Last month, I ran the Lyon Half Marathon. It was my 7th half marathon (including the one race I paced), and definitely one of my favorites--look at that big grin despite the rain and cold!

For several reasons, I didn't have high performance expectations. There was the nasty weather, for one (we were graced with showers and temperatures in the 40s to 50s when of course it had been sunny and 70 the day before). I've also been in a bit of a slump since fall 2015, both pace-wise and energy-wise. While my PR is 1:44:03 (7:57/mile), I hadn't run under 1:55 in THREE YEARS. A lot of my runs had been feeling heavy and joyless, and I wasn't sure if I had just peaked early and was getting old or something (I know how ridiculous that sounds as a 22-year-old).

So, my primary goal was just to enjoy the run and hit around a 1:50 if possible. But when I go into a race with a more lax "let's have fun and see how it goes" attitude, I'm often pleasantly surprised.  

I ended up finishing in 1:45:07 (8:01/mi or 4:59/km), almost within a minute of my PR. My pace was pretty steady throughout, with my first 10km just about a second faster per kilometer than the last 11km. While the weather wasn't a spirit-lifter, it felt badass to dash through the (moderate) rain with the 10,500 other runners. And it felt badass to finally be close to my PR again!

I think my summer speedwork in Boston definitely played a role in my race performance--I did a handful of 800m and mile repeat workouts across 1.5 months, and while they didn't feel great at the time, they made running a consistent quicker pace easier in the half marathon.

Race impressions are intrinsically tied with performance, so I definitely had a positive experience at the Lyon Half. There are some things, however, that I wish I'd been more prepared for. If you're thinking about running Lyon, here's what you should know:

Expo:

You can't pick up your bib the day of, so plan to spend at least a night in Lyon. The city is gorgeous, so I would recommend staying longer anyways!

The expo was at Place Bellecour, a square at the heart of the city. It was outdoors with a bunch of tents for different vendors and packet pickup. Pickup itself is well-organized and quick, though I walked by again within a couple hours of closing, and lines were huge. I also did hear that they ran out of size small 10k t-shirts by midday on Saturday. So bottom line: arrive as early as you can! There aren't a ton of freebies at the expo (I think I only picked up a couple pastries and a sip of smoothie), but the energy is good.

A random tip: French races require a physical to participate, and they are strict about checking these at the expo--you cannot race if you don't have this medical clearance, no matter how many races you've done. To save some time at the expo, I uploaded a photo of my physical on the race's online platform, Time To, and got approved in advance.

Fuel:

Unlike American races, French races often don't have sports drinks or gu (even for major marathons like Paris!). The is, however, no shortage of water and fruits (like bananas). We were also given a small stick of Stimium (the French equivalent of Honey Stinger I think) in our race packets, so I took that along and had it around 11-12km. 

Since the race was so large, you could easily get stuck at the aid stations. A tip a friend gave me was to grab refreshments towards the end of the stations--that way you skip the traffic jam at the beginning.

You should also know that aid stations are less frequent, about every 5km. If you need fuel more frequently, plan ahead.

The refreshments at the end of the race are another story though--I've never seen so many options! There was quinoa salad, cherry tomatoes, fruits, granola bars, energy chews, soft drinks, etc. And, you take all your heart desires.

Course:

We ran primarily along the Saone river, which was relatively scenic and quiet. The course was a quasi out and back, but we crossed over and came back on the other side of the river. 

It definitely felt like a fast course to me, and I don't recall any particular incline. A few things to watch out for though:

1. Your starting time is based on your estimated finish time. The slower the time, the later you start (this is to avoid congestion at the beginning). I put down 1:45 as my estimated finish time and started the race 15 minutes after the first group. I'd never run a road race with a staggered start before, so this was surprising (in the States, there's usually only a separate corral for the elite runners).

2. There weren't consistent kilometer marks--there were signs maybe the first 5km and the last 5km, but we were totally on our own for the rest of the race. Since I don't have a GPS watch or race with my phone, I had to rely on the beeping of the GPS watches around me to figure out when we'd hit another kilometer (I did bother someone once for the distance, but I didn't want to keep asking when we were all in the zone haha).

3. There is a long 1-2km tunnel within the last 5km of the race. It's really easy to be caught behind people here, so plan ahead and try to pass people beforehand. This part is probably the toughest, as there are no spectators and it can get pretty stuffy and boring. On the bright side, there's no rain :)

4. Speaking of spectators, there really aren't a lot along the bulk of the course. There are quite a few when you run in the city center, but the river section is pretty quiet. I've read this observation on other blogs in previous years, so I don't think it was just the bad weather that made people stay in.

For some comic relief, here's some very attractive race photos that I shared on my instagram story last month:

The other English TAs and I hosted a Halloween soirée for our students yesterday. I haven't dressed in costume since middle school (I usually opted for my thrifted ugly black cats and bats sweater instead), but I wanted to be more festive this year. Our monthly pay is modest though, so I try to save where and can and resolved not to spend any money on my costume. 

Turns out, I dress a lot like Mary Poppins in my day-to-day life haha, so the clothing part was easy. I also had an umbrella that did the trick. But I most definitely didn't have her signature floral hat. So, I gathered up free supplies from our collective TA office (it's full of weird knick knacks like a mini Christmas tree, a cane, an MCAT book...) and made this fantastic tacky hat:

And here's a different (more everyday) version of the look since I'm indecisive:

Here's how the hat came to be: 

Materials:

Step 1: 

Cut the center of the plate out. I folded the plate and cut along the outermost crease that was already there. Cut as smoothly as possible because the circle you remove from the center will become the top of your hat!

