SNOW

I am realizing how much I miss the seasons, especially the colder ones. Truth be told, I am watching Marley & Me and there is a scene where they've just moved to a new area for a new job, and the kids run in to wake up the parents in the morning because it's snowing. They all run to the window to look at the snow coming down outside. OH HOW I MISS THAT!!! In South Florida, you don't expect much out of the weather. During hurricane season, you expect there to be random spurts of downpour mixed with lightening and thunder. Sometimes in the winter there are a couple weeks of cold (and by cold, it really is nothing compared to Idaho :D). But, there really isn't much to be excited about, and there definitely isn't anything worth running to the window in the morning to look at. I am so looking forward to Christmas in Washington & Idaho this year!

RUNNING & RUNNING HARD

Alright so I need to post about my running so that it is documented and then it will help motivate me to get faster. After finding the 10K race on December 11th, I talked with my brother, who is a hard-core runner, exercise-science minor, etc. , to develop a workout plan (click on this link if you want to take a look at his running blog - RUNFEARLESS). He has a SWEET book that will come up with speed workouts based off of time trials. So Monday (10/11) I ran a 10K time trial in 59:36. Tuesday (10/12) I did a 4m run easy. Thursday (10/14) I did a workout known as a fartlek (you do a certain time of fast running, then of easy running; mine was 2:00 easy, 0:30 fast for 30 min). Saturday (10/16) I ran 8 miles in 1:30:xx (Click on link to see run). Monday (10/18) I did 6m in 56:06 :D. Tuesday (10/19) I did an interval workout 8x800meters with 2min rest in between (that workout was hard because I was still sore from Monday's 6m run), intervals were: 5:15, 4:12, 4:35, 4:30, 4:37, 4:37, 4:35, 5:01. If you're noticing the first & last 1/2 miles to be SLOW it is because I used those as my warm-up & cool-down :D. I am working hard & can already feel & see myself getting faster. WOOT!

Healthcare

So today in our nursing "Leadership" class we spent an hour debating on Obama's healthcare plan. In my opinion, what a waste of time! How can you talk about one little piece of the puzzle like Obama's healthcare plan when there are so many other pieces impacting this? So I just need to get my thoughts out there. #1 capitalism. Oh that's right, we live in the United States of America, the Land of the Free. So people do well and are happy because they have choices and because there is incentive to do well and succeed in life. Oh ok, so I can choose what religion I want to practice, I can choose what company I want to mail packages through, I can choose what kind of health insurance I want (or choose to not pay for any). I choose what I want to be when I grow up and what kind of education I want to get. #2 Education. I get to choose what I want to be when I grow up, but it's expensive. That's interesting because when Morgan & I graduate, we will be out in society, working, contributing to society, and in Morgan's practice he will be supplying other people with jobs. We'll finally be making money, instead of borrowing, but now we have to pay back all of the interest on our loans. Hmmm.... Shouldn't there be some sort of program in place to reward those who help themselves or end up helping others later because of getting an education. Well I could think of a thing or two, like help paying back loans, or maybe just reducing the interest on loans. Instead, how about the government offers different FREE services for the community (instead of paying teachers more for providing kids with good education, or helping out students pay off loans), like public libraries. Let's get real for a second, I LOVE the public library, but aren't libraries supposed to be educational?? Our libraries down here have books, vhs, dvds, blu-rays...cds.... Oh ok so now I get it, the government is trying to make movie-rental places obsolete too now. #3 Canada. I think if you like the idea of Universal Healthcare, Canada may be the place for you. Or maybe just go for a visit, and then let me know if that's really what you would like. As much as I love WAITING and WAITING in line anytime I step into any government-run facility, healthcare does not need to be government run. #4 Healthcare. So really we're not talking about access to care because everybody already has access to care. Unfortunately it hits our ERs pretty hard, but we are already paying for people to have access to healthcare, and people don't realize it... #5 If we are really talking about affordability of healthcare, then I think education costs and payback should be addressed first. When Morgan & I get out of school, we will have $300,000 of debt. But we're supposed to payback those loans + interest + want to pay more taxes for a universal healthcare plan???

Just saying...

10K run in December

I have been running regularly with the intention of doing a half-marathon within the next 3-4 months. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a Saturday race on a preferable weekend. I did however find a 10K, which will work out awesome because then it'll force me to focus on picking up my pace (which I definitely need because I've been getting the miles in, but have been running SO SLOW). So I'm planning to run the Elf Classic on December 11th in Orlando. It's the perfect weekend because it's the Saturday after finals week. The cool thing about this race is that it is in the evening - at 5pm. This will be nice because we'll be able to make this event a day trip; drive up in the morning & attend the temple, and then finish the day with a SWEET 10K run.