see a movie that wasn’t animated or filled with super heroes, as is the case when you have 9 year-old twins, but it happened. While in Maine and faced with a rainy day, we decided to go see A Star Is Born. It was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Gaga is over-the-top amazing and Bradley Cooper? Let me just say (because he’s reading) that I love my husband so much but Bradley Cooper is one of the most beautiful and talented creatures to ever walk the planet. And he can sing!? WTF? It seems wrong but this movie is 100% right. It’s an incredible love story and I died 10 times over while watching it. Go see it now. Leave the kids home, they will be fine.

Just stop it!
RANDOM PICTURE OF THE WEEK
It was absolutely freezing up in Maine last weekend but that didn’t stop my aunt from going in the pool! She will want to kill me for posting this but it sums up the entire weekend – I was freezing and she was in her element.
Now, before I rent out my house and crash the AirBnB site for homes in Denmark, I may listen to my runner’s meditation one more time. ICYMI my spiritual gangster sister-in-law, who is a licensed psychotherapist, created a meditation specifically for runners in a blog post where I talked about the most important thing to have on race day! Check it out HERE.
[Tweet “The Rundown wants to get away! But first all the #running #reading and #meditation you need for wherever you are right now. #Train4life”]
Have a great week and let me know if you have additional suggestions for my great escape!
If you could live or travel to anywhere in the world, where would it be?
If you could race anywhere, where would you go and why?
My book club read Radium Girls back in the spring. I was shocked that all of that happened. Jaws falling off…what?!? I had no idea! Google it…crazy stuff. And where are we moving? Iβm with you. Iβm sure Ron has relatives in Finland that we can crash with.
We can definitely start with Finland! Let’s do it and raise each other up π
And OMG I cannot wait to be done with this book. It’s horrifying and I have enough of that in real life right now…
My vote is Ireland!! Beautiful place, and the nicest people who will restore your faith in humanity!
My SIL Katie is 100% in agreement with you. I’m not saying it’s not on the list but the constant rain my depress me in other ways… π
My daughter is visiting Copenhagen next month – Iβll have her scope out places to live! Notice that most of those countries are cold – I wonder if thereβs something to that?
Star is Born – LOVED it too. Behind Her Eyes – I understand your feelings about it. Iβm one of those so-called friends – sorry!
You may have something with the cold! I also love being in VT and the people there are completely different and nice too. Hmmm. Please have her report back on Copenhagen π
I totally forgot you recommended “Behind Her Eyes” so I forgive you -LOL!!
I vote for either Denmark or the Netherlands…such great places to visit that Iβm sure living there would be amazing. Riding bikes is such a way of life that it was actually hard for me to drive around in a car without being afraid to hit someone.
That sounds like my kind of place!! I would much prefer riding my bike everywhere but since it would take me about 30 minutes just to get to Big Y… I’ll consult you before making a final decision on the trip π
I just finished Where the Crawdads Sing and if you need something to read, here you go. You can thank me later.
I’m just so disgusted and sick over what’s happening in our country. I do joke about moving to Canada. I already checked their immigration site and they’d take me, since I’m a nurse.
I’ve seen that title a lot lately. Thanks for the recommendation!
Canada is a viable option. I hope they take freelance writers π I also want to go somewhere where I don’t know anyone and can’t run into anyone at the grocery store, school, gym, etc. #cranky
OMG I love the Danes SO much! I love all the Scandinavian countries but the sense of humor of the Danes puts that country over the top for me. Even the customs agents are jokers there. Ha! The only thing are those long, dark, cold winters.
We saw A Star is Born a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it! So SO good! What a bittersweet love story.
Good to know! And I’m fine with long, cold, dark winters as long as I can snowboard, have a fire and wine π
I fell in love with Switzerland last summer and would love to take the family there for a year! Jared will eventually have a sabbatical year and we’ve considered something abroad- I fully support you!
Strong running week, too!
That sounds amazing! I feel like everyone should live somewhere completely new and different for a little while and get out of there comfort zone. I hope you all get the opportunity to do it!! Thanks for your support Laura xoxo
I visited Switzerland when I studied abroad in college and I loved it there! The idea of traveling or moving somewhere sounds amazing. Great week of workouts!
Switzerland is HIGH on the list and everyone I know who has traveled there has loved it. Thanks!!
I kind of envy people who can just get up and go. I am too much of a planner. I love to travel but I love to come home to our house. Look forward to hearing about our plans
I’m also a planner so I totally understand! We probably won’t go anywhere for at least 8-10 months because of that π And I do love our home but I feel like an extended travel session is in order!! Thanks Deb.
My husband and I dream about moving to Germany for a few years. It’s not realistic at all for us right now (especially with our dogs), but I loved it when I lived there for a semester. So many of the problems here aren’t there and it’s so centrally located for travel. If you could do it, a year abroad would be so fun!
If you really want to do it, you can make it happen! I just need a nice, long, adventure and then I know I will also love coming home. We’re going to really try and figure it out! Thanks Laura. Home you’re settling in nicely from your big move!
Sounds like you had a great training week. Isn’t it amazing how hard we think we’re working until we work with someone who pushes us to our limits? Good job on getting it done!
OMG yes! I know I needed someone to push me but now I’m like “oh man this is HARD!” Oh the things we do to ourselves in the name of training! Thanks Deb!