Living for the Weekends

These past two weekends have been friend and fun filled.

Last Friday, right after work, I flew out of LAX to Seattle. I woke up early on Saturday and headed over to Lake Chelan to celebrate Shelby and Jesse's wedding. The weekend was amazing. I got to hang out with amazing friends and watch 2 love birds get married.

I have a new tradition of drinking a glass of wine before getting on a flight (as long as there is time to spare), this time was no exception.

Baker - I couldn't resist posting a picture of this cutie!

 The backdrop of the wedding with the Bride and Groom

 Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jesse and Shelby!

 1st dance!

 Where I got my dance on

Good friends!

The night was amazing! Perfect weather, wonderful food, and fantastic company. I may or may not have danced the entire time.

Sunday morning we headed back to Seattle (a little tired and a little hung over), but the fun did not stop there. My dad got me a signed Russell Wilson Jersey

I did wear the Jersey on my plane ride home, but I will be framing this jersey and never wearing it again! But the Seahawks kicked the 49ners butts. So wearing the jersey was definitely worth it ;)

The past week was rough. My flight was delayed getting into LAX and I didn't get into bed until around 1:30am. I didn't know it was possible to doze off standing up, but I guess it is when you are exhausted. Luckily I had Friday off to recover.

This weekend was just as fun, but not quite as much traveling. I decided to try and run 6 miles on Friday, so I did and my knee only hurt a little. It's getting better right?

On Saturday, I headed down to San Diego to celebrate a friend's birthday. Her birthday was last week, but since I was out of town, I told her she would just have to extend her birthday celebrations for at least a week longer.

We went to Temecula and participated in some wine tasting, made pizza, and headed out on the town.

I hope you had a fantastic weekend as well!

Running and a Bum Knee

As I have mentioned in (a few) past post or two, I have a plan to run 30 half marathons by the end of this year. Well I am two away from completing this goal and low and behold, I am hurt :( After the trail run, a few miles into any run my knee starts to hurt, and not the good kind of hurt.

My next half is Oct 20th and I would like to train for it. But at this rate, who knows. I talked to my clinical instructor about what she thinks I should do and here was her advice…

"As a PT, you should rest, stretch your quads, strengthen your glut meds, and ice…As a runner, you can take 3 Advil before a run and then ice it afterwards. But I don't suggest doing #2."

Well, I don't have a choice. I have been trying not to run, strengthening my quads and butt muscles, but the last few days I have decided to take a few Advil, run and then ice. Bad me. Do as I say and not as I do. But I promised myself I would complete this goal and gosh darnit, I am doing it.

It is tough to know that my body is telling me to rest but that my brain is telling me to go. Well my brain is also telling me to rest because I know the consequences of what can happen if I injury myself worse. So I guess it would be my heart telling me to keep going.

What is something that you have pushed through to complete a goal?

That Was a Hot One

Here is a little (late) update on my Labor Day Weekend.


It technically started last Thursday night when I met some Seattle friends who were in town to run the Disneyland half for dinner at Gabby's in Old Town. Third time is the charm, the food was even better than last time I ate there, plus the company was fabulous. It was totally worth going to bed late! A week ago Friday was a little tough, but I did have the opportunity to take a long nap when I got home from work before picking my mom up from the airport. Oh yes, apparently my mother is making it a tradition to come down to visit on Labor day. It may just be a 2 year thing because I will definitely be back in Washington at this time next year. Friday night was relaxing. My mom and I just chatted and went to bed (relatively) early.
Saturday of Labor Day weekend we woke up at a leisurely hour, made breakfast and headed up to LA to meet with some friends which entailed shopping for wedding jewelry, chocolate, amazing food, a drag show, and catching up. That is the synopsis, here are some more details.
I have mentioned this jewelry in a past blog post, but Bonnie (our friend who we visited) makes jewelry that I may have purchased  as wedding jewelry and maybe a little something else (not for the wedding) for me. I am not going to show you what I bought for the wedding, but you can check out her website and try to guess what I might have bought (or buy something for yourself)...Love and Piece Jewelry. I will show you the earrings I bought (oops)
On Sunday, before heading back to Orange, we went to West Hollywood for brunch. We ended up going to Hamburger Mary's where they were currently having Drag Brunch.
Monday morning, which included not working (since it was a holiday), my mom and I went down to Newport Beach and ran along the back bay.
What do you do to deal with the heat?

Another wonderful thing that occurred last Saturday night was this…

Yes, that is an 11lb chocolate bar. No I did not eat the whole thing.

