MaKiNg RuNnInG MoRe FuN

You know those runs that you have where you just never want to stop running? I was very excited to finally have one of those runs. It feels like forever since I have actually pushed through all the miles that I had planned on running that day and actually didn’t want to stop running. Yesterday it was about 40 degrees and I had planned on running 4 miles, but after those 4 miles were up, I wanted to run more. I kept on running until I had run about 6 miles and it was starting to get dark out (considering the fact that I was wearing black and the drivers are crazy in my neighborhood I thought it was best to turn back).  I wish I could have more days like that, but lately it’s been so cold that I have been forced to run at the gym. Today I couldn’t even run, because the roads were too slippery to run or drive on, which means no matter what I need to run every day for the rest of the week. Although I am still having unenjoyable (apparently that’s not a word according to spell check but it really should be so I am keeping it there) runs every once and a while, my runs are getting a little better. Here are some things that make running more fun for me.

 Running with a friend always makes running easier. My sister has been running with me a lot and not complaining nearly as much. A lot of times she will end up turning around early, but even having her there for a few miles is a great help. One of my really good friends have also been running a lot with me lately, which is really good because she runs a lot further than my sister does. It is SOOO much easier to run with someone else. Occasionally there will be days that I like to run by myself, but most of the time I get extremely bored and lonely. I think I am a very dependent person, because I just really don’t like to be alone, but I think that most people can agree that running with someone else is a lot easier.

Other things that I think make running a lot easier is distracting myself with music or basketball games at the gym. I have started to bring my iPod to the gym with me and a lot of times there are also basketball games playing. Sometimes I get hooked into the game (even though most of the time I can’t read the T.V. to actually find out who the teams are) and it is a very nice distraction from the miserable treadmill. Music is also really helpful, but you have to make sure you don’t change your pace to match the beat of the music. You will either hit the front of the treadmill and it will make a really loud noise that causes everyone around you to give you a judgmental glare or you will slow done and almost fall off of the treadmill (learned both of those the hard way). Music and T.V. are a really good way to make treadmill runs a little better.

Mix it up. Don’t run 5 miles on the same path, at the same pace, every single day. It will suck. Try running different paths and go off of time if you don’t know how far you have run. It is also helpful to change pace. Occasionally I will run my second to last mile at tempo pace and my last mile a little slower. Sometimes I will run hills or 400 sprints, which also help. Either way, changing what you run can make running a lot more fun.

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Track season

There are only 15 more days until track season and I feel much unprepared. I have a lot of goals set in mind for the season, but I feel like they are going to be extremely hard to accomplish, considering I am very out of shape. I haven’t been running nearly enough.

I hate running in the winter. It’s cold and snowy and I have a hard time running more than 4 days a week, because something always prevents me from running. Today I woke up and got ready to go on a run, only to learn that the roads were covered with a thick layer of ice and my mom won’t let me leave the house. I also haven’t been running enough miles. I always get to cold or have hard time breathing, because of the air and then I have to cut my miles short. I also can only run 3 miles on the tiny 150 meter track at the gym and only 4 miles on the treadmill at the gym before my legs start to hurt or I get dizzy from running around in tiny circles for too long. Now I am so out of shape and even if there is a nice day that I can actually go outside without freezing, I am completely exhausted and can only run 6 miles. There are a lot of girls that I compete with that have been running a lot more. I know a few girls that go to an indoor track at a college, that is more than 150 meters long and I talked to a girl who had just finished running 10 miles. I am so far behind my competition in track and I am scared that I won’t be running with them anymore.

I also need more running clothes. I just bought new shoes for the season, another pair of Brook’s Ghost, which are a little bit lighter than the last pair I had, so that’s good. I need more running tights, but I have no idea what the weather is going to be like. I don’t know if I should by long warm running tights, or cooler capris tights (our coaches don’t let us wear shorts unless it’s over 80). I could also use more sweatshirts. This year our team might buy some waterproof sweats, so hopefully we do that and then I won’t have to worry about waterproof clothes.

