Hey hey!
August 25th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Source: Blithegardens etsy store
Well just as I thought I had reached the end of despair, I get not one but TWO calls from recruiters today. Hooray! Interview on Friday, and hoping to schedule the other one soon. Some other good things:
–went to the DC Cares volunteer orientation and am now ready to serve! Really excited to get started…anyone know of good places to volunteer? I’m thinking of doing tutoring/mentoring and/or business help to nonprofits. I’ll let you know what I end up doing.
–Drew got me a Wii Fit for my birthday! Yes, we are now the proud owners of a video game system…oh dear, I just always assumed there’d be more time! (but seriously, so fun)
–Free yoga in the courtyard tomorrow! I love summer and Crystal City!
–Season 3 of The Guild starts up soooooooon. Also starting to watch Arrested Development on Hulu. So far pretty funny 
How cute little Michael Cera is! And that girl from Spy Kids!
I think that’s about it; all in all a good day.
Update
May 24th, 2009 § 1 Comment
It’s been a lovely weekend. On Saturday I got up early and went for a run. When I got out to the path, there were a BAJILLION people out so I asked a guy what was going on. Apparently there was a “little 10-miler” going on, and I could probably join in if I wanted. I said cool, but no thanks, I was only running 4 miles today. But oh how fun it was to run with so many people! I did have to do a lot of weaving, but that’s okay. I ended up feeling so energized I ran an extra mile, and much faster than I normally run, so yay!
Got back to the apartment and changed shirts and put on my yoga capris and walked over to the Family Resource Center, which I learned was actually on the second floor of a church. I was going for free yoga led by one of the SSA grad students, and when I got there I found out that we were going to be practicing outside on the grass in a little courtyard…awesome! It was so peaceful and a great way to spend an hour and a half, but gosh my quads were BURNING! But honestly the best feeling in the world is doing the shivasana at the end…oh my gosh I am never so restful and at peace. And I made friends! There were 5-6 girls there and apparently they do yoga pretty regularly together, including at the business school so I’ll have to check it out one of these days (well actually I think they’re ending this week….) but if I’m still in Chicago over the summer they have free yoga in Millenium Park every Saturday morning so I’m thinking about running downtown, doing yoga for an hour or so, and then running back. That would be about 14 miles, maybe a little less, so it’s good that they don’t start up the activities until a bit later in June. But I’m excited!
Also when I got back from yoga I made this delicious pasta. It really is so quick and divine. I really do love prosciutto, even though it is so expensive. But I figure pasta, peas, and cheese are pretty inexpensive, so the $/meal is not that bad. Supposed to make 4 servings, but I was rather hungry and ate it in two and a half (yes, it’s gone already). I did it pretty much along the recipe, except for adding a pinch of red pepper flakes and mixing in a bit of parmesan cheese at the end before serving. Really, it was soooooo good you should try it!
Today I was supposed to do Bike the Drive but I woke up so sleepy and after chatting with Mom online it was almost over, so I guess I missed it. Oh well. As it turns out you could only enter from Jackson, so I would have had to take the bus with my bike downtown and then ride south…which seemed like kind of a hassle. Ah well. Other than that I have been really lazy–saved some jobs to apply to, watched several episodes of Doogie Howser (seriously, my NPH obsession is reaching dangerous levels), and browsed a lot of blogs to add to Google Reader.
I think I’ll write for a bit and then eat some dinner…and I should post a little shout out for the Cavs who are playing Orlando tonight in Game 3! I am hoping they do well so Drew is in a good mood and so he doesn’t abandon the jersey I got him (apparently the Cavs are 1-3 while he wears it). Hope you all had fabulous weekends! So sad that another week is already here to greet us. 
Stretching
May 14th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Hey everyone–
Laura asked me a while back what I do for stretching before/after runs, and I thought I’d post here as well. Enjoy!
BEFORE <5 mins
-stand and lift each heel to your butt to stretch quads,
-butterfly stretch
-pike stretch
-shoulder stretches: first, fold each arm behind your head, grabbing your elbow and pulling it to the side as your palm slides down the middle of your back. second, pull each arm straight across your chest, holding it against your body with the other arm
AFTER 20-30 mins
-butterfly stretch: first, sit with your heels against your crotch; push down on your knees gently until they reach the floor. second, extend your heels out so your legs form a diamond position. then with legs in more of a diamond shape. push your knees gently to the floor, then lower your chest to the floor and extend your arms overhead to the floor.
-one leg pike stretch: sit with both legs out, then bend your left leg in. flex your right foot and reach for your toes. repeat on left leg.
-pike stretch: sit with your legs together straight out in front of you. flex your feet so that you pull your toes back toward you and push your heels out. sit up straight and support yourself from behind and lengthen your spine. then reach for your toes and pull them back toward you. gradually stretch further so that you are grabbing more and more of your shoes until you can grab the heels. if you can’t reach this far, just start at your shins and move downward.
-shoulder stretches: repeat as you did before your run.
-get into downward facing dog with straight arms and legs. push on your hands and lift your hips toward the ceiling, straightening your back. don’t worry about form too much yet, just push it a little on the top half and alternate putting your heels on the floor to stretch your calves.
-bring your hips down and move into a push up position. lower your body to the floor like a pushup, then glide forward into seal pose. try to keep your body off the floor, including your thighs in seal pose.
-push your hips back and move back into downward facing dog. lengthen your spine, push your hips toward the ceiling, straighten your legs, and try to lower your heels to the floor.
-repeat updog and downward facing dog twice more, working more on your form and deepening the stretch.
-while in downdog, lift your right leg straight toward the ceiling. push on your hands and use your back muscles to lift the leg higher. you may need to walk your hands closer to your feet as you lift higher. point your toe! hold, then return to downdog.
-repeat updog and downdog. this time lift your left leg, then return to down dog.
-repeat updog and downdog. lift your right leg again. after several seconds, bend your right leg and rotate your hips so that they are facing to your your right. let the weight of your right leg pull your hips open. hold, then return to down dog.
-repeat updog and downdog. this time lift your left leg, then rotate your hips so that they face to the left, and allow the weight of your leg to stretch your pelvis. return to downdog.
-repeat updog and downdog. push into your hands, lengthen your spine, lift your hips to the ceiling, straighten your legs, and lower your heels to the floor. hold, then exit pose.
-to end, come into bridge pose (the end of a backbend). you can also do dancer’s pose or lord of the dance pose. if you’re doing either of the latter two, make sure to do it on both sides. after any of the three, make sure to follow with back rolls to balance out the arch of the previous pose.
That’s it! As you can see, my after stretching a lot of yoga-type poses. I find this relaxes me after a run and helps me to work on my flexibility and strength in a fun way. Whatever you choose to do, don’t skip stretching, especially after your run. Your body really needs that time to recuperate (I should know–after I stopped stretching during last year’s training, I developed an ankle fracture…NOT fun). If you’re running out of time, it’s better to chop off a half mile of your run and spend 5-10 minutes stretching. Anyway, hope you find that useful, and let me know what you do as well! I’m always looking for something fun and different to do as I rock out to Backstreet Boys or Phillips, Craig and Dean.
Yoga
March 11th, 2008 § 2 Comments
Well, in addition to running, I’ve been doing more yoga recently. I just came across this Yoga Journal, which allows you to build your own sequence to print out and take wherever–so exciting! I’ll probably work on one over the next several days to practice on my off-running days, so I’ll be sure to email that out to you all if you’re interested!
One of my favorite poses:
My goal:
