How could I forget to update on Valentines Day!? Me. Of all people! The one who annoyingly updates on every "cute", sappy, who-cares-you're-grossly-in-love date. I'm ashamed.
...well, unfortunately for you, I'm about to do a quick wrap up! (Hannah, I know you're dying for this update ;) )
The boy came to visit me in PA this past weekend so we could celebrate V-day, but mostly because we hadn't seen each other since I started the semester (it was a looong 3 weeks, people). Friday night we went to a friends house and mingled for a while before coming back to my apartment and getting some shut-eye.
AKA I did weird things and he bro-ed it up with my friends.
Saturday we visited the King of Prussia mall, had some lunch, then got back just in time to get ready and go to dinner. It ended up snowing, which made it look really pretty out, but walking in town was less than fun. Good thing dinner made up for it!
Aww how cute ;) Except we match...again. We're terrible (or really good) at picking out clothes. We always seem to match!
We ate dinner at Nonna's, a fantastic Italian restaurant in town. If you haven't been there and live in this area, I highly recommend it. We both got handmade ravioli - shrimp and something else that I forgot for him and red pepper and goat cheese with jumbo lump crab meat for me. Absolutely delicious! The camera on my phone is currently out of commission, so I wasn't able to take any pics!
He also picked me up orange roses (my favorite color) and bought me a beautiful necklace.
(picture from google)
Isn't it beautiful!? I can't wait to wear it tonight when the roomies and I go to P.F. Changs!
Well, after a great weekend I guess it's only natural for the rest of the week to be crazy! Off to conquertake onhandle deal with the rest of the day!
Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! Hang in there for the rest of the week!
There's something about the infinity symbol that draws me right in. Such a simple twist of an oval, a sideways "8". It's almost uninteresting to look at. No intricate design, no beautiful pattern of twists and turns that makes you think, "how did they come up with that?", no real depth. Just an oval pinched in at the center.
Maybe it's the meaning behind the symbol that gets me every time. To know that the figure means hope, faith, love, grace, dreams, pain, heartache, anything you want it to mean. Anything you're feeling at that time is held inside of this effortless twist. One day it could represent the infinite love you're feeling at the moment, and the next day it's a mere reminder to keep pushing through no matter just how much you're struggling.
It's a new beginning or a continuation of the path you're currently on. The love you'll always feel or the love you used to feel. It's that thing inside you, the burning passion you have, the flame that will never go out. Maybe I'm just looking too far into it. Maybe it is simply just an ordinary shape that got bent in translation and that's all. But every time I see the symbol I think of something else. At the end of the day, some things remain the same a midst all the craziness and chaos. And life will always go on.
As I said in a previous post, long distance running is just not my thing. I've been trying to iron out some of the kinks that prevent me from getting the distance I desire. The first thing I had to do was decide what my problems were and go from there.
I've been doing a lot of trial and error things lately and I think I've found a few things that work pretty well. I hope one or two of these tips can aid in getting you underway to beating the long distance rut!
1. Make it interesting. One of my biggest problems is boredom. Running outside is a little easier to get distracted by the run because of the scenery around. Going down different streets and getting somewhat lost totally helps with passing the time. As for running on the treadmill - that's where the boredom kicks in. Try people watching. Basically just look around and (i know this is bad) judge what people are doing. Make up stories about them in your head, look how ridiculous they're shirt looks. Maybe even envy their fresh new Nikes. Anything to get the run off your mind a bit.
2. Create a killer playlist. I don't know about you, but when I'm down to crappy playlists that I've had forever, it definitely puts a damper on my run. I'm unmotivated, I don't want to be there and I find myself being okay with running a little less that day because my song choices are just not up to par. Spend some time before you hit the gym making a playlist that's going to make you want to keep going.
3. Run for time, not distance. I know this seems like a bit of contradiction because I'm supposedly giving you tricks to go a longer distance. However, If you're constantly focusing on how far you've gone you may get a little discouraged. Instead, say to yourself, "Today I'm going to run for 15 minutes at ___ mph." Don't look at the mileage until those 15 minutes are done. If you're still not satisfied after the 15 minutes, say "I'm going to run for 7 more minutes at the same pace". You'll be surprised with how far you can go with a little goal setting.
4. Gradually increase your time and speed. Try doing a day-by-day schedule. If you're just starting out, maybe decide that Monday you'll run at a speed of 5.5 for 15 minutes. Tuesday push that to 17.5 minutes, and then Wednesday maybe to 20 minutes. After increasing the time, stay at that time and increase the speed. By gradually doing this, you'll be setting goals day by day and meeting them as you make them. Make sure not to set goals that are too unrealistic.
5. Run the length of songs. This is one I just tried the other day. It's basically one step up from tip #3 ties in with tip #2. Rather than running for time, run for the length of songs. So, for example, run 3 songs lengths at 7.0, 2 songs at 7.5, one song at 8, then 2 songs at 6.5. You'll be really surprised at how far you've ran when you're focusing on the songs rather than the length or time you've ran.
6. Try not to get discouraged. This is a big one for me. I often get something in my head and automatically either want it so bad (when it comes to clothes, shoes or food) or want to achieve it right away if it's a goal. You have to remember that things like this do not just happen over night. You can't wake up one day and say, "Hey! You now what? After not training one single day, I'm going to run a marathon today!" Great goal, don't get me wrong, but things like that take time and effort to achieve. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.
These things have really been helping me lately and I hope it gives you some inspiration to try them out and start succeeding in getting past the wanna-be stage and into the "I AM" stage. I'm personally still in the wanna-be stage, but patience is a virtue!
