Sunday Funday!

Hello all! I can't believe that the weekend is already over...where did it go?! I started off the day by making pumpkin bread, and within 5 minutes of putting it in the oven, I was off on my long run. I ran 8.5 last weekend, but it wasn't really a great run (I was fine until about 6.5, then just felt really sluggish and ready to be done). Because of that, when I saw that I was to do 9 today, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Luckily, I felt really great the whole time, and ended up very happy with the run!

I think I'm probably doing my long runs at too fast of a pace, but when I am feeling good, I have a hard time slowing it down. The second that I got back from my run, I had to jump in the shower so we could get out the door ASAP to go to a friend's house for brunch (one of the reasons for making the pumpkin bread!)

Rebekah (in the back) was the one that hosted brunch today

Side note: please notice how my friends look classy and there I am at a bar after a run, wearing a Brooks pullover. I remember thinking that I probably still looked fine despite coming directly from a run, but now I'm thinking I was mistaken haha.

Brunch was absolutely amazing with a menu including: homemade monkey bread (and I mean even the dough was homemade), 3 different types of quiche (also homemade), ham balls, crepes, pumpkin bread (my contribution), fruit salad, mimosas, and mulled wine. What a perfect meal to devour after running 9 miles. :)

Immediately after brunch I had to go to campus to talk to potential graduate students. My advisor had asked me to attend the Big Ten+ Grad Expo today to promote our lab and try to get some new students. I wasn't that excited about it, but it was actually really great: I talked to about 20 potential students! It is fun to talk about your research on a high-level, especially when people are interested (or at the very least, acting interested!). I also got a nice long-sleeved t-shirt for participating, so I was pumped about that.

For dinner, D and I decided we were going to go out to eat, but that we had to update each other with what we've been up to in the previous week. Obviously we talk everyday, so we already generally know what the other person is doing, but it was nice to give details and hear about all of the different accomplishments. It sounds kind of silly, but it was a good way to wrap up the weekend and get back into thinking about school/research for the week ahead. Plus we went to this awesome Irish restaurant and had these delicious goat cheese fritters.

That's it for my day. I am trying to pump myself up for a great, productive week. Our Fall Break is next Monday and Tuesday, so we have a four day weekend, and we are going to Las Vegas to visit my sister and her family. :) 

Orchestra Concert

I'm pushing it a little bit today, getting my blog post out just before midnight. The streak still stands...day 3, ha! :) Today is going to be short, but hopefully enjoyable. I play the violin in the Purdue Philharmonic Orchestra, and we had a concert tonight. Purdue and IU have an agreement about which majors each school can have, so Purdue has engineering, a vet school, aviation, and IU has a med school, a dental school, a law school, (geez, as I'm writing this it seems like Purdue may have gotten the raw end of this deal...), and a [very good] music school. Because Purdue doesn't have a music school, all of our musical groups (marching band, jazz bands, concert bands, and orchestras) are made up of people who truly want to be there and are only participating because they love it. This makes it extremely enjoyable to be a part of! :)

Random picture of Philharmonic Orchestra (not from today's concert)

Since we have been rehearsing the concert music for the past 5 weeks, I constantly have the songs running through my head. I really enjoyed the music that we played for this concert, so I wanted to give you guys some links to listen to these great pieces.

The first is the Overture to La Forza Del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi. This is a short one (less than 8 minutes), so it's easy and quick to listen to as you browse the internet or catch up on your blogging. :) The second piece that we played was The Planets by Gustav Holst. This one is quiet a bit longer, but split up into sections about each of the different planets, so you can break it up if you don't want to listen to it all at once. If you listen to this one, I'm sure you'll hear some familiar parts--this music is used a lot in movies (especially sci-fi movies).

Hope you enjoy the orchestra music! I'm off to bed so I can tackle my 9 mile long run in the morning! Have a good Saturday evening/Sunday morning.

Implicit Bias

Hello all! Purdue has a very active Women in Engineering Program (WIEP)...because we are a huge engineering university, the administration has put in a lot of effort to make sure we are constantly recruiting women and other minorities, as well as making them feel welcome/included once they arrive. I think this is awesome!

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering, and I think it had a ratio of about 50:50, male:female. I was a part of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and understood that females are not typically encouraged to become engineers, but I didn't directly feel the effects of that. However, once I entered graduate school as a Mechanical Engineer (ME), I saw a different picture. Only about 10% of MEs are female. I had never been in such a male-dominated environment before, and it definitely became something that I was acutely aware of. Perhaps because of this, I became more involved with the WIEP: both in outreach to elementary schools and the Graduate Mentoring Program (GMP).

The GMP is a resource for females who are pursuing a graduate degree in any discipline of engineering. The main activities of this group are monthly meetings where a different topic is explored. We had a meeting last night, and we discussed implicit bias. I thought this was extremely interesting, and although I usually focus on running/fitness on my blog, I thought some of you may be interested in this as well.