Step 2:

Cut two 3-4 inch wide strips of cardstock from the long side of the sheet. This will be the tall part of the hat.

Step 3:

Paint or color your plate, the cutout center of the plate, and the two strips of paper black. It's important to do this before taping, otherwise it's super obvious that you used tape (like it was for me, oops!).

Step 4:

Once dry, tape the two strips of cardstock together from the short ends. You'll want to overlap the pieces, otherwise they'll bend funny when you try to tape them into a cylinder. Tape on both sides of the overlap. 

Step 5:

Tape the other short ends of the cardstock together to form a cylinder, also overlapping the strips. Take care to make the circumference of this cylinder match that of the inner rim of your paper plate.

Step 6:

Tape it all together! Try to tape on the inside when possible, and reinforce around the circumference. There's no need to tape all the way around, however--I had about 4 vertical pieces of tape on each rim. Leaving some untaped spots also allows you to tie your yarn around the rim of the hat, rather than poking holes in the rim.

Step 7:

Bend your fake flower stem so that it wraps around the base of your hat. If the stem can't bend, cut off the fake flowers and tape or hot glue them on. 

Hope this helps with your frugalist Halloween adventures!

Cheers,

Last May, I took a 3-day trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. I was itching to finally break in my hiking shoes and get away from campus--especially since I'd just defended my math French theses (insert crying-laughing emoji). It was the tail end of off-season, so while the town (Bar Harbor) was pretty dead, the trails weren't crowded at all (and since it was warm, there was no risk of slipping on ice).

Before you go, it's important to know that visiting the park isn't free. You have to buy a week-long park pass at a visitor center or campground--you can find more info about fees and free days on the official Acadia website.

During our visit, one of the most well-known strenuous hikes, Precipice Trail, was unfortunately closed for peregrine falcon nesting. The trail is often closed from mid-March to mid-August, so if you want to add another tough hike to your list, consider coming later in the summer. 

Luckily, we were still able to take advantage of some pretty cool hikes, and they were definitely a workout! Here are my favorite challenging hikes: 

Pemetic Northwest Trail

Distance: .5 miles

Difficulty: Hard (roots, ravine, steep rocks)

Time: 1 hour

My friends and I actually took Pemetic North Ridge Trail up to Pemetic Mountain, which is 2-2.5 times longer than Pemetic Northwest Trail, but a lot more moderate. It's still not the easiest hike because of all the roots, so I found it a nice way to ease into tougher hikes. I don't know that I would recommend coming up this way, however--it wasn't exceptionally interesting, and I've heard that the views aren't nearly as nice as the other trails.

The view at the top was something else though:

There were also some interesting plants--these are called fiddleheads (since they look like the scroll of a violin), and are actually baby ferns before they mature and unfold. These are actually edible and they apparently taste like a cross between spinach and asparagus. I'm seen these in grocery stores before, and they're quite expensive!

We decided to go down Pemetic Northwest Trail since we were short on time and daylight. I'd read online about the trail, and so I knew to take the "ravine" option when it split off into "ravine" and "ledge." The ledge side is supposed to be harder and not as fun as climbing down ladders in a ravine.

I think the avocado and coconut stickers are a little distracting haha (always want to protect the identity of my friends!), but I thought this photo nicely illustrated how steep some parts were.

So the reason we were in a rush was that we wanted to catch the sunset on Cadillac Mountain. It's actually a trail itself, but we just drove up since it was already getting dark. Cadillac is a pretty comfortable paved hike anyways, and we were looking for more adrenaline-inducing trails.

Beehive Trail

Distance: 2 miles, including the return via Bowl Trail

Difficulty: hard and scary going up (the trail is narrow and near-vertical)

Time: 2 hours

The sign that greets you at the trail head is a little ominous, but our friends had raved so much about the hike that we figured we'd go for it and just be careful. I really don't have good photos that show just how scary the trail can be (maybe I was too busy being scared to take photos), but this is definitely the hike for adrenaline junkies.

A perk: the lovely view of the beach. There's also a nice spot to rest at the top, and the descent is a lot easier (though a little rocky). 

I HIGHLY recommend Beehive--it's really quite an adventure since it's precarious, and it's conveniently located by the beach (so you get nice views during the hike and a relaxing walk along the coast afterwards). 

Pemetic Northwest is also an experience to have--it feels kind of rugged and exotic since most trails don't take you through ravines (at least that I know of).

On a totally random note, if you stop by Portland along your trip to Acadia, I urge you to try Gorgeous Gelato. We happened to visit on a Friday, which is when they have an array of vegan options. I got the wild blueberry and the dark chocolate--both were good, but the wild blueberry was lighter and more flavorful. I always lust after food in faraway places haha. 

If you have any questions about Acadia, please don't hesitate to let me know! It's off-season now, but it's never too early to plan next year's trips.

Cheers,

Top, thrifted | Skirt, Forever 21 | Shoes, Target | Necklace, street vendor in Oxford, UK | Gladiolus, Trader Joe's

It's been months since I've done an outfit post. I actually left my DSLR in the US because I only used it once over the summer--for these photos, actually.

Like many other bloggers, I've gradually drifted away from extended outfit posts and moved towards smartphone snaps on Instagram. There's something nice about putting together a whole photoshoot and editing portrait-quality images though (though a post full of photos of yourself does feel slightly narcissistic haha). 

You won't be seeing many more (if any) DSLR photoshoots for the next couple months--partially because I don't have my camera, partially because I have so many non-fashion related things to say. My posts might be serious and editorial-style like my previous post on sexual assault, or they might be endurance running or travel related. 

I'm still figuring out what's ahead (as usual) and hope you'll stick around.