I've been tagged!

So I was tagged by good ole "Relentless Runner" Doug.... I'm bored, so be prepared for lengthy answers. Here goes:

Jobs I’ve held

* Mom & Pop pizza restaurant: I pretty much did a bit of everything. I can make a mean calzone and stromboli! Watch out! And due to the fantastic brick ovens, I am now super spoiled when it comes to pizza. I also had plenty of chances to experiment and realized that one of my favorite pizzas was with feta cheese (no mozz), artichoke hearts, zucchini, onion, lots of mushrooms, and crispy peppperoni. So super good!
* Pizza/Italian restaurant waitress: worst job of my life!
* Babysitter: For two years I babysat off and on for a family that was from Israel. There were the twins Tomer (boy) and Shakked (girl) both age 10 when I started and then there was Lilach (girl) age 6... she had my heart! Those kids rocked! They taught me how to write my name in Hebrew. I helped teach the youngest girl how to read in English... the day she made the connection between what she was saying and what it meant was one of the best days of my life. Sadly they moved back to Israel last summer. Man, I miss them!
* Help Desk Assistant: That's right. I ran the help desk for the technology department for one of the colleges on campus. We really did get some crazy work orders! One person called freaking out because the clock on his desktop computer was missing, and he wanted it back! One of the technicians was assigned and went to the man's office (did I mention he was a professor?) where the technician promptly removed the sticky-note that was covering the bottom corner of the computer screen then walked out. True story.
* Teaching Assistant: (2 semesters of analytical chemistry, 1 semester microscopy). Analytical chemistry had to be the worst. I hated making unknowns, but not nearly as much as I hated grading lab reports. I'm pretty sure that none of the students paid attention to any of the notes I wrote on their reports, because I kept getting the same mistakes. Although I did have some really excellent students as well. Microscopy wasn't so bad, because I didn't have to grade. I just hadn't had the class in several years, so I had to brush up on my skills.
* Research Assistant (current job): That's right, I get paid to work on my research that is for my thesis. I have the most amazing boss and work with super amazing people (most of them anyway). I love my job, as long as my instrument is cooperating. It's okay to be jealous.

Movies I can watch over and over

* How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
* The Emperor's New Groove ("Somebody's throwing stuff, are you going to start a fire?")
* The Prestige (soooooo AMAZING!)
* The Bone Collector (inspiration for my field of study)
* The Girl Next Door (that Eli character cracks me up!!!)

Guilty pleasures

* Dark Chocolate!!!!
* Massages
* Watching silly reality tv shows: like "America's Next Top Model" (yes, I watch that... but it makes me feel smart.)
* Reading for fun (guilty pleasure because I should be working on my thesis)

Places I’ve lived

* Florida. My entire life. Time to move! Somewhere with mountains please!

Shows I enjoy (I obviously watch too much TV)

* Cheesy CW shows like Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill
* Discovery or History channel shows like Modern Marvels, Myth Busters, Future Weapons, and How It's Made)
* Food Network shows like Ace of Cakes and Good Eats
* Bones
* NUMB3RS
* NCIS
* My Boys
* House
* CSI (just the original, and usually only when my roommate watches it)
* Reality TV shows like America's Next Top Model and So You Think You Can Dance (I was shocked at the skills some of those people have! WOW!)

Web sites I visit daily

* My e-mail
* MySpace
* A big list of blogs
* Runstoppable
* Class sign-up page for the gym on campus
* Runners World
* MSN for news and gossip

Places I’ve been on vacation

* Cancun
* Upstate New York
* Austin, Texas
* Alabama (boring!)
* Ohio
* My latest trip: Alaska, Canada, and Seattle! (If you want to see a bunch of pictures, I can send you a link.)
* I'm sure there are others, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment

Nicknames

* Jes (that's really it)

Awards

* Lots of school awards (scholarships, Dean's lists, honor societies, blah blah blah)
* 2nd place in my age group for my last 5K

So now I must tag someone else... hmmm.... I shall choose medical student Tangie over at Metamorphosis...from AthlEAT to ATHLETE. I don't think she's been tagged yet, and I'm sure she could use a nice cheer!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Fitness report: Spinning was great today! I even did arms and abs by myself. (o: Since I am fitting in a run on Saturday, tomorrow is going to be a nice easy 3 miles followed by power pilates. My hips are feeling better. I made sure to stretch extra today and use the foam roller. I'm going to try and take it easy tomorrow to make sure I don't push myself too hard.

