10 Random Things About Myself

I was tagged by the lovely Christine @ My First Marathon.  I promise a real blog post or two this weekend.  I have been insanely busy working on my candidacy as well as making time for family/friends and working out.  I promise, as soon as my candidacy is complete, I will back to regular postings.  For now, I am going to take a quick break in writing to tell you 10 random things about myself.  I would like to tag anyone else who wants to participate. (o:

1. I have mentioned this previously, but recently had a discussion about it so I thought I'd share it again... I absolutely cannot stand Popsicle sticks in my mouth!  The very idea is making me cringe as I type this.
2. I am the oldest child and cousin on both sides of my family.  I only have two step-cousins who are older than me.  I feel old now.
3. My Godson's middle name is Danger.  I love it!  I love his parent's for giving him such a rock-star middle name!
4. I collect sea shells.  Every time I go to the beach, I have to return with at least a handful of shells that I put into a giant glass container.  My favorites are the shells that are broken with some unique feature about them.
5. I have been asked on more than one occasion where I grew up in Europe, because I apparently have some mysterious accent.  My family and friends agree with me that I do not have an accent, yet that question has been asked several times.  Go figure.  I like the idea of being from somewhere exotic.
6. I love, love, love pumpkin!  Especially pumpkin smoothies!
7.  I absolutely hate, hate, hate cockroaches or any of their cousins, especially palmetto bugs!  I will scream like a little girl and stand on furniture and throw things at it, hoping I will somehow develop great aim and will be able to kill it.  If I do have bug spray and am brave enough to approach the bug, I will cover it in a mound of bug spray until the bottle is pretty much empty. 
8. As part of my undergraduate internship, I viewed autopsies and visited many crime scenes.  I could handle that, because for me it was both scientific and a way of helping bring justice to the deceased.  But I cannot stand watching gory movies or anything remotely "scary" that may contain zombies or some other fictitious characters.  That scares me.  I will have nightmares for weeks.  Fake blood completely grosses me out!
9. The coolest thing I have ever found while running was a few day old kitten that only weight 3 oz.  I had to bottle feed him and assist him in going to the bathroom.  He now weighs over ten pounds.
10. I love skydiving!  I have been 4 times now, and the first was a static line jump where I got to jump solo, but my line was attached to the plane so there was no free fall.  I would skydive more often if it wasn't such an expensive hobby.  But I honestly don't know if I will continue with it after I have kids.  For some reason the risk seems greater then.

Glorious 7 mile run

Last night Caitlin, Ryan, and I went for a 7 mile run (well Ryan did 8 including his own speed work, since he has a marathon in October).  While we ended up with positive splits, I thought the run was great!  I felt really good during and after the run!  I think my pre-run fuel of some popcorn and a banana with peanut butter worked very well (I was starving and was going to be running through my usual dinner time).

Here are the splits (I stopped my Garmy during water breaks, there were two before the half way mark, one right at 3.5 miles, and then the two on the way back.  I only wanted to know our actual running pace):

Mile 1:  10:57
Mile 2:  11:07
Mile 3:  11:20
Mile 4:  11:33
Mile 5:  11:36
Mile 6:  11:40
Mile 7:  11:47

The only downfall was that my foot started hurting again.  I have been wearing those amazing insoles I purchased, and they worked wonders before, but now it is beginning to hurt again.  I am wondering if part of the problem is that I am not always going at my natural pace so maybe I am slacking on my form.  I really need to pay attention to keeping good form no matter what my pace is or how tired I am.

Now I am off to meet up to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  Happy Birthday Ryan!

Skydiving Again, but this time with my little sis!!

Let me first start with week 3 of marathon training.  Caitlin and I did three runs.  The first was on Tuesday when we did 3 miles in 32:01.  It was very, very humid in the morning.  Thursday evening we did our long run which was 6 miles in 1:08:27.  Caitlin's boyfriend Ryan took us to a new park where we started our run then headed to another park followed by a beautiful neighborhood.  I look forward to running there again!  Since my brother and sister were coming on Friday evening, I needed to get my third run in on Friday morning.  Despite us finishing our 6 mile run at 9pm Thursday evening, we met at 5:45am on Friday morning for an easy 3 miles (in 35:46 (included a few walk breaks).

I also had my last week of swim lessons.  I am sad to see it end, but I was told to move onto the intermediate level class in the fall.  Yay!  The instructor also complimented my backstroke (which is awesome because the previous week I was just not getting it). 

