26

I learned two things today.  I am closer to 30 than I am to 20, and I now need three hands to show my age (possible with Mike's help!).

Oh, and taking a final on your birthday blows.

Here's to another year.  Hopefully it can be as good as the last few! 

xoxo

Travels

Summer is finally here, well not really, but at least it feels like it. High 80's and full humidity make for some very stuffy days.  I've been running like mad around here lately.  Trying to keep to running at least five miles per day. So far, so good.  When I was back home, I got a ton of running in. I love being able to walk out my door and go on for miles. It's a comforting feeling. Running in the warm air, and my body warming from the inside out is just a great feeling.  Now, when the temps hit 90...that's a different story.  I actually have a couple stories about running in terrifying heat.  One that comes to mind is when it was 90 degrees out, and 100% humidity, and I was hoping to run ten miles, give or take depending on how I felt.  I was convinced I was going to pass out, but I kept talking to myself, literally speaking to myself, saying "You aren't going to die if you keep running, if you stop, you will die."  Guess my mind games worked, because I ran the entire ten!

I've started back up at school again for the summer.  That week-long break sure rejuvenated me....yeah...right. I remember when I had the entire summer off....oh boy do I miss that! The one good thing about this summer, is that I have a pool!  It opens Monday, and you bet your bottom I'll be there!  I've always been a little fish during the summer, so I can't wait to spend the entire summer running, swimming, and studying....wait that last one doesn't fit.  I'm looking forward to running an insane number of miles with my swimming suit underneath my shorts and t-shirt, and crashing into the pool when I get home. Cannot wait.

I've recently read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall, and boy if that doesn't motivate someone to run, nothing will! I also started eating chia seeds, the supposed miracle supplement/food to ultra-marathon runners, and now me! Mike and I first got them at night, and eating them was a mistake!  I was up until 2am. They are a super food that packs a serious energy punch.  Great for running, and great for tired students that don't want to see 3-year-old patients at 8am, i.e. Me. Here's my chia seed recipe that I've been using to consume them.

Rach's Chia Fresca

1-1.5 cups of lime juice (I use "Simply Lime")

1 cup of water (to dilute the juice a tad)

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

Just let the seeds soak in the water juice, and stir every five minutes for about 15 minutes.  Then you can let the juice sit in the fridge for up to a couple days.  The chia seeds get a gel exterior so drinking them is super easy, and the texture is fun.  If anyone ever drank Orbitz, it's kind of like that. Worth trying, plus they have a super amount of antioxidants and omega-3's in them. Side note: Consult your physician if you are taking blood pressure meds before trying them.

And before I bid you all adieu, here's my weekly wrap up of what I've been doing besides running, relaxing, and getting back into the swing of school.  *Warning: tons of photos ahead!*

R-L, top-bottom:
Obligatory cat picture
My Broad Street Run 10 miler medal, nicest one yet!
The most colorful set of packed luggage I've ever had, spring is here!
Beaut-i-ful clouds on the flight home
Family farm love
Pearl Ice Cream, best vanilla bean ever
Granddad's Bluff tourist shot
Beautiful valley, i.e. My home.

R-L, top-bottom:
Good ole Wisconsin cheese curds
Goose Island at dusk
Chia Fresca
My favorite running road
Grandma's teacup
Sunset in Wisconsin

-I hope you all get to travel a lot this summer, even if it means running the furthest you've ever run in a place you've rarely been to!  That's still traveling to me!  

-xoxo

Supplementation

I've just recently become interested in skincare, and more particularly, my skin. Right now, I could pass for a 16 year old with my child-like skin, and I figured if everyone thinks I look so young now, if I don't take care of my skin, I will look 16 one day, and 37 the next. Blech. I figured I should be milking this genetic gift for everything it's worth, right? So I began reading up on the topic. 

I thought I was pretty well off since I wash, moisturize, and exfoliate on a regular basis.  Plus, I already do a service to my skin for disregarding the need to be tan during the summer months.  Instead I relish in my ability to stay completely pasty white, and blind people on the beach.  However, I've learned it takes more than an ability to become transparent and some face wash.  