I am really scared for track and I have a lot to do before it starts, but I am also really excited. I am just going to have to work a little harder to catch up with everyone and I might have to use a little bit of my savings to buy proper clothes, but I am hoping it will be a good season. I want to make it to Drake and score at State, so hopefully if I work hard I will achieve those goals.

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Superheroes!

I have recently gained an extreme fascination with superheroes.  Dark Night, Avengers, Iron man, Captain America, The Amazing Spiderman, are all movies that I have watched since last summer. It started in cross country camp in July. The whole camp went to the movie theater and my sister and I decided to see Dark Night. At the beginning of the movie I was a little lost, but eventually I caught up and by the end of the movie, I realized that the movie was extremely awesome and might have been one of my favorite movies I have ever watched. I was suddenly addicted.

When I got home from camp, I went to family video and Captain America. It was also extremely awesome and I eventually ended up watching Iron Man and Avengers. Iron man was pretty good, but I did like Avengers better. I think all of the superheroes together made it really good. It also had a really intense plot and it kept you at the edge of your seat. I also really liked the actors like, Robert Downy Jr. as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Cobie Smulders (Robin from How I met your mother!) as agent Maria Hill, who were my favorite actors. There are also a lot of other good actors. I would strongly recommend that you watch this movie if you haven’t already seen it.

 Then last night I got to see the Amazing Spiderman. The Amazing Spiderman was SOOOOO much better than the other Spiderman movies. The actors were fun, unlike the other Spiderman movies where the actors are all weird and boring. They also showed more background on Peter Parker and what happened with his parents, which I thought was interesting. It still had a lot of action, but it was a lot more entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie was, especially considering I was not that impressed with the original Spiderman movies.

Overall, I liked either Avengers of the Dark Night the best. They were really interesting and very intriguing. The action, the intense scenes and the good characters, make superhero movies so good! I am really excited to see what superhero movies come out next! There is another Avengers movie coming out in 2015 and hopefully there will be other superhero movies being made.Maybe a movie about Robin? Maybe a sequel to Spiderman? I am really hoping that more superhero movies come out soon.

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Cooking

I am generally not a good cook and I normally don’t cook, but because I can think of absolutely no other topic to write about, I am going to write about my experiments with cooking. My dad is a REALLY good cook, unless he is trying to make something really creative with the random crap that is going to expire in a few days and we probably shouldn’t have bought in the first place, but my mom can’t say no to the swan’s man. Most of the things I cook come from boxes in the freezer that you just have to microwave, but there are a couple of things that I do make.

Pretty much the only dinner that I can make is fettuccine alfredo and (not trying to brag) it’s really good and easy to make. First you put a little butter in a pan and this random seasoning/spice thing that my dad almost always has in the fridge (sorry that’s not really a helpful description if someone is actually reading this blog and is considering making it, but that’s pretty unlikely so I am keeping it anyway).  Then you add a packet of cream cheese and a handful of parmesan cheese. Next you slowly add milk until it has a somewhat thick, but still sauce like, consistency.  Then you cook the noodles and you’re done! It only takes like 15 minutes to make and its surprisingly really good!

For dessert, I can make a microwave brownie in a mug. This is also very easy and it only takes like 3 minutes to make! I also think it tastes a lot better than normal brownies. I don’t have the recipe memorized, but I got this one from www.food.com.

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 dash salt

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a 12 oz coffee mug, add water, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well.

2. Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well.

3. Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten. Careful not to overcook.

4.Enjoy with a spoon. Careful brownie will be hot.

I can also make really good white chocolate mocha coffee. I am not really sure where I learned this recipe, but I am guessing it was my sister, because she is obsessed with adding a whole bunch of crap to coffee so it tastes “better.” But this recipe is actually really really REALLY good and I strongly recommend that if anyone is still reading this blog, you should go make it right now! All you have to do is melt a few handfuls of white chocolate chips with about 1/2 – 1 cup of milk (just add milk until it is a very thin consistency and it is still very sweet). Then you add the mixture to 2/3 cup of coffee or really however much coffee you want until you get a taste that is perfect for you. Its super easy and super good, so try it!

