The second it turned September, our temperatures dropped 20 degrees, the clouds rolls in, and pumpkin spice invaded every coffee shop in town. Coming from Southern California where Summer spans from March to November, I am whole-heartedly embracing this new “autumn” thing.

Shelby, my Boise Elite teammate (who quickly became my closest friend in Boise after we bonded over our intense caffeine addiction, running goals, and love of all things country), and I had a six hour shopping spree yesterday. Like I said, I haven’t experienced much weather variety and I own 2 long sleeve shirts. I also really dislike wearing pants (running clothes or dresses, 24/7). We both found a bunch of cute pieces at some boutique shops, Buckle, and Nordstrom Rack. I still only ended up with one pair of pants, but I got two new dresses that I can “winter-fy” with tights and boots ;)

We anticipated hitting the “shopping wall” – that feeling when your patience starts to run out, so we planned a midday coffee stop. Americano’s are always my go-to, but I added 2 pumps of pumpkin spice flavor to be festive. After we were done with the mall, we were STARVING. My stomach was growling so loud and anything sounded good at that point. Since it was 3pm, the outdoor patio at a local sushi bar was open.

Last night, I cooked a homestyle dinner for my parents. One of my favorite blogs to read since high school is Simply Taralynn, and last week she posted a meatloaf recipe. Meat is not my favorite food group, and I even hate the word “meatloaf.” But her description was so persuasive, I decided to try it out myself. I used lean ground turkey and roasted garlic and herb veggies on the side. The homemade BBQ sauce on top was a killer touch. I would just like to rename the dish to something more appealing…….turkey bake? Hah! :)

Not only is the name meatloaf not entirely pleasing, but it also doesn’t photograph very well. Please just take my word that as a very picky meat-eater, I LOVED this recipe. The flavors were so strong that you definitely didn’t need any ketchup or sauce on the side. (And I am a ketchup lover, so that is truly saying something.)

Along with a change in weather, a change in clothes, and a change in dinner recipes, my workouts have also changed up a bit. My sole focus is typically running with one or two strength workouts squeezed in each week or maybe a day of cross-training on the bike. I’m currently trying to make more of a well-rounded weekly workout program to incorporate less stress on my running joints.

This morning I woke up at 4:40am to knock out a body-weight HIIT circuit in the backyard with six different exercises for 30 minutes followed by a 30 minute jog around the neighborhood. Biking around Idaho has been so unbelievably scenic as well that it instantly boosts your mood. I’ve never seen anything like the landscaping here!

Since my workouts and running goals are changing up a bit, I thought I’d put a little update on here every so often to check in and hear about your goals too! Right now, my focus is on increasing my flexibility and endurance without overdoing running which has led to lots of hip injuries in the past. I’ll be working on an injury prevention post with lots of tips I’ve picked up through our trainers when I was a collegiate athlete as well as my studies with the National Academy of Sports Medicine!

I hope it wasn’t too hard for you to eeease back into the week after a holiday weekend. I’m about to go out with some friends from work to see Bad Moms (again!) and dinner. Even though everyone is excited for fall and sweaters and pumpkin, I’m not in any hurry to say goodbye to warm sunshine, sundresses and sandals!