Every single article I've read about having good skin emphasizes the fact that you should be taking at least one multivitamin a day, and because I pride myself on my skin, I decided now was probably the time to start supplements.  

Here is the holy grail of my vitamin situation.  I take a daily multivitamin (yes, it's chewable because I'm a baby), fiber gummies because the multivitamin doesn't include fiber (I thought it was called "multi" for a reason, Super tip: the gummy actually helps get the chewable multivitamin bits out of my teeth, a-thankyou), and omega-3 fish oil capsules.  You'd think if I could swallow a monstrous fish oil capsule, I'd be able to swallow a vitamin. Guess not.  I haven't really noticed a difference yet, but I'm sure the inside of my body is thanking me...or at least that's what they better be saying.  

I'm also primarily taking the fish oil for my dry eye situation, and my doctor suggested "Nordic Naturals" because they are the purest and best fish oil capsules on the market.  Supposedly they don't make you burp up "fish burps" which sounds extremely nauseating, and I had no idea they existed until I started researching fish oil.  I'm happy to say I have yet to experience one, so I would recommend Nordic Naturals if they prevent one from the nastiness that is a "fish burp".  They also have liquid fish oil which also seems unbearable, but if you can't take the gigando capsule, then it's an option.  Only draw-back, they aren't cheap.  Looking back, I probably shouldn't have bought them at a Whole Foods since everything there is marked up 200%.  Next time, I'm ordering from Amazon.

Remember when I said I had dry eye?  Here's that situation:

Gel drops galore, Pataday, ointments, oh and I had to buy a humidifier because my eyes were so dry in the morning that my lids were basically glued to my corneas.  Sweet.  No one at the clinic can figure out the cause, but they think it's something with the air here because at home, I don't have dry eye.  Oh and I tried punctal plugs, which is where they stick a piece of plastic into the tear drainage system to block it and keep the tears on your eyes longer.  That didn't work.  I'm a medical mystery!  

xoxo

75%

This week has been an interesting one.

It started out with a trip to the local mechanic because I heard a suspicious thumping sound coming from my front left tire area. Usually my car problems are not at all what you would call, quick fixes. I've had my new car for about a year and a half now, and so far so good, but I was just waiting for the one repair that would break this little girls piggy bank.

When I brought the car in, the mechanic took it for a drive. He comes back and informs me that there are two screws in my front left tire. Nope, not just one....two. That explains the tapping noise. I leave it there to get fixed, and he calls about an hour later telling me that 1.) the two left tires were put on backwards....(don't ask me how my previous mechanic managed that one) and 2.) the back left tire also had screws in it. The good thing was that they repaired my current tires. It was repaired within the hour, and I was off with a tiny dent in my piggy bank. I was happy :)

Thursday as I was walking out to my car to go to my two mandatory classes that day, I notice that my car looks tilted. In my head I'm thinking, 'Another flat?', but since I just had two tires repaired, I assumed it was just some optical illusion. Wrong.

You heard me right. Another flat. And on a completely different tire. Back right one this time.
I had a friend from school swing around and pick me up so I wouldn't miss class, and the boy was just getting home from school. He was amazing. He took the flat tire off (which from what he says was quite the workout. Read: it was rusted on, and he had to donkey kick it off), put on my donut tire, and drove it to the mechanics to get it fixed. This tire also had screws in it, and I needed to buy a new tire this time. Shucks, I thought I was done paying for tire repairs. There goes my happy piggy bank.

In the words of the mechanic, "You aren't the unluckiest person I've ever seen, but you're close." Oh good.

Three out of four. 75% of my tires had screws in them. I thought someone had to be doing this to me. I started getting paranoid.

What did I run over? A construction site? Nail gun? What did I do to this mean person stabbing screws in my tires? Do I have an arch enemy in Philly that I don't know about yet?

You guessed it, it was none of the above.

