Monday Runday

Hello friends!

I actually didn’t really run today. But, I’ve decided that Monday could be a good day to recap my last week of running.

I’m going to try and get into a habit of doing this every week.. Because it’s fun to track my progress concretely!

This is how I felt about my running all week! Happy. 🙂

Anyways, last week was a 40 mile week. Felt AWESOME most of the week, even on the day I did 10 miles split between 2 runs, and yesterday.

That, my friends, is when I ran 8 miles. OUTSIDE.

It was suuuuuper nice when I woke up (late) on Sunday, so I decided to not go to the gym and run in the beautiful out of doors instead.

It was a good idea! TBH, I thought I was pretty tired going in, and that I wasn’t going to complete my run.

But, fueled by a trusty pear (my stomach does not tolerate food well in the mornings), I got out the door and ran like the wind, Bullseye! (Toy Story reference, anyone?)

Anyways, I ran almost every mile about 30 sec faster than I expected to. I did almost die going up a huge hill, but I survived and recovered quickly, because after that was my fastest mile (and no, it was NOT downhill – the route goes up and then is flat for a while, then has a sharp decline at the end).

Soooo, I was pretty happy. Other than that, it was a pretty average week. I’ve been running inside because of the stupid snow.. It was so nice to get out yesterday!

Annoying thing that happened twice though?

The girl at the gym didn’t show up for work. Wtf?! How do you just NOT show up for work? Because I have classes, I wake up at around 530 to get to the gym early. There’s a core group of about 5 girls who also do this, and let’s just say we were PISSED when we got there only to wait around for upwards of 45 minutes.

I would normally go back to bed, but I have class all day, so the morning is my only gym time. Luckily, one day I went back, got my stuff, and the Athletic Director was there early (I showered at the gym), and the other day the swim coach let me work out with them and I shortened my workout because my friend wanted me to lift with her.

Working out with the swim team was weird, but it pushed me to run faster! The guys were really intimidating to run in between, because they’re all like GIANTS.

This is how I feel sometimes..

In addition to my running, I’ve been having a more regular lifting schedule since it’s almost rugby season! Wahooo!

So, that’s my little running update for the last week.

Here’s some fuel I consumed:

Lots of 90% dark chocolate = my style.

Post 8 miler protein oatmeal, with chia AND sunflower seeds!

Tonight's delicious dessert oatmeal.. Carob, cocoa, and cinnamon. 🙂

How’s your running/working out going? Has anything annoying or super awesome happened to you lately? What was your last sweat session?

See you guys soon for WIAW!

Chelsea

SATURSURVEYYY!

Hi friends!

It is SATURSURVEY!

I’m having a pretty good Saturday, to tell you the truth. Buuuut, I’m feelin’ a little bit lazy about posting.

Luckily, my good blog friend Kristabel @ RaceReady tagged me in an 11 things survey.

Soooo, HURR WE GO!

11 things about me:

1. I am obsessed with riding horses, and my body literally craves jumping when I don’t get to do it for a while.

Old picture, but you get it. 🙂

2. I have dreams about running.

3. I raise geese every summer. They’re the best birds!

My baby goose Banana! I get some geese to raise every summer. It's awesome.

4. I grew up in a zoo, basically. Living on a farm as a kid was AWESOME.

My wild cat, Hunter. I LOVE HER.

5. I love chocolate with a serious, kind of unnatural passion.

6. I’m gluten and lactose intolerant, as well as allergic to apples, peanuts, and raspberries.

7. I love putting ketchup on cruciferous vegetables. It just tastes GOOD.

8. I love rocks. A lot. Like, unnaturally.

Sweet pyrite sample from the NY state museum collection. AKA Fool's Gold.

9. I really hate water. I can’t stand being underwater.

10. I REALLY hate being upside down. Like, I refuse to do somersaults.

11. I’m a creature of habit. Then I’ll do a habit so much I’ll get sick of it for a few years.. Then go back to it.

Kristabel’s questions for me:

1. Favorite nut butter?

Sunbutter, hands down. LOVE. IT.

2. If housing cost the same anywhere, where would you live?

Australia.

3. Are you a social butterfly, hermit crab, or something in between?

In between. Some graduated seniors said that they see me “metamorphosing” into a social butterfly senior year. We’ll see.

4. Favorite holiday?

CHRISTMAS. Other than my birthday, that is.

5. Do you prefer simple or complex recipes?

Simple!

6. What is harder for you: going long, fast, uphill, or resting?

Uphill.. I’m soooo bad at hills.

7. If you had to seriously take up a new sport, what would it be?

Lax or soccer? I’m kinda a bro.

8. Do you have a big family or small one?

Small immediate family, BIG extended family. I have 17 cousins! 🙂

9. Favorite recipe?

Anything involving my morning oatmeal.

My oatmeal is less ugly at home.. Weird.

10. What website gobbles up your time?

WordPress aka blogs. Other than that, I’m never on the interwebs.

11. Worst habit, or better yet what is your best habit?

Worst is snacking constantly instead of having a legit meal.. Best is doing my homework early.

I’m supposed to tag people, but I think all of my blogger friends have been tagged! Darn, but you guys can answer some of my questions in the comments. 🙂 I listed a random bunch, just pick a few!

