Thought of the Day (April 29, 2012)

Is the semester over yet? 

As I sit in the library for hours working on papers and projects......

I just need to think: ONLY two more weeks and I will be home for the SUMMER!! 

This is where I would like to be right now:

RECAP: Louisville Mini-Marathon!

I RAN THE LOUISVILLE MINI-MARATHON TODAY!!! YAY! I feel happy and so accomplished. All the weeks of training have paid off! I demolished those 13.1 miles!

Friday afternoon, my friends (Hannah and Amanda) and I headed up to Louisville. Our first stop was the Convention Center to pick up our packets. They included our bibs with number, t-shirts, freebies, and lots of fliers!

Hannah and Amanda

Amanda and I. Amanda....I think your number is sideways!

Me posing for a camera picture to send my Mom! (That's the route on my right)

After the packet pick-up we headed to Amanda's for the night. We ate dinner at her house. And YES we loaded up on carbs. We got Domino's- I got a bread bowl with pasta = MAJOR carbs...let's just say I was stuffed last night. We went to bed around 10 pm, but I was really anxious so I'm sure I didn't really fall asleep until later.

SATURDAY:

Woke up at 5:30 am. I hopped right out of bed this morning while everybody else didn't want to get up! I was ready to go! I ate some breakfast and we were out of the house at 6:30am. And before we left of course we had to take some pictures...

Hannah doing her pose

Running Buddies :)

Our strong muscles pose! Becca, Hannah, Me, Kristen, and Amanda

We made it to the starting line with 25 minutes left for the race to start. We stood like sardines waiting for it to start...freaking out at the same time! Finally the race started and we were off! I was feeling great the entire race! Nothing on me was hurting and my breathing was fine. I started out with Hannah and Kristen, but Kristen ended up running quicker than us (which she beat us all..GO Kristen!). Hannah and I were running at a decent pace until mile 6, then we slowed down a bit. But Hannah ran the whole way which was AWESOME!! WE DID IT! Our time was 2:16:00. Surprisingly it wasn't my slowest mini-marathon time either, which made me feel better! Honestly, at the end of the race I felt like I could run longer (is that what runner's high feels like?)

One side comment about the race was, the route was different than the last time I ran it (in 2009). The last time I ran it, the route went through Iroquois Park, which is SUPER hilly....this race seemed like cake compared  to the last time I ran it, no hills!

Since I wasn't going to hold my camera the whole way I have no photos from after the race...but others took pictures, so hopefully I will be able to upload them soon. 

I'm so proud to say I completed my 4th mini-marathon (my first one since college). I've already decided that I am running next year! Sometimes it's hard to describe the feeling of completing a mini so I think you would have to experience it to understand. Anybody want to join me?

My Bib #

Clock Time: 2:21:33

Chip Time: 2:16:00 (real time)

Overall Place

6067 (out of 18,000)

Sex Place: 2687

Age Division Place: 342

Last Week (17) of Mini-Marathon Training

LAST WEEK!!! I know this is a little late..but I really didn't have time to update how the last week went, because the last day of the week was the RACE! On Saturday when I ran the 10 miles, my foot started hurting again. When I ran on Tuesday it really started to hurt! 4 Days before the race...ahh! I was nervous and knew I shouldn't push myself. 

I hate injuries.The End. (The good news is it got better).

My Week:
4-22-12 (Sunday): Rest
4-23-12 (Monday):  Ran 2 miles  20:41, elliptical 15 minutes   
4-24-12 (Tuesday):  Ran 4.5 miles 45:00, elliptical 20 minutes, weight lifted 25 minutes  
4-25-12 (Wednesday):   Elliptical 50 minutes   
4-26-12 (Thursday):    Ran 1 mile 10:33 (morning) + Ran 3 miles 30:45 (evening), elliptical 25 minutes, weight lifted 20 minutes 
4-27-12 (Friday):  Rest
4-28-12 (Saturday):  THE RACE! Check out this post to see how it went: RECAP: Louisville Mini-Marathon

Review of Life These Past Few Days...

