Free Time?

It is so strange not taking classes anymore…now that I am done with my MBA I have some free time on my hands. It will be my first full week at work without any classes.  What do people do with their free time?! I have already made a list of hobbies and things I want to do so I can keep occupied.  It is nice though to have some more flexible time in my schedule though…especially for working out.

I set my alarm for 4:30 AM before I went to bed last night and quickly realized – wait I can sleep in and just go go to the gym after work.  It was fantastic. Especially having a few days off from the New Year, I needed to gradually get back into the groove and needed a little more sleep.

So I headed to the gym after work.  I went on the Cybex Arc Trainer for about 45 minutes. I set the incline to 7 and resistance to about 30.  My pace was pretty quick and I made sure my arms flowed like they would if I were running. I broke a sweat quickly and burned about 700 calories.  I looked at the time and wouldn’t let myself leave the gym until I stretched and used the foam roller for a good 20 minutes. It is extremely challenging for me to dedicate time to stretching (since I have never been so good at it) so I sort of have to force myself to do it. I know this probably contributes to some of my injuries/pain.  I promise to dedicate more time to this now in my training.

My ankle/foot feels a ton better compared to Sunday. I can stand on it comfortably and don’t feel a sharp pain up my leg. I wore flats today at work with the Dr. Scholls inserts in them.  These helped a lot.  However, I know while the pain isn’t as apparent, it is still there. I jogged in the gym from the machine back to the locker room because I left my water in my locker…yikes, felt some of the pain again. I think it is best to take it easy the next two weeks.  When I told my dad about it a couple days ago, he suggested when I get back into running to start off 2-3 miles instead of longer runs. My body needs to gradually get back into it after an injury.  Luckily I have some more free time to dedicate to recovery, stretching, and cross-training.

Podiatry appointment

This afternoon I went to the podiatrist to get my feet checked out.  My primary care gave me a referral to see a specialist because of some problems I was having with my feet. Kind of gross, I know – but necessary.  I actually really dislike feet in general, perhaps because I am not a big fan of mine. My feet are definitely taking a beating from all the running I’ve done over the years.  Blisters, corns, lost toenails…you name it. The doctor said my feet’s condition can be attributed to a combination of genetics, running, and my “stylish” shoes.  It was pretty dumb of me to wear four-inch high healed boots into the doctor today – he probably thought I was crazy.

The doctor gave me some tips on what I should do, so we’ll see how that goes; but as far as I’m concerned I am not going to stop running.  I am also not going to eliminate all stylish shoes from my wardrobe – he said not to wear heals, fancy flats, flip-flops, etc.  I think that is all I wear. So when I can, I will just be more conscious of putting on a more support fitted shoes when I am not out and about.  But it is pretty challenging for a girly girl not to wear fun shoes/heals.

Other then that: I had a really great work out today. The day off yesterday helped.  I ran 6 miles at the gym then did some weights and a spinning class.  The instructor was not motivating at all.  He sat on his spin bike while telling us what to do.  I want my instructor to be in pain and sweat with me.  Just my opinion.

So excited to be off this weekend and for some of next week. I love the holidays!!

Good/Bad start to the week.

Good/Bad start to the week.

Ok good start to the week: one more class until I am COMPLETELY done with my MBA. I presented my “elevator speech”  tonight for my Bio Med innovation class – which I was pretty much dreading all semester. We had to pitch a business plan idea in front of the class with no notes – and on top of that our the whole class also graded us.  I am not the biggest fan of public speaking – perhaps because I had one really negative experience with it about 5 years ago. It is pretty funny how even though I’ve done public speaking numerous times since then, I still get pretty nervous since I am always somehow taken back to that one bad experience. Slowly, but surely, my confidence has been building back up in the public speaking arena. I guess practice really does make perfect.  Anyways tonight I did pretty well despite my fear for public speaking.  I don’t even think I am that bad with public speaking…it is frankly all in my mind. My group partners, who I’ve shared my fear with, even said I didn’t look nervous at all.  I think it was more the fact that I wasn’t allowed to refer to any notes or Powerpoint that caused me to have a little bit of anxiety about it.

Ok bad start to the week: even though I had a day off from work, I did not get a work out in. I had every intention to get a run in, but I was so nervous about tonight’s 90 second elevator speech that I literally spent hours rehearsing it over and over in the mirror, on the voice recorder on my phone, and even video recording it on my computer. It was one of those things that I felt if I didn’t give all my practice and dedication to practicing that I would have been disappointed in myself if I didn’t do well. I guess the practice paid off…

School is almost done so hopefully no more excuses to a bad start to training weeks anymore.

