Class of 2019!

So I know I've mentioned that I have already been accepted to medical school, but yesterday I was accepted to my #1 choice school!!! I was on the way home from yoga with a friend and we were winding up her parking garage when I saw the call with the school's area code. Best phone call ever!! I still can't believe it. Celebrations ensued and thankfully champagne and ice cream were already on hand.

My feet still probably haven't touched the ground yet, and they don't need to anytime soon. But, this still has me thinking; in the past week I found out that I get to go to present my thesis and I'm going to my dream school. If you had told me that a year ago, when I was working on med school things and writing my thesis, I probably would have laughed in your face. So, all that to say I've been extremely blessed these past few months and I just want to remember this feeling forever. (I know I'll need to think back to these moments when I'm studying away in med school)

Off to re-read everything on the school! I didn't want to get my hopes up so I only glanced through the material the first time around.

XO

Adventuring to Cancún

SHORT UPDATE:


I just found out that I get to go to Cancún in April! YAY!

I'm going to be participating in an undergraduate research competition at a conference with my thesis from college. And hopefully spend some time doing a few things around the area too!

 I don't have time for a full post but I just wanted to put this little update out there.

XO

Interviews and 1/2 Marathons

Well it's been a busy few weeks for me recently. This past weekend I went back home for an interview at my #1 school! And, to top it off, the day before I left  I actually got invited to interview at another school near home. It's also a very good school, so I'm going to keep my options open and fly back in two weeks to interview with them.

Back to this weekend though... I LOVED the school! It was my #1 choice before I interviewed and I loved it even more after, if that's possible. The people, curriculum, facilities and mission are - in my opinion - perfect! I think the interviews both went well although one of my interviewers was more difficult to read. Another applicant who interviewed with her also said the same thing, so at least we were in the same boat. It's such a nerve racking process and now there's the waiting. I'm extremely fortunate to already have an acceptance at a very good school, but I reallllllyyyy want to get in here. At this point though, thank you notes are off and it's out of my hands. (Although my fingers are definitely crossed, and will stay that way until I hear)

The day ended earlier than expected, I think due to the fact that it was a Saturday interview, and it was fine by me. My mom and I took my dog to the forest preserve to go on a nice walk in the snow! It was sunny and actually quite warm with some of the snow melting. At one point we realized that we weren't actually walking on the ground anymore, we were on the not quite thick enough ice! That prompted a quick direction change but it was so nice to spend some time outside in the gorgeous weather. That evening we went to one of my favorite restaurants for a little dinner and had a great night.

Sunday we did yoga in the morning and then I was sadly off to the airport. Less than 48 hours at home was simply not enough, but thankfully I'll be back in two weeks for my next interview. That interview is on a Thursday and I planned a trip back to Colorado the week after, so I'm just making it one big vacation with a few days at home after the interview and then a week in Colorado!

And the second portion of this post, the 1/2 Marathon, I'm signed up for another one in May! I started a training program yesterday. Previously I haven't really followed a program, which is probably a bad thing, I know. But, with workouts for the team and practice, it was difficult to stick to a rigid program with certain days rest vs long runs etc etc. I'm hoping to break two hours this time around so I wanted to try a program. I'm going to start with the Nike+ Running app and see how it goes while also consulting Hal Higdon's Intermediate program too. Yesterday was an easy 3 mile day to start and today is a four mile fartlek.

What program(s) do you use when you are training?

XO

Weekend Update

This weekend was so wonderful. I had no plans and I loved it! Friday I finished work pretty early and it was supposed to rain all weekend, so I headed out for a run. I had planned to run from my apartment to the end of a trail that runs close to where I live. From there I would walk back and enjoy the sun and nice weather. It would be a little less than 3 miles running and then the walk home. I'm not a huge fan of running over 5 miles on the treadmill so I've been stuck at 3-4 miles for a while. The treadmill can get a little boring and always seems to bother my right knee - I injured it skiing when I was in high school. So I wasn't planning on running too far. Well..... I felt fantastic and ended up running over 6 miles at a 9:30 pace! I had been contemplating running another 1/2 marathon and Friday sealed the deal. My family is going to run one in May so I signed up too! My goal is going to be to break 2:00 hours. Time to get training!