I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week!

Ugh...

I've been getting in all my work-outs this week, despite a slightly sore hip still. This is good because the past few days I have definitely been treating myself to some yummy snacks.... ice cream, skittles, cookies... time to cut back on the sweet treats a bit before I go overboard.

Yesterday was spinning, which was fantastic. Today was an easy 5K (nice slow pace... knee kind of hurt though) and pilates. Tomorrow is spinning again. I probably won't do my arms work-out since my roommate will be out of town, and I feel silly doing arms by myself. Oh well. Perhaps at home.

That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to a very exciting weekend!!! I'll fill you in later. (o;

The last long run of August

Yesterday I did my 8 mile run in 1:26:57. There was a lot of fog until around 4.5 miles, so I felt a little like I was swimming. It was pretty gross. The roommate and I kept a good pace up to 6 miles. I was surprised at how fast my legs were still moving. In fact, I was so lost in that thought that I almost tripped on a break in the sidewalk. I actually felt very good finishing and sprinted the last little bit. I even enjoyed the ice bath afterwards. Now I just need to get one of those bath pillows.

Unfortunately, ever since my right hip is pretty sore. It originally started hurting this past Thursday then went away. I hope it goes away by tomorrow.

Other than the sore hip, yesterday was a really fun day. I may have even found a few new places to run. I can't wait!

Also, congratulations to Joe for his crazy-long bike ride out to the beach yesterday!

Exhausted...

A 90 minute spin class followed by an hour of cardio pilates... (yes the class was mis-labeled and turned out to be cardio pilates). I am so exhausted! My legs feel like jello. It was so bad coming out of the gym that I actually slipped on the cement steps and landed on my butt. It was pretty funny actually (didn't hurt, thank God).

The pilates class was great though. We did a lot more upper body and legs than in my other more low-key pilates class. It was nice to change it up. And as tired as I am, I plan on going back next week.

Tomorrow is another early morning 8 mile run. Wish me luck.

Goals

Rather than sit here and actually write my thesis, I am going to make a list of all the goals I wish to accomplish after I graduate.

1. Read for fun again (I am wayyy behind on the books by my favorite author, Jeffery Deaver; however, I did finally break into the new Harry Potter book. Shhhh, nobody tell me what happens!)
2. Take photography classes
3. Join a running club and train for a half marathon and eventually a marathon
4. Travel more, even if it's just short weekend trips. There are so many places I want to visit and so many friends to visit!
5. Make more time to draw. I miss drawing.
6. Yeah, I think I want to train for a triathlon as well... I can do it. I think.

That is what I have so far, although I'm sure I will add onto the list.

I am well aware that going into the "real world" and working what will seem like a million hours a week is not going to make accomplishing these tasks any easier. Lucky for me I like a challenge.

Now I just need to quit procrastinating and get back to work on my thesis... or I could go back to CafePress.com and drool over their running shirts.
(I'm also drooling over some of the fencing shirts and skydiving shirts...Awww... I need to go skydiving again. It has been way to long. And yes, I used to do fencing. I even have all my own equipment. I am a dork and quite proud. We've been over this already.)

~*~*~*~*~*~

This week has gone very well. I definitely enjoyed having the classes at the gym again. Power pilates turned out to be great! I definitely enjoyed my nice easy day of only arms and abs. My right hip has been sore since my run yesterday. I'm hoping it will be alright for spinning and pilates tomorrow.

I would also like applaud one of my very best friends, Alisha. She had a great work-out today, and I could not be any more proud of her! She is such an amazing person and one of the best friends anyone could ask for!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I've been bribed...(and lots of shout-outs!)