In total, week 3 of marathon training included 3 runs for a total of 12 miles and two hours of swim lessons.  I did not do much yoga, which my body is not happy about.  I am changing that this week.  In fact, tonight I did two yoga videos from ExerciseTV which included the more cardio Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown video (36 minutes) followed by the more traditional yoga in Zen in the Den (23 minutes).  I am feeling good now.

Now, about skydiving!  For my youngest sister's 18th birthday slash high school graduation gift I took her skydiving.  She and my brother, Robert, drove down for the weekend on Friday.  We went out to dinner with Chris and our friends Caitlin and Ryan.  Then we had to wake up realllllly early to drive out to Titusville for our jump at 8 am.  This was my fourth time skydiving, but it was Clara's first.  My co-worker, Bala, also came for his first jump.  We all did the worlds highest tandem jump which is 18,000 ft. with 90 seconds on free fall.  I actually did this same jump 2 years ago.  My Jump Master, Pablo, was awesome!  He had us doing flips and spins.  I LOVED IT!  My little sister and co-worker also loved their jumps; however, Clara ended up getting motion sickness and threw up all over herself (luckily not until after the 'chute was open).  Chris came with us, and rather than jump he decided to take pictures.  He happened to catch a picture of her throwing up, although we didn't realize it until after we zoomed in on the picture.  Skydive Space Center gave Clara a free shirt to change into, which I thought was very kind of them.  We had fun hanging out the rest of Saturday, and I was sad to see them leave on Sunday.  I miss my brother and sister.

Well I'm off to bed, but below are some fun pictures of our adventure!  Have a wonderful week all!

I highly recommend this place!!

Signing our lives away.

My youngest sis, Clara!

Me and my little brother, Robert!

With my co-worker, Bala.

My handsome photographer, Chris. <3

We are ready to go!  Check out my Vibrams!

Pablo helping me get ready.

I really like this picture of myself.  And I love those purple goggles!

We are ready to go!

I'm the oldest and the shortest!

I really want one of these!

Can you make out those specs in the sky?

That's me!

Landing

That's Clara!

That is Clara throwing up!  I felt so bad for her, but we both laughed until we cried when we saw this picture.

Week 2 complete and a really spectacular quote!

I ran 4 miles yesterday for a grand total of 50 miles in July.  I ran the first 3.25 miles with Caitlin then finished off the last mile doing a little speed work on my own.  Total time was 42:50, and I felt great.  It was really hot though.  I was very happy for some cold water when I finished.  That means week 2 of marathon training ended with 3 days of running for a total of 13 miles.  There were also two swim lessons (and a short swim practice/goofing off in the pool with Chris today), and an hour and a half of hot yoga.

This morning I attempted to make Caitlin@HTP's delicious looking french toast sundae breakfast.  Let's just say that breakfast was an epic fail this morning.  Banana soft serve really should be made in a food processor, because my blender did not like it.  I am now on a hunt for a small (I don't have a place to store anything huge) food processor. 

I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend.  I want to end this short post with a really wonderful quote that I read today.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most.  We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?'  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you.  We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us.  And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."  ~Maryanne Williamson, used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech

Another great work-out

Last night I have swim lessons, followed by a 5 mile run with Caitlin and Ryan.  We did the 5 miles in 57:05, not including stops for water. 

Today is a rest day.  We are celebrating my co-worker's birthday by going out to dinner tonight.

That's about it.  I hope you all are having a great week!

Hot yoga is exactly what I needed

I so completely refreshed!  I love hot yoga!!!  This was my second class at CPY, and again my arms are tired!  I love it!  I also was very grateful for the instructor constantly drawing me back to my center and the present.  It's amazing how one's mind can wander.  I'm off to read and get some sleep.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Working out really makes a difference!

Last night I had swim lessons (I'm sad there are only 3 classes left!) followed by a 4 mile run with Caitlin and Ryan.  According to Garmy 4.07 miles in 45:07 minutes.  I felt really great the entire time, except for being thirsty (our water stop was non-existent since the water fountains were out of order).  As soon as I got home I showered, ate dinner, then crashed in my bed.  I was exhausted!  Tonight I am hoping to go to hot yoga.  My muscles are demanding some hot yoga right now.

Have a great Tuesday all!