Accent Blog

I hope everyone is having a good Monday! 

If you're not maybe this will cheer you up, always works for me!

That's Presley sporting my mom's new sunglasses. Adorable, right?!

I spent all day yesterday at my parents' house. I went over there around noon to run with my dad. We were thinking about maybe trying 10 miles but my calves weren't up to it. No worries, I wasn't supposed to do my 10 miler until next weekend anyways. We covered 6.5 miles total in 1:14. I used my watch and timed my 10k time which was 1:07:11 (a PR by almost 7 whole minutes!!) The other .3 was walking split between warm up and cool down.

We made our way back to their house where my mom made me a grilled cheese sandwich that I ate in front of their fire =)

Like my senior picture above the mantle? lol

I miss my puppy so much! I wish I could have one at my place, but my building doesn't allow animals. When I was in high school, I volunteered at our local Angels for Animals and I came home with this one:

 

So cute =)

I have a ton of reading to do for my classes but I took a few minutes earlier to film one of those accent videos that everyone's been doing.. I know, I'm awkward.. please don't judge me too harshly lol Okay, so here it is:

Attractive starting picture, right?

I had class this morning, came home and wrote a letter for one of my professors, then ordered some sushi for lunch. I think I have a mild addiction..

So yummy =)

All right, back to the grind. I have to get some serious reading done. School is taking over my life..

Exhausting Week

This week has been crazy busy! It's only the second week back to school and I'm completely stressed out already. One of my classes requires an extensive amount of reading. It wouldn't be too terribly bad but my scholarship application took over my life for a while and I got behind.

The good news is that my scholarship is completely finished. I don't think that I'll get any money, but that's okay. Filling out the application forced me to think about my future and get a better idea of what I want to do. Funny story, I went to drop off my essay to the professor that's the rep for YSU and he saw my stack of papers that wouldn't even fit into my folder. So I explained that they were all my reading assignments for one class and he thought I meant for the whole semester.. No, no.. all that was just for today's class!

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog, lately and I apologize; I haven't even updated you about my fun weekend =) Tuesday was my friend, Tracey's birthday. I met her when I went on the archaeological dig in the Bahamas. And being the good, Bahamian friends we are, we took her out on Saturday and Tuesday! Here's what you missed in pictures:

This picture makes me laugh =)

 

The Birthday Girl =)

Happy Birthday Tracey!!

My sister-in-law's birthday is this week, too! It's not until Sunday but we went out to dinner at Caffe Capri on Thursday night to celebrate. The food was absolutely delicious and we ate way too much! Sometimes you just need to splurge.. a little lot!

I've had a pretty successful running week as well. It started off with 7 Mile Monday and continued on Wednesday with a speedy 1.8 mile run. I ran the first mile in 9:45 and the .8 in 8:56(!!). Then again on Thursday (before dinner) I did a 2.34 mile run with the first mile at 10:16, the second at 9:54 and the .34 at 8:43(!!) Negative splits? Don't mind if I do!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep up with the 100 Days Challenge. There has been a day or 2 where I haven't worked out, but that's okay. I'm training for a marathon so on an active rest day if my body is telling me it needs a break then I listen. No point in pushing too hard and getting injured. I am working out as much as I can and I think that's the heart of the challenge anyways.

Side note: my smoke alarm is driving me nuts!! Every time I cook something it goes off! I mean, I'm glad it's sensitive especially because I can't smell so I wouldn't know if the place was on fire.. but I wish there was an "I'm cooking" setting so that it would ignore the steam coming out of my pot of boiling water on the stove..

This week has been exhausting so I think I'm staying in tonight. I'm about to make some tea, plop down on my couch and relax. I think I deserve a little break! Plus I have to work in the morning..

Does anyone have exciting plans for the weekend/next week?!

  

7 Mile Monday

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Mine was pretty successful. I woke up early to a beautiful sunrise!

I wanted to go to the library on campus to read, but I could not focus to save my life. So I took some pictures out the window..

And posted an Operational Beautiful note..

Eventually, I got a little reading done and it was time to head across campus to class. I had a meeting with my professor after to discuss a career path for me and figure out what I should write in my scholarship application that I've been working on the past few weeks. She gave me new insight and I think I've just about picked a direction..

