Finals

  


It's that time of the year when everyone buckles down and starts studying for finals.  This is all new for me since I am a freshman, I mean I have had big tests and all, but nothing like this where these tests count for quite a big percentage of my grade.  It's nice to think that in exactly a week from today I will have two done and one to go the following Monday, but I'm not too worried about that one.  It takes so much time to review and remember all of the information we have learned over the semester from each class, but I think if one puts in an adequate amount of time for studying and leaves some time for relaxtion, then things should go well.

This is where my running comes in handy for me.  Of course I have been continuing to run because not only do I love to, but it feels great, especially around this time with finals and all.  It's my chance to "relax" and relieve my stress that I may have from studying.  Another way that I like to de-stress around this time is go and study at coffee houses.  I prefer to go to caribou because in my hometown we have at least six caribous and I have grown to love the place.  There isn't many here in Minnneapolis, mostly star bucks and other "one timer" coffee houses, which I like, but I like the location of the Caribou I go to because it's a little out of the way of all the hustle and bustle and makes a great quiet place to study.  I would like to go try other coffee houses since I love the atmosphere they bring, but the "more interesting" java houses seem to be out in the city, not exactly on campus.  I might have to venture out one day though and go study at one for awhile. 

   

I just cannot wait for winter break to finally come, knowing that finals are over and we can finally relax and enjoy our time with the family.  Also less than one week until I see my brother, which I am very excited for!  I hope everyone else has some exciting plans for the holidays, maybe even those of you who are really lucky are going somewhere tropical.  I wish I was going somewhere warm and sunny during break, but instead I'll be in Minnesota working...
 

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays and does well on finals!

Christmas Spirit!

Now my blog, since it has changed to personal, isn't relating so much to running.  How can I talk about running though with holiday season taking place right now.


    
I'm so excited for Christmas to come, not only does it means good food and time spent with family and friends, but finals will be DONE. I cannot wait for that feeling of relief, knowing that all our hardwork, (that is if students put an adequate amount of studying in towards their finals), will be paid off and over! Well, until next semester at least. I also can't wait to see my brother over break.  He currenly lives right outside of Boston, attending Bentley University, where he plays Division I hockey.  I rarely ever get to see him, especially now that he is getting older and is getting a job over on the east coast, so it makes most sense for him to stay over there.  Exactly two weeks from today though he will be home for a week and I am so happy and excited to see him.  He also will be bringing his girl friend that he has been dating for awhile with him, but she is only staying until the 23rd, so she can be with her family on Christmas Day.  It's a big deal to have her come with, because it's our family's first time meeting her and they have been dating for quite awhile and not only will she meet our family (like the immediate family), but she will be meeting my extended family to at our family Christmas party, probably a little nerve racking for her, but we are all very warming and welcoming, so I think she should be fine!

Speaking of a family Christmas party, that is another event that is coming up soon that I am quite excited for.  It's an annual tradition that we do every year at my uncle's house with my mom's side of the family.  She has eight siblings including her, so it's quite chaotic at his house.  It's lots of fun though because we all get to be together, which doesn't happen very often since we all are so busy all the time and have many different schedules to attain to.  Between this Christmas and next year's Christmas we will have lots of new additions to the family, by additions I mean new babies.  My cousins have had a few kids each and now are both pregnant and expecting another child early this spring, so it will be one of my cousin's second child and the other her third, not to metion all these kids are under the age of four, so it's going to be a little crazy! I love children though, so I think it will be more fun than anything.



I suppose I could mention a little something about running too since that's what I love to do and had been talking about previsouly in my research blog.  This morning I went on one of my longer runs, about seven miles, and boy did it feel great.  It was snowing very lightly, and all the trees looked gorgeous with the snow covering their branches. It was like running in a winter wonderland.  I was also quite surprised as to how many people were out and about either running or walking. I thought since it was a tad chilly outside not many people would be out, but there were a handful of people out and running, getting their early morning exercise.




