HOME! Boston to Binghamton

I arrived in Boston at 10pm on a Saturday night.  I was absolutely knackered from traveling and lack of quality sleep over the past week.  Thankfully, my friends Peter and Scott were at the airport to welcome me back to the States and treat me to some DELICIOUS pizza (funny thing - I couldn't eat enough pizza when I was home! I craved it all the time). 

View from Peter's apartment:

This is a view from a park in Peter's neighborhood:

Memorial/tribute to Boston Marathon bombing victims: 

I spent a few days in Marblehead and Ipswich and visited with my Salem State College friends before I drove home with Beth.  I was SO excited to be back in my hometown!  It was great catching up with family and friends and exploring the city.

My high school: 

In honor of

Rod Serling, class of 1943

creator of "Twilight Zone"

award winning dramatist

playwright and lecturer

1924-1975

American Civic Association Memorial Park: 

As I took a picture of the memorial some guy drove by wagging his middle finger out the window and yelled, "Hey lady! Take a picture of this!" Oh, Binghamton. You're so classy!

Chenango River:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade: 

As I took a picture of this, four guys walked by and one introduced his friend as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s son and asked if I wanted a picture with him. *facepalm* I declined the invitation.

Court House:

Interesting what you notice with fresh eyes:

Washington St walking bridge to the south siiiiiide!

Monday Afternoon Club, Phelps Mansion: 

Thank you to all the friends and family that made time to catch up with me!  I wish I had more time to spend with you. xo Sara

AUSTRALIA!

Time to get back to blogging!

It's been several weeks since I presented at the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science World Conference in Sydney, Australia.  I presented my analysis of the association between psychological flexibility and body mass index change/stability over 3 years in a sample of middle-age New Zealand women (basically, baseline Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II scores did not predict BMI change (gaining/losing weight) nor BMI stability (staying within 3% of baseline BMI).  The presentation had a few hiccups, but the rest of the conference was FANTASTIC.

I had the opportunity to listen to speakers like:

• Joseph Ciarrochi
• Steven Hayes
• Kelly Wilson

I was particularly interested in the talks related to interventions delivered online and via smartphone apps.  Jonathan Bricker's work was particularly interesting - his smartphone app really caught my eye because it uses ACT for smoking cessation and his presentations gave me a few things to think about as I get ready to start developing a web-based intervention for weight gain prevention.

I spent most of my days at the conference, but I stayed at a hostel in nearby Coogee (I honestly cannot recommend the hostel for a variety of reasons...travelers to Coogee would do themselves a huge favor by avoiding the place I stayed at).  Despite the less than ideal accommodations, the beach was pleasant to walk around before heading off to the conference.

I wasn't able to spend much time in Sydney, but I did treat myself to a harbor cruise - that was cool!

It was a nice way to wrap up my travels in the southern hemisphere before my trip home - the first visit in 1 1/2 years!

Next stop - San Fran then Boston!

*Crickets*

There hasn't been much action with the blog lately, but (hopefully) I'll be back at it in no time!  Long story short, my laptop got left behind in the Sydney airport and I also needed to replace my camera.  I assumed that figuring out how to get my laptop back was going to be my biggest worry of the trip, but here I find myself... 7 hours away from leaving for New Zealand and I don't have a flight from Auckland to Dunedin. *facepalm*

Yeaaaaaaaah, soooooo...

Albatross and Harbour Cruise

So, back to my birthday...

I mentioned that my birthday took a few days to celebrate.  Well, the weekend after my birthday started off with a trip to Mt. Cargill to catch a beautiful sunrise with Jen, Alex and Will.

Next, Will and I set off to the peninsula to visit the Royal Albatross Centre.  It was a pretty neat place to tour.  Below, you'll see a picture of an albatross chick.  Can you believe that these guys have to lose weight before they learn to fly?!

There are other interesting facts about these albatross...for example, they'll circumnavigate the globe and then come back to this spot in 5-6 years to reproduce.  

Also, the adults are huge!  Well, actually, their wing span is quite impressive-roughly 9ft!  Here's a video of some adults flying above the chick:

Included in the tour was a visit of Fort Taiaroa which was built to defend against the Russians.  Hmm, it's such a long flight to New Zealand, I can't imagine Russians wanting to sail all the way there!