I've been slacking on these blog posts. But it's understandable considering I'm down to my last few weeks of the semester. I only have one more week of classes and one week of finals!! I'm so ready for summer and time with my family! So what has been going on with me...let me share (some of it at least)..

1. Sat in the library for over 3 hours Sunday to get lots of work done.

2. Hilltoppers for Life meeting Monday. Great discussion about the semester and future ideas. 

3. Hannah and I ran 4.5 miles on Tuesday and were feeling great. We decided that we are going to not win the race Saturday....but we are anxious (in a good way) for it!

4. Wednesday was my last day at the clinic working with a graduate student- giving language therapy to a girl. Which I enjoyed a lot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will have the same client in the fall. 

 5. NEW LAP TOP! Want to hear the story? Well, last week I took in my old lap top because the screen was being funny. The screen only worked at a certain angle or it went completely white. So I took it to the IT place and they said I needed to buy $400 worth of parts to fix it. After talking to my Mom we decided its better to just get a new lap top so..I got a new one! Buuuut, I needed to take the old and new one to IT to transfer all the files. After picking it up, last night I put Microsoft Office on it. It is ready to go! Now=personalize :)

4. Thursday (today) I gave one of the 4 presentations to give by the end of the semester and it went well!

AND to conclude this week: Saturday I will be running the Louisville Mini-Marathon!! I'm so excited to run with my friends and put all my training to the test!

LIFE WEEK: Friday Morning

So.... this is what happened Friday morning: Check out several all these articles that were published NATIONALLY

I will let you read this articles because it does a lot better explaining that I can do! 

Another KY Vandalization: This Time it's Condoms 

Police Refuse to Stop Vandals Desecrating Pro-Life Cross Display 

Campus Police Allow Students to Desecrate Crosses

LIFE WEEK

WOW! It has been a week with WKU Hilltoppers for Life (Pro-life group on campus). We have been planning this past week (April 16-20) for months now! It was an amazing week that got our name out there and our pro-life message. Our main ordeal was putting a cemetery of the innocents up on the colonnades (old football stadium bleachers) that would hold almost 4,000 crosses that would represent the number of aborted babies each day in the United States.  Here is what the week looked like:

Sunday April 15th: Skyped wtih Students for Life of America rep that talked to us about approaching and talking to people while our "LIFE" display will be up the entire week. He told us to contact him anytime during the week if we had any questions or problems. From 2pm until 6am the NEXT day we set up the cemetery of the innocents. It took us FOREVER but it looked awesome! 

Monday April 16th: Tabling- we had a table with literature and anybody who had questions we talked to. We also had two white boards that had questions on them that students and faculty could respond to. "When does life begin" "What is your opinion on abortion?" "What should WKU do for pregnant women?" ...and I can't remember the fourth question at the moment. 

Tuesday April 17th: Same thing as Monday...another side note: someone was out there 24 hrs/day to make sure our display was not vandalized.

Wednesday April 18th: Same as Monday and Tuesday...PLUS prayer vigil at 8pm. It was so cool to see candles placed on the LIFE letters of our display. We had a great turnout, we said numerous prayers for all those effected by abortions, and a reflection given by Father Mike. We were also featured in the Herald about it!! 'Cemetery of the Innocent'

Thursday April 19th: What a beautiful day it was with all the sunshine! Once again we had tabling. At 4 pm we started a "Life Fest." We had games going and we were handing out free popsicles. Some were friendly while others weren't. At 9pm we showed the movie Juno, which has a great pro-life message.

Then there is Friday early morning....DUN DUN DUN Two students (led by one) decided that they were going to "add" something to our Life display for an art project. Check out this post: LIFE WEEK: Friday Morning to hear about what exactly happened. We took it down shortly after.

But overall, this week has been SO successful! I am very proud of my group Hilltoppers for Life. We worked so hard and I think we have shown WKU what we are all about! I can't wait to see what great things we will be doing next semester.

