Sunday, August 29, 2010

Trail Running 101

Trail running is amazing. But before you begin, here are a few tips:
  1. Don't sweat it - it's just a trail run. Trail runners are a lot more laid back than road runners. They are typically an older crowd and are more concerned about distance than time.
  2. Get used to peeing in the woods. Ladies, if you're going on a long run, stuff some toilet paper in your pocket.
  3. Know when to take walk breaks (aka. "old man walking"). Short 30 sec - 1 min breaks can help you increase your distance. One rule of thumb: Walk up any hills you can't see over. Also, there is no use in trying to run through some terrain (i.e. sand/mud pits).
  4. That said, keep up the pace on walk breaks. You can lose a lot of time by walking slowly.
  5. Take advantage of the downhills. Keep walk breaks for uphills.
  6. Hills - Don't break when running down hills or you'll trash your quads. Don't lean forward when climbing hills or you'll strain your back.
  7. Know your trail running etiquette. Bikers have the right of way. They will usually let you know if there are more bikers behind them or if it's "clear back." Also, leave the trail the way you found it (don't litter the trail with your empty GU packets).
  8. Be friendly. As I said earlier, trail runners are a laid back crowd and are usually pretty friendly. So give a friendly wave and say hello with a smile.
Standard Running Tips:
  • Kedge. Kedge is a nautical term meaning "to haul a vessel by means of a light anchor." Simply put, you need a race goal in order to train well. As the soon-to-be Grand-Slam ultrarunner Drew Meyer puts it, "If you don't have a race on the horizon, you're not training.
  • Hydrate & fuel. Hammer Nutrition offers a great line of products - including the HEED sports drink and Hammer Gels (the equivalent of GUs).
  • Pace yourself. Especially if you're going for longer distances, be sure not to go out too fast.
  • Train with a group. Running with other people always helps.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Why I Eat Celery

a) It tastes good.
No, not really. I mean, compared to chocolate... Is that really fair though? After all, celery is a vegetable.

b) To lose weight.
Studies have shown that you actually burn calories when you eat celery (the action of chewing burns more than the 15 calories you are consuming). That's nice and all, but I always eat celery with peanut butter and that definitely undermines any weight loss goal.

c) To attract guys.
Studies have also shown that when you eat celery, your body gives off a certain scent that the opposite sex finds attractive. I have no idea how they thought up this study, but as college girls we thought it was a great idea! Why not? So my roommate and I stocked up on celery & PB and I introduced my Swedish friend Matilda to the great American tradition: Ants on a Log. Good times!

Does it really work though? Hmm...the jury is still out. I'll stock up on celery & PB again and let you know.

Monday, August 23, 2010

2nd Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival

Nancy has been sooo excited about this. We got up super early - Nancy, Ryan, and me - and went to the Highland Village baseball fields in hopes that the balloon race wouldn't be canceled again due to high winds. We weren't able to take the $10 balloon ride, but 3 of the 15 hot air balloons took flight! So exciting!It was over by about 7:20am and we were hungry. We made a Walmart run and each bought a pint of the ice cream and headed back to Nancy's apt for purple pancakes. While she was cooking, Ryan and I broke open our ice cream (before breakfast!!) and I proceeded to eat the entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies ice cream. It was the best darn ice cream I've ever had in my life! lol

So later that morning, I went to kickboxing, got on the elliptical and did crunches to offset the 1,100 calories I had just consumed... All in a day's work.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

2nd Annual Softball Showdown

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your 2nd Annual Softball Showdown Champions - Team Moose. What, what?!



And here are the Little Brothers (aka. the other team). We all went to Sonic afterward to celebrate. ; )

Death by PowerPoint

Being in a masters business program, we see (and give) a LOT of PowerPoint presentations. Now this is just awesome:

http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Hiking, Kayaking & First Day of School

Though I grew up in Grapevine, I never knew you could rent kayaks on the lake. In July, my friends and I spent the day at Grapevine Lake. We kayaked in the morning, had an old-fashioned picnic lunch and hiked all the way to China (well, at least it looks that way from the pictures).


My next big thing: grad school. This week I started the Full-Time Cohort MBA Program at UTDallas and it has been great so far. My roommate Diana took a picture of me on my first day of school...just like in kindergarten.