That’s pretty much everything that I cook. Occasionally I will attempt to cook something else, but it normally doesn’t turn out very well. I strongly recommend that you try these extremely easy, yet extremely good recipes.

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The Best Things In Life

I really really really don’t want to blog, but since I am kind of required to I am just going to list and describe the 15 things that I enjoy the most in life.

1.        Waking up to the rain. Nothing beats the soothing sound of rain splattering against the window to wake you up in the morning, until you realize that you are probably going to have to go outside and walk to your car in it.

2.       When you get more wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. One time I got 17 wings for the price of 12!

3.       When my mom forces me to go to the grocery store with her and then there are a bunch of really good free samples.

4.       Thinking you failed a test and then getting an A. I really wish this happened more often…

5.       When, for a very brief moment, you have higher grades than your sisters. When I say brief, I mean like almost a day, because the teacher entered your sister’s grades wrong, but whatever yours are still higher.

6.       Waking up to a big, delicious breakfast. With eggs and bacon and pancakes, and fruit and now I am getting hungry.

7.       After Iowa State wins!

8.       Running on a sunny, yet cool, peaceful morning. Those are the moments that make running my favorite thing to do.

9.       Peeling off plastic from something you just bought. Not really sure why this is so great, but it definitely is. Enjoy the little things.

10.   Taking a shower after you just got your haircut. Your hair feels so soft and nice.

11.      Turning your phone on and finding a bunch of texts. For me the texts are normally from my parents or my sisters and then I am disappointed, but for the few seconds that I think I have a lot of friends, it makes me very happy.

12.    Thinking that you look like crap one day and then getting a lot of compliments.

13.    When your stomach does that weird flippy thing on roller coasters. It is the best part of roller coasters. I love amusement parks.

14.    On car rides home with my family and we are all laughing and then me and my sister’s start singing really bad and annoying my parents. Probably not what most families do on car rides home, but who knows.

15.    My absolute favorite thing in the world is after the state cross country meet, when I realize that I just did well and I am attacked with hugs by my family and friends.

 

Those are my top 15 favorite things that I could think of at this moment, but I am definitely forgetting some things. There are probably a lot of things that don’t apply to people, but there are some that apply to almost everyone.

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College and Careers

It is time to sign up for classes for next year and lately everyone has been asking me what I want to do when I am older. They ask me what college I want to go to and what career I want to persue. My parents have been pushing me to look into schools and scholarships, but I don’t even have a clue where to start.

Some kids know what they want to do there whole life and other kids like me have a hard time decieding what they want to do. I know someone who has always wanted to become a doctor. I wish that it was like that for me, but instead I have to face those awkward moments when family, teachers, and random adults that somehow know my parents ask what I want to do when I am older and I just kinda stare at them for a while and then shrug my shoulders. I am making progress though and I have recently decided that I really likie biology so I might do something in the biology/medical field.

I wish that I could just run. That’s really all I want to do when I grow up. I know these to marathon runners who went to the olympic trials and get paid for running. People fly them down to a race, pay for there hotel and food and then pay them hundreds of dollars just for running in the race! My absolute, ultimate, pretty much impossible dream would be to run in the olympics and then get sponsered by Nike, but unfortunately that’s not very likely.

Picking a college and a career is hard. In the end I will probably pick a school with a good running program and that I can get a scholarship from and then I might transfer to a school that specilizes in the career that I will hopefully have decided that I want to do when I graduate college.

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Tree nut allergies= disability?