I had a very successful 7.3 mile run at the gym tonight on the dreaded treadmill. 7 miles is the farthest I've run since my half marathon in October. I managed a steady 11:22 pace per mile throughout the majority. I was very happy with that (especially on the treadmill)! I think the last time I ran 7 straight miles was outside and in September and I did about a 12:00 pace. I also had an (unofficial) 10k PR at about 1:10. My only other 10k was a 1:13 in Cleveland last year.

This is a quick post but 18 credit hours worth of reading is calling my name.. Hopefully I'll be less stressed once I get all these applications submitted! Goodnight =)

Judgement(less) Day

Hello all!

My day has not been going quite as I had planned. I slept in until a little after 9, showered and headed to campus. The roads were pretty awful and the parking lot was even worse!

Dear YSU, I don't expect class cancelations for bad weather but please be considerate enough to salt and clear sidewalks and parking lots. Thanks.

Yes, that's the sidewalk.. Don't see it? Me neither..

I finally made the trek from my car to the building where my class was. It's probably like 200 meters but I slipped about 27 times. Luckily I didn't completely wipe out.

At least it looks pretty.

I left after my paleo class thinking that my Friday schedule is like my Monday and Wednesday schedule.. Except that it's not.. I totally forgot about my senior biology capstone that meets every Friday. Oops! At least it's only the first week right??

So instead of going to class, I went to the gym to get a 2 mile run in. But that didn't quite go as planned either. My calves were very sore today, so I stopped at 1.5 miles so I can hopefully do between 6 and 7 on Sunday.

Something that my yoga classes have taught me recently is to stop judging myself during my workouts. Usually I would get frustrated because I couldn't get in the run I wanted to. But ya know what, today is only one day. I did what I could and I'm not judging myself for it. I am where I am today and that's okay =)

The Early Bird Gets the Belt

As you probably already know, I'm running the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon on May 15.. Well, I registered for this race a few months ago, actually, and I received an early bird registration gift a few days ago..

A Cleveland Marathon running belt!

I haven't used it yet, but I can't wait. It's the perfect size to carry my Gu Chomps on longer runs.

Isn't it nice?!

Today have been a busy day so far. I had class at 8 this morning, went to buy my textbooks, had another class and went for a run. Now I have a little window of time before my next class at 5.

My run today was amazing! I ran 5.21 yesterday in an hour on the dreadmill at the gym. I wasn't planning on running today because I was going to give my body a bit of a break since that 5 miler was a big jump from my normal 2 miles. But it was warmer out today and I couldn't help myself!

I ran 1.81 miles in 18:06! My first mile was a 10:09 and the .8 miles was at a 9:51 pace!! Super fast for me =) AND I didn't take a single walking break, ran the whole way. Average pace = 9:57! WOOT! I'm really proud of that run, that's the fastest I've consistently run.. ever.

After my run, I was changing to get in the shower and realized that my belly button ring was missing.. I'm pretty sure it was there when I changed prior to my run, no idea what happened. It's a mystery..

Time for me to go get my butt in gear to get back to campus.. =(

Dollar, Dollar Bill Ya'll =)

We have quite the winter wonderland outside =)

I love the snow, just not the cold. And I really wish I could run outside.. but I would fall for sure so I've been dreadmilling it up lately.

Yesterday was spent finally cleaning and organizing my apartment. It had been wayyyy too long and I've vowed to never let my apartment get that disorganized again.

I was happily interrupted around 3 with a phone call from brother asking me to go to a late lunch. Hmm food versus cleaning.. tough choice.

I chose food =) Me, brother and sister-in-law went to a local place called Vintage Estates (I actually thought it was called Vineyard Estates and I'm pretty sure I've talked about it before.. woops). I had never gotten food there before but I have been there to build my own 6-pack.

We sat at the bar and I ordered a Blue Moon and the Mediterranean flatbread pizza. I must say, this pizza was absolutely amazing. Just look at it!

I was so excited when I got it that I just started eating it before I thought to take a picture. Brother ordered the pepperoni pizza and ours were both served with fortune cookies.. My pizza had asiago, feta and romano cheeses, black olives, artichoke hearts, onions, red pepper, spinach, onions, and garlic.. Be still my heart.