In my search for motivation to keep working out, I have begun reading blogs by fellow runners. I currently have a bookmarked --in a folder titled "Blogs of Awesomeness"-- list of over 30 blogs (granted some of them probably don't count, because they are rarely updated). There are a few that I really look forward to reading everyday, which include (in alphabetical order): 21 days (I enjoy her writing and feel like I can relate to what she is talking about), Half-Fast (Very amusing! Frequently has great videos and pictures), I Signed Up For This?!? (I hope that crotch pain does not come to haunt me!), Just One More Mile (Talk about inspirational and at the same time makes me feel lazy), Little Miss Runner Pants (She cracks me up! I can relate on so many levels.), Run To Finish (The "Nutrionathon" has inspired me!), and finally.... my favorite blog (and no, I'm not just sucking up!) has to be The Lawsons do Dallas!.

Now it just so happens that today Amy, the brilliant writer at the "The Lawsons do Dallas!" is bribing people with magnets to give her a shout-out after she gave a shout-out to a woman who was selling Pokemon cards on ebay. I have to admit that I did send that ebay story to several of my friends, and I have also told them about Amy's site, because she really cracks me up! I have yet to catch up on reading all of her blogs, but so far I think my favorite has been "Deodorant: A One Act Play Based on a True Story". (I'm not exactly sure how to link to a specific blog entry, but I tried... May 26, 2007. Find it. You will pee your pants when you read it!... That's a good thing!)

Now I'm not really posting this for the magnet, although I do like magnets... but since I've told several people about her blog I figured I'd tell some more anyway!

In other news... I'M SORE! Spinning, pilates, running, arms... my whole body hurts. I tried the ice bath thing again last night. Probably didn't use enough ice, but I do have to say that it felt good! I imagine I'd be more sore without it. And tonight I'm going to try Power Pilates for the first time. We'll see how that goes.

I hope everyone has a great evening! Enjoy the blogs!!!!

Well Monday didn't go as planned...

This is my "baby", also known as Syd. I got him as a puppy, and he is now 9 years old. Just this past year he has started showing signs of some disease that is basically killing his back end, which makes it especially difficult to get up and down the stairs of my second-floor apartment. I have to wrap something under his stomach and sort of help carry up his back legs on bad days. He started taking steroids a couple months ago, and they seem to be slowing down the disease a bit, which makes me very happy. However, a side effect of this medication (and some others that he is on) is that he will have diarrhea every couple of weeks. It started again Sunday afternoon and was much worse then it had ever been before. Sunday night he woke me up every three hours to let him out. Monday I came home from work to let him out and then discovered that there was blood as well. I freaked out! I took off work and drove him two and half hours back to where my mom lives, since that is where his vet is (I hate the vets where I live). Unfortunately he had an accident in the car, which made the ride all that more... ahem...pleasant. Fortunately, the vet was not nearly as concerned as I was. She checked him out, gave him some medicine, and sent him home. I had dinner with mom and my youngest siblings, then drove all the way back home (another accident... I looked for doggy diapers in the store, but they were out of his size). I was up most of the night worried about him and making sure he was still alive. I am happy to report that today he seems to be 100% better! The medicine has worked wonders, because there were no surprises for me whenever I came to check on him today.

So I know that wasn't running related, but I wanted to share some pictures of "my boy" and state just how grateful I am that he is alright! Unfortunately today I have been super tired (I even fell asleep at my desk while reading boring journal articles). As much as I wanted to go home and sleep, I did go to the gym and get in my 5K run. I also did the hour long pilates class... Man do I feel much better now! And boy did it feel good to go to pilates again! My core must be getting stronger, because the moves seem to be easier today. That was nice. Now tomorrow I will finally get to go to my spinning class!!! And we are also doing arms and abs tomorrow, so that'll be good.

Also two of the girls at work that I used to talk to a lot about spinning and running are back from their vacations/internships. YIPPEE! I'm happy to have someone else to talk to who understands my obsession. Yes, Joe created a monster! (o;
One last note... This "Close To Home" comic was on MyYahoo this morning, and it cracked me up. It is exactly how I think sometimes.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!!

Overview of a good week and Hell Freezing Over

So this week I did pretty good with not snacking too much. I did allow for some treats here and there, because well let's face it, they are good and make me happy. But I did not go overboard which was the main goal. I already made my lunches for this week, so at least that is out of the way.

The work-out schedule did not go completely as planned this past week, because the roommate had to go to a conference, and we weren't feeling the upper body work-outs. We figured it was our last week of "vacation" until the new semester started. We did however fit in all the runs and did ab work-outs! (17.3 miles of running this week! I'm so proud of myself. LOL)

Today we came up with the schedule for this week since the classes at the gym start back up. I am extremely excited!

Sunday: 8 mile long run (check!)
Monday: Spinning for 1 hour
Tuesday: 5K short run (maybe 4 miles instead) and 1 hour of pilates (YAY!!!)
Wednesday: Spinning for 1 hour and arms
Thursday: 10K run and 1 hour of power pilates (never tried this class... very curious as to how that is going to go!)
Friday: Arms
Saturday: 90 minute spin class followed by 1 hour of pilates

Now that I have returned from my vacation, I needed new motivation to stick with my work-out schedule. Yesterday I received the official invitation to my cousin's wedding this October. It says "black tie optional", which to me reads as "pretty dress". I can't wait to go dress shopping! For those who know me, you know that this sounds crazy, because I have always been a "jeans and t-shirt" girl, but I cannot wait to dress up! The last time I had the opportunity to dress-up was at my good friend's wedding last November. I also have a second wedding to attend the following weekend, so watch out world... Jessica is going to look like a girl. LOL (I even wore shorts jogging this morning... me, in shorts! Hell must be freezing over! I wear jeans or pants all the time! I even wear running pants to races in this Florida heat... maybe not for long.)

Now this is completely non-running related, but since I mentioned hell freezing over... if anyone else is a chemistry dork like myself, you will appreciate this:

Hell Explained By A Chemistry Student

The following is an actual question given on a
University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The
answer by one student was so "profound" that the
professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet,
which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of
enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is H.ell exothermic (gives off heat) or
endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs
using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats
when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is
changing in time.

So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving
into Hell and t he rate at which they are leaving. I
think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets
to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are
leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at
the different religions that exist in the world today.
Most of these religions state that if you are not a
member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since
there is more than one of these religions and since
people do not belong to more than one religion, we can
project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect
the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in
Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the
temperature and pressure in H.ell to stay the same, the
volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls
are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate
at which souls enter H.ell, then the temperature and
pressure in H.ell will increase until all Hell breaks
loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and
pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa
during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day
in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account
the fact that I slept with her last night, then number
two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is
exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has
frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any
more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only
Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being
which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting
"Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"

Crystal Light and Ice Baths

Today my roommate and I woke up just after 5:00 for our run at 6:30 this morning. I drank a glass of Crystal Light "Energy Wild Strawberry" that has just the right amount of caffeine to get me moving for these early runs as well as give me energy through-out the run. I also ate a Kashi blueberry Waffle (mmmm!) and got dressed.

By 6:00 we were walking laps around the apartment complex to warm up, which also doubled as a nice little walk for the dog. Just after 6:30 we started the run, and to be honest I wasn't feeling as great as last week, but I was confident I would finish. The first mile was a little rough. My legs were tired. By mile two I was finally at a nice comfortable pace. By the time we hit 4.5 miles, my roommate needed to slow down (she had pulled something earlier in the week and wasn't able to finish Thursday's run, so I think she was tired). We jogged at a slow pace until mile six when she told me she'd be fine to make it to seven on her own, and I could go ahead.

I finished the last two miles on my own, going a bit faster than usual I think. All together, I finished 8 miles in 1:28:30, give or take a slight distance error in my RunStoppable route. By the time I made it home I was extremely thirsty and instantly prepared two glasses of Crystal Light Lemonade, which I gulped down.

Have I mentioned my love for "Crystal Light On The Go" packets? They are spectacular! The strawberry one is perfect when I need a pick-me-up since it has caffeine. The lemonade one tastes pretty terrible unless I've just come from a run, then I swear nothing has ever tasted so good! (Same with the yellow Gatorade... I despise it for the most part, but that is what I had immediately after finishing the 10K race, and I swear Gatorade has never tasted so delicious! Way to go University of Florida for inventing Gatorade (and for their National Championships in basketball and football last year)!! Out of all of the Crystal Light packets that I've tried, I have to say that the Cherry Pomegranate is my absolute favorite, with the Fruit Punch coming in a very close second. Keep in mind that I have to use one packet in 1.5L of water; otherwise, it's too concentrated.