^{Tree nuts are pretty much every nut other than peanuts (which are technically not even nuts). When I was really little I ate something with nuts in it and my mouth started to feel funny, my mom took me to the doctor and I learned that I was allergic to tree nuts. Ever since my allergy to tree nuts has gotten worse, even putting me in the hospital the last time I ate them. Sometimes it is hard to deal with being allergic to nuts and there are surprisingly a lot of foods I can’t eat, but I don’t consider my allergy a big problem in my life. Most people don’t even know I am allergic to nuts and I never really think of my allergy as a disability, but two weeks ago the Iowa Appeals court ruled that anyone with a nut allergy is protected under the disability act.}

^{It all started with children not being accepted into care centers, because of their nut allergies. Shannon Knudsen sued Tiger Tots Community Child Care Center in Madrid, Iowa, in May 2011, for not accepting her child into the care center, because of her child’s allergies. The district court ruled that the Iowa Civil Rights Act does not apply to her child, the court was then appealed and it was ruled that her child was protected by Americans With Disabilities Act.}

^{Tree nut allergies have been on the rise and it is estimated that 1.8 million Americans have a tree nut allergy according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). Tree nut allergies are one of the most serious allergies and are among the leading cause of fatal food reactions (FAAN). There is a large increase in people with tree nut allergies and these allergies can be very serious.}

^{Having allergies can make life more difficult and sometimes there are things that people with allergies can’t do. People with food allergies, such as tree nuts, are constantly watching what they eat and avoiding that food as much as possible. I am guessing there will be more courts around the state and country that have to make the decision on what should be counted as a disability. Dealing with tree nut allergies can be hard, but I wouldn’t consider it a disability as the court had ruled.}

 

^{“Court: Disabilities Act Covers Severe Allergies." USA Today. Gannett, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2013}

^{”Tree Nuts." Tree Nut Allergy Facts, Symptoms. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2013.}

 

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Best Day Ever!

Friday in second period my teacher asked me what my third period class was, because a friend of his from Iowa State was visiting. He had told me that he was friends with the Iowa State coach Paul Roads and when he told me this I was ecstatic. I have always wanted to meet him. So in third period I was practicing my Chinese fan dance when all of the sudden I see Paul Roads standing next to my teacher! I ran up to him, introduced myself, and shook his hand. We talked about Memphis and my cross country running, but unfortunately I was so nervous I didn't really know what I was saying and I don't think I made much sense. I wish I could have come up with better things to say and not have sounded so stupid, but it was Paul Roads!!! How could you not be nervous? Meeting him turned my boring day into one of the best days. Paul Roads is an awesome coach!

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NFL vs. College Football

I have been raised on football, going to Iowa State games with my parents, watching the Vikings play on T.V., even going to sports bars with my dad when I was a little girl. As the years go by my love for football increases and now I watch football all the time even when I don’t have a favorite team playing or my dad isn’t around.  After all these years watching football I started to wonder whether I liked the NFL or college football better. There are many similarities between the two, but there are also many differences.

In the NFL all the players are being paid. It seems to me that when I watch NFL some of the players care more about how well they do and what their paycheck is going to be than how well their team does. They just don’t put their heart in the sport like college players do. College players are trying to make it somewhere, they want to go to the NFL, the team acts as a family and I feel there is a bigger connection between them than what you would see in a NFL team.

Another difference between the NFL and college football for me is that it is so much harder to go to a NFL game than a college game. This doesn’t apply to everyone, but college games are a lot less of a drive than NFL. College games are also normally on Saturdays, while NFL mostly Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays and NFL games are more expensive. Nothing beats going to a football game and not just watching it on T.V., but NFL games are so much harder to go to.

Playoffs are awesome! NFL has playoffs that lead to the super bowl where you can watch two of the best teams fight for the trophy, while college teams go to bowls. Don’t get me wrong, bowls are a lot of fun, but it is one fun game and then the season is over. With playoffs you get to see teams really pull through and sometimes surprise you, because they all want to make it to the super bowl.

