Yoga fail

I got up this morning, drove my brother and his friends to school since they were able to go in at 9:30 because of MCAS testing, and ate breakfast to be ready to go when my mom came back from an appointment with my sister. I went into work with my mom, then drove over to the studio I had planned to try out the 2 weeks for $25. I knew I would need to park at a metered lot, but failed to bring quarters! In VT all the meters take dimes/nickels which I had, but these fancy Boston meters only take quarters. Hmph.

I COULD just go back tomorrow but since I’ll be leaving on the 29th for a couple days, that’s when my two week would end since I won’t be here Monday and Tuesday of that week. It still would be a good deal, but I don’t want to lose two days of the two weeks. So I’m considering the Passport to Prana which is good until January 31, 2011.

We shall see!

Lazy days

Today was literally the laziest day I’ve had in so long. I didn’t sleep well so I woke up around 10 after waking up at 6, making tea, and promptly falling back to sleep. It was good because I haven’t been sleeping well, but made me feel so lazy. Something about waking up with the sun shining in your face..

I lounged around, ate breakfast, and watched TV until I sucked it up and went for a 2 mile run. It was chilly and misting but in only a t-shirt it wasn’t bad at all. I did 2 miles in about 20 minutes, which wasn’t what I wanted but I keep getting stuck at those 10 minute miles.

After my run I began to do a yoga workout on one of my iPhone apps when my mom called and asked if I wanted to go to yoga tonight with my aunt, who goes every Monday night. I was so excited to not have to do it in my mom’s bedroom (had the most floor space, my sister was watching the Justin Bieber movie in the living room… chose the better of two evils). Only we found out it was cancelled around 5:45 😦 which was too bad considering I had zero drive to do it on my own after my brother decided he was making haddock for dinner and had it ready soon after we got home from food shopping.

However, I DID complete my plank for the plank challenge as well as create a plan for the four weeks! Here is what it will entail:

Plank Challenge
Week 1	30 seconds	37.5 seconds	45 seconds	52.5 seconds
Week 2	1 minute	1 min 7.5 sec	1 min 15 sec	1 min 22.5 sec
Week 3	1 min 30 sec	1 min 37.5	1 min 45 sec	1 min 52.5
Week 4	2 minute	2 min 7.5	2 min 15 sec	2 min 22.5

I held my 30 second plank twice, so that will be the plan for the rest of the challenge!

In other news..

I decided I didn’t want to waste the days away like I did today for the rest of the time I’m home. I’m home until mid-June with no job and many of my friends are still at school or abroad, so that leaves me with very little to do during the day, thus watching mindless TV and feeling crappy.

I’m going to get a two week unlimited yoga pass at a studio within biking distance of my mom’s office, so I’ll be able to park there and bike over to the studio, since parking in that area is expensive/limited. It will be great because I can do yoga everyday and bike each day as well. I have to go back up to school to move to my new apartment around June 1st, so when I get back home I’m going to do another 2 weeks for $25 at a different studio so that I can compare and eventually choose one as my go-to studio for when I’m home!

I’m excited for tomorrow’s yoga class!

Good morning!

Er… afternoon!

Yesterday was a busy day! I went for a run around 11, just before it started to downpour! I did 4 miles in 38:13 with splits at 9:25, 9:17, 10:04, and 9:27. I’m really glad I’m starting to drift away from 10:00/miles. I seem to be able to pull off 8:00 miles during races but nowhere near that during training. I know I need to push myself harder and so I’m trying to be more aware of my speed during runs.

Afterwards I met my family in Providence for lunch after my cousin’s graduation. We went to an Italian restaurant which was really good. We started with ricotta rice balls and fried calamari, which were both delicious, and I had sweet potato gnocchi for my meal. I don’t LOVE sweet potato, but the gnocchi was really good. I also tried a tiny bite of fried polenta out of curiosity, it was a little weird.

I stayed up late last night watching the first four episodes of Extreme Couponing. It was so interesting, but I have mixed feelings.. The people on the show had stockpiles of paper towels, laundry detergent, sodas, and tons of non-perishable items. I feel that if you are receiving over 90% of your total bill and paying very little out of pocket, food should be donated as these people seem to be able to score these deals somewhat frequently and do not need over 80 bottles of laundry detergent. That’s just my opinion. What do you think?

