Week 9 Mini-marathon training 2013

TODAY is EXACTLY two months until the mini-marathon in Louisville! YAY!
My training has been going really well, and I'm happy about that. My Mom called me the other day and told me we have our hotel booked for the race. I think it will be here before I know it! That makes me excited in another way too because two weeks after the race I graduate. Who else is excited?! 

I don't think I've shared this yet, but my friend Maggie will be running too. We have been running  together usually 3-4 times a week. She is a huge motivation and I'm so glad to have a running buddy. They help BIG time. I know if I didn't have her then I would probably wimp out and not run as long. Thanks for running with me Maggie :) We always have a good time. Plus, if you ask me we are hardcore runners...we ran in the sleet today! woo!

This past week on Thursday and Friday I wasn't feeling that great so I added a little walking to my run on Friday. Here's how the rest of the week went....

WEEK 9:

2-17-13: OFF

2-18-13: Ran 7 miles 1:08:24

2-19-13: 45 minutes elliptical, 20 min weights 

2-20-13: Ran 5 miles 48:22

2-21-13: 75 minutes cardio craze class 

2-22-13: Ran/walk 4.5 miles 1:05:48

2-23-13: Ran 1 mile 9:41, walked 10 min, weights 25 minutes 

Total Mileage: 17.5 

On another note... According to my Dailymile, which I started back in August, February has been the most distance so far! 71 miles, would you look at that! Exciting :) As you can see too, I'm also at the 300 mile mark since August. I love running! 

Music Monday: Les Miserables Oscars 2013 Performance

I saw this on the Oscars last night and it was amazing! Everyone looked gorgeous and sounded awesome. This is one of my favorite songs from the movie. I was also very happy that Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress.

Music Monday: Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait

I'm a fan of this song and Mumford and Sons!

Week 7 & 8 Mini Training

I've been on fire these past two weeks and I love it! I'm up to 7 miles already (even though my schedule says 4) I discovered two things as well. 

1. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred on Youtube. This is the one of her videos made several years ago, but I wanted to try it out. I wanted to see if I could stick to it for 30 days...well, that didn't happen. A few reasons: 1. I go out of town some weekends 2. I have roommates so I have to do it when they are all awake or gone 3. I'm running as well 4. It's kind of boring :/ I think I will try it again the future.

2. Cardio Craze at Preston (campus gym)!!! I love it! A friend told me about it so I thought I would try it out. Other group fitness classes at the gym have been kind of wimpy, but my friend told me this one kicks her butt. It totally does! It's a 75-minute class with cardio and weight-lifting. The instructor is a middle age man that is very motivating. I have a lot of fun! I'm going to try to go every Thursday night and some Tuesdays if my night class is cancelled. 

WEEK 6:

2-3-13: OFF

2-4-13: 20 minutes elliptical, 40 minutes weights, Ran 5 miles 49:22

2-5-13: Ran 2 miles 19:46 

2-6-13: Ran 4.5 miles 44:22, JM 30 day shred day 1

2-7-13: JM day 2, 75 minutes cardio craze class 

2-8-13: Ran 3 miles 21:30, JM day 3 

2-9-13: OFF 

Total mileage: 14.5

WEEK 7:

2-10-13: OFF

2-11-13: Ran 6 miles 58:18

2-12-13: Ran 2 miles 21:22, 75 min cardio craze class 

2-13-13: Ran 5 miles 44:22

2-14-13: 75 minutes cardio craze class 

2-15-13: Ran 7 miles 1:08:24

2-16-13: OFF

Total mileage: 20

Here is the description for the class as well as Preston's group fitness schedule: 

Cardio Craze

Come to this class ready to work! You may be using a bike, a step, dumbbells, medicine balls, or all of the above! This cardio workout will challenge you in a fun, energetic way through music and exciting choreography!

From this website

Valentine's Day Cheesecake

Happy Valentine's Day! (a day late...)
I was trying to figure out what to get Kevin. I knew I wanted to bake him some sort of sweet, but I wasn't sure what. Last weekend he complained that he only had blueberry pie at his house and not cheesecake. I don't know how many times he said "I wish we had some cheesecake." So, that's what I made him! I've never made cheesecake before so I looked on the Internet for awhile trying to look for an easy , but tasty recipe. 

I found this one from Kraft's website. Click here for the online recipe. 

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
4 eggs

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix graham crumbs, 3 Tbsp sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake 55 min or until the center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

AND.... to spice it up for Valentine's day. Top with cherry filling in the shape of a heart. Add chocolate chips to it as well! 

Also, I don't have a mixer so I used a big spoon and it worked fine. 