Saturday I headed to the gym bright and early at 7:00 and did mostly arms with some legs in-between. I don't know why but I don't like doing arms, just give me leg day every day! After that I got some work and laundry done around my apartment. Then I headed out to do some shopping. I needed to go to REI to get my mom part of her birthday present and I am SO happy I went. The REI here is moving locations and has almost everything on clearance. I got an awesome, lightweight 1/4 zip that is originally $60 for $15 and a new pair of gloves for my mountain bike for $7. Add in some new workout clothing from the Gap Athletic section and you have a very successful shopping trip in my book!

Sunday it was pouring as predicted, however, the forecast shifted. It was supposed to get sunny a little later in the afternoon, score! I spent the morning curled up with an awesome book. Alison Levine's On The Edge, a fantastic read about her adventures and how to tie them into life and leadership. The sun appeared as promised and I went for a nice 4 mile run at 9:06 per mile. And then, since it was so beautiful out I went back to the trail on my bike to try out my new gloves. I had also gotten a wireless CatEye computer for Christmas that I hadn't gotten to use yet! It was my first ride since probably November, I was super busy in December and January with lots of travel, so I had been primarily on the stationary bike at the gym. It was awesome to be back outside with some nicer weather, but everyone else was out there too. Every 10 seconds I had to scream "on your left" which is not my ideal ride. So I kept it short and only rode for like 30 minutes, but its better than nothing right? I only have my mountain bike with me so I mostly stick to the single-tracks in the area and today reminded me why, haha.

I've been mostly eating leftovers this weekend because I'm going home next weekend and I didn't want to cook a lot. But, with today being Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to make one small dish. Crock pot pulled chicken with verde salsa, avocado, tomato, carrots and an Ezekiel tortilla. YUM. Dessert was a homemade "frozen greek yogurt"that was delicious. I combined protein powder, cocoa powder, honey and plan greek yogurt in a bowl last night. It was in the freezer overnight and ended up being a pretty tasty chocolate snack!

Hope everyone has a good week this week!

Sriracha Lime Chicken

This past weekend was absolutely awesome. It was my first two day weekend since  probably September! I can't tell you how nice it was to have two days off of work in a row. On Saturday I kept thinking that I was going back to work on Sunday and then I would remember I wasn't :)

Overall my weekend was full of yummy clean eating, working out and errands. I went to the gym with a friend which I loved. It's nice to have an accountability partner. We both did some intervals on the treadmill of walking on incline and sprinting, hit the weights and finished up with abs. Saturday night I was invited to a work function of one of my other friends. The theme was Mexican food, one of my many weaknesses. So, I was really proud but I ate some ground turkey wraps before I went. Everyone said the food was fantastic but I was still full from my much healthier meal!

Sunday was a relaxing day consisting of the gym, Barnes and Noble shopping (my favorite) and then making a dinner. I have a lot of cilantro, onion, carrots and bean sprouts left over from my ground turkey lettuce wraps so I wanted to use some of it. Thankfully I stumbled on to a recipe and changed it up a bit! I combined cilantro, sriracha, olive oil, lime for a marinade. The marinade and chicken were baked in the oven with the carrots, bean sprouts and a zucchini added to make a really delicious meal! The only problem was that I wished I had made more for leftovers. I usually do meal prep on Sundays and make big batches of food but my freezer was getting too full so I figured I better eat some of my leftovers in there first before making more!

XO

Sick Day and Progress

Yesterday I woke up not feeling that hot. Sore throat, congestion and just tired. Not exactly fun. I took a lot of time off to go to an extended vacation in Colorado in the beginning of January, so I knew I needed to go to work no matter what. I took some OTC medicine and figured I'd feel better in the afternoon. Sadly that didn't happen. I went home after work, watched some Netflix and went to bed.

This time last year, or even 4 months ago I wouldn't have given that evening a second thought. But yesterday I was really mad, I didn't want to sit in bed all night, but that's all I felt up to! As I said in my introduction post, I was in athletics for my entire life through college. We had practices, workouts and training sessions that were required almost every day. That kept me in pretty good shape with minimal effort outside of the team. Sure I ran, hiked, skied and did other things, but the team kept me in good shape so that I could do those other things! 