I hope everyone is getting all their school work finished and studying hard for the up coming finals.  We all want to have a great holiday break and what could be better than knowing that we have done well on our finals!

Holiday Spirit!

Okay so this doesn't really have to do with running, well somewhat because I just came back from an excellent run and it made me think of this, but anyways I am super excited for the holidays!

Ever since last weekend when we finally got some snow, it started to feel like the holidays were just around the corner, which they are. On my run a little bit ago I kept smelling aromas of things that reminded me of such holiday related things, like chicken noodle soup and just the warmth that soup brings during the cold winter days. Also I could smell, or atleast thought I smelled cookies baking, my favorite!

Actually a little tangent here, but every Christmas, okay actually this is our third year, it's a tradition for my mom, my aunt, my two cousins, and I to have a day where we go cookie crazy and just bake away! It's lots of fun, somewhat chaotic because we are all kind of loud, and have to share one kitchen and one oven, so things get a little crazy, but it's the holidays, what do you expect? Some of the cookies we bake are pictured below, including peanut butter blossoms with the hershey kiss, basic sugar cookies, but holiday designed, spritz cookies, and my specialty and favorite peanut butter brownie cookies, they are AMAZING!

I also love it down here at the U, but more so in the downtown area of the city. I can't wait to go to the Hollidazzle parade and to the Macy's 8th floor where they usually have some walk through story thing (there is an actual name for it, but I can't remember right now) and of course for the lil ones, Santa...

Sometimes I kind of miss being young and not knowing that Santa wasn't real, I found out in third grade sadly, and my older brother only confirmed it, great brother huh? It was bound to happen sometime soon though, most of my friends didn't figure out until about a year later though.


Right now though I am excited for Thanksgiving for many reasons. First off, I can't wait to see all of my family because I miss them a lot. Then of course all the food, but actually the turkey or pie isn't my favorite, my favorite is the green bean casserole! YUM! Actually I don't even like pie at all, some people are like what the heck, you are crazy! but I don't know it just doesn't taste good to me, I like the crust, but that's about it, so every year my mom makes chocolate swirl cheesecake for me and anybody else who wants it too of course, but now I am starting to not like cheesecake because it is so rich, ha I know picky eater, so I have to think of something else that would be good to bake other than pie and that hopefully contains chocolate because I am a chocoholic. One other event that I am excited for on Thanksgiving is the Turkey Trot 5k that I run every Thanksgiving with my uncle and have been doing so for over five years. It's super fun, not long at all, only 3.1 miles, and there are a ton of people that participate in the run.  Some even get super crazy and into and paint their bodies or where turkey costumes and what not, and for those who paint their bodies I give them props because it is not exactly summer weather outside.




If anybody actually reads this, (I know we are all starting to get super busy with finals coming sooner than expected and other homework), but feel free to share some holiday recipes because I love to bake, especially around this time. :)

Changed to Personal Blog!

Okay just letting you guys know that I now am writing a personal blog rather than a research blog focused on running. I made this change because I didn't really see the benefit of continuing on with a research blog, when in the end the whole class is now doing the same kind of final paper. I'm probably going to still focus on my topic of running just now at a more personal perspective.

Okay as you know, I LOVE to run, it's a passion of my and also one of my favorite sports, well running in track that is.  I actually used to run track in high school, and was fairly good, making it to state both years (I don't want to come across as conceited), but after two grueling years, freshman and sophomore years, I was getting burnt out.  I prayed that I wouldn't be voted captain for the next year, just so it wouldn't be as hard telling the coach that I wasn't going to be participating in track anymore, but what do ya know, I was. Don't get me wrong it was a honor be voted captain for my junior year, but now this either meant that I go through another year of what I considered to be agony at the time or I tell the coach before the next track season and feel bad about letting everyone down.