Graham cracker crust all set

Pre-decorations

What do you think of my heart?

Completed!

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day! I didn't do much, but I will be going to Nashville with Kevin this weekend to celebrate. I hope he likes his cheesecake! :) 

I enjoyed making this cake and it made me realize how much I miss trying out new recipes. I think a new goal of mine is to at least try a new recipe every other week. It's so much fun and I like seeing how people will react when they try it. 

Lent 2013 Begins

Today is Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the Lenten season. I've never shared what I will/won't be doing for Lent on my blog, but I'm going to share with you what I will be doing this time. Growing up all you hear is "I'm giving up chips, I'm giving up TV, I'm giving up coke, etc. etc." Now, as an adult it is more than giving up something. I will continue to give up at least one thing, but I also add something in my life to strengthen my prayer life. 

This year, like I have in the past, will be giving up desserts. I have a huge sweet tooth so this is always tough for me. Usually I will splurge on Sundays because it's like a "mini Easter" but I'm going to go all Lent. Wish me luck! 

What I will be adding:
1. Learn about the Saints. A few months ago I signed up for Catholic Online's Saint of the Day emails. I usually delete them because I figure I don't have enough time to read them. So this Lent I will be reading about those Saints and writing key points in one of my journals.

2. Read the daily readings. I'm going to read the readings for that day. I've always said that I need to read the Bible more so I will be doing that. This is the website that I use http://www.usccb.org/bible/.

For some reason this year, Lent didn't sneak up on me as quickly so I had some time to think about what I will be doing. I believe these will be good for me and possibly I will update you on some cool Saints that I've learned about. I hope I can grow closer to God as we prepare for his coming in 40 Days! 

Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return

From Google 

For one of my classes, Geriatric Communication Disorders, I was required to read a book about someone who has suffered from a condition that resulted in communication difficulties. Looking over the list, there were several written in the 60's and 70's, so I decided to stick to a more recent one. I came across  Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return by Susan Edsall, which sounded good. That was my pick and I finished reading the book over the weekend. Most books that I've read for a class are boring (most likely because they ARE for a class), but I found this one to be very good! I would recommend this book to anyone and especially those that may work with the elderly and stroke patients. Below is an excerpt from my book review. 




"Into the Blue is told from the eyes of a daughter, whose father suffered an unexpected stroke. The book begins reminiscing about the author’s memories with her father. The author, Susan, is now a middle-aged woman. Her father, Wayne Edsall, has a passion for flying that started in his late teens. He is a pilot and rebuilds planes for a living. After telling numerous stories about flying adventures all over the United States as a child and teen, with her father, Susan tells the story about how her 71-year-old father suffered a stroke. The goal of every character in the book, especially Wayne is to be able to fly again after his stroke. As stated by Susan, “We had set on compass on one destination: Dad would fly again. On this we chose to agree.” To be able to accomplish this, Susan made it her priority to work with her father extensively to make that happen. Wayne suffered an embolic stroke that affected Broca’s area.  Because of that, he was unable to read, write, speak, or coordinate some movements. Immediately, he started receiving Speech, Recreational, Occupational, and Physical therapy. Once he was released from extensive care, Susan stayed by his side for several weeks re-teaching him how to speak, read, and write.  Susan’s point of view showed that she emotionally struggled through her father’s stoke and knew that she needed to stay strong and positive for him.  Wayne’s family and friends supported him through this time and Wayne believed that is what helped him fly once again. In the end, after several months, Wayne retook his flying test and was able to fly a plane solo. Not only was he happy once again, but it brought tears of joy to his family as well. "

Music Monday: JT at the Grammy's

I was disappointed that I missed this last night. I had a meeting and Mass so I only got to catch the tail end of the Grammy's last night. I saw Mumford & Sons win the album of the year, which made me happy! Now back to Justin Timberlake, I didn't see him perform and I'm glad that it's on Youtube. I'm a big fan of him, not just as a singer, but everything he does! I can't wait to buy his new album. Anybody else out there a big JT fan? 

I thought he looked quite handsome last night ;)

Presents

This is kind of old news but I wanted to share two gifts I was excited about that Nick gave me for my Christmas and my birthday. Unfortunately, my Christmas present didn't arrive on time before Christmas, so I got it about a month later. But that's okay! He got me a monogrammed apron. Pretty cute! Nick thought of that idea all by himself. I'm proud of him! 

For my birthday, this came in the mail:

One of my FAVORITE movies! It's super cute and cheesy. It's a chick flick, so what do you expect? But I love it. I like the story line and Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet being the main characters. My roommate watched it with me and loved it too! I pick out good movies :)

Muchas Gracias Nick! 

