We Run the World

The upside of going to college in the middle of smoggy LA: having an absolutely beautiful, free gym at your disposal. Well, free except for the pesky college tuition and housing costs that accompany it. I'm sure my student loans would beg to differ with the free gym statement.


Today my crazy sorority rush schedule ended, and I finally had a normal day of classes with no responsibilities before, during, or after.

Final day of the busiest week ever!

Which means I finally made it to the gym in order to kick my butt back into gear and work off the billion cake pops I had during the weekend (and yesterday). Seriously, those things are the most wonderfully addictive desserts in the world.
I once again went for a run on the gym treadmill, and realized that although I miss my great views from home, I really like running on the treadmill. I always start really slow and speed up throughout my workout, and pressing the faster button always makes me feel so tough and in shape. Add that dorky feeling plus Beyonce's Run the World (whee! new playlist!) equals me running faster than I've been able to run in awhile.

I'm a pretty slow runner (I'm talking 11 minute pace), but I made it up to 7.3 mph (just over an 8 minute mile) pace by the end. The run ended up being a little over 2.5 miles, and I left the gym feeling awesome.

And when you're having an awesome day, why not roll with it? A few hours later, my friends and I decided we wanted to renew our motivation to complete Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Even though we all had to manage using different weights (we rotated through 3lb, 5lb, and 8lb which were death since there were conveniently 3 circuits). It was actually really fun completing it with friends even though I already feel myself getting sore now.

I also am going to a super fun event tomorrow that I'll tell you all about! And you may actually (gasp) see a picture or two, but until then here's a hint.

I have an 8:30 am class tomorrow, so it's time for bed. Night!

On the Bright Side

What makes me happy:
1. Only 1 more day until I have my life back!

2. I miraculously fit in a 2 mile run on Friday (my days have been 100% filled these past few days with school and rush). All the normal treadmills at the gym were taken, so I ended up using an eco friendly one which I think I may have liked better.

My super cool expression was supposed to be me being tough

3. Seeing my picture displayed on the photo album in the sorority. 

Oh hey there

4. Red Velvet Cake pop!

5. Winning an amazing giveaway!

I cannot wait until I have a normal schedule. Monday is calling my name! :)

Goodbye Dorm Food

You know you no longer eat dorm food when you're served this for dinner:

Edamame and Quinoa Salad, Orzo and Asparagus salad, and Chicken Caesar Salad 

My food/living situation provides me with a meal plan at the sorority house and a small kitchenette (no oven or burners) and fridge, so most of my meals are prepared and served buffet style for my "sisters" and I. However, unlike dorms, it provides only one meal option (like if teriyaki chicken for dinner) and a salad bar. I'm definitely happy the menu includes healthy/fancy meals instead of last year's always present fried food buffet area. Seriously the specialty was that they made a different type of fry each day of the week. That becomes a little hard to resist ;)

I've been really good about trying to have a morning workout at least once a week! Yesterday, I got up at 7:15 to do a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical before starting my day.

I continued my small workout streak by doing something I've been meaning to start forever: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I have been telling my friends here about how I've been wanting to do it, and they got excited and convinced me to finally start today with them.

Even though I started on level 1 with 3 pound weights, it was hard! I was definitely feeling it by the time it was over. And since it was only 20 minutes, I'm beyond excited that I can fit it easily into my schedule since it's been more than a little crazy lately.

Off to bed! It's another big day tomorrow:)

The Reason for my Bad Blogging

I have been so busy from the second I moved back to school, and honestly it's only going to get busier. I am in a sorority on campus, and we move in early for "rush school."

While it's fun to see all my friends, this means 12 hour days with literally no time to do anything else (don't worry classes have not started). It's supposed to be very private information and traditions that we learn, so I'm not allowed to share the information and don't have time to take pictures throughout the day.

I miss blogging, but it's been hard keeping up with just reading other blogs much less finding time to write my own posts. So for the next week and a half, I'll probably just be a blog lurker before jumping back into this.

On the plus side, I managed to squeeze in a workout or two (ish) the past few days. The first morning workout was a bit of a fail because I couldn't figure out how to turn the treadmill. Obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed that morning. Ends up there is a switch on the bottom of the treadmill you have to turn on first. Lamesauce. So I did 30 seconds of mountain climbers, lunges, squats, sits ups, and hip lifts (3 times each except for the lunges) until someone was awake and able to show me how turn on the treadmill. Since I didn't have to much time left until I had to be ready, I just finished up with a mile run.

Urban Running destination.

The other workout I had was a really fun one on Monday. A group of my friends and I went for a 3 mile run to the Staple Center at LA live. The run was a little quicker than I'm used to, but there were so many stoplights (and walking up to the light when it was red) that it was still enjoyable. Do NOT do that run unless you are with a big group of people. LA is not the safest place to be running around in. I'm already missing my views from home.

Beach side runs at home

Thanks for hanging in there everyone! It's been a little crazy and it's about to get crazier ;)