My mom always told me that sometimes I have to do what's best for me, if something is making me unhappy than I have to make that change. In this case it came to quitting track.  When spring finally rolled around I was still feeling the same feelings and I had to tell the coach my final decision. It was super hard, and I could see the sadness in him, my family and many others.  They all felt that I had so much potential, but I felt that if I wasn't enjoying it like I enjoyed soccer than I didn't think I was be as successful as I could be.  Also I would finally have a social life again. I was able to see my friends way more than I did before and wasn't super busy with two back to back sports (I also played soccer).

I still continued to run on my own. I have always loved it, just with track I reached the point of exhaustion. My mom also runs along with many of her eight siblings and I hope to run marathons like she has.  Running is enjoyable to me when I can just go on my own and think my own thoughts. It really it a great stress reliever and great exercise as well.

Now I'm finally getting to the point that this story has been leading too. After two years of not running track I had been constantly thinking about it. My dad of course always had wanted me to continue on with the sport and was greatly disappointed when I stopped.  I was starting to miss the competitiveness of track, even though I had soccer too, it just wasn't the same kind of competing. 

This past summer before college the thought of track was constantly on my mind. When I came to college and saw all the athletes together, it really made me miss being part of a team and competeing.  Around October I finally made the decision to walk on to the track team. I talked with the head coach quite a few times, went through a ton of paper work, and finally after about a three week process I had my first practice with the team.  It went pretty well I kept up in the pack and all the girls were extremely nice. Little did I know that one of my good friends here at the U that I met was also walking, but she is more for the cross country part (long distance track girls and cross country run together throughout the year since we both focus on longer distances). I was super excited to have her, and we kind of lean on each other through this new step in our lives.

I am loving every day of it so far, yes some times it's hard to motivate my self, but after, when I push my self real hard it feels great and I feel like I have accomplished something great! I can't wait it to finally start competing. Joining track here at the U has made me so excited for what's to come and actually more focused in school! I hope everything continues to go well with track and I'm sure it will if I continue to be optimistic and have a positive attitude. :)

Kenyan Runners

I have always wondered why Kenyans always seem to be the ones winning all the marathons or long distance competitions. I had made my own assumptions thinking they have some special jean, or they run all the time in their country from fierce animals, and other things along those lines. I may be right about some of my assumptions, but I really want to know the true reason why they are able to maintain such great speed over long periods of distance.



If one has ever been to a marathon, the chances are a leaned muscled Kenyan is finishing first, far ahead the majority of the other runners competing.  Actually of the past twelve Boston Marathons, all have been won by a Kenyan, but one, talk about achievements!  Also many other marathons around the world, especially in the United States seem to have this trend as well.  The New York Marathon has had Kenyans finishing first for the past five years, for both men and women.

Now why this is occuring, no they don't have an extra special fast jean, but rather were born in a place with high altitude where they also take up one of their favorite pass times of exercise, running.  When running at higher altitudes it bulids a greater lung capacity due to thin air and Kenyans get used to this since they run and live in these conditions every day.

Not only are the Kenyans great at running, others are as well, those who also live in higher altitudes and run may experience this great speed in comparison to others.  The areas above sea level are usually where the higher altitudes are and great athletes come out of these areas, especially runners.

It isn't only the high altitude that makes Kenyans fast, there are other circumstances as well. The Kenyan Tribe called the Kalenjin Tribe is known for running often, and has produced some great athletes, including Kip Keino, the winner of the 1500 meter race in 1968. Some consider the fact that Kenyan children run to school and back may add to the great speed they have with long distances.  Some children are said to have run about 10 miles a day.   



Also many Kenyans turn their initial plans of an education to a career in running.  Just winning one New York marathon or Boston Marathon could range from $100,000 to $150,000.  That amount is considered wealth in the small Kenyan villages, but this pursue in a running career can lead to challenges for them.  Other Kenyans bring competition amongst each other since they all are such great runners, sometimes running a 2:15 mile isn't good enough.  Most people would feel accomplished for the rest of their lives for just running a time like that, but to the Kenyans if one wants to be the best they have to run at least a 2:10 to get a coach and from that point on, hope the coaching/training goes well and that their time gets shaved down even more so.