The security guard at school eased my fears. Some smarty-pants contractor dumped a box of screws in one of the only entrances to my school, and he failed to clean them up. I guess over 50 people have had screws in their tires. Some even had screws in all four.

The worst part is that we can't get compensation from anyone for this since it's unknown who didn't clean up their mess.

In happier news, remember that dodge ball game I mentioned a bit earlier. Well that game was today, and my team won the entire tournament!

Under Pressure

Hello all.

Sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. I can honestly say I've never been so stressed or studied as hard as I have this last semester ever in my entire life.

I'm too busy stuffing my face in books, notes, powerpoints, and exam rooms.

I had three exams in a three week period, now I'm studying for my last exam out of those three (Monday). Let's not forget about finals in four weeks. Four exams within one week. Joy.

I also have my 35 minute practical tomorrow. I have 35 minutes to conduct a full exam. I'm pretty much permanently shaking out of nervousness right now. This practical basically decides if I pass or fail first year.

Talk about pressure.....actually...let's not.

I've been keeping optimistic, working my butt off in school (getting all A's and B's so far), and practicing my little heart out for this practical.

Let's hope tomorrow goes well.

I'll post an update if I remember. Just writing to make sure everyone knows all is well on the east coast!

<3

Runstoppable

I love running. I love it so much, that you get to read about two things running related today (Bonus!). Today confirmed exactly why I love it so much.

Today I ran Kelly Drive. (It's technically Fairmount Park, I think.) I'm a part of my schools running club, and this was the long run location planned for the week. It was the most amazing running experience I've had in Philly so far. There were so many people out, and it was so motivating. I was hoping to run three miles, and I ended up running five. If I could have actually found the mile markers, I would have probably turned around earlier, but I'm glad I didn't. The melting snow, mixed with the salt made it incredibly hard to see the little, barely there, white quarter mile markers.

My favorite part about running outside is the scenery (and the feeling). In Wisconsin, there is no limit to what you can and will see. The routes I ran at home were amazing, and absolutely breathtaking. Exhibit A.
I wasn't expecting the same from Philadelphia. Especially Center City Philly. Skyscrapers, smog, etc.

I was totally wrong. I mean totally. I unfortunately didn't have my camera on me during this run (mental note: next time). Exhibit B: Kelly Drive in the summer. (The 8 mile loop has trails on both sides of this river. I ran five miles of it.)
Look at that view! I knew from the beginning that this would be a pretty amazing run because we started near the Rocky steps (a.k.a. Philadelphia Museum of Art). I had no idea on the way back I'd be staring straight at the Philly skyline the entire way. Not to mention that the river I was running next to is infamous for their crew teams (Boathouse Row), so there were a lot of teams practicing on the river this morning.

I'm starting to fall in love with this city more and more every day. I did a pretty amazing job of picking an optometry school location, must say.

Oh, and did I mention that the number one reason I fell in love with running happened again this morning? I didn't? Oh dear...let me explain. Breathing. Yes, breathing. It's such a simple thing, and we all take it for granted. But it is also the most wonderful thing when you are actually aware of it. When I start running distance (I don't mean two miles, I mean 5-25) I get in the zone. I'm sure you've all heard people say that, but "the zone" is different for everyone in everything. To me, my zone is when I am no longer breathing heavy. When I've become completely aware of how relaxed I am while running. Running multiple miles. The feeling you get when it happens is indescribable. It doesn't happen to everyone, and I'm positive the only reason I can actually be relaxed and breathe slowly while running is because I've trained myself for very long distance, and you can't huff and puff for miles and miles. If you can do it, it's unbelievable.

Speaking of running. Thanks to the boy, my interest in barefoot running has been peaked. I've decided I wanted to try it, so I ran in my socks only for three miles this week. It felt amazing. I can't believe what I've been missing. There is absolutely no need for shoes, at all. The next day, however, I realized that I can't just jump into it.