What are you passionate about in life? Do you have any pets? What is your hidden talent? What do you think you’re best at in life? What do you love about yourself? Are you a creature of habit? What’s your favourite food? What could you not live without?

Tomorrow will be a real post! I have some friends to see right now.

I hope you’re having a great weekend guys!

Chelsea

WIA.. When things went CRAZAY!

Hey friends!

Happy WIAW!

Yesterday morning, I did something blasphemous.

What is it?

Well, I overslept by about 30 minutes. What’s worse?

The fact that I had 8:30 class and was hankering for a 7 mile run. Let’s just say that things were a bit crazy.

Within 15 minutes of getting up, I was fast-walking with all my might to the gym. I didn’t think I could do seven miles before my 7:45 deadline. But I sure as heck was gonna try!

Wanna know what? I pushed myself. And I did it.

I managed to do all my miles negative split, and got back in my room by 8:05, outta the shower by 8:10, and on my way to class at 8:15. I got to my class 7 minutes early, with enough time to eat my breakfast!

Recycled photo, but same thing. Protein oats + massive amount of sunflower seeds. With coffee! 🙂

After that class (my only of the day), I did some homework, and then it was lunch time.

Hardboiled egg whites with ketchup on rice bread. Fun Fact: I hate hardboiled egg yolks. They taste like chalk.

Broccoli with ketchup. Yes, I love ketchup.

I couldn’t believe the day was already half over.. And I had to go work in my lab for two hours.

During those two hours, I realized that I should look up internships for the summer. So, while analyzing samples, I googled. The result? Me needing to finish two applications in a week, plus get two recs.

Soooo, I had to talk to my professors ASAP. Enter an hour of tracking down professors and looking at application materials.

It was 2:45, magically. And I needed to go riding in fourty five minutes. SNACK TIME.

Cottage cheese and sprinkles with a banana on top. Looks like an ice cream sundae! 🙂

I spent too long in the dining hall, so it was a superhero-fast change into my riding stuff when I got back to my room. I met my ride JUST in time.

What I wear riding.. Canadian Olympics vest NOT optional, lol.

Awesome, the lesson ran over.. I was cleaning my tack at 5:45 and needed to be back to campus for dinner with my friend at six. I got there at 6:05 by some miracle.

Sweet potatoes, beets, cucumbers, and broccoli "salad". Bad selection at the dining hall today. 😦

Then, back to my room. Homework and oatmeal time.

Big bowl o' butterscotch oats with honey. My happiness.

Of course, yesterday was the night I just want to GO TO BED, but I had an equestrian team meeting at 9:15. Wahooo.

To keep myself a’goin’ all day, I had snacks of bananas, oranges, and nuts. I’m too speedy sometimes to take a picture.

So, that’s WIA when things got crazy. Usually, Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty chill, but obviously not today. ROOD.

Thanks to Jenn for holding the partayyyy!

How do you react when things go crazy? What’s the best thing you ate recently? What’s your favourite quick food?

Chelsea

Striking a Balance

Hey friends!

I had a GREAT FANTASTIC weekend. I hope you all did to. 🙂

As said on Friday, I was really looking forward to going out that night. And for good reason! My suitemate, who is also in the geology department, invited over a lot of our geology major friends and we just hung out in my suite.

Truer words have never been said.

Usually, that would sound boring, but it totally wasn’t. It was low key, but we played a lot of “college games” (remember though, I can’t drink beer so I depended on others to help me in that aspect of the games). No one went crazy, no one got sick, we all just had a good time together. I got to know some people better than I did before, and we’re doing it again. Weehaw!

On Saturday, I was going to go out with my friend, but I was really tired.. So I went to her room, laid on her bed, and we talked about our lives. It was nice to catch up! And, I felt really good about my decision to not go out, even though I’d originally intended to.

Can I tell you guys a secret? In freshman/sophomore year, I will admit that I was a pretty big partier.

Real classy there, don't you think?

Not going out on a Saturday night was basically blasphemous, no matter how much work I needed to do. Grades suffered. BAD IDEA. Last semester, I just didn’t go out. I was really concerned with schoolwork and my sports, so I just threw socializing to the wind. BAD IDEA. It was good for my school work, but now I’m trying to strike a balance.

I like the balance I achieved this weekend. I had time to go out and get to know new people, spend time with old friends, run, ride, and do my homework. I got this balance thing DOWN.

Can I trade my balance for that sort of balance..?

Well, so far.

Anyways, I’m just saying, life’s all about balance. You balance running and fuel, you balance work and friends, you balance yourself and others. You balance chocolate.. With more chocolate, maybe? Anyways, without balance, I think people go insane.

Speaking of running and fuel.. I ran 8 miles this morning! On the treadmill, but it’s snowy and 16 degrees here. Usually, I hate treadmill runs, but my mind managed to occupy itself thinking about life.

Afterwards, I made a giant bowl of delicious banana oatmeal with cottage cheese.

Incorporating the banana in the oats by mashing it is the KEY.

And then.. I worked on homework ALL DAY. Balance means doing things you don’t want to sometimes, I suppose.

How do you strike a balance? Do you have struggles sometimes? Also, how was your weekend?

Chelsea

PS.. I really do balance chocolate with more chocolate. Behold double chocolate oats of last night.