Anyway, I ended up falling asleep watching it and waking up in the middle of the night not being able to fall back asleep. I also ended up waking up around 6am but fell back asleep awhile after. My allergies are the absolute worst right now. I can deal with itchy eyes but I can’t stand having a stuffy nose and sore throat.

My plans for today include relaxing, watching TV and movies, and doing an at-home yoga video, 2 mile run, and the FitBlog plank challenge! I want to join a yoga studio, but they’re so expensive and I don’t know how often I’d actually go. Some studios in Boston offer 2 weeks unlimited for $25 which I might just try out. There are also several lululemon stores offering free yoga/cycling classes once a week. I love yoga but don’t want to shell out $15-$20 per class!

Summertime, summertime…

Summer has officially begun! The weather just needs to get the memo…

Around 10:30 yesterday my cousin and I went into Boston to look for cycling shoes (for him) and a road bike (for me). We both had no luck, as Boston specialty stores are very expensive. We had some lunch and headed back home. It was really fun to walk around Boston though, I need to do that more while I’m home. We went to the Back Bay and walked around the Fenway area. It was weird being able to walk around Fenway without battling crowds of people.

Afterwards I finally tackled my closet which was filled with boxes from our move back in February. I ended up donating 5 (!) boxes of books. I had trouble parting with them, but knew I honestly was not going to read them. I also got rid of a lot of stuff I was holding on to for no reason at all. Old assignment notebooks from middle/high school? I kept one and moved on. I put a dresser and was able to put my clothes away!! Big since when I’m home I end up living out of a suitcase/my sister’s closet because it’s usually only for a weekend to a week. So excited to be home for over a month!!

When we got home I convinced my mom to come on my run with me because I really didn’t want to do it alone. We covered about 3 miles and I was glad I did it! Came home and made homemade pizzas for dinner, along with a nice Shock-Top and the Bruins.

4 miles on the agenda today as soon as my breakfast digests. Then it’s off to Providence for the afternoon!

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Credit to @LeavingFatvilleI’ll be taking part in the PLANKS Challenge May 16th-June 26th. Check it out here for more information.

FitBlog challenge to increase length and number of times in plank position. I know for me this is super difficult and cannot last more than 30 seconds without collapsing. Stay tuned for weekly updates!!

Done, done, and done!

Finally done with this semester!

This has been one of the busiest semesters at college yet. I took four classes, a gym credit, worked in a lab for 3 credits, worked in before school lab at an elementary school, and worked at my work-study job at the university theatre. Fun, but very busy! I also completed (and was awarded!) a grant proposal and thesis proposal.

I’m overjoyed to be back at home right now, laying in bed with my little cat, and watching TV, stress-free.

Today was a crazy day. Up at 6am for my Spanish final, after being up half the night with a congested nose and itchy eyes. After my exam I considered going back to my apartment to sleep, but figured I’d just feel worse and probably wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. I convinced myself to go to the gym, telling myself that it only had to be for a half hour and I could just do some walking on the treadmill. I ended up run/walking intervals, probably equal amounts of each, but my fastest 400 was at 7:00/mile. Sa-weeet! I also squeezed in some abs and leg stuff, but then had to leave to get home to pack! Funny how the most dreaded workouts are the best 🙂

I spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon packing and watching the new Glee (even though I watched it on Wednesday night… hehe). In my defense, the player skipped throughout the prom part so I needed to rewatch it! I thought it was one of the best episodes recently. I loved all the songs and there were some really emotional moments!

After finishing up some random last-minute things, I was on the road back to Massachusetts accompanied by my ever-so-pleasant (sleep-deprived) boyfriend around 3:45.

We got to his house in two and a half hours, we made really good time! His mom made a yummy dinner and we watched some TV before I left for home.

Now I’m laying in bed watching late night TV. I’m still so congested and can’t sleep. Hopefully the seven day forecast of rain will get rid of the pollen!

The Bright Side

The reason I created this blog was to document my journey to running a marathon. It turns out that journey might be longer than I had planned.