After our late lunch, I returned home and continued cleaning before I had to tutor. I had tutored this girl in math a couple years ago and her mother called mine and said that her daughter needed help in chemistry. I was kind of nervous because I wasn't sure I'd even remember enough inorganic chemistry to be helpful, but it's all starting to come back to me now =)

After tutoring I ran 2 miles on the dreadmill in 22:08. I have no idea why I'm so much slower on the treadmill, it's kind of frustrating.. Oh, well.

The Bahamian group got together again last night at the Horseshoe Bar in Warren. It's always an interesting time with us. Since I got a new phone, they attempted to help me learn how to use it when Amanda "stumbled" upon some sort of money origami..

 

The finished product:

Glasses made out of dollar bills.. we're quite the partiers haha

 

I didn't get home until 3 a.m. and I was starving, so I finished off that pizza from earlier. A few of us are getting together again tonight for sushi after my yoga class.

Is anyone else slower on the treadmill than they are outside? I also feel like it's a lot harder to run on the treadmill even though I'm going slower. Why is that??

Stylish Blogger

I was happily surprised with a comment from Melissa of Eat on the Run, informing me that she awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award! Thanks Melissa! =)

Okay, so here's how it works:

First: make a post linking back to the person who gave you the award

Second: Share 7 (random) things about yourself

Then: Award 15 recently discovered bloggers with this award

Contact these bloggers and tell them they've won you're award

Now for my 7 things:

1.  I love macaroni and cheese but really only when it's in shapes, like the ones for kids. For example, the Toy Story, Sponge Bob and Scooby Doo mac and cheese from Kraft. It tastes so much better.
2. I have never seen all of the Wizard of Oz and I honestly have no desire to. I've seen the beginning, but that's really it. I know how the story goes and I'm just fine without seeing the rest.
   
3. When I watch movies with war scenes I get more disturbed when the horses, or whatever animals are aiding in the war, die or get hurt than when the people do. Not too sure what that says about me..
   
4. I do not have a sense of smell. Just can't do it. And yes, I can still taste so maybe nerves just get confused on the way to my brain. In my opinion, if you have to loose a sense it should be this one. Every once in a while I think that I can smell something.. I think I smelled sausage once..
   
5. I don't always like running. I still haven't fallen in love with it, but I'm trying to learn to love it. Some days I absolutely love it and wonder what I will do when I can't run anymore. Other days, I dislike everything about it. It's a love/hate relationship, but I'm not giving up!
   
6. Cotton balls freak me out. They make that *eeky* sound when you touch them.. Can't stand it! It's like that sound that stirofoam makes when it slides out of a cardboard box. It makes my ears want to bleed..
   
7. I keep having this recurring dream where all of a sudden I remember that I'm supposed to be going somewhere (usually with a group) in about 5 minutes from the time that I remember this obligation. I'm then thrown into a packing frenzy trying to get everything ready to leave it 5 minutes.

Now for my 15 bloggers: (in no particular order)

• Cristina
• Marlon
• Frenchie
• Stephanie
• Vee
• Alan
• Kali
• Ashley
• Tara
• Tracy
• Amber
• Kelly
• Katie
• Samantha
• Natalia

So there you have it! Visit these bloggers, I follow them all on Twitter as well and am amazingly grateful for all the support and inspiration!

Running Motivation

I finally made my running motivation/inspiration board! Yay me! Of course, I still haven't cleaned my apartment, but I did do a load of laundry.. little victories.

I slept in way late this morning, which is okay. This is my last week of freedom before school starts up again.

So instead of running this morning afternoon, I made my motivation running board! =)

My favorite corner:

If you can't tell, it's a turtle with a rocket strapped to it's back and it says "Adapt to Succeed" ;)

 

Left and right halves.

A few semesters ago, I took a photography class and for the first project we had to put our 4x5s on a poster. I still had the other half of the poster board and I took my photo project out of its frame and put my motivation board in it.

I hung it on the wall directly to the right of my front door when you walk in.

