Chi Town 10k

On Saturday, my friend Bethany and I participated in the the Chi Town 10k. I have been running consistently lately, but only 3-4 times a week, and not more than 4 miles at any given time, so I was pretty nervous to do a 10k. I figured I would just take it as a training run, and be happy with whatever happened.

The nicest part about this race is that the start line is only about a 5 minute walk from Beth's house, so there was zero stress in getting to the course. Beth and I run about the same pace, and neither of us were expecting a PR, so we decided to run together. Here is a picture of the course route:

The most hilarious/insane thing happened during the race. After the stretch south along the lake shore, the course goes through a small tunnel that passes under Lake Shore Drive. When we got near the tunnel, there was a person from the race saying, "The course route goes through this tunnel, but there is a water leak, so there is a decent amount of water in the tunnel." Beth and I figured it couldn't be too bad, so we ran to the entrance of the tunnel and we saw that there was about 5 inches of standing water! We decided we did not want to run through that (we were only around the halfway point, so we would have had to run over 3 miles with soaking wet shoes); we looked around and saw a ton of people jumping over the guard rail, and then crossing Lake Shore Drive!! This is a very busy, 8 lane road, and traffic was completely stopped because of all the runners making their way across! We joined everyone else, hopped over the guard rail, crossed one direction of the road, hopped another guard rail, crossed the other direction of the road, and then finally were back on the course. It was insane! I am sure the drivers were not happy (understandably!), but we were not sure what else to do! AND a few minutes later, we heard a guy talking to his friend behind us, and he said, "I went through the water, and it was very smelly...I think it was sewage." :-o That made us extremely glad we hadn't tried to tough it through the water! :)

Overall, my race time of 58:45 was quite a bit slower than last year (I expected to be slower), but we had negative splits for every single mile (except for the whole crossing the road fiasco, but I'm quite sure our pace was where it should be for that mile), so I was actually pretty happy with how it went. I felt strong until around mile 5, then I started to feel exhausted. Beth suggested we try to do a 9:00 mile for the final mile, and I said I couldn't, but ended up doing it! Woo. :) Not bad for what I went into the race expecting. Afterwards we had a delicious breakfast: I drank about 4 cups of coffee and ate an awesome croissant sandwich (wish I had a picture to show you!). I'll leave you with a picture of Beth and I after breakfast.

Back to Los Estados Unidos!

I am back to the US and have been catching up with school and sleep this week. I came back with a cold, so I haven't been very productive this week, but I had an absolutely fabulous time in Spain! Here is a quick recap of my time in Espana!

Sunday
We arrived to Madrid, had time to change and get ready for dinner, then took buses to have dinner as a large group (our entire group was around 115!).

Monday
Run in the morning! I was worried that my GPS watch wouldn't work since I was halfway around the world, but it had no issues! Our pace was a little slow because we stopped at a lot of lights and spent some time evaluating if we were going in the correct direction or not. :)

We took a day trip to Toledo, which was beautiful! It is a smaller city that is surrounded by a river on two sides. To protect the city, a wall was built around the other two sides of the city. Very neat place that seems to represent the classic Spain that first comes to mind.

Our first concert was in evening in a beautiful church in Madrid. We had a full audience which I found absolutely amazing--people had to see the poster that said an orchestra from Purdue (I am sure most of them hadn't even heard of Purdue before!), and then they decided to come see us. I think we played very well, and I feel lucky to have such a cool experience.

Tuesday
We walked to a large park called Retiro Park as a group in the morning. This is somewhat similar to Central Park in NYC; I mostly say that because it is a huge park with tons of trees, fountains, greenry, etc, right in the middle of Madrid. We rented row boats (actual row boats, not paddle boats!) which was a blast. You can see me in the obnoxiously bright pink/purple rain jacket. :)

Later in the day we went to Plaza Mayor, and were given some time to explore the area. Following, we went to The Prado--a very famous art museum with several classic pieces. After the museum, several of us went to a Flamenco show, which was beautiful and inspiring: the dancing, the singing, and the guitar playing were all incredible. We ended the night with karaoke which was so. much. fun.

Wednesday
High speed train ride to Barcelona--we seriously need to get some fast trains in the US; they are fabulous for traveling. Barcelona is amazing! If you haven't been there, you have to go check it out. I think it is the most interesting city that I have ever been to. It is a perfect combination of new and old--they kept most of the old buildings in the city, but when they restored them, they would add modern flairs. For example, there was a huge building that used to be a famous site for bull fights. They recently remodeled it and added a lot of colorful tiles, colored windows where there used to be open gaps, and a glass elevator to the top--gorgeous. The rest of the day we spent just exploring the city a little bit.

Thursday
Thursday morning I was motivated to wake up early and run. We ran along the sea, which obviously I never get to do in Indiana, so I was on cloud 9. :) My watch didn't find satellites until we had already been running for about 5 minutes, so I think we were probably closer to 3.3 miles or so.

After the run, we had breakfast, and then a large group of us walked back to the beach. We put our feet in the water (brr!), and walked barefoot in the sand--it was nice. Here is a nice picture of all of the girls that were with us.