The basic idea is that everyone has some level of privilege based on your gender, race, socio-economic status, location, etc. Because you feel some inherent association with those who fit in the same groups as you (e.g. all of us who are runners automatically feel like we share a bond, although that is obviously a positive example :D), you also generally have some implicit bias against others outside of your group. Everyone has some level of implicit bias, but by identifying your personal biases, it can help to address them head on. Here are a few facts about implicit bias:

At Purdue we have a large population of international students, so at this GMP meeting when we broke into groups to talk about the different groups we identify with, and how we perceive those groupings (positive vs. negative, large influence vs. negligible influence, etc), it was interesting to hear the opinions of some students with very different backgrounds than my own. It basically showed that I have privileges in some areas that I don't even notice/recognize--one example of this is being a US citizen.

One neat thing that you can do to test for any personal implicit biases that you might have is to take these online quizzes. These are actually rather legitimate quizzes from researchers at Harvard, not some random Buzzfeed quizzes (not that I don't indulge in some trashy Buzzfeed quizzes every once in awhile ;), so you should check it out. I've done a couple and was pretty happy with one of the results:

Apparently I'm convinced that females are meant to be associated with science. :) Sorry for the tangent today--I just thought it was an interesting message and I wanted to share!

September Recap

Wow! I cannot believe that September is already over...it honestly feel like we just rolled out of August. I am going to try to join Hanna in the October streaking challenge (one blog post for everyday of October), so you should be seeing a lot of me this month. :) I thought I'd kick it off with a recap of my running in September.

Up until about the first weekend in September, I was considering doing an olympic triathlon on September 28, so I had been working out a lot, but not necessarily running as much as I wanted to. On the weekend of the 6th, I decided to put the triathlon off until next year...I have been trying to focus on only doing things that I can put full effort into, and not just doing things to put a check in a box. Anyway, because of that, I had a high (for me) mileage month--in fact, my highest mileage ever!

September Running Recap

If you can read my total down there, you will see that I ran 94.57 miles this month! I was tempted to go out and run another 0.43 just to get it to a round 95, but I figured that would be silly and somewhat compulsive. :)

I have a half marathon on November 7th, so I made a loose plan that is basically a combination of the Hal Hidgon Intermediate Plan and this random plan I found when I was looking for alternate races. I started adding in speed training this week with 8x400. I haven't done regular speed work since I've gotten into long distance running, or incorporated it into training for a half, so I'm excited about this addition. I was in track in high school, and actually enjoy this interval-type training more than long runs. :)

I hope to get at least 100 miles in October which I shouldn't have any problem doing. I did my first half marathon back in November of 2013, and followed the Hal Hidgon Novice 1 plan. I was pretty strict with it, and I probably only skipped a handful of runs in the entire 12 week plan. Last year, however, I was horrible about following the plan (maybe because I was less nervous since I had already run a half before?), and ended up with a slightly slower finishing time, and a monthly total of 36 miles the month before my half. :-| What! I guess I have learned a lot in the past year about running, and how to properly train, because I don't even remember thinking that I wasn't running enough. I'm so glad to be reading so many running blogs and runnit which teach me a ton about running: fueling properly, training, resting, stretching, racing, etc! Thanks everyone. :)

My goal is to finish my half marathon in less than two hours. This race pace predictor thinks that I can do it, so now I just have to have confidence in myself. :)

This or That Survey

I figured since I haven't blogged in awhile, a good way to get back into it would be to do a survey that I saw on another blog. Let's get to it! :)

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Absolutely no question, chocolate. I pretty much love chocolate everything: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream. My favorite blizzard from DQ is Chocolate Extreme. :)

Innie or Outtie?

Innie! I don't have much else to say about this belly button of mine ha.

Hot, Hot Summer or Snowy Winter?

I would go with hot, hot summer because I love the sun and getting to spend lots of time outside. 

D and I taking advantage of the hot summer at the beach (Lake Michigan, not ocean!)

On the other hand, I don't really mind the winter either--I love just after it snows and it's so beautiful and peaceful. 

One time D said we had to test our tent in cold weather...see that snow on the ground?!

I hate being cold though, which is why I guess I'd have to choose the hot summer. :)

Save or Spend?

I think I prefer saving my money just because that's what my parents did while I was growing up, so it's what I'm used to. I try to remember to allow myself to spend money to have fun--one thing I actually enjoy spending money on is travelling!

Elliptical or Treadmill?

I feel like I am not coordinated enough to use the elliptical. I have tried several times, but I just feel awkward the entire time, and end up giving up pretty quickly.

Banana or Apple?

Definitely banana! I get tired of chewing apples about halfway though (this is one of the many things that D makes fun of me for), so unless it's a really small apple, I usually will pass.

Morning or Night?

Night. I really want to be a morning person, but it's so hard to make the switch. I feel so much more productive after about 8 pm at night, and I hate getting up in the morning.

Lip Balm or Lipstick?

Neither--I do use chapstick a lot though, especially in the winter months.

Alone or with others?

I was actually just thinking about this on my run today, how coincidental! I am definitely an extrovert, and I love being around people. However, maybe because I was basically an only child (my sister is 12 years older than me) growing up, I like my alone time too. I love getting alone time in a crowded place...for example studying at a coffee shop or reading in a busy park. 

