Corriendo

5/93/75

In August, I joined a running challenge headed up by GD of PostBourgie notoriety. In it’s second month, the challenge grew exponentially from 6 people running 75 or 100 miles to 33 who set goals to run between 25 and 125 miles.

All July, I’d read GD’s updates on Twitter and Facebook in the form of miles just run/total miles/goal for the month. Meanwhile, I had a lazy month despite perfect running conditions (long days, a very mild summer which included many overcast mornings). My total mileage for July was a mere 42.3 miles. I set my goal for August at 75 knowing it would be a challenge, but attainable based on past months. I also knew I couldn’t slack off.

At first, the increased running was taxing on my body. I overloaded my first week as I knew there would be a few days where I wouldn’t run due to travel. As I regularized my schedule and got to read my body’s signs better, I improved. I ran 5.5-6 mile short runs. My long runs gradually increased to 8.2 miles. As the month progressed, I got a little faster, but mainly focused on increasing endurance. Toward the end of the month, I signed up for my second race, the Long Beach Half Marathon with my sister. (That photo above is from the 5K I ran last summer). I’d previously shied from a half marathon because of the more intense schedule, but I was doing it all month long. Why not just get one fitness goal done?

I caught a cold mid-way through the month. My sleep and work was affected, but not my running. In fact, I’d have a great run, stop and then start coughing. Plus, I couldn’t slack off as I had to check in with the other PB runners twice a week. I definitely benefited from the friendly competition and the encouragement of all the other PB runners.

My final run for the month was a short 5 miles. That brought my total to 93 miles, easily surpassing my 75 mile goal*.

Now, if only I could make myself sit down and write 93 pages of that dissertation.

***

For September, I’ll be doing 100 miles. The group is bigger now and includes some friends who are sort of new to running, Sean (the boyfriend) and Liz. Hopefully they’ll find that they’ll get better, faster and stronger too.

*Toward the end of the month, I thought I could reach 100. I planned a 7 mile morning run with Lori while I was home last week. Twenty minutes in to the run, I felt queasy. We walked home and I went back to sleep for a few hours. Later, I realized the cough syrup with codeine was likely the culprit for my queasiness. Oh well, sometimes you need a break.

Música, Randomness

Esta un poco apurada, pero va despacio

I may be posting this too late in most parts of the country. Oh well.

Iván Noble’s “Olivia” features one of my favorite lines, “tiene casi treinta pero no se notan” (she’s almost thirty, but you can’t notice them).

Olivia por Iván Noble

Fotos

30 for 30 (in progress)

I picked the 25 photos above shortly before my 25th birthday as a visual about me. At the time, I found them to be a fitting representation of me, where I’m from, what I do, what I enjoy and my own oddities (see Ozo?).

Of course, I’ve changed in the past five years. I’m working on a new 6×5 collage of 30 photos that represent me. Some of the things about me won’t change, but my own view and relation to those things (e.g., school, being a student) has definitely shifted in the past 5 years. I’ll need new photos to represent that.

Aver que I come up with…

Escuela

This is for the freshmen…

It’s the last week of August which means (a) students all around the country are beginning the fall term or getting ready to, (b) all my friends who teach and work at colleges are lamenting the end of summer, and (c) most importantly, my birthday is right around the corner.

This also means I’m almost done meeting 100+ freshmen and getting them prepared for the fall quarter which begins in a month. My summer won’t be officially over until then, but I don’t feel like it ever really started as summers tend to be busier than the fall, winter and spring terms. (And I’m swamped with my own academic work… yeah, I’m still working on that PhD.)

Since I think I’ve learned something after 6 years of working with hundreds of college freshmen, I thought I’d impart a little advice.

Continue reading →

Familia, Fotos

Sunday afternoon

I enjoy lazy Sunday afternoons with my parents and siblings. During a commercial break from The Goonies on ABC Family, my dad recalled a birthday ice cream sandwich from Diddy Riese. I took him before we headed over to the Dodger game. Dodgers lost, but at least the ice cream sandwich was yummy.