The rest of Thursday we spent walking through the city and checking things out. We rode a gondola to the top of a mountain, which gave us a perfect view of the city--very neat. At night, a handful of us went out with our orchestra director, and we ended up being out until 5:15 am. :-| That is the first time in a very long time that I have been out that late, but it was only 12:15 EST, so I'll just say I was still on Indiana time. :) When I got back to the hotel room, I got some very exciting news--D's twin sister had just had her baby girl. So sweet!

Friday
This morning we went to see La Sagrada Familia, which is a very famous church designed by Gaudi. It was probably my favorite thing that we saw on the entire trip--it is unfinished, but it is already magnificent. The rest of Friday flew by and in the evening we had our second, and final, concert. This was again in a church, and our audience was just as great as in Madrid. It is a great feeling to play a concert and feel like the audience truly appreciates your music.

Saturday
We woke up early and headed home. It was a day full of travel!

The best way to recap is with this absolutely amazing video that my friend Adam made. He studied abroad in Spain in the summer, and during that time he wrote and recorded the song that is playing in the background; then during this trip he took a bunch of videos and stitched them together to make this masterpiece. :)

Orchestra Trip to Spain!

Purdue's Spring Break is next week, and this year I am going to Spain! The Purdue orchestra made the decision to take this trip last Fall, and I immediately knew that I wanted to go with them (it's optional since we have to pay for it ourselves). When I was an undergrad, the orchestra had taken a trip to Turkey, and I decided not to go because it was expensive and I thought I could go by myself and have a better time. Looking back, although it was expensive, I wish I would have gone because although you can always travel on your own, you don't get many chances to perform in a foregin country. That's part of why I'm so excited for this Spain trip!

I have been to Spain once before--I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, and our Spanish teacher took our class to Spain immediately after graduation. We went to Madrid, Seville, Toledo, Cordova, and Malaga. It was a blast, but it was almost 8 years ago (what!), so I'm definitely ready for a refresher. :) Here are some pictures from my first trip to Spain:

Three of the four students who went to Spain, and our Spanish teacher. Yes my shirt has a monkey on it--it was my favorite shirt! :)

The four students in front of...something! I can't remember what. :-|

Pretty winding street

This trip we are going to Madrid and Barcelona--I'm very excited because I've never been to Barcelona and I've heard it's amazing. We have one performance in Madrid at this beautiful church:

 After three days in Madrid, we head to Barcelona. This city looks amazing! I can't wait to have picture of my own like this.

Our last performance is here in Barcelona in another church.

Ok enough pictures for now. :) I will definitely create some posts while we are there (free wi-fi at both hotels, woo!), sharing what we are doing and seeing. I am also going to try to get some runs in while I'm there, although that may prove to be difficult--we will see!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Springtime!

I have lived in Indiana for my whole life, so going through the four seasons is definitely something I'm used to, but the start of a new season is always exciting to me! The first snow makes me light up like a little kid, but after months (and months and months...) of winter, I welcome the sound of birds chirping, and warmer temps. I guess after the time changes it always feels like Spring is actually coming, because the sun stays up past 6 pm. :) This weekend was absolutely beautiful, with temps feeling positively balmy (I heard it was only 45, but it sure felt warm and wonderful compared to the past few months with highs of 10 degrees!). I was super busy all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to do any outdoor runs or bike rides, but I will be making up for that this week. I have lots to do, but I see a dramatic improvement in my outlook on life, and my general happiness when I spend time exercising outside. This morning I took Nova for a walk and then played with her in the backyard for a few minutes--I love that it's getting warm enough to venture outside without wearing 10 layers.

The Spring feeling in the air has me thinking about my garden. I didn't have a garden last year, but the year before that, I rented a plot at a local community garden, and grew some delicious vegetables. It was really great, and I enjoyed it a lot, but it was about a mile from our apartment, so I definitely didn't get over there as much as I should have, and I didn't get as much out of it as I could. Now that we have a house, I can have a garden in our backyard! So exciting! I have been looking into raised garden beds, because otherwise Nova may decide that the garden would be the most fun place to play in the yard. :) I also have been looking into local CSAs, community supported agriculture. These programs let you invest some money into a local farm, and then they deliver a crop to you each week. I have had lots of friends who participate in this, and they like it because 1) you get local, yummy fruits and vegetables every week, 2) you get a variety of crops that you might not grow/buy on your own, which forces you to try new things, and 3) you are supporting local business. I'm still trying to decide if it is wasteful to try to do my own garden AND be part of a CSA--it might make more sense to have my own garden and just supplement with things from the farmer's market. Anyway, happy Spring everyone! :)

Normal Functionality and Stress

I wanted to talk a little bit about stress today and how dramatically it can affect our lives. I was so stressed out for a little over two months while preparing for my qualifying exams. I think that I am just now getting back to my normal self--it's scary how high levels of stress can alter your personality! I didn't want to do things that I normally would want to do, because I felt like all I was allowed to do was study. What is "funny" about that is that exercising or taking a purposeful break often helps to improve your outlook and ability to focus.