I was working some muscle in my calf that I'm convinced has never received nerve impulses before because my calves were so sore. Standing, just standing felt like I was stretching my calf way past it's comfort zone. I decided I should probably get some real help on the subject, and went to the local running store. I knew my overall long-term goal was to get Vibram's FiveFingers (basically a glove, but for your foot so when you run barefoot you don't step on glass and slash your foot up), but I needed to ease into it first.

Going from cushy, comfy shoes to nothing, wouldn't have been a smart idea, and that was illustrated by my calves hatred of me the day after I tried it. I did some research before I went in, however, and I decided I should go for the next best thing. Running shoes with absolutely no support. I've decided on the Nike free run. I'm going to purchase them tomorrow.

Because of today's success stories, I decided to sign up for the Five Mile Frostbite Run which is next Saturday.

Happy {almost} Valentine's Day!

Always sunny with a chance of flurries

Snow storms on the east coast. Not fun.

The people of Philadelphia have either never experienced snow or they had forgotten they get the same white fluffy stuff every winter. It's like summer recess in school. You learn things all year long, and then over the summer you forget it all.

They knew how to drive in it last year, but this year they all short-circuited.

This morning I was the driver in our "carpool", and I'll admit, it's acceptable to go slow when it's snowing. It's actually probably encouraged by most; however, five..maybe ten miles an hour is a teeny tiny bit too slow. The citizens of Philly were going so slow that they actually stalled going up hills. Of course they would then spin out trying to start moving again.

To say the least, it was a mess.

Snow has been steadily accumulating all day, and tonight the boy and I went to the gym at our complex (because my school's gym closed early). I generally dislike our complex gym because of the amount of equipment they have, but tonight I actually snagged a treadmill.

Walking to the gym from our tower isn't that far, and on the way there it wasn't that bad. On the way back though, it was terrible.

Icy, sleety, spiky (yes, snow can be spiky, or at least feel like it), all around terrible snow was coming down. Actually, it was attacking us. We just wanted to get inside asap. Good idea!
Wrong.

We walk out into the parking lot, and here lies Mr. East Coast Driver. I swear everyone here is afraid of snow. They can't even walk to the gym. They have to drive there.

Rear wheel drive, big boat of a car. Spinning his tires until it smelled so strongly of rubber I was choking. The boy, being as nice as he is, decides it's time to be Macho Man. He tries to push him out of what "rut" he was in. I honestly have no idea how this guy got stuck in three inches of snow, but regardless.

For the boy's heroic efforts he, and some other kind gentleman, get face-washed with all of the slushy slop shooting out from underneath Mr. East Coast Driver's back tires as a "thank you". They still couldn't move him after quite a few tries, and I was pretty sure he broke the car. We were getting soaked and attacked with snow, and kind gentleman had already decided it was time to leave, so I was proverbially tugging on the boy's sleeve to go.

We made it inside after doing our good deed for the day.

Here's the consequence of standing in Blitzkrieg Blizzard forever.



And here's a view from our window. Notice all of the lousy park jobs. Told you, snow changes everything.

WINTER

Most people can't say that winter is their favorite season, but I have come to ♥ it. Mostly
because I took up snowboarding three years ago, and fell in love with it.

This past weekend about 20 friends from school and I went on our first Class of 2014 Ski/Board trip. We went to the Poconos mountain range, and I was so pumped to finally see and board down real mountains!

This is what I was dreaming about. These are mountains.

This however, was what the reality of the Poconos Mountains really are.
Beautiful, yes. Breathtaking...no. 12,000 feet of fresh powder...no.

Regardless of the reality of what Pennsylvania considers to be "mountains", I couldn't have been more excited to finally get some boarding time in this winter.

We went to Blue Mountain Resort. It was a blast. The trails were 100% better than the trails in Wisconsin, and despite the fact that the "mountain" was similar to the bluff sizes in Wisconsin, each trail seemed to last quite a bit longer.

I couldn't have asked for a better day, and even though some bro rammed into me while he was trying to get some sick air off of a little cream puff of snow; it was still a ton of fun. I agree that we need to take advantage of our spring break, and go back.

Photos thanks to Baby Tiggah a.k.a. Vitto

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