Week 16 Mini-Marathon Training

Even though this was a busy week (with Hilltoppers for Life stuff) I managed to get some really good runs in! It's EXACTLY ONE WEEK until the race!! I'm so excited and I can't wait. I got up to 10 miles this week!! All by myself too :) I don't even remember how many times I ran around campus, I lost count. Since I was running alone I figured I should stay on campus. Good thinking, right?

 

My Week:
4-15-12 (Sunday): Rest
4-16-12 (Monday):  Ran 5 miles  52:53  
4-17-12 (Tuesday):  Ran 1 mile 10:37, elliptical 20 minutes, weight lifted 25 minutes  
4-18-12 (Wednesday):   Ran 3 miles 31:44    
4-19-12 (Thursday):   Ran 1 mile 10:33, elliptical 25 minutes, weight lifted 20 minutes 
4-20-12 (Friday):  Ran 5 miles 52:30
4-21-12 (Saturday):  Ran 10 miles 1:45:36

I was on cnn.com this morning and found this article: Crazy Races that are Fun to Run All about cool runs. Check it out! I hope to run the Color Run in the fall in Nashville.

One Direction - One Thing

This morning I ran 5 miles and listened to this song six times while running! You think I like it??

Week 15 Mini-Marathon Training

Week 15= COMPLETE! That means only 2 more weeks until the actual race!! I can't wait and I'm so excited. I didn't reach my goal of running 10 miles this week, but I think I worked really hard! The day I ran 6 miles I felt like I could keep going, but Hannah and I were crunched for time...so we believe we could have done 10 :) 


My Week:
4-8-12 (Sunday): Rest
4-9-12 (Monday):  Ran 2.5 miles  26:42, elliptical 35 minutes  
4-10-12 (Tuesday):  Ran 1 mile 10:30 (morning) +  Ran 6 miles 1:03:00 (evening) , elliptical 25 minutes, weight lifted 20 minutes  
4-11-12 (Wednesday):   Ran 4 miles 42:35     
4-12-12 (Thursday):   Ran 3 miles 31:02, elliptical 20 minutes, weight lifted 25 minutes 
4-13-12 (Friday):  Ran 4 miles 43:05
4-14-12 (Saturday):  Ran 4 miles 45:34


I was proud of myself running for 6 days straight...but I was worn out by the end of the week! 
 

P.S. I wish my legs looked this good! 

October Baby

I finally saw October Baby. This movie originally came out March 23rd but this is the first weekend that it was shown in Bowling Green. YAY! I would highly recommend this movie. It is very emotional and a has a strong message that many can relate to. Bottom line: Choose Life :) 


Check this out: Every Life is Beautiful 


Here is the synopsis from the website:


(There is a trailer of the movie from the above link as well)

"You saw me before I was born." Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.

After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.

Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.

In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned.

My final comment: GO SEE IT! :) 

12, 13, & 14 Weeks Mini-Marathon Training

AHHH! I'm soooo behind! I'm not sure what happened but I'm slacking with my posts about how my training is going. So here it is!! (All the way from March) I don't remember many of the details these weeks so I'll let you just read my distances :)


WEEK 12:
3-18-12 (Sunday): Elliptical 45 minutes, Bike 15 minutes, weight lifted 20 minutes
3-19-12 (Monday):  Ran 5 miles  55:14 
3-20-12 (Tuesday):  Ran 2.8 miles 29:00, weight lifted 25 minutes  
3-21-12 (Wednesday):   Elliptical 40 minutes     
3-22-12 (Thursday):   Ran 3.5 miles 38:57
3-23-12 (Friday):  Rest 
3-24-12 (Saturday):  Rest


WEEK 13:
3-25-12 (Sunday): Rest (Let's just say I was still recovering from seeing the Hunger Games at midnight that weekend ;) ) 
3-26-12 (Monday):  Rest
3-27-12 (Tuesday):  Elliptical 45 minutes 
3-28-12 (Wednesday):  Ran 1 mile 11:30, 45 minutes elliptical  
3-29-12 (Thursday):   Ran 1.5 miles 17:00 + Ran 2.8 miles (one morning, one evening run) elliptical 25 minutes, weight lifted 15 minutes
3-30-12 (Friday):  Ran 4 miles 45:00 
3-31-12 (Saturday):  Rest