According to the National Institute on Mental Health, people have a variety of reactions to stress:

"For example, some people experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, depressed mood, anger and irritability. People under chronic stress are prone to more frequent and severe viral infections, such as the flu or common cold, and vaccines, such as the flu shot, are less effective for them."

I definitely felt the sleeplessness (very hard time falling asleep when usually I'm out the second my head hits the pillow) and irritability. I'm sure my husband thought I was very fun to be around during that time. :) Here are suggestions (also from the NIMH) to help combat stress:

• Stay in touch with people who can provide emotional and other support. Ask for help from friends, family, and community or religious organizations to reduce stress due to work burdens or family issues, such as caring for a loved one.
• Recognize signs of your body's response to stress, such as difficulty sleeping, increased alcohol and other substance use, being easily angered, feeling depressed, and having low energy.
• Set priorities-decide what must get done and what can wait, and learn to say no to new tasks if they are putting you into overload.
• Note what you have accomplished at the end of the day, not what you have been unable to do.
• Avoid dwelling on problems. If you can't do this on your own, seek help from a qualified mental health professional who can guide you.
• Exercise regularly-just 30 minutes per day of gentle walking can help boost mood and reduce stress.
• Schedule regular times for healthy and relaxing activities.
• Explore stress coping programs, which may incorporate meditation, yoga, tai chi, or other gentle exercises.

These seem like great suggestions, and I'll definitely be trying to employ them throughout the semester as I go through the normal ebbs and flows of stress. I just wanted to bring it up to remind people to learn what events cause a lot of stress, and what methods are effective for lowering stress levels to an acceptable level. I sometimes think that being stressed out is looked at as a badge of honor in our society--everyone is stressed out, and you often hear people trying to "out do" one another with how much they have to do, how little they've slept, etc. It's easy to get caught in this trap, but it's definitely not healthy, and it's important to remind ourselves that we need to keep a healthy balance in our lives to be truly happy.

Lent 2015!

Lent starts today for those of you who participate. I am not really that religious, but I always recognized Lent growing up, so I guess it's just out of habit that I still do it. When I was a kid, I would usually give up either french fries or chocolate (which would still be hard for me today!). As most of you know, I eat a vegetarian diet semi-frequently, but usually am not very strict and don't keep it up for too long. I have decided that I will go vegetarian for lent. I like how it makes me plan my meals in advance and really focus on what I'm eating; plus, I believe there are a ton of ethical and environmental advantages to being vegetarian. I'm pumped to commit to it at least until Easter!

Last week Nova turned 1 year old! Here are her birthday glamour shots. :)

I'm excited about this because now I feel like I can start to run with her--although for larger dogs like her, they often recommend waiting until they are a year and a half. This means that I am going to only bring her on runs that are less than 1 mile for at least the next 3 months or so. Yesterday I took her with me for the first .65 miles of my run, which she seemed to like. I did notice that she was getting tired towards the end, but that's probably because I let her push the pace at the beginning (< 7:00/mile for the first half mile...way too fast for me). She must have been semi-worn out afterwards though because she was sitting next to me on the couch like a weirdo.

Hope everyone has a fabulous day! :)

I'm back to life in the real world...

Sorry for the long hibernation I went into there at the beginning of the year. As I'm sure I've mentioned, I'm a PhD student, and we had our qualifying exams from February 2nd-14th. They are very intimidating exams because not only are they super hard (most of them cover everything you were supposed to learn in undergrad, some even expect you to know information beyond that), but you also only get two chances to take them---if you don't pass then you get kicked out of the program :-o I get stressed out very easily, so as you can imagine, these exams weren't ideal for me. I actually enjoyed studying intensely and learning/reviewing a lot of material, but when it comes time to take the exam, I become a bundle of nerves. They felt like they went alright though, so we will see. Oh yeah, that's the other frustrating thing--they take about a month and a half to grade them, so you are just left wondering for weeks if you passed or not. Ahh, well I'm trying to just put it behind me and think about other things until I get the results.

In other news, I have been attempting to train for both a 10k (April 4th), and a sprint triathlon (April 18th), but I have pretty much been failing. I did well with my runs for about 5 days, then I got overwhelmed with exams, and for the past few days I have been trying to catch up on sleep. SO today I am starting anew with my plans to rock both this 10k and the tri. I have done both events before, so I should mostly know what to expect. I have basically combined an intermediate 10k plan and an intermediate tri plan to make my schedule. It includes running 5 days a week (I may cut that to 4, we will see how I feel after a couple weeks), swimming twice a week, and cycling twice a week. One complete rest day, which means that there are several days where I'll be doubling up on activities. I think it will be a fun challenge to train for two events at once (they really aren't THAT different, there is a run as part of the tri, and all of the training will be building up my cardio, which never hurts).

That's all I have for now. I am going to be updating more regularly now that I don't have the scary exam cloud hanging over my head. I'll leave you with a picture of this sad looking doggie.

We gave it to Nova (it was 90% off yesterday since Valentine's Day is over), and within 1 minute she ripped off its nose. I thought the pillow seemed very appropriate for the poor little dog ha!