Tonight I attended the Team in Training informational meeting for my area. For the Upstate NY/Vermont chapter of TNT, there are several races that they coordinate and send participants from my chapter to which include the Adirondack Half, the Nike Women’s Marathon in CA, the Marine Corps Half in DC, etc. It isn’t feasible to go to either D.C. or California for the weekend, with the added pressure of raising more money (the fundraising limit is more if you are flying to your destination). I’m going to be right in the middle of my thesis research and starting classes and I don’t want that much pressure. So I decided to run the Adirondack half, it’s a beautiful course and I feel good about this decision.

I’d been having doubts about running a full marathon only shortly after I’d run my first 5k. I feel strong, but I want to cross the finish line feeling just as strong. I feel that with training for and running a half marathon in September and then training for a marathon when I’m 100% ready, will make me a stronger and better runner. It’s in my nature to want to throw myself into something, but I think it’s wise in this case to take it slow and enjoy the journey 🙂

So it’s still a journey from 0 to 26.2, but with a few pitstops on the way!

Busy day!

Last night I slept horribly thanks to my allergies. I woke up almost every hour not being able to breathe out my nose. Luckily the Sudafed I took around 4am helped a bit but I ended up sleeping until almost 9:00! Unheard of. I woke up at 7 convinced I couldn’t sleep any longer and slept almost 2 more hours. I guess I was tired..

I got to the library around 11 and worked on my paper for Spanish. It’s coming out all right, but I feel like it’s missing something. Hopefully when I sit down later to edit it, things will come together.

Tomorrow’s another busy day: I’m going into my work-study job to help out for a couple hours to use up my hours! I have too many left over. After that I have a performance for my Honors College class. We didn’t have to do any memorization, but we have to perform it on the main stage on campus. I hate things like that, so this should be fun! 🙂

Afterwards I’m meeting my lab director to go over some stuff for the summer and then finally spending the rest of the night studying for my 7:30am Spanish final. At approximately 9am Friday morning, I will be very happy 🙂

I don’t think working out is going to happen today. I thought I had to be in the lab at 4:30, but it turned out I had to be here at 6:30 but that messed some stuff up so I couldn’t leave in between. If I get out by 6:30, I might still go to the gym. I had a cross-training workout scheduled but maybe I can make today a rest day and make up for it on Friday when I didn’t think I’d be able to get a workout in. I’m so glad the semester is almost over and I don’t have to push workouts off because of school! Although… I could have just gotten up earlier this morning to fit it in. Oh well!

Gotten run and do lab stuff! Happy Wednesday 🙂

Spring has arrived!

Looks like spring has finally arrived in Burlington… now let’s see how long it lasts…

Last year at this time there was still snow on the ground!

Today was such a busy day! I woke up at 5:50 for my 7:30am final, got ready, crammed for a while and then finally went to go take it. It wasn’t horrible, but not great either. I prepared as well as I could, but there were a few surprises. I think I’ll end up with a B/B+, which I’m not happy about but it won’t count towards my Psychology G.P.A. which is what will matter the most when I’m applying for grad school.

Afterwards I went to the library and said that I wasn’t going to leave until I got my 8-10 page paper done. I got up to 8 pages, checked the assignment and it said 6-8 pages. Sweet!

I was going to go into the lab this afternoon because I needed to do something, but decided I needed to de-stress at the gym before I did anything else. I will have to go into the lab in a little bit, but definitely worth putting off.

I did my first speedwork workout!! I did 3.75 miles in 34:14.

Here’s the workout – I got it from Carrots n’ Cake as I mentioned yesterday

• Warmup .50  at 6.3 (9:30/mile pace)
• .25 at 7.1
• .25 at 6.3
• .25 at 7.2
• .25 at 6.3
• .25 at 7.3
• .25 at 6.3
• .25 at 7.4
• .25 at 6.3
• .25 at 7.5
• .25 at 6.3
• .25 at 7.6 (7:53/mile pace!!)
• .50 at 6.3 (9:30/mile pace)

I actually hate the treadmill and this workout flew by. Not that it wasn’t challenging (it was), but changing the speed every quarter mile made it go by pretty fast. I stopped to walk for about 1/10 of a mile to grab water and catch my breath. I was tempted to walk the last 1/2 mile but powered through!