Excuse my messy dining room =)

I finally made it to the gym at 5:00. I did a shorter run today to try to spare my knee. My runners knee started flaring up again and I'm trying to nip it in the bud. I think I'm going keep the same mileage that I was scheduled to run this week but divide it between more days. I need my legs to get used to the mileage again.

Have you ever made a motivation or vision board before for anything?

Revised 2011 Race Wish List

Unfortunately, I was premature in publishing my first race schedule, seeing as I had not compared any of them with my marathon training schedule.. don't know what I was thinking, sorry bout that..

Anyways, I'm definitely running the:

      Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington D.C. on April 3. My dad and I entered the lottery under the group name "Keep Moving" and we were selected. It's going to be pretty expensive because we have to get a hotel the night before, but I'm still super excited! I hear it's a beautiful course.

     And, of course, the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon on May 15. Wooooooooot =)


I'm pretty positive that I'm going to run the:

     Shamrock 15k in Cuyahoga Falls, OH on March 6. I would need to switch around some long runs but it's totally doable. I had mentioned the Mill Creek Distance Classic for this day on my prior list but that race is incredibly hilly, and, honestly, I don't want to die.. and I can never find 15k races close to me!

I'd love to run the:

     Perfect 10 Miler in Cleveland in August (again, not sure of the exact date). This is also contingent upon my body surviving the marathon and its training.

     Wine and Dine Half Marathon in Disney World in October (not sure of the exact date). I really want to run a race in Disney and my dad wants to do this one. He said if I survive the training and the marathon then we should do this race in the fall. If this works out I won't be doing the Cincinnati half, but I'm okay with that..

I'm pretty sure that I can't run the:

     Cleveland 10 Miler on April 23. I hear this is a really fun race, but I'm scheduled to run between 20 and 22 miles that day and I'm running out of time to move things around.. I don't think I can squeeze it in after all =(

I still want to do the:

     Wendy's International Duathlon in Lewis Center, OH on June 12. (Run 2 miles, bike 17 miles, run 5k) I wouldn't register until after the marathon (1 month before), because if my ankle can't take anymore there's no point in paying the registration fee.. Oh, and I still need to buy a bicycle..

     Cincinnati Sprint Triathlon on July 24. Again, I need a bike and won't register until after the marathon.

If it turns out I'm invincible, and my body is still in tip-top shape, I might run the:

     Akron Half Marathon on September 24. This would be only if I felt amazing and strong and think I could still run the Disney Half a month later, but Disney takes priority.

I plan on running local charity races as well, but I won't know about those until later. There should be a 5k in Poland (OH, not the country) in the beginning of May, and I think the Panerathon 10k is in August.

I'm not sure if this will all workout.. I really hope that it does! If all I can do this year is the marathon then what else can I ask for?! That's why it's called a wish list, right? I have decided that even if my ankle or any other body part breaks down before the marathon, I'm still going to do it, even if I have to walk or crawl the whole thing. I will finish.


On a different, but not completely unrelated topic.. I would really appreciate any help that anyone can give me with my efforts to raise money for diabetes research through running this marathon. I know the economy is awful especially with the holiday season coming to an end, but every donation helps! I'm very close to my goal. Every dollar adds up! Click here or visit my Diabetes Action page to read my family's story and/or make a donation =)

Heated Flow Yoga: Take 1

Well, I had a productive workout this evening! But before I talk about that, let's rewind a bit. I finally joined Daily Mile. I don't quit understand how everything works yet, but everyone I've friended on there has been amazingly supportive, and I promise to be just as supportive as soon as I figure out how the site works! =)

Last night was another Bahamian gathering. We went bowling at Boardman Lanes (by the way, I'm the worst bowler.. ever.. I think I got a 79 for the first game). What I thought was strange was that you had to bring your own beer to the bowling alley. They don't sell beer there at all, it's byob.. Is that weird to anyone else? (Pictures are courtesy of Elaina Bella's camera, I currently don't have access to upload my pictures right now)

That's my bowling face, obviously very excited about my next turn

We bowled for about 2 hours then headed over to the bar Quench, which was right down the street. We were there for quite a while playing pool and darts. I am also horrible at pool but better at darts (who knew?!)