Coffee or Tea?

Both! I drink coffee more, but I love chai tea, especially in the fall. For awhile I was trying to replace some of my coffee with tea just so I didn't feel so dependent on the daily coffee, but I guess I forgot about that. Maybe I'll focus on that again. :)

Straight or Curly?

It just depends! My hair is naturally wavy, which I usually like. If I sleep with it wet, it curls up a decent amount, and so I wear it like that at least once a week. 

Wavy hair

Generally if I want to look fancier, or if I want to guarantee that my hair is going to look presentable (the wavyness of the hair is really a toss up, so I have no idea what it will do day to day), then I straighten it.

Straight hair and a bonus pic of my sister :)

Three Squares or Graze All Day?

I'm not really a grazer. My husband is, and when we first lived together, I thought it was crazy how much he would snack (basically anytime he walked through the kitchen ha). I have since realized that many people are like this--who knew! :)

Right-handed or left-handed?

I'm right, but D and my mom are left so I'm kind of partial to lefties. :)

Beach or Mountains?

I would say mountains. I love the beach where you can really relax and soak up the sun, but I get bored quickly without having much to do. I prefer getting to camp, hike, and bike up the mountains.

D and I at Yosemite

Mac or PC?

I guess PC. There is a decent amount of engineering software that is easy to install/use on PCs and more difficult on Macs--since I don't know that much about computers, I stick with the easier option of the PC.

Shy or Outgoing?

I think I'm more outgoing, but it definitely just depends on the situation!

Una Boda en la Ciudad de México

Last weekend one of my good friends, Adriana, got married in Mexico City. I was so honored when she asked me to be a part of her wedding, and when I found out it was going to be in Mexico City, I was even more excited!

Adriana and I at my wedding

We flew down to Mexico City on Thursday morning so that we'd have time to settle in before the wedding festivities began. We got lucky and got put in an emergency exit row so we had plenty of room to spread out on the flight. 

Thursday was spent exploring the area and having some delicious food. Friday morning we saw some ruins in the city, and then walked about 3 miles through the area. We ended the morning with the Diego Rivera museum where we were able to see his huge mural--it was beautiful and tells a long story. Friday afternoon we had the rehearsal followed by a dinner for anyone who had made the trip to Mexico City.

The church where they got married

Saturday morning we woke up ready to start preparing for the wedding. They had hired a great team to come to the hotel and do everyone's hair and/or makeup. All of the bridesmaids looked great. :)

Getting my hair done with my cute "Bride's Entourage" shirt

After we were all ready, we walked the block from the hotel to the church. This doesn't seem like that far of a walk, but when the bride has a 5 foot train, it gets a little tricky. :) We all worked together to make sure that she arrived to the church looking perfect.

Preparing for the walk--her dad looks so proud :)

The wedding was half in Spanish and half in English--a beautiful, very unique ceremony. After the wedding we took quite a few pictures with friends and family in the church, and then walked to the large plaza to take pictures with the bridal party.

Bridesmaids with the happy couple in the church

The plaza that we took pictures in is the largest plaza in the western hemisphere. At the end of the plaza is a huge, beautiful church, so the pictures were incredible.

The bridal party with the couple--church and Mexican flag in the background

After the photographers felt like we had taken enough pictures, we headed back to the hotel to wait until it was time for us to arrive at the reception. The reception was only half a block from the hotel, so all of the events of the day were within one block--this was so convenient! Once we entered the reception, the party started! The dinner was incredible; very different than what we expect from weddings in the US, but absolutely delicious. 

Cutting the cake--notice all of the extra sweets for the guests!

Afterwards, the dancing (and tequila shots) started and didn't stop for hours and hours. 

Bridal party taking the first tequila shot of the night

We had such a great time and I am so happy that I got to be a part of the weekend.

Tired, exhausted, but so happy at the end of the night :)

July Running Recap

Hello all! I was a little disappointed with my overall running mileage for July: 51.75 miles. In both May and June I was over 60 miles, and I wanted that number to keep increasing until my half in November, but when I take a close look at the month, it's not as bad as it seems.

The first 8 days of July, we were in Spain, and I only did 1.15 miles of running. :-o I did do a pretty monstrous hike on Saturday, July 5th...it was over 10 miles and very tiring. Once we got back from Spain, I was more consistent, especially these past two weeks. On top of my running, I also cycled 61.85 miles, which isn't too much in the cycling world, but it's pretty good for me. :)

In addition to the training I did, I was happy with my performance in the Eagle Creek Triathlon (recap here) in the middle of July. In addition to running/cycling, we also went mountain biking for the first time and kayaking which was fun. July turned out to be a great month!

In August I have a conference in Columbus, Ohio, then a wedding in Mexico City in the middle of the month. School starts back up again on the 24th. I hope to run at least 60 miles, cycle 100, and get some solid swims in. I am considering doing an Olympic triathlon at the end of September, so August has to be a solid training month. :) Have a great Sunday, everyone!