She's Alive!

I know, I skip one day of blogging and I feel like its been a month.  LoL!  I just get so excited every day to write that I feel like I'm lost without it!  Anyway!!!

What is there to say really?  I feel squishy.  Yep, you read that right.  Squishy.  I haven't worked out in FOREVER!  This cold is still lingering.  I think it has a lot to do with that fact that I am dehydrated.  Of course, today at school, they are out of water for the water cooler (and remember my Water Snob post?).  I guess I'll have to hunt down a vending machine later!

But the point is, I'm working on my water.  Right now, I just have this annoying sniffle that won't go away and a little cough.  The good news is that I am in decent shape to do my half marathon weekend!  At least when it comes to the cold.

My legs might disagree.  I am really worried about how far I can make it in this race.  It will have been 4 weeks since my last long run.  That is a LONG time!  The last one, my legs killed the last 2 miles but then again, I started off hard since I was trying to keep up with someone else.  This time, I will be on my own completely so I can set my own pace at the start.  I am thinking that I will do an easy jog to each water station and then walk through the water station.  That way I have regular walking breaks.  I can totally complete the miles, even if its all walking!  And I am excited to take part for the 3rd consecutive year!

Anyway, on to other news, I picked my Marathon Training plan!  Sort of...  You all knew I would end up doing my own thing, right?  Cause I'm predictable like that!  Anyway, I did lay out Hal Higdon's Marathon 3 plan on my google calendar as a guideline.  I will follow the rules I laid out in my other blog (First Marathon, Help!).   Here is the basic outline again:

• Monday:  Strength/Cross Train
• Tuesday:  Medium Length Run
• Wednesday:  Strength/Cross Train (or rest)
• Thursday:  Speedwork
• Friday:  Rest day
• Saturday:  Long Run
• Sunday:  2-3 miles (or rest)

I got some other really great advice from my wonderful friends that I will keep in mind throughout the training too!  Next up is to figure out how I'm going to fuel my body through all of this.  I know how to eat properly but I also want to make sure I'm eating enough/not too much.  I don't want to gain that 5lbs that every marathoner seems to gain.  Just because I run doesn't mean I get to eat whatever I want!  Anyway, I really want a plan too because my eating has been way off where it should be.  I don't know yet if I'm going to worry about macronutrients (how many carbs? how much protein??  what about fat?!)  because it gets overwhelming!  But having a plan keeps me in line!

So there are my random thoughts for today.  I must go because its still midterms week!  I have one more take home midterm due tomorrow and then I'm done (and then the homework starts again anyway!)  Let's hope this weekend is light on homework because I am REALLY busy again.  Surprised?  Me neither!  LoL!  Have a good Tuesday!!!

Long Days Ahead

Good morning everyone!  I was entirely too busy yesterday to be writing a blog.  Did you miss me??  Haha.  I just had school and homework all day!  I actually would have had time at school since both my classes were canceled again!  But I didn't bring my laptop (lesson learned?).  And I can't say I got any work done really at school either.  I had to hang around all day to make sure the afternoon class was canceled.  Then I headed home to Rob, ate dinner, and got cracking.  Got a lot done and good thing since its due today!

Anyway!  What to say today...  How about I tell you about my scale again?  I know, lots of people say you shouldn't use it but I don't think that.  I think it is a good measure *sometimes*.  Like today.  I ate crappy all weekend and yesterday and was feeling frumpy this morning.  Let's just say I did NOT like the number it showed me.  Just goes to show that I can't eat whatever I want just because I ran this weekend (it does qualify me for 1 big splurge meal though!  But just 1 meal, not 1 week!). 

Yesterday I ran into some issues with nutrition.  I was tired.  I mean really, really tired driving home.  I made it a half hour from campus and decided I needed to get out of the car immediately.  I pulled into a Dunkin Donuts and got a pumpkin coffee AND a glazed donut.  Let me tell you though, that sugar carried me home.  Not the best choice health wise but it was brilliant when you need instant energy.  I was totally awake after like 20 minutes, singing along to the radio.  LoL.  On the bright side, I discovered this cute market with all locally grown fruits and veggies along with lots of spices, jarred items, etc.  They are only open until the last week of November.  I will have to stop again!  I got some "Pumpkin Butter" and can't wait to try it!  I wonder if I could use it in place of the "J" on my PB&J.  Hm...

