When I first began spending time with my now husband, I showed him this list of goals I had made.  I guess you could call it a bucket list.  It included places I want to travel, educational goals, dreams of a family, skinny dipping with my husband (check), and other ambitions such as, “learn how to rock climb.”  At the time, I was busy working towards several of the things on the list but this rock climbing thing was sort of holding me back.  I kept saying I wanted to do it but I continued to put it off.

What I came to realize that if there is something that I say I want to do, but am not actively working towards doing it, then I probably don’t want to do it that bad.  Are you tracking?  I hadn’t tried rock climbing at that point because my heart wasn’t fully set on trying rock climbing. It was no loss. My heart wasn’t there yet.
Read the rest of this entry →

For the past year or so I’ve been on the search for a female ultra-runner I could look up to.  I’ve had a little running crush on Scott Jurek for quite a while but I just couldn’t find any females I could relate to.  What does Scott have that I was looking for in a woman (haha—that sounds a bit awkward)?  I dig his diet–vegan.  I dig is need to explore his outter boundaries.  I get hyped that he’s all about low impact and working with the environment instead of against it.  He’s not flashy.  He’s not full of himself.

Josh and I would run through a list of  ultra-running females.  There’s these Russian twins that win comrades and 2Oceans (South African races) every year.  They are incredible athletes and they seem like cool people, but I just don’t connect.  There’s Ann Trason, nicknamed, “La Bruja” meaning “The Witch” but there’s a reason she’s called La Bruja.  There are some truly amazing ultra-running women out there but I was looking someone that shared similar running philosophy.  I needed a runner who ran for the pure love of running–no flash, no smack you in the face ego.  I was looking for someone who “needed” running in the same way I do.  Someone who sees running like water, breathing, and food.

In walks Krissy Moehl.  In 2007 Krissy set the female course record at the Hard Rock 100 (yeah, that’s 100 miles.  On Trails. At high elevations).  Her running bio is incredible and she’s quite young for an ultra-runner.  She is all about loving the earth and she finds peace in running. She likes to say, “There aren’t many issues a long run can’t solve.” To top it all off, she’s a Northwest girl!  Check out some videos of Krissy here, here, and here.

My husband and I are preparing to leave Korea after having been here for the past year-ish.  We are really excited to leave and move on to new adventures but transitions are always a little emotional for me–saying goodbye to people and places is sometimes painful.

The last few weeks have been busy with selling our belongings that are too big or too troublesome to travel with.  This week, I’m selling my bike.  It’s no ordinary bike.  It’s the bike that cut my commute down by 80%, allowing me to come home for lunch and eat with Josh.  It’s the bike that took a good part of the impact for me when a driver forgot to check his mirror before pulling into me.  It’s the bike that Josh and I rode to and from the subway station–him pedaling and me giggling on the back rack.  It’s the bike I learned to ride with an umbrella!  It’s been so loyal to me and it hurts a little to say goodbye.
Read the rest of this entry →

The other day I mentioned the negative effects of an acidic environment in the body.  This is something I had never really thought much about until recently when I read Brendan Braizer’s book, Thrive.  Since then, pH info has been popping up everywhere!  The more I read, the more intrigued I am by this acid/alkaline stuff.  At first I kind of thought, “Whew!  This is getting way too complicated!” But then I realized that our entire food system has become quite complicated and I’ve got to stay on top of things!  I’m going to try to make this as simple as possible.

The balance of acid and alkaline in the body is referred to as pH (potential of hydrogen) and is measured on a scale from pH 1 (most acidic) to pH 14 (most alkaline).  A neutral pH balance of 7.35 is desirable for optimal health.  An acidic environment in the body negatively affects the body on a cellular level. High acid levels are a form of stress, which leads to high cortisol levels in the body. As I mentioned in my rant about coffee (how I hate to love it), high cortisol levels puts strain on the body and as other systems seek to buffer this strain, they become exhausted, causing immune function to falter—and in walks disease.  Blah.
Read the rest of this entry →

I got my first rejection e-mail!  And it excited me!  Huh?  I want to teach yoga and breathing techniques to refugee women and children. I believe it is an excellent tool for empowerment, healing, and over all mental and physical health.  In my work with refugees in Phoenix and Cape Town, I heard so many horrific stories of trauma, struggle, depression, loss—yoga practices are a practical tool for overcoming these difficult life circumstances.
Read the rest of this entry →