1. start painting again & even take a class
2. take a self defense class
3. hike King's Peak- the highest peak in Utah @ 13,500 ft.
New life adventures- that's my carrot!
Have a great start to the week :-)
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This weekend was a special treat with my sister coming to visit. She lives in Charlotte, so I don't get to see her very often. The plus side is the company she works for has a client in La Crosse, WI- she travels there regularly & will occasionally make weekend trips to Madison. Some of the highlights included Ale Asylum for local brews, Graze for a birthday dinner, hiking, and UW volleyball game. In other news I collected the last bit of data for my thesis project- woohoo! It included a long day at a lab bench doing a 9 hour assay, but it's done & now it's full steam ahead in finishing the written document and presentation. Grad school- especially the final push- generally leads to a life with not much balance. When my life lacks balance I start daydreaming about "to-do lists" I want to tackle when I finish the challenge at hand. The top 3 so far:
1. start painting again & even take a class 2. take a self defense class 3. hike King's Peak- the highest peak in Utah @ 13,500 ft. New life adventures- that's my carrot! Have a great start to the week :-)
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My workout schedule is off this week since the swim club is currently not holding practices. It's been "one of those weeks" where you wonder if you'll ever be able to come up for air. The last couple days I had 2 short but fun workouts: Circuit (I made it back to the cardio room- ha!) 20 min on the elliptical 5 min warm up @ resistance 3 15 min done as 5 rounds of - 2 min increasing resistance (started @ 5 then 7,9,11, etc), 1 min. easy resistance 10min on stair climber alternating between 1 min. slow & steady-working the glutes :30 sec "running" working the calves and quads then I went outside and did 3 rounds of the following 10 push ups 5 pull ups 10 tricep dips 2min fast run today I did an interval run outside: 5min run, 2min walk, 4 min. run, 1min walk, 3min. run, 1min walk, 2min run, 1min walk, 1min run (descend the runs) then back up! 1min run, 1min walk...etc. (this time descend the runs ending with a 5min sprint) On to the pyramid of success. One my favorite research blogs is http://www.drmichaeljoyner.com. He is one the most well known exercise physiologists in the world. I'm impressed by his research- but EVEN MORE impressed with his ability to translate the research jargon into clear messages to the greater public. In his blog today, he discusses both mental and physical suffering. John Wooden's pyramid of success is introduced at the end- a major pillar of success is being comfortable with adversity. Coach Wooden was a basketball coach in the 1950s-1970s (mainly at UCLA), and was famous for his ability to build a great athlete, person, & team. I hope you enjoy his pyramid for success. It definitely spoke loud and clear to me & I plan to hang it up in the lab!
Tomorrow evening marks the 1st exam of the semester. Lots of studying meant short but efficient workouts for the weekend. Saturday I did a tabata workout. My sister introduced me to these workouts- at first I was skeptical that 20 seconds on/10 seconds off for 4 minutes would be hard enough, but after the 1st workout I was quickly proven wrong.
5x4min. each exercise is done as 20 seconds on/10seconds rest until you hit 4min. After each exercise I take an extra minute rest. Ex. #1- kettle bell squats Ex. #2- start in a push up position- do 1 push up- walk with your hands & feet- 3 "steps" to the left- 1 push up- 3 steps to the right- 1push up. Ex. #3- Ab exercise of your choice (I alternated between reverse crunches and leg splits) Ex. #4- caterpillar push ups (start standing- bend over- walk hands out to push up position- do 1 push up with right leg raised- 1 push up with left leg raised- walk hands back up to standing position) Ex. #5- alternating lunges (1 forward, 1 backward) Today was beautiful fall weather, so I opted for a run. I have been battling an IT band injury since March (persistent little bugger!), so I have to be creative with my run workouts. I went to the UW arboretum and ran an out & back (total of 6 miles). I ran the 6 miles alternating between 5 minutes of fast running and 2 minutes of brisk walking. It actually ended up being a great workout! One of my favorite bloggers, Peanut Butter Runner http://www.peanutbutterrunner.com, recently did a sample day in the life. My type A personality loves lists, planners, and all things organized so with some inspiration from PBR here goes:
Friday, 9-20-13 5:30am- wake up- inhale breakfast so fast I feel nauseous 6:15am- bike to the natatorium for swim practice. Running late per usual. 6:30-8:00am- swim practice 8:30-9:00am- check e-mails in the lab 9:00-10:00am- bike to the hospital to set up for an assay I'm running next week 10:45am- bike to class 11:00-1:30pm- class. My second class is a kinesiology seminar, and yesterday we had a "field trip". A campus employee gave us a tour of the native american effigy mounds around campus. I got to see the oldest tree on campus- a 300 year old Burr Oak!! Picture to come- you all know how much I love trees ;-) 2:00pm- Meet with a friend of a friend for coffee. She owns her own fitness business, and she gave me her very valuable 2 cents. In essence- dream big, shoot high, don't sell yourself short! Good thing my sisters are accountants and parents are former business owners...who knows maybe someday soon I'll be able to join in on the dinner conversation when business/finance comes up--usually that's my cue to go to la-la land. 3:00pm- Meet "the lab" at the memorial union terrace for beer. This place is special & deserves its own post. Basically, our union has a huge outdoor seating area right by the lake, and the union serves great beer! My PI (boss of the lab) makes us work hard- but after a hard work week he's the 1st one to buy beers for us. I will def miss that. 5:00-7:00pm- Organic Chemistry exam review. Kind of lame, but the dedication most of the teachers at UW have for their students is amazing. Badger for life! 7:30-8:30pm- emails & dinner 8:30-9:00pm- watch Weeds on netflix 9:00-10:00pm- facetime with Dr. Hottie (the highlight of a Friday night!! haha) 11:00pm- pass out! Ok- next post I promise a new workout! With a lot on my plate this last semester of grad school, I tend to let stress & anxiety build up. Usually, Dr. Hottie is my rock & helps keep things in perspective- but with him nearly 1000 miles away, it's been really important for me to find ways to hit the "re-set button". It may come as no surprise that exercise is my ultimate stress relief. It clears my head, feels good, & reminds me health is more important than any career endeavor (to me anyway). One silly re-set tactic I have is to lay under a tree and look up through the branches up at the sky. First, I absolutely love trees- they are rooted in the ground but reaching towards the sky. They represent balance. Looking at the sky gives me a completely different perspective- usually we are always looking forward and focused on things at eye level. Looking at the tree and sky reminds me that there is something MUCH bigger than myself out there. All I can do in life is try my best, and have faith that my best will lead me in the right direction. I also have to share another picture of campus I took today. I bike around campus and tend to avoid biking up Observatory drive- it's a series of steep hills. Lately though, I've been biking the hills knowing Salt Lake City will be greeting me with many more hills that are WAY steeper. Anyhow, when you make it to the top of Observatory there is a beautiful view of campus and Lake Mendota. It gave me a much needed burst of sunshine before my Physics tutoring session.
Yesterday I finally got out of my yoga rut & went to class for the 1st time in a month! I usually practice yoga 1x/week, but my schedule got out of wack with travel and school so it felt wonderful to go to class again. My preference is to practice what's called Bikram yoga. It's a series of 26 poses done in a heated room. It takes 90 minutes and you get a little bit of everything- breathing exercises, standing balance poses, back bends, forward bends, lunges, you name it! What I love about yoga is the concept of balance and steadiness within each pose. For example, in a warrior pose you are in a lunge with arms stretched out. When I'm in a lunge during a strength workout I often solely focus on my bent leg (spec knee, quad, & foot). In a warrior pose there is focus on balance. The bent leg is holding most of your weight but the challenge is to be mindful of planting the foot of your straight leg. The steadiness in poses deals with relaxing and breathing despite being in a difficult pose. I think that is so applicable to life- it's much more enjoyable if you can relax and breathe even in challenging situations. I started practicing yoga solely for injury prevention, but have really come to appreciate the spiritual practice as well as the physical. My favorite studio in Madison is Perfect Knot Yoga on the near east side off of Willy street. It's a small studio, very laid back, and the teachers are amazing. The back wall has this really pretty mural with a bunch of hanging plants. I don't know why but I'm kind of obsessed with setting up my mat by the mural and plants- I suppose it might help instill calm. If you've never practiced yoga, I would highly recommend it- it just might take some time to find the right type of class and studio for you.