Another thing that makes the NFL better is that there is less, “Oh Shit,” moments. NFL players are just better; there aren’t as many interceptions with an 80 yard run or missing a field goal from the 20 when there is no wind. The players are simply better, especially the defense, but it can also be very fun when it’s your team with the 60 yard run.

NFL and college football are both really fun to watch. Although I love them both, in the end I think I like college football better. NFL might have playoffs and better defense, but you can’t beat cheering in the stands and the passion that college players have and NFL players lack.

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Trail

I have probably run almost 1000 miles on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. The trail runs all the way from Hiawatha to downtown Cedar Rapids. Scenery on the trail includes some trees along the trail, a creek, and a small polluted lake that we run around on the long days. After running on that trail for almost 1000 miles I have seen quite a bit of interesting things.

                First of all, I think I have seen more drug deals then a teenager who doesn’t do drugs should ever see. Seriously is it really a good idea to deal drugs as a bunch of runners and bikers pass by? Sometimes they deal drugs right on the trail, a guy hands some guy some money and receives a white bag, we run by them and almost choke on their strong smoke sent. Other times they do it more in the trees, they leave their bikes on the trail and you look over and see a couple men in the trees whispering and passing things back and forth.  

                Although the trail doesn’t seem like a place an animal would want to live, I have seen A LOT of animals on the trail. On Saturday mornings the trail has so many rabbits that once I almost stepped on one who decided to cross the trail at the wrong time. On morning I saw a beaver swimming in the creek and I have also seen a lot of other animals, such as snakes (mostly small snakes ran over by bikes). In the fall and summer (and for some reason this winter too) the trail surrounding the polluted lake is covered with geese and these geese are mean! They think they own the trail or something. I am slightly scared of them and have had to try multiple methods to avoid getting attacked. First I try to scream at them and make them run away, but sometimes they just hiss at you and don’t even flinch. Next if there are any bikers around I try to pass through the geese herd with them. One time I literally ran right in between two bikers who were talking and gave me the death glare the whole time, but at least I passed the vicious geese without getting attacked. If there are no bikers, and the geese won’t move I am normally forced to run right through the geese yelling and acting like a crazy maniac as I try to avoid the monstrous geese. There are many animals on the trail that make my runs a little bit more interesting.

                There are also a lot of homeless people on the trail. There is a bridge that we call the Hobo Bridge where there are always a lot of sleeping bags and large cups and in the summer there are homeless people up there too. I once saw a homeless person meditating on the train tracks with his sleeping bag and large cup sitting next to him. There was also a bed of sheets and blankets laying on the trail once and our coach said would give us 5$ for laying on it, but no one dared to take his offer.

                My coach normally rides his bike while we run on the trail and decided to grow a beard his year, so he looked really creepy. One time a lady started biking right next to us. We were really confused and then she turned to us and quietly said “do you guys know that man behind you,” we didn’t really know what she was talking about so she repeated in a louder voice, “do you guys know that man that is following you,” we all started laughing and told her he was our coach.

                We have had some very interesting times on the trail and seen some very interesting things. Although sometimes it can be a little scary it’s a lot of fun.

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Running Tights!!

One thing I love about running in the winter is getting to wear running tights. They are super comfy and really warm. I wish it was acceptable to wear them every where, because I love them so much.

My favorite brand of running tights is Nike. They fit the best and they have the most styles and colors. During the winter you can find running tights from Nike in Dick's Sporting Goods, Scheels, and almost every other place that sells sporting wear.

Here are some of my favorite running tights.

 
These are the thinner Nike Pro Combat tights which are really comfy and perfect for races.

I just bought this pair of the thicker Nike pro combat tights and they are very warm.

These are really cute and look really warm, so I think I might buy them with my christmas money!

Memphis!!

After eight hours of driving to Memphis for the Iowa State vs. Tulsa Liberty Bowl game, we arrived at the hotel, unpacked and went to a really cool restaurant called Blue’s City Café, which had a really cool pink Cadillac hanging on the ceiling and really nice and funny waiters. I had really good chicken tenders with amazing barbeque sauce.