Since I started my research position in June, it's the first time that I've ever not been involved in my sport and regimented workouts. I started more seriously mountain biking and I love it! Unfortunately though, most of my favorite places are pretty far from where I'm living and I won't go if it isn't light out. I'm usually alone, so I don't feel comfortable being in the woods at night by myself if I were to need help. I started thinking about other ways I would enjoy being active. I also needed some more options as it got colder and as it started getting darker earlier.

Enter the fitness portion of this blog. I joined a gym! I used to really dislike gyms... ask any of my friends from college. I think it reminded me too much of team workouts. I was always advocating for working out outdoors! Thankfully I went to college in the south so that was possible. When we finished class at noon or 2 pm and didn't I have practice we took a ton of walks. I loved that part of my day. It was my favorite! 

But, seeing as you don't finish work at 2 when its still light out I needed another option and that was the gym. After a few weeks I got a personal training session for free with my membership. The first session was an overview of my goals and a little workout. I told him basically what I just wrote. Well he kicked me into gear. The workout was pretty simple: Bosu ball squats, weight assisted pull-ups & chin-dips, a few exercises on the TRX, leg machines and abs. I WAS DYING THE NEXT DAY. I'd lost most of my strength and I was pretty sad about it. That day after I decided that I needed to be more aware, and more proactive about my fitness. I've been working out a lot, bought 8 sessions with my trainer and I even got a Nike FuelBand (more on that in a later post)!

So if anyone out there is reading this story, you're probably wondering what this has to do with my day yesterday and being sick. Well yesterday I really wanted to go try a new class at my gym, RPM. It's a cycle class and I haven't been on my bike in a while so I was excited to try it out! Nevertheless it didn't happen and I was feeling bad about it. But I'm glad I feel bad! It's been about 4 months since I started trying to be healthier and I think it's really stuck and I've made some progress. Which is another reason I started this blog, I read a lot of blogs when I was getting into this for workouts and recipes. and now that I don't think it's going to pass in a few weeks I want to chronicle the journey!

So I know people try and define what "type" of blog their's is. I envision this as a space for me to share my health and fitness, but also my travels/adventures and the crazy journey that is med school that will begin in the fall.

Until next time! 

Steamboat and the Hogan Park Trail

Posting here again for a little recap of an adventure last week! (hopefully I can post some pictures later tonight)

Steamboat Springs, Colorado is my most favorite place in the entire world. I'm really fortunate that I get to spend of lot of time there and I WILL live there when I can. When I was in high school I dreamed up this master plan... One day, I'll be back-country skiing there and find the CEO of The North Face in distress. Being the great doctor I am, I'll save his life in the woods. In return, I'll get free North Face for life! While the chances of that happening are slim to none, I do hope that one day I will be able to practice there!

Back to the adventure from last week. If you drive to steamboat from the front range, you most likely will drive over Rabbit Ears Pass to cross over the continental divide and descend into the Yampa Valley. There's nothing but fresh snow and trees surrounding the pass. I've spent time hiking the area in the summer and cross country skiing there in the winter.

Well this year I wanted to try something different. I wanted to do the Hogan Park Trail! Hogan Park Trail is 7 miles through the back-country that leads from Rabbit Ears to Mt. Werner (where the Steamboat Ski area is). I was expecting there to be some uphill terrain, we were on AT skis for on a reason, but seeing as you have to drive up the pass to get to the starting point I was hoping for some fun downhill sections. What goes up must go down right? Not exactly. It seemed as if most of the way was my dad and I trekking up the hill. 

I was relieved to finally make it to the bottom of Morningside, the lift on the backside of the resort. By the time we got to the mountain I was exhausted. The trip took us just over 3 hours including a little stop for a snack and several water breaks. I got 3911+ on my NikeFuel for the trip. (That's better than I do on some days just sittingworking on the research grant, let alone 3 hours) Overall, the views and experience were incredible. I definitely want to do it again!!

If you've never been to Steamboat you need to visit, and if you like back-country skiing you should definitely try the Hogan Park Trail. (Make sure to heed the warning signs, we were prepared and have experience, but I can see how you might run into problems on stormy day if you don't know where you're going!)