So tomorrow I am getting back on the bandwagon with training. I am going to plan to run at least 6 miles tomorrow morning. I also have plans to do Bikram yoga with a friend tomorrow after work…so hopefully a double time will make up for today’s missed work out. I’ll let you know how I make out

Celebrate good times…common’ (Insert Song Here)

YAYYYYY!!!!!! I am so close to being done with my MBA from Boston University – just finished one of my presentations for class tonight and there is only one more final between me and being done with my Masters!! I know, I know – this blog is supposed to be about my fundraising, training, and running but I need to emit my excitement somewhere. I already ran up to my roommate’s room when I got home, knocked on her door, and screamed a bit …so now your turn

It is such a relief to know after 3 1/2 years of working full-time and going to school, I will finally have some free time to myself to do the things I have been wanting to do – enjoying my passions such as focusing on my career and my young professionals group, getting back into my art/fashion, revisiting my social life, reading more for pleasure, volunteering, joining different groups, traveling around to new places, etc. etc.  Not that I haven’t been doing the things I love the past few years, but they have definitely been limited.  My focus for now will be running, running, and more running the next few months. I got the fundraising for Dana-Farber and training for the Boston Marathon at the forefront of my mind – right behind finishing my MBA in a week or so! I am so excited to focus my full efforts on training and fundraising once my last final is done.

Another benefit to finishing my MBA is that I will not have to wake up at the crack of dawn (or in my case, before dawn) to run in the morning. It gets really tiring being up from 4:45 AM and getting home at 9:30 PM – a long day!  This morning I was good and got up at 4:45 AM to head to the gym. I ran 5 miles under 8 min/miles.  While my pace was good, I was feeling a bit tired – probably just from the lack of sleep I got the past two days.  So soon I will be getting more rest! So far this week my training has been on track…!! Now I just have to calm my excitement down a bit so I can get to bed at a reasonable time tonight.

Watching people run, makes me want to run

I am at school right now as I write this…thought I would write now since I have a little time before my project management class starts at 6.

Anyways, I drive along the Charles River from Acton, MA (where I work) to Boston University (where I am taking night classes for my MBA). As I am driving, I see other people running along the river. Since it gets dark before 5 now, the river looks gorgeous with the lights of the skyscraper buildings reflecting in the water.  It is just a gorgeous night to be running …it was 70 degrees today (and we are in the first week of November!)

Is it weird that I got jealous watching them run as I was sitting in my car in traffic? On Mondays and Tuesdays when I have class it is very difficult for me to get a work out in. (I have to wake up around 6 AM to get ready for work and then don’t get home until around 10 PM).  All I wanted to do was pull over, grab my running shoes, pump up the jams, and jog along side them.

Random story: It reminds me of high school.  My friend Allison would carpool my sister and I home from track practice at Wesleyan University (that is where our high school track team practiced).  Since she had an early birthday, she had her license before everyone and was lucky to truck me around .  (The pros and cons of having an early birthday).  While I wouldn’t say we were star runners, our group of track friends were pretty passionate about running.  One of my favorite memories is driving home and seeing runners running on the side of the street. Alli would honk her car horn at them, while we’d roll down the windows and scream “whoo hoo – appreciation for runners” Looking back on it – it probably freaked these people out.

Every time I see another person running while I am driving, I just REALLY want to go out for a run….it is contagious.

7:06 AM

My schedule these past couple months has been pretty crazy.  Besides working out and training (you might ask what else do I do?) I work full time and am finishing up school at night.  Luckily for me this is my LAST semester then I will officially have my MBA from Boston University! Yippee!  I am very proud of this – more so because I was able to balance this on top of working and staying involved in the community.  Whenever school starts up I warn the people in my life that I will be going “MIA,” but not to take it personally.  I have been much better about balancing everything this semester and have seemed to have a better social life then in the past.  I guess after 3 years, I finally learned how to “(try and) do it all” – but then again it is my last semester.  A typical week for me involves ~45 hours of work, ~10 hours of community related activities (whether it be for the young professionals group I helped start, a Chamber of Commerce event, bank event, volunteering or a church activity), ~10 hours at the gym/working out, 6 hours of class, ~10 hours of homework/group projects – and the remainder of the time sleeping, eating, socializing, and trying to relax!

Anyways this crazy schedule of mine has finally caught up to me.  I live in a townhouse and occasionally  (for no clear reason) the power will go off in the middle of the night and turn back on. Now, I don’t realize it until I wake up in the morning because the clocks around our townhouse will all start blinking with the wrong time.  So this morning I woke up and peek over to see what time it is…apparently the power turned off again. I turn on my cell phone: 7:06 AM.  Ahhh, have to leave my apartment in 9 minutes – to be exact – in order to make it to work on time.  My alarm never went off!  And believe me – I could sleep until I wake up if my alarm doesn’t go off.  I am pretty exhausted now that school has started again.  So I threw on a dress and heals and headed out the door with my make-up bag.  Made it.

The point of the story: while I have a busy schedule now when I graduate in December (yay!) I will have a lot more time, which is exactly one of the reasons why I thought THIS YEAR was the best year to run and train for the Boston Marathon.  I will already be use to the busy schedule and will now be able to replace going to classes with training for the marathon in January.  It is actually pretty perfect timing.  I like to “go-go-go” (life is too short not to take advantage of every minute) and I know I will feel like “what’s next” once school ends. This marathon will help me keep focused on a goal.

Today after work I did an hour of weights in a body pump class and 30 minutes of cardio…it was nice because I finished my workout at a reasonable time and was able to relax and enjoy the rest of my evening for a bit.  I felt really strong today, perhaps it was the unintentional extra hour of sleep!

PS – I am setting two alarm clocks tonight.