So after my run, I decided I'd try this "ice bath" that I've heard so much about. I figured that since I have every intention of spinning tomorrow (YIPPEE!!! The classes start back tomorrow!!!!), I would test out an ice bath. Keep in mind that the very first thing I picture when I hear "ice bath" instantly is something chemistry related (hence the picture with this blog). Sure I've put beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, and test tubes through ice baths, but I never would have imagined MYSELF in an ice bath. While gulping down my lemonade and making some oatmeal as my post-run breakfast, I filled the tub with cold water. This was when I realized that I have never taken a bath since I moved into this apartment (so sad!)... how did I realize this just now? Because the drain stopper obviously was not made for this tub! It didn't work!!! I added some ice (only 3 ice cube trays... I figured I'd ease my way into this ice bath idea), climbed into the tub and tried not to squeal, then managed to sit down. I took a nice big bite of my hot oatmeal to keep my mind off of the cold (if you're picturing me in an ice bath with a bowl of hot oatmeal you are either extremely amused or just lost your appetite). Before I had even finished my oatmeal the water level had already dropped below my thighs.

My conclusion was that this ice bath didn't really count, and probably isn't going to do me any good. So I pretty much just looked like an idiot sitting in a draining tub eating oatmeal. Oh well. I'm going to buy a new plug for the drain today and test the ice bath after spinning tomorrow night.

Now I think it's time for me to take a nap. Yes, a nap sounds amazing!

I can feel my toes!

Well, I ran 6.2 miles on the treadmill today in my new shoes. I like them! They feel so "bouncy" in comparison to my other shoes.

That's about all to report today. I'm looking forward to another 8 mile morning run this weekend, as long as the weather doesn't interfere.

I hope everyone has a great Friday tomorrow!

Runner Girl

I forgot to mention... while at the shoe store, I purchased a "runner girl" sticker for the back of my car. I love it! Of course one of the girls at work totally made fun of me, but I am well aware of my dorkineess and am proud of it!

Behold the New Shoes...

Ta-da! Here are my new Nike Air Pegasus 2007 shoes! They aren't purple, but they are pink... I do like pink. I am still sad about having to return the previous pair of shoes, but I'm working my way through the grieving process.

As it turns out, I need a shoe that is more rounded near the toes and less tapered on the outside of the shoe. My little toes were being squished in the last pair. Tomorrow I'm running 6.2 miles... I'll let you know how it goes.

How depressing....

I am so very sad... all day I was anticipating running in my new shoes... it was what kept me going all day. We ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill, and I felt like my toes were going numb. I think the shoes are too small around the top of my foot. I called Track Shack and they said I can bring them back and exchange them for something different, but I probably won't have time to go there until Saturday. I am very depressed. )o:

What are the odds that I just need to get used to them?

***Edit***
I decided that since this blog is supposed to be about motivating myself, I should add a little praise to make myself feel better....

Today I successfully resisted the two huge bags of Skittles and Starbursts that my co-worker brought in today. I should mention that as far as non-chocolate candy goes, Starbursts are my absolute favorite (especially the yellow ones!). I also resisted the urge to buy a box of Raisinets at the movie theatre last night after getting a coupon where I could buy any candy for only $1!

Okay, I feel a bit better now. LOL. Besides, when I do get my new shoes that aren't so tight in the toes, I'm sure they are going to be absolutely freaking amazing! So Yea!

Happy Early Birthday To Me!

I had been contemplating actually going to a running store and getting fitted for new shoes for a while now. My first pair of running shoes were purchased at Wal-mart (dumb idea) since I didn't have a lot of money, and I wanted to make sure I was going to stick with running. The next two pairs of shoes were purchased during a buy-one-get-one-half-off deal at Shoe Carnival. They were New Balance running shoes, and I was pretty pleased with them, especially with the price. It was about time for new shoes, and I figured I'd drive to Track Shack to check out their shoes and get fitted as a birthday gift to myself.

