I Run These Towns

Part two of our French Canadian vacation took place in the form of a few days in Montreal. It was tough leaving quaint and picturesque Quebec City in the rear view mirror, but I was excited for another city adventure. It's about a three-hour drive from Quebec City to Montreal, and I knew as soon as we approached the city that it was going to be a culture shock.  Despite being home to nearly half a million people, Quebec City felt small. The streets were designed in a way that it felt much smaller. Montreal is more than three times the size of Quebec City, and I felt it right away.  The skyline felt much bigger and more modern, and I was immediately excited to traverse the streets.  Our hotel room wasn't ready, so we set off to explore the neighborhood around the hotel. We were staying on Rue Saint Denis near the Latin Quarter and the Village. We didn't really know what that meant in terms of a good location, and we quickly discovered what a great neighborhood it is. W...

This spring/summer has been the age of fast. I broke my half marathon PR twice. I shattered by 5k PR . I rocked out my first triathlon . Everything was going according to plan until it wasn't, and my world came to a screeching halt. I've talked a lot about my struggles with Crohn's, and my life philosophy is that Crohn's can suck it. Hard. I haven't had a serious Crohn's setback in more than a dozen years. Let's be honest - I was due. But as these things happen it sneaks up on you in a way that there's no preparing. I was just blindsided one lovely July afternoon. I had a scheduled surgery to remove a (what turned out to be) benign abdominal mass. I had the exact same surgery back in 2011 , and the masses then (and now) were scar tissue from previous abdominal surgeries and endometriosis. The masses were quite large and painful, so it was necessary to extract them. In 2011 I had the surgery on a Thursday and was back to work the following Monday. I ...

It's no secret that I love downtowns, but now it is proven that I love French versions too (or at least French Canadian)! My French is still abysmal after a week in French Canadian cities, but my love of downtowns and amazing cities has grown even more (I know...you didn't think it possible, right?) While I've had Paris a the top of my travel list for a while, buying a new house quashed any ideas I had in my head of going to Europe. We decided that we'd do a North American version by heading to Quebec City and Montreal. It was a week filled with spectacular street design, delicious food and cocktails, hard running terrain and a lot of walking. It was exactly what we needed. On the more than 13-hour drive from Lansing to Quebec City we worked on my French. And by "worked on" I mean my husband said phrases, I repeatedly them horribly and then got frustrated and turned up the radio. We were tested while stopping for dinner and attempting to convey our food orde...