On the agenda for tonight is a little bit of studying, AL’S for dinner (yummm), and maybe a movie? I think I deserve a little relaxation after banging out an 8 page paper!

My posts have been pretty picture-less, but mainly because this isn’t a food blog, so I won’t post pictures of my meals. If I happen to create an awesome meal or bake something pretty, I’ll post it. I do want to post more pictures though, once I have more free time, I’ll take some! I’ll leave you with a picture of something spring-y in the meantime!

ABC’s of me!

I’ve seen this on other blogs, and thought it would be a fun way to describe who I am!

A. Age: 21

B. Bed size: In my apartment at school, queen. At home, twin.

C. Chore you dislike: Emptying the dishwasher.

D. Dogs: None – I want a husky!

E. Essential start to your day: Brushing my teeth and breakfast

F. Favorite color:  Green, but I’ve also been into purple recently.

G. Gold or silver:  Silver. I really don’t like gold for some reason.

H. Height:  5 foot, 5 inches.

I. Instruments you play(ed):  Piano for two years, until I had a mean teacher and refused to go back (I was eight). Does the recorder in music class count? 🙂

J. Job title:  Student, research assistant, nanny – jack of all trades!

K. Kids: None

L. Live:  Currently I go to school and live in Burlington, VT. I’m from a small town right outside of Boston and spend as much time there as I can!

M. Mom’s name:  Mary Ann

N. Nicknames: Bri

O. Overnight hospital stays:  None – knock on wood!

P. Pet peeves:  People talking in the library, long lines, spitting, and when people walk reaaally slow.

Q. Quote from a movie: “Eli: Okay, you know what the three of us are? We’re a tripod.
Klitz: A tripod?
Eli: Yes, a tripod. Which means that if you knock out one of our legs, WE-ALL-FALL!

R. Righty or lefty:  Righty

S. Siblings:  Two – Stephen, 15 and Lizzie, 17

T. Time you wake up:  Depends. This past semester I got up at 5:30 every day for the research project I work for. Weekends between 8-9. Usually no later than 8 on weekdays

U. Underwear:  Yes?

V. Vegetables you dont’ like:  Sweet potato. I tried REALLY hard though. I’m also not a huge fan of steamed vegetables.

W. What makes you run late:  I usually forget something and have to run back to get it. I also have a habit of forgetting to put my key back on the key chain after taking it to go running… I usually also forget where I put it down.

X. X-rays you’ve had:  None. I’ve had mouth x-rays at the dentist for my wisdom teeth and for a root canal once.

Y. Yummy food you make:  I make a mean lemon tart 😉 I also make yummy homemade pizza!

Z. Zoo animal favorites:  I haven’t been to the zoo since second grade. I’m really not sure – probably giraffes.

Study study study

Well… it’s Monday. If only the weekend was three days long.. or 7 🙂

Still studying for finals over here. Just four more days until freedom! I have a world history exam tomorrow at 7:30am, a 10-page paper, a 4-page Spanish paper, and a Spanish exam at 7:30am on Friday.  Oy.

In other news… I took a break around 12:45 to run. I ran 2 miles (8:29 and 8:41) and walked/ran a third (13:10). I also did some abs and a workout titled “Cut and Chiseled” from an iPhone app. I wouldn’t say it will make me “cut and chiseled” but it was a good workout.

Afterwards I had lab meeting where we had a pizza party to celebrate our last meeting!

Studying resumed after that 😦

Wish I could write about more exciting things, but studying has consumed my life. Or procrastinating from studying. Whatever.

Tomorrow’s workout should be exciting, as it’s my first “track workout.” To make my pre-marathon training, I copied Tina from Carrots n’ Cake‘s first week of training because it followed the Team in Training schedule. I don’t know if mine will be different, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

It says: 2 lap warm up, 6 X’s 400M, 2 lap warm down, 1 lap rest
Pace based off of 5k race time

My 5k race time = 8:02/mile

Hopefully I can figure all that out! I don’t really know of anywhere with a track around here that I can use. We have an indoor one at the fitness center, but it’s 8 laps to a mile and I can’t stand running in circles for that long. I’ll probably use the treadmill until I can find an outdoor track I’m comfortable using. Don’t wanna crash a middle/high school track practice!