Well today Joe sent me an e-mail telling me that Track Shack was celebrating it's 30 year anniversary and everything in the store was 20% off. (Joe is the one who first challenged me to a race and should probably be given credit for this amazing running addiction. LOL) I took this as a sign that I should get new shoes! As soon as I got off of work my roommate and I met up with Joe and we all went out to Track Shack. The employees there were excellent! They fitted me for shoes and had me try a few different pairs. I ended up getting a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10s! I absolutely LOVE them! Also... they are purple, which happens to be my favorite color!!!! I could not be more excited! I even took a picture with my camera phone and sent it to a few friends who I knew would get a laugh out of that (And Amy, I am one of those text-messaging crazy people. lol. Now that I have a camera phone... watch out world!)

So I am declaring a "Happy Early Birthday" to myself today!!!! (Note: My birthday isn't until September 18th... wink wink).

Goals for this week...

Work-out goals:
Monday: Stretch and good abs work-out
Tuesday: Run 3.1 miles and abs
Wednesday: Arms and abs
Thursday: Run 6.2 miles and abs
Friday: Arms and abs

I also want to try and stick with eating well. Hopefully I will have more self control than previous weeks... of course this week does fall under "that stupid annoying time of the month".... grrr...

But at least the long run is out of the way!!!

I feel great!

So the wedding shower was amazing (as was the chocolate cake! OMG soooo good! That cured my chocolate cravings!). Everyone wanted us to stay longer, but we had to get going so I could drive back home and get some sleep for my run this morning. I woke up at 5:10 AM this morning... crazy! My roommate woke up at 5:30. We took the dogs out, ingested our caffeine (and I had a waffle), then started running at 6:30. The sun didn't rise this morning until 6:52 AM, which was actually pretty nice. We kept probably just faster than a 12 minute/mile pace. After the dessert I ate yesterday I decided I really wanted to try for those 8 miles. We both stuck it out without stopping. In fact, she even agreed to try for 7 miles after our decision to treat ourselves to breakfast once we finished.  I left her at seven miles to try and fit in one more. I was convinced that I would get a cramp, since I hadn't already. Usually I start to feel one in my side... or since I wore nice tall wedge shoes yesterday, I thought for sure my foot or legs would be more sore. I sprinted out the last quarter of the mile, and that felt really good. My legs definitely were sore, but I may have been able to go farther if I pushed myself (let's leave that for another day. lol). The entire run lasted about 92 minutes. I walked the rest of the way home in 80F weather, then we went out and ate a delicious breakfast. Afterward, we did our weekly grocery shopping, and I just woke from a wonderful nap. lol. I am quite proud of myself!!!! I finally hit 8 miles in the 8th month!!!!! (And I woke up at 5AM to run OUTSIDE!!!)

Now I have to work on my thesis... ugh.

***Update: 8/14/07***

I was talking to my youngest sister today via text messaging, and I told her about my 8 mile run... her text message response "BEAST!" I like it! LOL

Will it happen?

Possible explanations for my insanity:

• I'm feeling not only guilty but miserable because I haven't been doing cardio everyday due to my vacation, the gym being closed this week, and me just being plain lazy (omg do I miss spinning!!!! My body misses the amazing work out from spinning and running 15 miles a week... I will at least get back to the running this coming up week!!! The spinning classes won't start until the following week, unfortunately.)
• I'm feeling confident and proud after my race this past weekend and my two outdoor runs this week.
• I've been reading inspiring stories in Runner's World and frequenting quite a few inspiring running blogs before going to bed
• Maybe I'm turning into the runner I've always wanted to be???
• I have plans for Monday evening when my long run is supposed to take place... and Wednesday my roommate will be out of town so that completely screws up our MWF schedule.
• I also have been pretty on track with adding a mile to my long running distance each month. This is the eighth month, so I want to be at eight miles. I want to do this at least until I reach ten miles or until my research and thesis becomes so overwhelming that I cannot fit in anymore time at the gym.
• Maybe I'm just really going crazy....

All I know is that this insantiy has made me decide to map out a 7 mile area around campus which I plan to run Sunday morning (my roommate agreed to run 6 miles, but I'm really going to try to fit in that extra mile to put me back where I was before vacation). We plan on waking up early and running before the heat becomes too much of an issue. Then I have every intention of taking a nice long nap before working on my thesis.
Of course tonight I am driving down south for my cousin's bridal shower tomorrow. I probably won't drive home until late Saturday. I am still determined to wake up, but we will see what happens. I was hoping that writing this in a blog will make me feel like I have to run on Sunday, even though I'm sure no one reads this but me. LOL

Outside and Morning??? No way!