So after that horrible nutritional moment, it got worse!  It's fall and one of the things I forgot on my Fall Love blog was Boo Berry Cereal.  My sister said she got some on her Facebook and I knew I was doomed from that moment.  I had actually forgotten about it when I was grocery shopping but then there was a huge end cap display at the store!  I grabbed a box and it was all down hill from there.  I'm not upset with myself though.  I have it once a year.  Usually, I don't even finish eating the whole box.  So I'm content :)  But it really needs to be controlled so next time, I'm measuring 1 serving and that is all I'm having!  All about moderation :)

Exercise?  Well, i've accepted the fact that it won't be happening on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I get up for work at 5:30 AM and get home from school at 8:30 PM.  Yep, not happening, so I need to make adjustments in my training schedule.  It is just hard to work around my long runs on the weekends!  I think Mondays and Wednesdays will be strength training days.  The only problem there is that I use those nights to get homework done.  Ugh, I need more hours in the day!  Or one of these:

I'm coordinated enough to take pictures while I run.  Do you think I can do Quantum Mechanics while I run???

That's it for today.  Lots to do!  Still not done that homework!!  Have a great day!

Making Time to Workout

This week has been just crazy.  I whined enough yesterday!  Tuesdays and Thursdays are my really long days where I work and then go to school.  I haven't gotten up early enough this week for a workout (I know, I need to just do it and get up at 5) so I was feeling a little jittery.  I got off at 11 and normally like to leave by noon.  I wasn't hungry at all when I got off work since I had eaten a bagel earlier.  I got this idea to try and run home and workout and shower before heading to school.

I headed home, change quick and pulled out a workout DVD.  I love Jackie Warner, she really knows how to kick my butt.  I thought this DVD was 20 minutes but is really 32!  Oops, so I ended up running a little late.  I felt absolutely horrible when I stopped, like I was going to be sick (I think from the bagel still in my belly).  Luckily it passed before I got in the car to head to school.  Made it there with plenty of time!

I really pushed it with this workout.  Last time I did a DVD, I just wasn't feeling it.  This time, I used my 5lbs and refused to go lower or give up.  I definitely felt strong!  Awesome workout and today I'm just a little sore!


In other news, my professor was talking about moving our class to Monday-Wednesday since he knows my other classes are MW (and knows I commute).  Most people in the class didn't mind.  He is going to think about it.  It would be hard having 3 classes on one day but honestly that would work great for me.  I would go down 3 days a week so I could have a full day to meet with classmates and professors if I need help on homework.  We'll see!

Today's plan:

• Move my body at least a little today (walk at lunch if we don't have a meeting)
• Work on homework for at least 2 hours
•  Drink all my water (and then some!)

Tomorrow's plan is a Long Run (10 miles) so while I may workout, I'm not going to go crazy!

School Dilemmas

I seriously don't know how people do this all the time.  How do they have time for anything?  This school and work thing is crazy!  And honestly, it wouldn't be that bad but for the 2 hour drive.  What was I thinking???  (Well, I was thinking "ooh free PhD, ok!").

By next semester, I need to have decided what research group I want to work with.  This will mean I will be on campus 5 days per week which means I will get an apartment down there.  Once I'm down there full time, things will be much easier to handle.  I will have lots more time (4 hours a day taken out of driving!).  Of course, I will miss Rob tons and only see him on the weekends but its something that needs to be done.

But for now, this whole commuting thing is killing me!  I wish there was a way I could just do the full time school thing and nothing else!  But until then...

Oh, and I got homework in both my classes yesterday.  I spent all of last night playing with the kittens working on one problem.  I think I've got it figured out but that is 1 problem off 1 homework set!  And he hasn't even taught the stuff for the other questions yet!!!  Ugh, I will be doing lots of reading this weekend.  At least we don't have rugby yet.  I am thinking about investing in a lap desk to take to the rugby games with me.  I can sit on the bleachers and do homework, pencil in one hand, camera in the other?  LoL

Anyway, here is my health update for the day:

This week, I've...

Not been drinking my water.
Not worked out since Saturday.
Been eating lots of veggies (yay!).
But also lots of ice cream and treats.
Been making it a priority to get enough sleep.

Today, I will...

Not pig out on the ice cream I have at home (how did that get there??)
Make an effort to drink my water when I'm on campus
Try to get in some simple workout (walking on campus or maybe pushups and stuff when I get home)

Tomorrow, I will...

Not snooze my alarm clock for an hour.
Avoid the sweets.
Do some sort of workout, even if its just playing on the Kinect!
Be stuck at work all day with endless access to a water fountain and a bathroom (aka drink all my water!!!).


Now, its time to get back on track!!!  I even tracked my food today just to be accountable.  Here we go!!!