The next day we went to Graceland and got a tour of Elvis’s house. After my dad forced us to listen to about three hours of Elvis radio on the way to Memphis, I wasn’t really looking forward to going to Elvis’s house, but I was pleasantly surprised. He got headphones which told fun facts about elvis’s life, his house was decorated very interestingly and we got to go into his two planes. We saw his funky looking outfits, his rooms which were very gaudy looking (one had crazy patterned carpet on the floors, ceilings and the walls), and after spending a few hours there I can say I am now a fan of Elvis. After we visited Elvis’s house it was around 1:00 and we were starving so we drove around and found this restaurant called the Butcher Shop, which happened to have one of the best burgers in town and we didn’t have to weight very long at all for them. Then we went back to the hotel, relaxed a little, visited a couple little shops, and got ready to go to the rodeo. The rodeo was a blast! It was extremely entertaining (except for this annoying clown that was supposed to entertain you, but just made dumb jokes and interrupted the actual rodeo). That was the first time I have went to a rodeo and I would love to go to another one!

We started the next day by going to the Peabody hotel to watch the ducks walk in. Every day at 11 am five ducks ride down the elevator from the roof of the building to the fountain and walk back to the elevator and back to the roof every day at 5:00 pm. So we waited a while, some guy gave a brief history about the Peabody and the ducks, and then watched five adorable ducks wobble down to the fountain. After watching the ducks we rode a trolley down to a restaurant called Central Barbeque. I got barbeque pork, which was extremely good and possibly the best barbeque I have ever had. Afterwards we went across the street to the Civil Rights Museum. The museum was interesting, but I think it focused too much on Martin Luther King Jr.’s death rather than his inspirational life. After the museum we went to the mall Wolf Chase Galleria and shopped a while. That night we went to a place called Silky O'Sullivan's, where we enjoyed some appetizers and then spent a couple hours singing songs, listening to the band, and cheering with the other Iowa State fans, which were starting to take over Beale Street.

By our fourth day in Memphis we were starting to get tired and there were cyclones everywhere. For every Tulsa fan we saw we saw easily over 50 cyclones (all wearing red and Gold). You could not go anywhere in downtown Memphis without seeing a bunch of fans. Restaurants on Beale were even running out of food and beer, because of how many cyclone fans there were!!! We decided to go to BB King’s, which is a pretty famous restaurant, at 11:00 am, because we figured that would be our only chance of actually getting to eat there without a two hour wait for food and not getting a table, and we were probably right. We had to wait a little less than an hour and I ended up getting to taste by far the best fried chicken, which you dipped in a mouthwatering gravy sauce. After we ate we walked around Beale street, I bought a really cool hat, and then people started lining up along the road for the parade, which didn’t start for a couple of hours, so we lined up along the road too. This was probably not very smart, because even though we got a really good spot for the parade it was freezing, we were tired and after the parade (which lasted way too long) we didn’t even feel like going to the pep rally. We lazily walked over to where the pep rally was taking place and saw how packed it was. I heard someone say that they weren’t allowing anyone else in, because there wasn’t enough room, so we walked around with numb feet looking for a restaurant that we didn’t have to wait over an hour for a table. We found a little restaurant where we could sit down right away and soon realized that it wasn’t crowded, because it was quite expensive. We ordered appetizers and headed back to the hotel, not even attempting to party on Beale Street, because of how cold and tired we were and how crowded everything was.

The next day was game day. We headed down to a really cool stadium and tailgated for a few hours and then headed into the stadium, which was almost as cool inside as it looked from the outside. The Iowa State side was almost completely full, while the Tulsa side was almost empty. The game started out really good. Iowa State was winning 17-7 by the end of the first quarter, but then it took a drastic down turn and we ended up losing 17-31. After the game we ordered Aldo’s pizza, and ate some very delicious and unique pizza’s.

Although the game was very disappointing, I am glad we went up early, had fun, and ate extremely good food.

 

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