Reflection on the March for Life 2013

Okay, I know it's been a week since D.C. and I haven't blogged about it yet! I've been letting it all sink in before I share the amazing experience I had last weekend. 

Kevin and I at the Rally

So here it goes.

Last weekend I went with six other member of Hilltoppers for Life to Washington D.C. for the March for Life and the Students for Life of America Conference. The seven of us left on Thursday night in a full mini-van on our way to the Capital. I have never driven completely through the night. It was an experience and definitely not the most comfortable night. Totally worth it, let me tell you. We arrived early Friday morning in Bethesda, MD and checked in our hotel. It was time to head over to the Mall where the March for Life Rally began and as well as the actual March. It was quite cold, in the lower 20's to be exact. Even though we didn't get much sleep that night, we were all full of energy. It was so cool to see hundreds of thousands (500,000 to be exact) of other pro-lifers gathered in one place to shout out that we are going to Abolish Abortion! There were all types of people there- babies all the way up to grandparents, all fighting for the same cause. Even though it was cold the enthusiasm of the people made up for it. There were church groups, universities, families, political parties, religious organizations, national pro-life organizations, you name it, they were there (even I'm pro-life and I'm pro-gay, which was interesting....). There were people all the way from California and Washington. During the Rally, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum spoke. Unfortunately I was walking around so I missed them. After, it was time for the March!

Front of the March

John holding our sign

This year, University of Notre Dame's Pro-life group led the March.They bused over 500 students, how awesome is that?! My dream would be that WKU has 500 pro-lifers in their group! I hope that will happen int he future. On that subject it would be another dream that abortion would be finally abolished :). Now back to the March...we marched with our Hilltoppers for Life sign from the Mall to the Supreme Court. There were so many people there that I felt like we were walking in place. I'm sure we made a HUGE statement with that many people walking in the nation's capital against abortion. We have to fight hard because we have the strongest pro-choice president in history. 

The March

Personally, I hope to do the March for Life every year until abortion becomes illegal. We have to fight hard because we have the strongest pro-choice president in history. Precious lives are being killed and on this 4th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (abortion becoming legal in the country) over 55 million babies have been killed. FIFTY-FIVE MILLION! That's is unbelievable and unacceptable. Life is our most basic right and it is being violated every minute in America. We have the obligation to protect every life from conception on. The cold won't stop me because I think this cause is worth it. I was talking to someone the other say saying that every person makes a difference at the March. What if everyone decides to take a year off because they think it's too cold or the cause doesn't count? Then there wouldn't be a strong pro-life generation to speak the true of life! The March was different than I expected. I didn't realize that it was going to be like sardines walking a mile or so, but that wasn't necessary a bad thing. I LOVED seeing so many pro-life Americans. It gave me hope that abortion will be illegal during my lifetime, it has to be. I'm already looking forward to next year :)

John, Me, Kevin, and Maggie

The next day we went to the Students for Life of America Conference. Check out my post for that. 

Maggie and I 

Week 4 & 5 of MM Training 2013

These past couple have weeks have been a great start to the semester and have been quite exciting. I finally started running outside since I'm no longer in the frigid Connecticut weather. Running outside is 10x better than a treadmill, let me tell you. Some of those runs were in low 20's though, which is cold! I had three days off because I went to D.C. so it wasn't possible to squeeze runs into my schedule. 

I discovered some circuit workouts from my Pinterest which I will share below. They don't look bad, but I am definitely sweaty after doing them for only 20 minutes.  

Week 4

1-20-13: OFF

1-21-13: Ran 3 miles 28:54 Weight class 60 minutes, elliptical 30 minutes

1-22-13: Ran 2.5 miles 25:00, walked 15 minutes, elliptical 20 minutes 

1-23-13: Ran 3.5 miles 36:12, Weights 30 minutes

1-24-13: Ran 2 miles 20:00, elliptical 30 minutes 

1-25-13: OFF 

1-26-12: OFF 

Total Mileage: 11 

Week 5

1-27-13: OFF

1-28-13: 20 minute circuit #1, Ran 2 miles 19:16

1-29-13: Ran 5 miles 49:49 

1-30-13: Ran 2.5 miles 24:14, 20 minute circuit #2

1-31-13: Ran 1 mile 9:27, 40 minutes elliptical 

2-1-13: Ran 2 miles 21:30, weights 40 minutes 

2-2-13: Ran 5 miles 49:16  

Total Mileage: 17.5 
Two 5 mile runs this week, woohoo! 

Circuit Workout #1
From: http://happyhealthymama.com/

Circuit Workout #2
From: http://talesofadomesticmama.blogspot.ca/2012/04/mini-morning-workout.html