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!
This past weekend the boy reached our one-year mark! I can't believe it's been over a year already. Time really flew right on by.
He took me on the most well thought out date! He started by bringing me a dozen red roses, the first type of flowers he ever got me. Dinner consisted of sushi - the place where we had our first dinner-date. (BTW, we got the Fireball Roll and it was so good. I literally could not get enough of it. Definitely one of the highlights of the date!) The next place he took me was the place I took him back in the day: Sayville Park. It's this park that has a playground, picnic benches, and a small "beach" and little dock. We got there just in time for the sunset and it was absolutely beautiful.
After freezing our butts off, we went and got some Starbucks, one of our frequent date spots and also our first real date. Then we went people watching at a 711, then back to the spot we used to go to chat before he met the parents and was "allowed" to come in. Last but not least, he gave me the movie we went to after Starbucks on our first date:
What a funny first date that was. Hah. Poor movie choice on my part. Not bad at all, just a little awkward for a first date. Anyway, he also took me on a mini shopping spree to Dick's Sporting Goods and I picked out pretty excellent items if I do say so myself. 2 pairs of shorts, a T-shirt, a Nike pullover, a sports bra and a pair of pants! He knows me too well ;)
Last night I took him out to a nice dinner at another one of our favorite Italian places. It was absolutely delicious. Of course, we drew out our anniversary like we do with all presents and holidays and made it a 2-day thing. We need to stop doing that! It was an amazing 2 days though - I could not have asked for anything better!
One of my gifts to him was a mix tape (CD). Corny, I know, but it was awesome. Here's one of the songs that was on it:
Kind of a funny/joke song. Everyone hates this song but he completely loves it!
Let me start off by saying that I envy you. And by "you" I mean the people that can run at a decent pace for miles and miles without getting bored or out of breath. This is the complete opposite of what I can do. I run for about 5 minutes and I'm already itching to get off the treadmill. Then I'm onto the the next cardio machine for a limited time before I'm bored again. It's a vicious cycle. It really is.
Not only do I get bored, but I get out of breath relatively quickly! I was a gymnast forever, so it's all short sprints or getting your heart rate up quickly for a short amount of time then coming back down and recovering. Distance was never really my thing. However, now that I am no longer a gymnast, I'm really trying to train myself to become that distance runner I so desperately want to be. Will it ever actually happen? Debatable. It's a work in progress.
In order to try to combat my treadmill boredness, I've been trying out interval training. All of the changing the speeds/inclines and what not seem to keep me more on my toes (for the most part). Plus, it gives me more of that quick high speed, low rest and recovery that gymnastics gave me. A little comfort never did anyone wrong, right? Eh, it works. I guess that won't reeeealllyyyy get me to that super-duper-marathon-runner status that I want. Like I said: work in progress.
Interval Pyramid Workout
Today I did a 30 minute interval/pyramid workout. I really liked this one today. The speeds weren't terrible and it gave me a bit more of the running for a longer period of time (kind of...).
Minutes Speed
0-3 4
3-5 5
5-7 6
7-9 7
9-10 8
10-13 4
13-15 5
15-17 6
17-19 7
19-21 6
21-23 5
23-25 4
To wrap up my 30 minute treadmill workout, I did a 5 minute quick sprint, quick recovery interval that included running at 8.0 for 30 seconds then walking at 4.0 for 30 seconds. I ended with a 5 minute cool down after that. Total miles: 3.0
See? 30 minutes to do 3 miles? I need to work on that.
It's been a while since I've posted! I keep meaning to, but things just get in the way. One goal for 2012: blog more. However, I'm not going to make this post about the New Year's Resolutions I might not keep. I have a few resolutions tucked away, but they'll be for me. I don't want to put all of these goals for the new year on here because there will probably be a few that are a little outlandish. I don't want to be a failure to all of you! So in the planner (that I don't have just yet) they will go!
Anyway, here's a little photo re-cap of the last couple weeks of 2011!
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Gingerbread House
Christmas
New Year's
It really has been an amazing couple weeks since being home. Other than work, everything has been perfect. Hanging with friends and family, relaxing, eating delicious food. Everything. I couldn't ask for better friends or family. I can't believe how fast this break is going! It's unreal.
As for the rest of my day? Researching a few things (mayyybbeeee part of my resolutions), cleaning my room, going to the gym, then hanging out, probably re-painting my nails. Obviously online browsing for some of these things and maybe these as well. I'm obsessed.
I have not yet read The Hunger Games, but I heard it was absolutely fantastic from many people. I'm almost thinking of picking it up and seeing what all the hype is about. I haven't decided yet. Anyway, here's a song that is apparently from the soundtrack. It's T Swift and The Civil Wars. It sounds very Civil-Wars-esque rather than TSwift-esque. I think I like it.
We are slowly, but surely coming to the end of the semester. It's been quite a challenging semester in more ways than one. With school work, extracurriculars, work, and social life (or lack-there-of), I've just been taking things day by day. Honestly, at this point that's all I can do. That's all any of us can really do: take one thing at a time, work your butt off and hope that all of your hard work pays off. There's no use in worrying about things you can't change. You can't change them, so why dwell on it? Work on what you have to do for the next day, work hard and that's all anyone can ever ask.
To mentally get by I've just been de-stressing by working out. It's the cure to any stress. Promise. I've really been into interval training lately. I tend to get really bored by the treadmill. The monotony sort of gets to me after 10 or so minutes, so the constant changing the pace really keeps me on my toes. Here was today's workout:
Minutes Speed
0-1 4.5
1-2 8
2-3 4.5
3-4 8
4-5 4.5
5-6 8.5
6-7 4.5
7-7 8.5
8-9 4.5
9-10 8.5
10-11 4.5
11-12 9
12-13 4.3 (That .2 really makes a difference!)
13-14 10
14-15 4.0
15-16 8
16-17 4.5
17-18 6
18-19 4.5
19-20 4.0
All of this comes out to about 2 miles. After this I did my everyday ab routine which I will post very shortly! I finished my workout with 5 minutes on the treadmill at 6.0. I sweat away all of my troubles! It was excellent.
Well, now it's off to clinical. Then dinner and studying my butt off for my 2 tests tomorrow. One day at a time.
Here's my new favorite workout tune:
I posted the full version, which I wasn't going to do. But if you haven't watched it yet this gives you a good excuse!
