britta//unfiltered

Hello! A quick dose of random updates for you tonight!

I returned on Friday from the first business trip I’ve been on with my current company. I was attending a conference called the Shingo Prize Conference, which focuses on management systems and strategies for achieving “operational excellence” (for those in the biz I work on implementing Lean and driving continuous improvement in a manufacturing environment sooo this conference is basically a mothership for my kind). I learned SO much and had the privilege of listening to and meeting knowledgeable people from many different industries but I will spare you all a full-on geek-out on my personal blog.

However, I will NOT spare you from pictures of all the fun stuff I did when my coworkers and I weren’t working hard at the conference! None of these pics are edited, sorry no profeshunul Photoshop skillz today.

Gorgeous view from the conference center in Provo

Salt Lake Temple aka Cinderella’s real life castle

I know the quality of this picture is undeniably the worst but I can’t get over the THOUSANDS of flowers planted in Temple Square. These were the most beautiful flowers I think I have ever seen.

We spent our last night hiking in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was SO SO cool to drive through the same areas Brandon and I saw during our ski trip in March, when there was a lot more snow! We actually climbed up pretty high and did some casual rock climbing that was out of my normal comfort zone and now I think I’m hooked. I can’t wait to go scrambling around on some rocks the first chance I get on a camping trip this summer.

Last day – after plant tours, we spent the afternoon on Main Street in Park City. Can I please just move to Utah now?

UGH! What an awesome trip! The weather was beautiful almost the entire time, with just a few rain showers here and there. I couldn’t stop staring at the mountains and the sunshine felt so amazing on my face after such a long winter in MN. I saw people golfing, biking, climbing, running, and I heard there were even ski resorts still open! Utah. God’s country, man. The only downfall is the requirement that you have to buy snacks with any alcohol, but that can very well be seen as a positive I think

How goes the running? My training has gone really well the past week or so to my complete surprise. My “long” runs of 7, 8 and 9 miles were absolutely brutal over the last month with a LOT of walk breaks and painfully slow paces. To be honest, I did not have a lot of endurance built up before beginning my half marathon training plan and it was starting to bite me. I also experienced intense leg pain and calf tightness after my 7-mile-long-run week, which I partially blame on waiting too long to replace my shoes. I had been running in my old New Balance shoes for well over 2 years and had completely trained for my last half in those shoes. I went to a specialty store (Marathon Sports for TC people – HIGHLY recommend!) and got fitted by a running shoe expert. I ended up in the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13 shoes – they feel great on my feet and seem to have cleared up all the knee and calf pain I was experiencing.

My running is getting better but I don’t think my self portrait skills are improving at all.

So, I took it really easy the week my calves were so tight, reinvested in a foam roller (Teto completely shredded our old one) and struggled to do my best on the next few weeks of running. Last week, my training wasn’t  too consistent – I logged a quick 3 miles on the hotel treadmill DYING in the elevation and worked hard on the hike, but that’s it. On Sunday, I think the extra rest helped me push through a steady 10 miles, no walking, feeling great. I went from spending almost 2 hours in the fetal position wanting to throw up after my 9 mile run to feeling like I was on cloud nine just a week later after 10. I have 3 more full weeks before my half marathon race so fingers crossed the runs continue to go well and the race is just as enjoyable! Keys: hydrate well all week, avoid booze the night before running (der), and fuel after mile 6 (Mocha Clif gels are my fav).

Finally, this is belated but I need to give a blog shoutout to my roomie, friend, life coach, travel buddy, recipe tester and life love for his birthday <3

This is the most mild of all the embarrassing photos I was tempted to post! and it has a baby Teto in it!

I love this guy so much I even allowed Saturday’s birthday celebrations to commence at Fogo de Chao, home of never-ending skewers of RED MEAT. And boozy papaya cream. Actually delicious.

I love you, Brandon!