In hopes of being able to hang out with a certain gentleman this evening, I decided yesterday that today's run would have to occur in the AM. I realized that there was no way I was going to run right after I got off work (wayyy too hot), and the odds of my post poning hanging out with said gentlemen to go for a run later in the evening were not likely. Therefore, my roommate and I woke up early on a day that we could have slept in for a bit (9 am work day instead of 8), and we were out the door by 7. We ran the 3 mile route that we ran on Tuesday. I'll admit that it was more difficult this morning, especially since I am an "evening-work-out-type-of-girl", but I felt really good to have it out of the way! Who knows, maybe I'll sneak in a morning run every now and then, just to switch it up a bit. lol.

Now, even if I don't get to hang out with this particular individual this evening, I will have time to catch up on some other business. I'm feeling pretty great right now. Outside and the morning.... damn, I feel like I just might be a runner. LOL.

Running Outside

This week the gym at school is closed for maintenance, so my roommate and I decided we would run outside on Tuesday and Thursday.

Note: We decided on only two days because 1) we were still kinda sore from Saturday, 2) it was 106F outside yesterday and the thought of not running in an air conditioned building made us frown, and 3) we are still feeling kind of lazy and decided that this week was our transition week back into working-out before the gym re-opens next week. (I'm hoping that next week the gym will offer classes, but since it is technically a break between semesters they probably won't. We will probably just run on the treadmill and do arms and abs... Damn, I miss spinning!!!!)

Anyway... I mapped out a 5K course around our apartment complex. (again... transition week. We'll get back to our longer runs next week. At least I will.) We waited until the sun was going down and it was only 88F before we set out. Right before we started I was beginning to dread the run, but then I remembered how excited I was about the run all day.

I'm not exactly sure why I was happy about running in the very humid air, but I think I felt inspired... like running outside was going to make me more of a runner. LOL. I'm not sure. I've also been reading many more blogs by fellow runners and my latest Runner's World magazine, so I suppose I felt inspired by all of them. One blog in particular (Just One More Mile) I just discovered yesterday, and I must say that the writer is truly inspiring! She came up with "Julyathon" last month and ran every single day of the month!!! And now she has started Augustathon! I figured that if she could run in the heat every single day, I most definitely could run two outdoor shorter runs in a week.

Anyway.... I thought that the run went very well. We went at a nice easy pace (probably around 12 min/mile). I enjoyed the outdoor scenery including the ponds with fountains and the setting sun. I said hello to a few people that we passed. lol.  I'm actually looking forward to Thursday's run. Hopefully the weather will be as nice as it was today (there was a nice breeze for a little while).

And next week back to more miles!!!

My 1st 10K!!!

First of all, let me start by saying that my trip to Alaska was by far the most amazing vacation ever! I took just under 5 gigs of pictures/video. LOL. I may now also say that Alaska is the coolest place I've ever been running (literally and figuratively). I went for a nice 30 minute jog my second day up there, then we went for a 15 minute jog the morning we boarded the ferry (it started to rain and we still needed to pack the truck, so the run was short).

Other than walking quite a bit (talk about hills!!!), I didn't really work-out much. And I did give into french fries and some ice cream on my trip. hehe.

I ran 2 miles on the treadmill two days ago, when I got back. Then I took yesterday off, since I knew I was running this morning. This was my first 10K. I was worried that my time would be extremely terrible since I hadn't been working out consistently... my goal was to finish in 1 hour and 20 minutes (and secretly I really wanted to finish in 1 hour and 10 minutes, but I figured I'd get a cramp and have to walk). The weather was very hot and muggy this morning, but the course was flat and shaded, which was very nice. I even watched the sunrise over a lake, which was beautiful! I ended up finishing the race without stopping (YAY!) with a time of 1:02:29.931!!!!! I am so proud of myself!!!! Maybe next time, since I don't plan on vacationing anytime soon, I'll make it under an hour. Who knows! I'm just very proud of myself!

Well I still have unpacking to do. Have a great day all!!!!

(o:
Jes