I don't know how the Kenyans do it, maybe I'll have to experience the running in higher altitudes sometime in my life. I just know that as a child I wouldn't want to feel the need to run long distances all the time in hopes of becoming a great runner and have a career in running as well.



http://www.slate.com/id/2090658/
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/kenya/100419/kenya-marathon-runners

How Alcohol Affects Running/ Runner's High

Okay this week I am combining two topics because they are both somewhat short and don't have a lot of new information on them. I was somewhat disappointed to learn from searching that there wasn't a lot of research done on these topics, well mostly on the topic of how alcohol affects the body. I guess it's just based on more common sense, but I think it would be interesting if people would do a study of what happens to athletes if they were to casually drink or binge drink randomly through out their running career. Would it affect their final outcome in the big race at the end of a season?

What I learned from some runner's from runner's world was that having a glass of wine a day or just a beer or two doesn't really do much to the runner's body, but obvisouly if one chooses to binge crazily the night before they plan to go on a long run or race than of course they are going to struggle the next day and not have the motivation to run. Aside from feeling like crap do to the excess drinking, we also get that feeling of laziness from our inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in our brain being in contact with alcohol. There was even one somewhat humorous response from a runner saying how he was in college and had a race the next day and didn't drink, but clearly the guys next to him had been and they ended up continusouly puking on the road side,...yuck.

I also found it interesting that sometimes one or two beers, key word ONE or TWO, can be go for the body after a run because they are full of carbs which the body craves and needs after a long run, but doesn't mean that the only source of those carbs should come from beer, just that it wouldn't hurt the runner.

Now onto the ever so famous Runner's High.  Not only runner's are able to experience this feeling of a long lasting adrenaline rush that keeps the athlete more encouraged to keep going through their activity of endurance, but other athletes from different sports as well are able to too.  This uncludes those who ski, surf, or even play football, other participants may encounter this feeling to aside from the ones stated.

One article stated that some are still unsure if we can really pin point when a runner's high occurs. Runner's do get these "grand feelings" from reactions of endorphines, which are proteins in the body that alleviate pain, sometimes helping long distance runner's get over that stage of diffuculty after they have been running for awhile and than they feel a sense of positivity that encourages them to keep going and maybe even at a faster pace.

It says that athletes or just those who work out on a daily basis in general, have a higher dosage of endorphines, which is why they could be more likely to feel these optimal feelings during working out.  Daily activites could also have an effect on the "Runner's High". If one has been stressed they may not be able to encounter the high due to thoughts of negativity preoccupying their mind or vice versa, if one is very relaxed and under no state of stress, than they could easily encounter a runner's high and maybe even for longer. The scenery/ weather play a part in the high as well, if things around are looking great out (for example it's a nice day) than this could only trigger a positive runner's high, but on the flip side, if things are gloomy outside than a runner could be down and experience a negative runner's high, or just negative feelings.

I found it interesting that when one reaches this point of a runner's high that they are somewhat putting their body at harm. When runner's experience this feeling it's usually at a point in there work out where they have exceeded their limits and depleted the body and are now just going off chemical reactions within they body. This usually occurs when the workout is strenuous and has been going for a long period of time.

I found all of this to be quite interesting and might even relate to those of you who like to run longer distances or competitively.

http://www.bloodalcohol.info/how-alcohol-affects-the-brain.php
http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/training-essentials-workouts/re-alcohol-running
http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/training-essentials-workouts/alcohol-vs-alcohol-during-training
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/sarah.html

Women in Running -Katherine Switzer

This week I want to discuss when women could finally run, and I don't just mean run for fun, but when they could finally compete against others.  Also when they were able to compete against men and maybe even pass some of the men up!