You see it on just about every medical blog. The S.O. (significant other) response to the comment, "But you're married to a doctor!" The context could be a variety of things, but the most popular one is probably related to jobs. Just this week in the lab, my fellow grad students were joking that I should "retire" after graduation, because, well I'm married to a doctor. It's getting easier to laugh about the comments- the only people that need to have a serious understanding about this are Dr. Hottie & I. I think what irks me the most is that many people think medical marriage is simple and some sort of ticket to wealth, nice cars, and a nice house. Just like every other medical blogger out there I will outline the sacrifice involved (in my case specifically):
2002: started dating Dr. Hottie. He mentioned he was pre-med. I was a poli sci major and didn't really know or care what pre-med was. I was jealous he got to miss swim practice to go to lab for multiple science classes. No sacrifice at this point. 2006: Dr. Hottie & I graduate from college. He starts the 1st round of med school applications = $$. Rejected from all schools with the exception of U of Buffalo. We opt no. 2007: Application round 2= $$. rejection 2008: Application round 3. go big or go home. He applied to 20+ schools = $$$$$$$. Got into UW-Madison, Boston U, George Wash, & Osteopathic school in Maine. Madison it is! 2009-2013: Med School = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Away rotations 3rd and 4th year in different cities. 4th year med school included 13 residency interviews for general surgery = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Match day assigns you the destination of the next 5-7 years of your life. Like a true tenacious Badger, Dr. Hottie kicked butt & matched at Utah. 2014-2020: 6 years of residency training. 80 hours/week @ the hospital. Start paying back loans with meager residency salary (do NOT calculate their hourly pay rate)- disgusting when you think of their education. The point here is- there is an overwhelming amount of sacrifice that goes on in a medical marriage. More than the $ sacrifice is the time. They will miss most of the fun get-togethers (friends who don't know him will wonder if he actually exists) and too many weddings, anniversaries, graduations, etc. Do doctors make more $ than most of the working force in the US? Absolutely. Do they work harder (80 hour work weeks, working weekends, texting/calling fellow docs and nurses after 15 hour day) and make more sacrifice (avg of $100,000 debt, missed family time, your life IS work) for that salary. In my opinion, yes. Think hard before you envy the medical marriage. Most of us did not wish for it or choose it- we just happen to love our S.O. This morning it was a chilly 45 degrees when I woke up for swim practice. It felt nice to wear jeans and a flannel with a light jacket. It also made me want to go for a long hike, and see the trees changing colors. The highlights of the week included me setting a date for my defense- October 24th!! It's the day you present your findings of your project to your committee, and they ultimately decide whether or not your data and interpretation are good enough to earn a M.S. degree. It feels good to have a date on the calendar- it gives me motivation to work late nights and weekends- knowing there WILL be a finish line :-) I've also started taking pictures of my favorite spots on campus since it's my last semester of a very long academic career at UW.
I promise a longer post for the weekend! Each week I e-mail Dr. Hottie a schedule of workouts. We aim for him to complete 5 30min. workouts per week. To give him a bit more credit he usually goes on long (2-3 hours) mountain or road bike ride on his day off. With 80+ hour work weeks this schedule is attainable. I make the workouts short but HARD. If you only have a limited time to exercise each day, there is research supporting you get more health benefits from short intense workouts vs. moderate intensity exercise of the same time or even a bit longer. Did you know it only takes ~2 weeks of non-activity for your body to undergo the effect of de-training?? If you are ill & are on bed-rest, effects of de-training go into effect after only 48 hours. The point is, it doesn't take much time at all for you to get out of shape. The good news is that with just ~150min. of exercise per WEEK (think of how much time you spend watching TV or on the computer each week and you will get some perspective for how little time this actually is) you can be fit, healthy, and even do races if you so desire! Here is a fun run+strength circuit you can do outdoors or indoors at a gym- takes ~30min. If you don't have access to a track or treadmill for the running portion, estimate how long it takes you to run 1 mile- divide the time by 4- and instead of 400m aim for this calculated time.
wu 400m jog 20 push ups-10 burpees-40 mountain climbers 400m run (you will do 3- desc 1-3) 20 wide leg squats with a jump- 20 side to side jumps 400m run 40 reverse crunches-20 push ups-10 single lunge jumps 400m- make it fast! cool down/stretch if your feeling really ambitious & have the time- complete the series twice! The weekend was busy. It definitely feels like summer is over as my morning wake up call has been ~5:30am all week. Saturday morning I drove ~50min NW of Madison to Devil's Lake State Park to do an annual open water swim. It's only annual in my book- the park is beautiful and is the only nearby lake that is clean all summer. I make it a point to go at least once a summer to swim there. If you swim all the way across and back it's ~2.6 miles. I went with two other girls on the Master's swim club @ UW. One girl had never done an open water swim before and she made it the whole way! I was way more excited for her than I was for myself- so fun to see people accomplish goals for the 1st time. Saturday night I met my bro-in-law and his wife-to-be @ a new brewery on the near east side of Madison (the same neighborhood the Willy St. Co-op is in). The brewery is called Next Door Brewing Company- it was ~2/3 restaurant and 1/3 bar. We just had drinks- I had the Wilbur which is a Cream Ale- it was delicious! Today was the Ironman in Madison, so I got up early to watch the swim start. There seem to be more spectators every year- a very fun event, but given the amount of $$ required to participate in triathlons I always wonder if there are some mega athletes out there that just can't/won't shell up the $ to race. A great day for Madison nonetheless and I always have a number of friends competing- kudos! The remainder of the weekend involved a disturbing amount of studying & who really wants to hear about that- LAME!
Finally, I will bore you with the fact that I switched my closet from summer to fall/winter clothes. There has been a bite to the morning air the last week in Madison & I know fall is on its way- I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival this year. |