The BIG surprise of the day was a cruise on the harbor.  It complemented the tour of the albatross colony so well!

I thought it was pretty neat to see the colony from the water:

(If you squint you can see white dots - those are the albatross chicks in the middle and just a little to the left)

Behind the boat was a pretty nice view, too!

Who would have thought we'd end the tour with a kiwi pirate ship spotting?!

Ah, I just love being out on the peninsula and out on the water - the colony tour and harbor cruise were fantastic surprises for my birthday!

I highly recommend that visitors combine the two in one trip, but keep an eye out for deals on GrabOne or the local Entertainment book to make it more affordable.  

First Marathon in New Zealand

Clearly, I'm having an "omg,Ihaven'tupdatedinages" moment.  When I was looking at my photos of the albatross colony, I realized that I didn't post anything about my marathon!  

The Christchurch Airport Marathon was my first marathon in New Zealand (other marathons include: Philadelphia, Wineglass, and the run leg of Ironman Lake Placid).

On our way to the start:

And the finish...

I pulled off a 4:08 with minimal training, so I'm confident that I can go sub 4 hours if I'm not injured or sick.  However, it has been about 5 weeks since the race and I'm still dealing with a sprained foot.  There's another marathon in September that I hoped to train for, but I'm not confident that I can build up my training volume in time.  I have a feeling that I'll look into an ultra marathon later in the year instead.

New Yorker in New York.... soon!!

Man, oh, man. I have been extremely busy getting ready for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science WorldCon in Sydney.  I am the recipient of a scholarship to attend the conference - thank you to the Australia and New Zealand Chapter of the ACBS!

Who would have thought a 15 minute oral presentation would require so much work?!  I spent a lot of time nailing down the analysis of our baseline and 3-year follow-up survey data to look at the association between psychological (in)flexibility and body mass index changes/stability.  Then I had to type it up into a PowerPoint presentation.  It took a lot of work to polish it off, but thankfully my supervisors were amazingly supportive and I got it done.

So, before I write about my experience at the conference, I'll catch you up on the past few weeks.

First off, I turned 30.

I went to Signal Hill to catch the sunset on my last day of my 20s.

On my birthday, I set off early in the morning to catch the sunrise from the top of the Pineapple Track, but, uh, in good old Sara fashion I had a few detours and didn't quite make it to my destination.  But, I still caught the sunrise (just to the left of Mt. Cargill).

My friends joined me for a trip to see the butterflies at the Otago Museum to celebrate my big milestone.

Nicole and Jen were the hugest sweethearts ever and made butterfly cupcakes for the occasion!

The birthday shenanigans continued, but I'll write more about them in the next post...

Antarctic Adventures in Christchurch

The International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch is a must-see for any visitor.

I had SO much fun!  We went on Queen's Birthday and so the price was more affordable then non-holidays ($25, I think, compared to $65).  With the entry fee we got to watch the penguin encounter (penguin feeding and talk), experience an antarctic storm (complete with frigid temperatures and wind gusts), view a 4D movie of Antarctica's scenery and wildlife and travel in the super cool all terrain amphibious Hagglund (think of a Duck Tour going up and around short steep hills).

I mentioned penguins... here they are!

Okay, so maybe the picture leaves a bit to be desired.  How about a little video of some of the little blues?

I enjoyed all the interactive aspects of the center.  I even left my mark here:

What is the one thing you would take with you to Antarctica? Emerson's Pilsner.

So, the whole experience got me thinking... New Zealand isn't that far from Antarctica, right?

Christchurch

 In 2006 and 2011, my hometown and the surrounding communities were dramatically affected by devastating flooding.  So, this month as I set out to walk around post-earthquake Christchurch I thought I had a small sense of what the local community experienced.  Not so much.  New Zealand's 2nd largest city experienced much much more than I can ever imagine.  But, what's so incredible about this place are the examples of how this city picked itself up and found ways to get back to business.