Ryan and I actually won a game of darts and tried to take a happy, victorious picture, but this was the best we could do.

 

I didn't get home until about 2:00 am, but I had missed the new episode of Pretty Little Liars (don't judge) and wanted to watch it before I went to bed =)

I let myself sleep in this morning and moved my scheduled 3 mile run to tomorrow. I had to get a workout in today, though for day 4 of the 100 Days Challenge, so I met my sister-in-law at Studio Oxygen in Canfield for a heated flow yoga class.

 Now, when I asked Stephanie to meet me for this particular class I must have read right over the "heated" part and could not figure out why the room was so hot! I got it now =)

Anyways, this class was amazing! I absolutely loved it! It was challenging, for sure but it hurts so good =) I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow! I'm actually considering switching one of my anthropology classes this semester so that I can attend this class once a week. And I learned a new pose today!

Crow Pose 

(Photo from: Longevity)

I don't think mine looked quite like that, but I'm working on it =) I'm really excited about this class and I can't wait to go back on Thursday!

2011 Running Log

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now, but my running logs that I had ordered from the Personal Logs website arrived a while ago! I ordered 3: one for myself, one for my father and one for my uncle. I had planned for them to be Christmas presents so I didn't want to post about it in case they saw it. But I was so excited when they finally arrived that I immediately gave it to my dad! My uncle, however, had to wait until Christmas.

I started using the log on the 27th, and so far I've actually written in it everyday, my dad has too. Not sure about my uncle, I'll have to call to check up on him ;)

I love this running log! Katie turned me on to the website, and we were both kind of nervous because the website does not give you the option to view your log book before you purchase it. They added a yellow border around the photos and made the font yellow as well. I think they look fantastic!

It has columns for distance, pace, route and notes about how the workout went. There's also a little section at the bottom of each page where you can keep track of you mileage goals and actual totals.

*Notice the "100" marked next to January 1 for the 100 Days Challenge

The book also has a page for:

     *Training tips

     *Energy nutrition for endurance sports

     *A guide to choosing the right type of shoe for you 

     *Examples of half and full marathon training schedules

     *Basic stretching examples.

     *A page where you can log your PRs, races and when you bought your last pair of shoes! 

The shoe part is at the bottom of the page and I accidentally cut if off.. sorry, but it's there ;)

Every other week there's a cute saying printed at the bottom of the log, i.e. Page 34 says "'Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.' -Earl Wilson"

The Personal Logs website also offers training logs for cycling and triathlon training. I don't know about those 2 but I know that for the running log you could pay a small fee and have a marathon training plan printed into the book as well.

*Side note: I ran 2.4 miles today in 25:54, that's a 10:48 average. This was the first time I ran outside since my last 5k after Thanksgiving. I started off too fast but I was so excited to be running outside, and it was raining so I felt like a little kid again running through puddles. Oh well, I had fun! My first mile was 10:40, the second at 11:22, and the last .4 miles was at a 9:41 pace!

Do you think that 26 minutes is close enough to 30 for it to count for my 100 Days Challenge? Maybe when I'm at my parents' tonight I'll walk my dog around the block or something..

Do you keep track of your workouts?
I used to just have a printed schedule that I made on Excel. Then when I got my Garmin405 I would just input everything onto that webpage. Now I use both the log and the website =)

100 Day Challenge

This is going to be a quick post but I want everyone to know about this! John "The Penguin" Bingham has started a 100 Day Challenge beginning today. (If you're not sure who John Bingham is, check him out here)

I love John because he advocates the acceptance of "slow" runners - known as penguins. I'm a penguin, look it up on his website that I linked above =)

Back to the challenge: This challenge asks that you dedicate 30 minutes everyday for exercise for 100 days. It doesn't have to be hardcore cycling or running or whatever for 30 minutes. It can be walking around your neighborhood, just move consistently and intentionally for 30 minutes everyday. There's even an accountability sheet to keep you on track!

Join me in this 100 Days Challenge on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @jjbingham or read more about John's challenge here.

I've never tried a challenge like this, but I'll be very proud if I can complete it, but I need to make it public so I can be held accountable =)

Have you taken on any challenges for the 2011? Might you join me in this one..?!