Hectic Labor Day

Yesterday was just hectic.  A good word for it.  I felt like I didn't get anything done!  I had wanted to get up early and work out but we had stayed up super late the night before.  I value my sleep so we slept in and got a solid 8 hours.  Rob and I decided we would eat breakfast at home since its faster and cheaper.  I had my usual omelet with some sort of oatmeal thing.  It was oatmeal pancakes again!  So convenient, I made enough to have all week. Rob's cereal looked so delicious so I took a picture of that too!

Then it was off to do errands and head back home for some cleaning and odds and ends. 

I just loved the chicken table runner but it was $40!  No way, even with 20% off.  We decided to pick up a pizza to make lunch quick and easy.  $5 for a pizza is cheaper than anything I can cook at home!  Anyway, we headed home with some boxes to unpack from storage and then all our plans were foiled...

That would be a screw in my tire.  Ugh!  At least we caught it before driving back and forth to school.  We had gotten the warrenty on the tires so we headed over to Sears.  It was a 2 hour wait!  We hadn't planned ahead to bring a second vehicle so we were stuck at the mall.  We decided that I would get my fitness minutes in by walking around.  Good thing I brought water with me and of course, we did some shopping too!

Oh how I love shoes!  Anyway, didn't really find much but had fun walking around.  Finally, at about 2 hours on the dot, the car was ready and we could head home.  This left us with just enough time for me to change before heading to a friend's house for a Labor Day Barbecue.

This was just some of the things she had.  It was potluck and turned out great!  She always has the nicest get-togethers.  Anyway, we hung out there until we decided we really needed to get home to clean before bed.  Ended up staying up a little bite late but at least got a lot of things put away.  I also pulled out my books for school

So we really didn't get much done yesterday.  I got no workout in like I wanted to.  Today is going to be tough on that end too.  I have work and school.  I have some time between the two but I will use that to brush up on my notes from class last week.  The plan is to work out when I get home tonight (late).  Gotta fit it in at some point, right?

And to end, some random pictures.  We got cute lights for our walk way and Spooky was being adorable at breakfast yesterday!  I will probably blog again at some point today.  Not sure about these daily blogs.  They are fun but I'm quickly realizing how much time they take up, which I don't have much of right now!  We'll see!

Grad School Jitters

I am terrified.  Terrified of going back to school.  I mean, I am really excited because I like going to school but there are a lot of questions around going back.  Did I choose the right field (I had 2 majors to pick from and went with the unexpected one, should I have gone with the safe one)?  Is this is a good school?  Is it worth the drive there and back every day?  Am I going to be able to survive financially?  Will all my undergrad math come back to me?  Will I do ok in my classes?  Will I find a research topic I enjoy and succeed in?  Will I be able to pass the qualifying exams?

See, aren't you terrified now??

So I was thinking about a team I'm on called Fabulous Fitness.  It is a great bunch of mostly ladies (don't worry, I didn't forget you Mike!) who are all healthy, active, supportive, and just plain wonderful.  I never really was too active with any of the teams that you can participate on in Spark People but for some reason when FabFit moved over and opened a page on Facebook, I started to pay more attention.  Actually, I've made some many friends there from the FabFit team that my Facebook feed is 75% FF friends and only like 25% people I know in person.  Ha!  But I like it that way, they keep me motivated.  Anyway,  they have a saying for this team

Be Brave.  Be Bold.  Be Fierce.  Be Fabulous.

I started to think about how that fit into my life with fitness and health and then I realized its about how to live your entire life, not just your health.  I thought about how it would fit into my journey going back to grad school. 

Be Brave:  I took the steps to apply for grad school.  That was a huge step because I knew it meant I would actually have an opportunity to go back to school.  And then all those quesitons above starting popping into my head.

Be Bold:  I got the acceptance letter and I immediately sent back my reply that I would be attending this fall.

Be Fierce:  I am going to apply this to my studies, my classes, and my research.  I know I am a smart girl and I know that if I put my mind to it, I can totally succeed.  I just have to be determined.  Fierce is the perfect word for this.

Be Fabulous:  I am also a little worried about losing the self I've built over the last 2 years.  I want to be keep running, I want to keep eating healthy, I want to keep looking sharp.  I am going to continue to take care of myself while I go back to school so that I can be fabulous!

And as for my mantra, It's Not an Option, that is easy to make a list:

It's not an option to not go back to school (especially at this point!).
It's not an option to not succeed in my classes.
It's not an option to not pass the qualifiers.
It's not an option to slack off on my research.
It's not an option to give up my healthy life.
It's not an option to doubt myself.
It's not an option to not finish.

