Friday, June 22, 2012

Riding the bus gives you time...

...to write!

Back to back posts, I'm kind of shocked myself. I'm currently on my first megabus trip from union station in Washington, D.C. in route to Pittsburgh. Your first question, why Pittsburgh? One of my very best BFFs lives there and I'm so lucky to be closer to her this summer. Seriously, besides when we both lived in Charleston we have never been just a bus ride from each other. Also, she is getting hitched next spring, so we will be shopping for bridesmaids dresses on Saturday. Bring on the mimosas.

Your second question, why megabus? Why not?! Ok, so this is my first bus trip besides school field trips, and basically that's what this is like. I'm on a double decker bus with TWO seats to myself, plenty of leg room, free wi-fi, outlets to charge my electronic devices (hey, iPhone) and I got to bring plenty of healthy snacks. The best part? Round trip to and from Pittsburgh has cost me a whopping 33 dollars and 50 cents. That's less than a tank of gas folks! Now that's what I call a deal.

Last night, I went to my favorite Thursday night hot yoga class with instructor Brett. After only about 5 sessions I am noticing some major improvements. I can pretty much lock out my knees in all the poses which means my hamstrings are in their best condition e-ver! I don't have quite as much soreness after the classes anymore and I feel so much more limber. I'm definitely going to have to keep this up when I get back to chuck-town (shout out to me newly minted yogi instructor Angie Benson!).

I brought home a fancy quiche Lorraine from Whole Foods last night for dinner with my "roomies". To be honest, I really didn't know what quiche Lorraine was until last night. After scouring the inter-webs I quickly found out (I love you, google). Although one slice of this piece of heaven is relatively low in calories the fat content might just give you a coronary after one bite. No lie. I hear this is good for endurance athletes, but an endurance athlete I am not. I bet there is a healthier version but I'm certain it lacks the fabulous smoky, caramelized goodness of this quiche. Paired with a side dish of strawberries and sliced oranges, I enjoyed every single bite. I don't have a picture but I'll leave you with this snippet from smittenkitchen.com (it closely resembles my purchased egg pie).

Well, that's about it for now. Back to listening to my jams on spotify and stretching out in this limo of a bus. Happy Friday!!!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Up to date

Let's face it, I am probably the world's worst blogger. I'm OK with that, life is pretty busy and sometimes (as a natural introvert), I just don't think to share it with the world. But I'm baaaack with an update!

I'll give you the shortened version. Crushed my finals, celebrated completing my first year of pharmacy school, and then high-tailed it up to Washington, DC for the summer to start on my internships.

I moved in with a friend of mine that I've known since middle school. Her and her husband have graciously taken me in for the summer and only sometimes refer to me as the "sister wife" (we have an odd sense of humor).

My running has slowed down ALOT since I've been in D.C. And by slowed down, I mean the warmer weather combined with the hills have dropped my times to above 10 minutes miles. I haven't seen these times in a while but I know that come fall (and hopefully by the end of the summer) those times will improve. I've done two 10Ks while I've been here and although they haven't been my best times, the added challenges of the hilly terrain has been quite fulfilling. Oh and the Lawyers Have Heart 10K was my first medal for completing a 10K (kind of cool!).

On the cross-training front, I completed a 25 mile bike ride during my first weekend in D.C. thanks to Bike DC! I've been regularly attending Bikram Yoga in Alexandria, VA (check them out if you're in the area, my favorite instructor is Brett! Bikram Yoga of Alexandria ). 90 minutes of pure sweat is definitely a great way to stretch your muscles and get accustomed to the heat of summer! After a 105 degree room, 99 degree weather will seem like a treat! Last but not least, I've been lucky enough to get to work on my swimming skills. My stroke still isn't pretty by any means but I'm hoping to get my freestyle tightened up so that I can regularly integrate some swimming into my schedule when I get back to Charleston in August.
Bike DC (Don't I look legit? Not!)

MARINE CORP MARATHON training has somewhat officially begun for me! I'm on my second week of the Hal Higdon novice 1 program, but I'm adding more cross training so that I don't get completely sick of running after 18 weeks. I started my training a bit early so that if something gets crazy during the fall semester, I can either repeat a week or take the intensity down a notch. Also, if I stay on schedule it will give me just a few extra weeks of training! Which I'm sure I might need for my first marathon. I'm kind of nervous, not going to lie, I've all ready been having nightmares of not finishing (eek!).

OK, that's all for now. I'll leave you with some pictures of what I've been up to lately. Hopefully I'll get in another post before I return to Charleston! Enjoy the summer folks!

Lawyers Have Heart 10K medal


Seriously the best day of my middle school heart's life. Getting to see the dinosaur's skeletons at Smithsonian Natural History Museum

Washington Nationals baseball stadium - I literally interned a block away from the stadium

Pershing Park - cute little park tucked away in the city. The ducks here are hilarious!

Pho on the go! Phojunkies.com food truck to service all your pho needs in the district area.

Washington Monument at night

Obligatory picture of the White House, also at night :-)