I'm gonna burn a hole in the road...Leave nothing on this street to explore

My lovely Kal-Haven trails, pre-snow 

Kalamazoo Lights

Waterstreet for some liquid chocolate

Long run around Wayland on Saturday :) 

Hey all!  Its been a minute since my last post.  I have been caught up in settling myself into a new life in Kalamazoo for the time being.  It’s interesting how similar yet different it feels to be in a new place finding my way around to the essentials... work.. trail.. food..coffee. But I am also reminded at how I did this in the not so distant past but in a much more foreign place.  Its been amusing how easily I have recently been slipping into the “survival mode” I took on in Cape Town whenever I needed to find something/ do something/ meet someone I hadn’t before. I have found my learning curve to be as steep as ever though, and within a few weeks I feel comfortable going about my everyday activities knowing I will probably not end up lost and confused.

I am also happy to report that my running has been really taking positive steps as well.  Before I left Florida I was still battling at minimal distances and trying to rebuild from some time I took off nursing some posterior tibial tendinitis.  Time, patience, and lots of strength rebuilding later I feel awesome running the mileage my legs have been longing for.  My sights are set on the Riverbank Run 25k in May, with the long term goal of breaking my personal best in the marathon this fall.  This winter has actually been graciously mild for my first one back (running in South Africa during January, not so bad :) but I have actually enjoyed the past week’s snow dump.  We are Michiganders after all, the snow is one of the major perks of living here!  I admit it did take a few runs to remember exactly how much clothing you really need to wear so as to not freeze, and how half frozen gels don’t go down nearly as smooth, but so long as the sun is shining I can handle the chilly temps.  

So it seems that I have a new hobby this year, kindling. Yes, kindling.  This is the act of reading on a kindle.  My mom bought my brother and I both one for Christmas, just the regular one, no fancy touch screen or color.  I love it, and actually enjoy its simpleness.  If we were to have gotten the upgraded version I think it would have been easy to just turn them into gaming/ video devices.  But my little kindle just allows me to read. And read. And read.  I will be finishing my fourth book this month sometime in the next day, so you could fairly guess that I am hooked.  I am actually hoping some of the novelty might wear off so I can get to bed at a decent hour (there have been countless times already where I LITERALLY can’t put it down!). I’m trying to get a reading list together now, so if you have any favorites just message me them :)