I posted a funny cartoon yesterday about why someone would go to grad school.  It is so true and made my laugh.  Why am I going back?  Well, its just something I always thought I would do, get my PhD.  Why?  Well, because I want to.  And then it dawned on my that most people don't have this crazy ambition of getting a PhD.  The fact that I even want to pursue one has already skyrocketed me in my field.  I always have a little self doubt, even though I do excellent in my classes all the while being a total procrastinator and a bit of a slacker.  I find math comes pretty easy to me (when I have a good teacher anyway).  So why am I so worried?  I know it will be hard but deep down inside I know I can do it.  This was a complete revelation for me.  All this time I was so worried about failing when I really knew that I would be fine.

Classes start on Monday.  Terrified.  I just have to remember...

Be Brave.

Be Bold.

Be Fierce.

Be Fabulous.

And as for not succeeding?

It's Not an Option.

Why



PhD Comics



School, Running & Remodeling

I have a lot of stuff going on right now!  First off, I got accepted into Grad School with funding!!!  Woohoo!  The funding is only for a year and you have to reapply every year but I plan on kicking butt so they will be happy to provide it again!  Hehe :)  Anyway, classes start August 29th so I have to call people ASAP about this stuff!  I have to register for classes and everything still!

Second thing going on is my half marathon training which isn't really going on.  I am struggling!  Time, heat, excuses, whatever.  Its time to get cracking!  In order to concentrate, I'm only going to run from now until the half.  No ST, no cross training, just good ol' running.

Third thing, I'm moving!  My grandmother lived next door to my parents (where I live) in somewhat of a guest house.  Basically a little apartment.  She passed away pretty recently and my parents told Rob and I that we would eventually move into the apartment.  Well, my sister has run into some issues with the place she and her family are renting and needs a place to stay ASAP so that spend up our moving quite a bit!  We wanted to remodel before moving and managed to get the supplies we need with such short notice.  We've started cleaning out the furniture and stuff and are getting ready since my sister needs to move by the 18th!  That's next week!!!  So this is going to be the fastest remodel you've ever seen.  LoL.  It works out kind of well though because then I will be done before I go to school!  One less thing to worry about! 

Anyway, last night, we managed to move our 5 truckloads of furniture all to good homes and go through some of the stuff.  I've also been scanning pictures like crazy to share with the family.  Check this one out of my mom when she was a baby

Anyway, there are just hundreds of pictures and I've been plugging away.  Last night, I took a break from that to get supplies from Home Depot with Rob.  We want to make sure we have everything ready to go when we can start painting and such.  First, we picked out paint colors.  We brought a piece of the new flooring we got (for cheap!!) to match the colors.

Pink just isn't my color.  Here is the current flooring:

Then we decided to look for a new chandalier since the one in the house now is wood and gold.  Again, not my color scheme.

We did find one we liked but the man helping us couldn't find the box.  He offered us the floor model (which was 50% off the original price) for an extra 15% off!  Couldn't pass it up!  You will see which one once we are all moved in ;)

Tonight will be spent scanning more pictures (almost done!!!) and taping off molding and cabinets.  That way, when we are all ready, we can just start painting!  So excited, I love decorating and love the clean slate!  More pictures later and I'll be sure to take "before" and "after photos too!

Marathon, Here I Come!

Big news!  I have been keeping it a secret but I decided on my first marathon.  I'll be doing the DC Rock and Roll Marathon in March!

Some online friends from Spark People were talking about participating in the half.  I got this crazy idea to see if there was a full that day too (the Philadelphia one is on a half which I am doing in September).  Anyway, there was and registration opened yesterday.  So I took the leap!  26.2 miles!!!

In other news...  I officially got accepted into Grad School!  The school is in Delaware and is a small program but has excellent research opportunities.  I want to go but will only be able to do so if I get the funding.  I am going to send back my acceptance letter and work it out from there.  A little birdie told me I got the funding but I haven't seen that in writing yet.  Let's hope!!!  I will commute from home for the first year and then probably get an apartment for the weekdays after that.  Rob has too good of a job to just get up and move.

My day was just excellent yesterday.  Work was low key.  I got this cute guy while on my lunch break:

He is a tea infuser!  The tea leaves go in the bottom part (you can't see it, he is sitting in a little holder) and he floats in your tea cup.  HOW CUTE!!!  I can't wait to try it out!  Anyway, after work, I decided I had to go run.  I made a promise to my Spark Friends (in my blog there) that I would run yesterday and I did!  I cut my 6 miles to 4 because it was so freakin hot.  Also, my gate just felt off and my left ankle hurt so I didn't want to push it.  I still got a good sweat in.  Rob rode his bike and offered to carry my water for me.  He is the best!