Katherine Switzer was the first woman to challenge the tradition of only men competing in marathons.  It took place in the year 1967 when she wanted to run in the Boston Marathon, which at that time was still strictly men only. Her dad had always encourage her to do what she wanted and not let little obstacles get in her way, in this case the men only competition.  She thought that it was unfair, which I also agree with, why should only guys be able to run, there is plenty of fast women out there who could definately wipe some of these guys out with their amazing stamina and speed, so Katherine decided she wasn't going to let this stop her and entered the Boston Marathon. 

Let me rewind quickly first and give more background information as to what led up to this point of determination for Katherine. As I said in the above paragraph, Katherine was encouraged by her dad to go out and do what she wanted, so she went out for the field hockey team in school and also did as well in college.  She also ran on the side just to maintain her endurance, she was really dedicated to being the best she could be and with her running it only gave her an advantage on the field. In college her field hockey team didn't take anything as serisouly as she would have liked and so she would run for a little after. One day the men's track coach came to talk to Katherine and wanted to see if she would like to run a race with the men's track team since of course there wasn't a women's. Katherine was thrilled and gladly accepted the offer, but little did she know that she was going to be looked down upon by others. She competed in the mile run, finishing with a time of 5:58. She was felt content with the out come, but others did not and sent her rude sorts of comments her way. Katherine wanted to continue her passions for running after college, but nothing was offered for women, so she went on to write about sports at Syracruse.

She still continued to run at Syracruse and actually went on to run with the men's cross country team, but did little running WITH them as they were always way ahead of her pace, but the manager stayed back and ran with and that was the beginning of her mentoring with him, Arnie Briggs.  Katherine wasn't able to compete officially because the NCAA didn't allow it, but she was still able to practice with the team, which she did. She told Arnie her goal of runnig a marathon and he told her that she was crazy and that women can't run marathons (umm yes they can, anybody can do anything, as long as they really are determined to work hard and put all their heart towards their goal). She wanted to prove Arnie wrong and continued on with her passion. She trained by running longer distances and Arnie even clocked out 26.2 miles, the official distance of a marathon, and when she ran that he agreed to help her sign up for the Boston Marathon. It never specifically stated that women couldn't run in the marathon, it was more just expected that they wouldn't even dare to.  In 1967 though, after registering and recieving her race number, Katherine was at the start line of the Boston Marathon, ready to compete with all men.

There was some controversy of course though and as the race started people began to notice that a woman was running the marathon. Many congratulated her and encouraged her, while others were rude, including Jock Semple, who went after Katherine and tried to physically remove her from the race.



Thank goodness for her boyfriend though who was also running with her and he took care of Jock. Katherine completed the race with a time of 4:20, not an ideally fast time, but hey she finished. This also began the encourgement for other women to run in marathons, which they soon started to do.

It wasn't unitl 1972 though that the marathon was officially open to women to race in and actually have their times recorded, because even when Katherine ran in the Boston Marathon in 1967 she didn't have her time officially recorded with the men's and some people even went on to claim that she didn't finish, bue she DID.  Katherine continued on with running marathons and ended up winning with New York Marathon in 1974 with a time of 2:51. Now that is a fast time! Over an hour less than her first marathon and also her best time ever. She was happy that she was making a difference for women around the world and making if possible for them to race officially with the men too finally.  In 1984 the Olympic Marathon allowed women to compete in too and has only added more events for the ladies ever since.



I never even had heard of Katherine Switzer before this, but now after reading about her and learning about her amazing story and strong courage she had in fighting for what she wants, I totally admire her, plus she is a runner! If it wasn't for her, who knows, us women could still be running, but not competitively with the men, so I thank her for all her determination to change that. I hope to meet her some day and I will continue to run with even more of a desire to do well and run my heart out!


 


http://www.katherineswitzer.com/bio.shtml
http://www.katherineswitzer.com/#more
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rialtoentertainment.com/_public/