WEEK 14: 
4-1-12 (Sunday): Ran 3 miles 33:30 
4-2-12 (Monday):  Ran 3.5 miles 37:42
4-3-12 (Tuesday):   Ran 1 mile 11:30, 35 minutes elliptical, weight lifted 20 minutes
4-4-12 (Wednesday):  Ran 4 miles 42:38 
4-5-12 (Thursday):   Ran 2 miles 22:08,  20 minutes elliptical, weight lifted 15 minutes
4-6-12 (Friday):  Ran 2 miles 21:29, elliptical 35 minutes  
4-7-12 (Saturday):  Ran 3 miles 31:00, weight lifted 30 minutes 

LOOK! I ran EVERY DAY this week!!! Even though they weren't really long runs, I still ran, that's good right?!

Did you know it's only 17 days til the race??!? CRAZY, but I'm so excited!!!

Lots of Visits from the Easter Bunny!

Happy Easter!!! I had a great weekend. Since Connecticut is soooo far away, this Easter I went to stay with my Uncle, Aunt, and two cousins (Sean and Allison) in Cincinnati for the weekend. It was a lot of fun and I was glad that I didn't have to stay on the deserted campus all alone :/  

Highlights of the weekend:

- Yummy crab leg dinner Saturday

- Dying Easter eggs with Sean and Allison

- Mass 

- Watching the kids do an Easter egg hunt

- Easter brunch

- Afternoon walk on a GORGEOUS day!

- Soccer with Uncle Ben and Sean

- Gifts from two different Easter bunnies :)

Their faces are too cute in all three of these pictures:

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

A new pig to add to my collection :) From Easter Bunny #2

Visit from the Easter Bunny!

Today I received a package from the Easter Bunny :) (aka my family)!  I always love getting mail, especially packages.


Check out what I got!

Peeps
Bunny Dispenser and Pez
Mini Chocolate Bunny
Drink Mix
Summer Membership to the Gym :)


PLUS!!! Another Easter surprise...my Mom is coming in town tomorrow and will be in Bowling Green until Monday! I'm excited to see her. Even though the reason isn't to visit with me, I'm just glad I will get to see her some. I'll be off to the Nashville airport to pick her up tomorrow. 

Graffiti6 - Free

I like this song too!

Community

Friday evening through Saturday night I went on the Catholic Center's retreat at Gasper River Retreat Center. The theme of it was community. Growing through our faith as a community... 


This retreat was different from many other ones that I have been on. We only had two main talks which is a lot less compared to last retreats. We did a lot more activities as a group to build community and to get to know one another. Also, I didn't have any part of planning or putting on a talk this retreat. It was nice to go with the flow and anticipate what was to happen next without knowing. 


So what did we do?
Friday:
- Introduction Talk (wasn't there because I came late....)
- Games
- Stations of the Cross outside in the dark
- Bonfire
- Adoration
- Small group sharing
- Bedtime


Saturday:
- Morning Prayer
- Breakfast
- Ropes course/team building
- Lunch
- Praying the rosary outside
- Jacob's Ladder 
- Talk about Holy Week
- Free Time/Dinner (played 9-square which was fun!)
- Reflection
- Palm Sunday Mass 
- Back to WKU!

Trust Fall during the Ropes Course (Photo thanks to Sam)

Some things learned:
- Don't be afraid to ask for help. There are other people who are wiser and would be willing to help you whenever you need it.
- Get to know others you don't know and welcome them to the community. 
- We all have a role in the community- whether we know it or not.
- God needs us and as much as we need him.


Highlights for me:
- Adoration: This one my first time doing this for an hour. It was great to reflect, talk to God, and write/read in my prayer journal
- Rosary: Rosary walk outside where each bead is represented by a rock. I had never seen anything like it. It was cool to see everybody participate and pray as a community.
- Ropes Course: Fun to "play" and work together in the beautiful weather. Great chats as to how each activity relates to our faith and community.