I am standing a little funny in that picture.  LoL, I don't know what I was doing.  Anyway!  We went to a park sort of nearby and ran the 2 mile loop.  We saw lots of beautiful animals!  The deer were literally 5-10 feet off the "road" (its a road that just runs through the park so no traffic).

I just thought it was cool that the leaf was hanging on a spider web.  It looked awesome in person.  And the rabbit?  Wasn't scared of me at all.  Just sat there as I got closer for pictures.  Haha!  Love that park!  Oh and its mostly shaded so it made my extremely hot run at least a little cooler.  Let's hope its cooler for the weekend when I have my long run!

Study Time

Yesterday was not an ideal eating day, but it wasn't terrible either.  I started my day off with a delicious lazy breakfast!  I love having 2 eggs in the morning usually in omelet form but I just wasn't feeling the cooking-on-the-stove thing.  I decided I would try popping them in the microwave.  I also threw in some broccoli and mozzarella.  It came out amazing!  This was 2 small to medium eggs in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Perfect.  (Today, I used a wider bowl which wouldn't let the center cook.  I had to break it in half and flip it so the center was now near the edge of the bowl.  Added another minute and it was good).

At work, I enjoyed my oatmeal and another free iced coffee from DD.  This time I asked for mocha hazelnut.  Way. Too. Sweet.  But good!  Didn't drink all of it.  Next time, only one flavor.  PB&J for lunch.  Same today!  So boring right?  LoL. 

For dinner, Rob and I ended up at the mall.  I decided on pizza.  I had to use my debit card so I needed to pass the $5 minimum so I ended up with 2 slices.  I also didn't want water but I didn't want calories so I had.... Diet Soda!  I know!!!  Who is this person??  I had about half and then threw out the rest.  It satisfied my craving for something refreshing.  There just aren't really any other choices when eat out though!  Soda or water?  Or how about some crazy sweet Minutemade?  Yuck.

In other news, I got a new pedometer!  I was very excited to wear it yesterday.  Reach about 7500 steps.  Not bad for not working out!  (Picture was from lunch time - as you can see, I have a desk job).

Anyway, we had headed to the mall because I wanted to look at bookbags for school (still excited!).  I had checked some out online and intended to order it online to save a few bucks but the instant gratification in me won out and I got this super cute bag from the Hallmark Store (Vera Bradley).  My laptop just fits in it and there is plenty of room for books and things.  I will still have to carry a separate lunch box but that is fine!

We also headed over to Borders again to see if they are selling fixtures.  We got on the list and then browsed the store.  I check out the DVDs again.  Rob said I couldn't get this one and I pouted:

I remember doing it with my mom when I was little!  Mom, do you want me to go back and get it for you???  I think it could be fun to do together again!

I also got a whole stockpile of books for going back to school.  Just some reference/refresher books that I thought could be useful.

They all sound like lots of fun right?  I am going to work through that bottom book as a refresher course.  I need something that is more of a physics refresher though.  These are all math books!  I guess I could just read my textbooks over again but that seems like it would take way too long.  Haha.

Finally, we headed home to relax and let me sort all my school supplies (yes, my bookbag is already packed!).  I have the best coworker who golfs.  When she heard that my foot hurt and I needed a hard ball to massage it, she left these on my desk for me!

I iced it until the bag started leaking.  Then I rolled it on the golf ball for a while.  Then it was time to wrap it.

I left it wrapped all night.  It sitll was a little irritated this morning but not much.  I think it got irritated by the side to side movement in the DVD I did on Monday.  I may or may not go for a very short (1 mile) jog today.  I may even wear my Vibrams to work out in the office.  I'm wondering if it just needs to be strengthened.  I won't push it hard and I'll rest again if it hurts more tomorrow!

So overall, another busy day!  I even went on my lunch break to the Staples near my job to look for an organizer.  I did find a good one!  People who are out and about during the day are nuts though.  I got cut off driving like 3 times (and its literally only a 2-3 mile drive).  People in Staples were also nutso, acting like it was Black Friday or something.  The girl in line in front of my was practically tapping her foot and sighing over how long the cashier was taking (which he wasn't).  Crazy people!  I am glad I don't shop during the day... (Had the same experience in a different town during a lunch break shopping trip too).

Anyway!  I am chatty today.  Time to get my day started!!