Drag brunch is exactly what it sounds like. A drag show while you eat brunch. I actually had a burger (hey the place is called Hamburger Mary's) while listening to the wonderful "Whitney Houston" and  a little Disney's Pocahontas. It was fabulous!

 It was a beautiful day, but definitely a little too hot for my liking. You can tell by the glisten on our bodies. After the run and before my mother had to leave, we walked around Balboa Island. Here is what we saw.

 A woman trying not to get sun burned (but looking ridiculous)

Someone who obviously did not listen to their parent's when they said it was time to go in after the 4th of July. 

This has been the weather lately…

And this is how I have been dealing with it...

Apparently I melt when the temperature hits over 90 deg. This is why I am a true Seattle Girl!

Long Commute and Pepper Spray

I just finished my 2nd week of my pediatric rotation. I am enjoying the clinic, my clinical instructor (CI), my "co-workers",  and the program, but my rotation is about 40 miles away and takes me an hour and a half to get home every day:( It is only for 12 weeks (officially 10 now) and I know I am going to learn a lot at this clinical rotation, so that is more important…right? I am working with children who have neurological insults such as Cerebral Palsy (CP), brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and Spina Bifida. Most of the kids have CP and are relatively high functioning, but it has been a challenge to find a way to not take home my emotions at the end of the day. I had a long talk with my CI about dealing with the emotions of working with this population and she put it into a nice perspective. There are going to be children that have these aliments and it is our job to make them as happy and comfortable as possible, then I am doing my job and I feel happy about that.

My knees have been hurting me since I ran that trail run (aka my 28th half marathon), so I have taken some long walks instead of running. Last Sunday my knees were feeling better. No pain with walking, squatting or going up stairs, so I decided to knock out 8 miles. I told myself that if my knees started to hurt I would turn around, well my knees did decide to start hurting about 1/2 way through my run. I did turn around, but walking 4 miles sounded miserable, so I decided to run until my knees hurt then stretch out my quads then start running again. My knees would feel good for about a half mile and then I would have to stop :( Urrrr this is so frustrating because I have another half marathon coming up in October and I would like to be decently trained for it. I haven't run since then, but I can tell that my quads are super tight.

On my long run last Sunday, I ran on a (cement) trail. I have become a little more paranoid lately about running alone and especially in a place that does not have a lot of people traffic. So, I brought pepper spray with me. I don't really know how to use it (I don't think it is that hard and I bet I could figure it out), but it still made me feel a little better about running alone.

This is what the trail looks like (Source)

Source

This is what my pepper spray looks like. Yes it is pink and fits in the palm of my hand. What precautions do you take when running or walking by yourself? Or are you not concerned that anything is going to happen? 

I am so happy the weekend is finally here because I am sleep deprived. I am not use to waking up so early, and even though I have been going to bed earlier and earlier every night, I am using a lot of brain power right now so not only am I physically exhausted, I am also completely mentally exhausted. I am going to sleep in as late as I can tomorrow, which might be a challenge because my mom is coming into town! I am excited to see her and I bet we will go to bed relatively early tonight. The plan for the weekend is to be active and eat good food, but I am just excited to get to hang with my mom.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Anyone have exciting plans for the long weekend?

Well That Was Tough

On Sunday I completed my 28th half marathon and this one was definitely a challenge. It was called the Mud and Chocolate Trail Run which included a 4.5 mile & 1/2 marathon trail run. I knew it was going to be 3 loops and there were going to be trails, but I was not fully aware (or did not want to admit to myself) that the whole run was on a trail. Here was the low down.

Trail running is a completely different beast from street running. The path is narrow, it is much harder to pass people (in the beginning), you use completely different muscles on trails than you do on concrete, you have to pay attention to where you are going, and finally, you have to pay attention to where your feet are being placed.

The first loop of this race, I felt like I was stuck behind people who were going at a different pace than I would have liked to run, but by the second loop, I was all by myself on the path for the majority of the time. I didn't realize how much I need the energy of other people while I am running. I would get a burst of energy when someone would pass me or when I caught up to someone else. I think the hardest part of this race was having to be mentally on the entire time. I almost rolled my ankle a couple of times and you can't zone out in the end (which I like to do) because you have to make sure you don't trip. To top it off, since I didn't train on trails, my hip flexors were screaming at me around mile 6 because I was lifting my legs higher than I normally do to avoid branches and rocks.

