Birds of a Feather

Because life is made of moments and moments are remembered through experiences and personal interactions, I attended Bird Camp. A running retreat offered to Oiselle Volée team members.

When Paulette told me that she was organizing a bird camp for California right in the heart of The Forest of Nisene State Park in Aptos, there was no doubt in my mind that I was not going to miss it. I absolutely love running in Nisene, a forest surrounded by lush redwood trees and oaks, ferns, and perhaps a wood fairy or two. It is one of my favorite places to run!

Of course I was nervous before I got there. I only knew a few of the ladies out of 45 that would be attending. My anxieties of fitting in stems back from those good ol’ high school days. Luckily though, I am not  stuck in a time warp as all the women at birdcamp were super nice and welcoming.

The schedule was fully packed and my energetic nature wouldn’t have it any other way. What do runners do when they get together? Well, run of course!

 

 

 

 

And, yoga!

 

And have happy hour with Sufferfest Beer.

 

 

And drool over the Oiselle Fall line.

And listen to amazing women share their stories of training and victories.

 

 

 

And talk about running, and racing, and everything in between.

 

 

We might have had a chilly beach day where we warmed up at a brewery after,

 

 

Love this photo of the bird on the beach that I took. #fitting

 

 

and we might have eaten a few too many s’mores.

We also participated in an awesome women’s race Love to Move that was held at Nisene the very same weekend. It was a wonderful race to be apart of and a fun way to spend the morning. How can it not be when there were mimosas at the finish line!

 

If had to put a theme to the extended weekend it would be “ME TOO!” Just when I thought I was the only one feeling a certain way about a certain topic and voiced these certain feelings, I was happy to discover that there were others chiming in feeling the exact same way. As the old saying goes right? Birds of a feather indeed!

Needless to say that by the end of camp, I was exhausted. I left there happy and content. I did go through a bit of withdrawals after I returned home. Wouldn’t you after making 45 new and wonderful friends? Attending BirdCamp was exactly what I needed to refuel my love of running. I got inspired and motivated to be a better version of myself as well as focus on goals (running and personal). I cherish all the relationships (new and old) that I have built through the running community!