Here's the Pallet Pavillion:

It had a flea market/farmer's market vibe inside the pallet walls.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the walk around Christchurch:

In the foreground is a cafe constructed from shipping containers as part of the 'container mall'.  In the background is a parking garage that is no longer in use due to quake damage.  I just love how unique the stores look because they are made from containers of all colors.

This is part of a mural that I walked past:

It says:

Amidst the shards of glass
& twisted steel
Beside the fallen brick
& scattered concrete
we began to understand
that there is beauty in the
broken
Strangers do not live here anymore

Continuing on, we reached the section of town where the Cardboard Cathedral was constructed.

The Cathedral is the triangular object.  The white chairs are a tribute to the 185 victims of the 2011 earthquake.

Here's the front of the cathedral:

I have more photos of Christchurch (PENGUIN PHOTOS!), but those will have to wait for another day.  Stay tuned!

Run, Sara, Run!

I have a secret...If I don't run then I can't sit still.

There's a LOT of sitting when it comes to PhD life, so a few sedentary days really throw me out of whack.  Sometimes I get in the office around 9am and I try to spend hours in front of the computer, but I can't focus unless I've burned off pent up energy.

Over the past few months, I've used my running time to meet new people and prepare for races.  In April, I ran the 26k (16.2 miles) Three Peaks Mountain Race here in Dunedin.  Wow, was that a cold, wet and windy race!!

I finished in 3 hours 44 minutes (26/29 women, 153/175 overall).  It was my first time doing a race that intense, but I really enjoyed myself.  It was fun to concentrate on not falling in the mud... that is, until I tripped and landed in some spiky gorse - I had little purple polka dots post-race from those suckers!  I'm hoping to do this race again next year so that I can enjoy the views from the three summits on the racecourse.

Next up was the Otago Peninsula Challenge in May.  This was an extremely scenic 23k (14.3 miles) run along the ocean and over farmland.  The course began with a long uphill that took me about 15 minutes to ascend and from there it was a roller coaster to the finish line.

I often encourage triathlete/running friends from home to visit New Zealand to race with me somewhere on the south island.  THIS is definitely a race that is worth the trip!  Here's the view from the finish line:

I finished that race in 2 hours 35 minutes (11/28 women, 75/117 overall).  My fitness had drastically improved in just a short amount of time!

This month, the big race was the Christchurch Airport Marathon (42.2k, 26.2 miles); it was my first marathon in New Zealand.

This was the sky on race morning around 8am:

The course was flat as a pancake, which was advertised that way, but I didn't expect it at all... normally when something sounds easy by New Zealander standards it's actually hella ridiculously hard by international standards!

I finished the marathon in 4 hours 8 minutes - about 9 minutes 28 seconds per mile (30/64 women 20-39, 51/110 females, 219/399 overall).  Not too shabby considering I didn't run for 1 1/2 weeks after the Peninsula Challenge due to respiratory issues and barely ran the week before the race due to pain in my right foot/calf.

I had a laid back approach to the whole race.  I figured that 5 hours of running was easier than a multi-day tramp - I could get a hot shower and French fries within a short time of finishing AND I'd be sleeping in a comfy bed that night.  Unfortunately, on race day I was dawdling and missed the cutoff time for the special drinks drop off station.  I was told I'd have to find my own way of making sure my flat Coke would be out on the course at the 3 hour mark.  Thankfully, some super awesome spectators saw me studying the racecourse map to think of a strategy to get my drink out there and they offered to wait out on the course after their athlete passed by to hand my Coke off to me - how sweet?!!!

I held back on my pace for the first 3 hours and then tried to pick up the pace since I was feeling so good.  Needless to say, I was stoked that I didn't have any issues until the last 5k/3miles of the race-  I was just feeling tired and ready for it to be over.

Unfortunately, the run has caused my foot injuries to get worse and now I'm forced to sit for a few days and rest up.  I suppose it's good timing because I have a really important final exam coming up in my Biostatistics and Epidemiology class.  I'm optimistic that I'll be back to running in no time - there's a half marathon in two weeks that I'm keen to do and then I hope to race the local marathon in September.  The goal will be to go sub 4 hours in September and then see if I can chase down a Boston marathon qualifying time (3 hours 35 minutes for my age group) after that!