I sound like I am complaining. I am not, I was just not as prepared as I should have been. Luckily my running experience got me through, but I highly suggest training on dirt and trails before completing this endeavor. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This was definitely a new challenge and I must admit I felt pretty hardcore.

The end of the race was sweet…Literally. I ended with a chocolate medal and a buffet of chocolate goodies.

And this race definitely lived up to its name…Mud and Chocolate

My chocolate medal, chocolate cupcake and muddy legs

I don't think I will be participating in another half marathon trail run anytime soon, but I can see myself running in shorter distances of 6 miles or less.

On Tuesday I was rewarded with an amazing 2 hour massage. The massage was a 30th birthday present, but it was definitely needed after this race. I felt sore in muscles I have never felt before.

So do as I say and not as I do, and if you are planning on running a "normal" road race, train mostly on concrete. If you are planning on running a trail run, train mostly on dirt. It is important to "teach" our body's tissue to work on what ever surface it needs to work on. That being said, if you think you have bad knees, don't run mostly on the grass and dirt and then complete a long race on concrete, your body will not be trained to work on that surface. And vice versa, running on concrete did not harden my joints and muscles up for this trail run, I was probably less stable because my muscles were not use to stabilizing me on such uneven/unsteady ground. I would have benefitted from running on more uneven surfaces before this race and then I might not have been as sore as I was.

Has anyone completed a challenge that they were not prepared for?

So Close Yet So Far Away

I have finished my 2nd year of grad school. Woo hoo! It is amazing how fast time can fly and how slowly it can go at the same time. I can't believe I am two-thirds of the way done with this program. I remember my first day like it was yesterday.

The last few weeks have been hectic. And now I get a nice little break before my clinical starts up. Here is a little catch up on the past few weeks.

Angle's Game with with some friends.

A lot of delicious food...

 Veggie Sandwich from Mead's Cafe on Chapman Ave. Check them out. Their food is wonderful.

Lots of study snacks

Studying and napping (this is Calvin, a classmate of mine "studying")

When my finals were over…lots of this...

And when I finally made it back to Seattle…A little of this.

 Ben came up to Seattle and Chris and I got to hang out with him.

Finally, I am doing a trail run next Sunday and as a practice run, my mother and I ran through as many trails that we could on Mercer Island. Here is my mom running across an extension bridge. 

So far I have had a wonderful time seeing friends, sleeping, and doing absolutely nothing.

I hope your summer has been going well.

Something to leave you with. This is a flower that I found when I took a walk the other day. I thought it was unique.

Bon Fires and Wipe Out

Well School has been stressful. This semester was easy breezy (well as easy as 7 classes can be) until this last month. Then all hell broke loose. I was so tired on Thursday that when my classmates were giving a presentation, I did not even attempt to keep my eyes open. It was good sleep though.

Finally this week was over, and on Friday afternoon, Leslie and I decided to do a 10 mile run since the rest of the week had been a good temperature for such an event. But about 2.5 miles into the run, the weather changed and it turned from a nice overcast to blistering hot. We finished, but not without some complaining and an ice stop along the way. Plus, I changed races…I went from white to beet red. Seriously, I never learn my lesson.

After relaxing for a couple of hours or so after our excruciating run (but hey, we did it), I headed down to Huntington Beach for a bon fire with my classmates.

It was a nice change in scenery and a great way to be able to relax for a little bit.

The night was complete with a BBQ and s'mores

Huntington Beach Sunset

I went home early and straight to bed because I had to wake up at 6am Saturday morning for a race. Okay, it wasn't a race, it was a 5k run, but it was well worth waking up that early!

This was the Ridiculous Obstacle Course (ROC) race. This run involves running a 5K with obstacles placed about every quarter mile. The obstacles included things such as jumping over barricades, monkey bars, rope walks, rope swing, trampolines, tires, and ending with a large water slide into the finish. They even had a Wipe Out style station called the wrecking ball. It was so much fun and I highly suggest participating in this event.

We had a team of 8 all from the Chapman DPT program and we dressed as Minions from Despicable Me.

Here is the before picture

This was after the race

The Silly Minion (burnt face and all)

We won these huge metals for our awesome costumes.

I may or may have not gone home after the run and took a nap from 1pm to 6pm later that day. Apparently school, running 10 miles, and then waking up early the next day to participate in a fun run is exhausting.

Needless to say, this weekend has been much needed and I am feeling much more relaxed and ready for the last 2 and a half weeks left of school.

What did you do this weekend?