Snow Day turned Ice Week

  
     What a week it has been so far. Sunday night brought loads of beautiful snow and to my great pleasure classes were cancelled for Monday. I spent that day running and playing in the snow, enjoying all the beautiful cold white fluffy goodness! Alas, the beauty swiftly turned into a nightmare.

     Tuesday the beautiful snow turned to thick sheets of hard glass-like ice. It's now Thursday and the ice still isn't gone! Today was actually the first day I was able to drive because of the roads being so bad. It was just in time too; I was going stir crazy being stuck at the house for 3 days in a row. The ice was so menacing that I couldn't even go running outside. My one attempt to do so resulted in me almost breaking a leg. Fortunately I have only a few bruises to show for my idiocy.

     On the bright side, being cooped up gave me plenty of time to work on our (my mom and mine) book. I mean one can only watch episodes of Murder She Wrote so long before becoming desperate to do something more productive. And don't think that just because I couldn't be physically active in the ways I wanted to be deterred me from continuing my training. I decided to use this time stuck inside to work on some of the muscle areas I don't normally focus on such as my abs, glutes, thighs, and arms.

With just a mat and a pair of 5 lb. weights I worked up quite a sweat. . .

Monday

• 1 hour playing in the snow (e.g. snowball fights, walking, running, snow angel making)
• 100 crunches
• 20 push-ups

Karate Dude

Tuesday

• 100 crunches
• 20 push-ups
• 30 minutes of stretching with some random yoga moves thrown in.
• 50 squats (ouch!)
• 20 minutes weight lifting

Vibram Foot Prints

Wednesday

• 5 minutes Mountain Climbers
• 50 squats (double ouch!)
• 30 minutes weight training
• 20 minutes stretching
• 1 minute intervals running in place (5 rounds/reps)
• 100 crunches
• 20 push-ups

By late morning today the sun had been out long enough to melt sufficient amount of ice for my to go to the gym where I finally got RUN!!! :-D

Thursday

• 60 crunches with a seated abdominal machine 
• 6 reps of 10 on the abnominal twisting machine
• 45 minutes run (5 miles)
• 5 minutes stretching

     With all these high energy workouts I have been one hungry girl. Some of the food I've been enjoying these last few chilly days. . .

     I hope all of you guys are staying warm, healthy, and happy out there. Until next time! :-)

2010 Fall Semester Recap

     Hello one and all! So sorry for the large gap between my last post and this new one. This semester at school has been rough but I am forging my way through and am nearing the end (yikes!).

     This semester has been very busy and intense, but I did manage to take them time to take a lot of pictures to share with you. So here is a brief photographic recap of my first semester of college at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. So far I have. . .

I placed 3rd in the Union College Sprint Triathlon, as I am sure you remember from my last post. These are just a few more pictures that I was able to get my hand on from other people at the race. I was also finally able to upload the video I made after the race to youtube. Click here to watch.

I have taken up bouldering on the rock wall that is located just below the girls' dorms.

I placed 3rd in the Union College Lazy Ironman Competition. The goal was to bike 112 miles, run 26 miles, and swim 2.4 miles in three weeks or less. Even with school and homework I was able to finish all the mileage in 10 days. 

During Thanksgiving break I flew home to Georgia, and on Thanksgiving morning I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon. This was my second half marathon this year (and ever). I have a new PB of 2:14:42. My old PB was 2:25:55. I'm getting faster! =D I made along with the pictures I also made a short video on the way home from the race. Click here to watch.

Yes, I am wearing my Vibrams!

I've been working hard at school of course. Being a Biology major is tough, but a lot of fun. Here's me at my three hour (starts at 7:30 am) Bio Lab class running an experiment to measure the rate of oxidation through photosynthesis to determine the respiration rate of the Elodea plant.

I've been enjoying my beautiful campus as it has been transitioning from summer to autumn, and now to winter.

FALL:

This vehicle is used for the EMT classes that IRR (International Rescue & Relief) Majors have to take.

 Where I live.

WINTER:

We got a lot of snow one Friday night. . .

But then the sun came Saturday morning and made it all melt. =(

I also got myself some awesome fruity attire here.

And finally, I've been enjoying yummy food.

The End (for now)

Market Day Bounty

     
     Went to the Dekalb Farmer's Market and Rainbow Natural Groceries Store for weekly produce. What a buy when I go depends upon the season and the quality of the produce, however, this is a list of what I bought.


- 2 Large Papaya
- 1 Medium Organic Jackfruit
- 1 Medium Durian
- 2 Small Honeydew Melon
- 1 Medium Watermelon
- 10 lbs. Organic Oranges
- 1.5 lbs. Organic Medjool Dates
- 20 lbs. Organic Bananas
- 2 Limes
- 20 Organic Mangos
- 2 16oz pkg. Organic Grape Tomatoes
- 2 16oz pkg. Blueberries
- 0.5 lbs. Organic Sundried Tomatoes
- 32fl.oz Raw (unpasteurized) Coconut Water
- 2 8oz pkg. Raw Probiotic Coconut Yogurt (a little goes a long way in smoothies)
- A treat - 1 small jar of Raw Hawaiin Lau Flower Honey
- 6 33.8fl.oz Penta Water Bottles


     This all cost me about $120. I usually spend around $80-$90 on one of thses trips, but I needed some higher priced items (i.e. Raw Honey, Coconut Yogurt, and Penta Water) this time around.


     I didn't purchase any greeens this time around as I still have about 5lbs. of leafy green still in my fridge that need to be devoured before I need more, and this time I've got acoupon for Organi greens!! :-D


P..S. A picture of me with my fruity snowman of the winter!