Overdue Update

Ack - it's been forever since I've posted. Or read. Things have been a bit crazy. Here are some highlights:

• Spring Break at Indian Creek Utah was absolutely fantastic - tons of climbing & beautiful weather, only one trip to the hospital. Details and pictures to come!
• The Hog (http://healthblog.ua.edu) has been a hit so far. I loooove working on it
• School - unless something drastic changes, I will not be graduating until December 2011. I was hoping for August because honestly, I'm sick of doing work and school at the same time - especially now that I'm doing both full time. I want my life back!
• Derek will be working for North Carolina Outward Bound this summer. I'm glad he'll be a little closer to home than he was last summer, but I'll be much happier when we're not doing this whole 'live in separate states' bull-honky. Also, I want babies. Kinda have to live with the hubby for that one to happen.
• I'm helping re-do the Library Student Journal blog (http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/blog/) - that's been pretty cool. I'm especially enjoying getting to talk to other the library students working on it with me.
• Derek and I re-started our efforts to get in shape with a program called Mountain Athlete. It is intense but never boring.
• My health - so far no relapses into the acid-reflux-vomit-fest. I've been getting as much fiber as I can stand, cutting back on my coffee, eating smaller meals and more salads, and so on. Tums are still my best friend.
  

That's it for now. I'll get those spring break pictures up ASAP!

The Hog - Live!

The Hog is up and running!

So far we have a 'welcome' post and a post for coffee drinkers. Saturday will be a post about a local 5K and Sunday will be a recipe. Most articles will come out during the week as well.

For me - I am leaving tomorrow for SPRING BREAK!!! Derek and I are going on a trip with UA Outdoor Recreation to Indian Creek, Utah for a week of world class rock climbing. So excited!

I'll post pictures when we get back :)

Running Solo

So I've been doing a lot of running lately, and it has been absolutely fantastic. One of the things that has helped me stay motivated has been my iPod. Derek gave it to me as a wedding present and it has been one of my favorite running companions.

The thing is, when I run I usually run by myself. And most often I run the same runs over-and-over out of convenience and lack of good places to run. So I get bored. And when I get bored, I tend to give up. With my iPod though, I can just turn up the tunes and blast out as many miles as my body can handle - I love it!

But the other day, I forgot to bring my running buddy with me. At the start of the run I worried that I'd loose motivation and give up, so I made a conscious decision to run my run (4 miles) as hard as I possible could.

And I DID!

It was one of my best times to date, and all without the aid of my iPod. Such a liberating experience. And the quality of the run was better too - without the distraction of music, I focused in on my breathing and my form to stay in the moment. I think my body definitely benefited from the increased attention.

Now, I'm still going to be taking my iPod on most runs - definitely the ones that last longer than 30 minutes! But I think I'm going to start running 'solo' more frequently. I think that's part of the challenge and joy in running - that ability to make your body do what it needs to do, even when you're not really into it. It's a mental training that you have to work just as you train your physical body.

Health Blog - Date Set

It's official, the health blog will be unveiled on Friday March 11th!

And yes, it will totally be called The Hog!

THANKS PAUL :)