The Uncertainty of Endings

Being week 10, the end of the quarter is staring me down with all of its weight. Over the past few weeks, I have mysteriously accumulated a lot of work to do. Besides my two day anatomy final, I still have to read about a hundred pages for classics class. Also as usual, I decided to put myself in charge of my grades, or in other words, I managed to sneak myself into several borderline grades meaning I better whip myself into mental shape for these crucial exams. However, at least I can think that I am in charge of my own grade? One can always hope at least. 


Then there is always the question of what are you doing this summer? Well unfortunately, the question is still I have no idea. Yes the quarter is ending in a week for me, and I still have no idea what I'm doing, which is freaking me out. Now given that I have no idea what I am doing, I can say that I will hopefully be working a lot on improving/focusing on this blog. I have no idea what I'm going to do to add to the blog, but I will hopefully think of something. Also I know for sure that I will be training for my first marathon (and hopefully qualifying for Boston).


AH! I just want to know what I'm going to do this summer! (And that my hard work will pay off and I will get A's in my classes)

Pleasant Little Surprises

Since my mind has been buzzing way too fast to do any homework since about 6:30, I thought I'd take this time to do something mildly constructive. How do you measure life?

For me life is measured by the little things. So in the last week or so, I've had a pretty good time. Last Saturday I ran my fastest half-marathon. That made me pretty happy since running is such a big part of my life. Sunday was a pretty average day, filled with lots of studying and homework. On Monday I took my anatomy quiz and got a 9/10. While that might not cut it for me in most other classes, I can say that this class does require quite a bit of work, and I am quite proud of my score. I also managed to finish my homework quite early, which was a huge score. While yesterday was definitely very average, today was far from average. I managed to not only do very well in my Denman Poster presentation today, but I also got interview for a summer internship that I am very interested in. Hopefully, I will get to spend the summer studying two things that I love (medicine and computers/technology)! So needless to say, this has been quite a good week so far. Hopefully, this will continue?

Edit: I must not forget to admit that I felt like a little kid winning the science fair today. The reason I make this reference is because in fourth grade I actually won the science fair for studying how acids corroded the shine of copper pennies away (this project would actually later take me to the State Science Fair in 7th grade). Today's Denman brought about a similar feeling, but with less ecstatic fist pumping and more professional response :p

And the Journey Starts Again

Since the year is almost halfway over, I figured it was a good time to think about my new years resolutions again. So resolutions 2 and 3, I have done pretty well in, which is really good. Unfortunately, resolution 1 will have to be altered a little, but that ok. I'm still pretty realistically optimistic about it.

Resolution 4 though. Boston. For runners, especially middle and long distances, this name carries the upmost meaning. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest and one of the most prestigious marathons. It is probably the goal or dream of every runner to qualify for at one of the top 5 marathons in the world. To qualify for the 2012 Boston, I need to finish 26.2 miles (42.16 km) in under 03:10:59. However, it seems that the best chance to get a registration spot is to finish under 03:00:00. 

Today marked the 8th annual Capital City Half-marathon. It was 52 weekends ago that I ran my first half-marathon. I ended with an official time of 1:49:30 and the mindset that I would never qualify for Boston. Fast forward a year, one half-marathon, one 5K and several track competitions later, I woke up to a (rare) perfect Spring Saturday morning in Columbus. The temperature was hovering around the 50's, and the sun was out with just a few clouds in sight. My seed time placed in the first corral, well ahead of most of the runners. At 8 am, the horn sounded, and I started my fastest half-marathon yet.

The training with the team propelled me to the front. By no intention did I run my fastest mile during the start, a sub-6 minute mile that set much of the mentality for the rest of the race. Counting on the flat, fast course, my teammates waiting for me around campus and familiarity with the course, I bolted ahead, wrapped around campus and headed back downtown in no time. After another 6.5 miles, I crossed the finish line at 1:29:56. In just one year, with the help of teammates, training and some new found self-confidence, I went from being on the outside looking in, to planning out my next big race and hopefully an even bigger race after that.

Accidental Run-Ins

On Thursday Wong Fu Productions released a new short based on a simple idea about a couple who goes through a relationship. The beginning of every relationship starts with a meeting. A simple acknowledgment of another's existence is the seed for a new adventure. However, it is also at this moment when we learn so much about the person and make so many decisions about this person.

This past week, I spent several nights at the library as usual with my roommate. On one of those nights, I had a simple interaction. Step 1: Meeting. While I use to try really hard to avoid caffeine as a way of staying awake, I have started straying from that path when college really began to develop the habit. Since getting coffee is quite expensive (reasons to be a doctor :D), I try to limit myself. Anyway, back to the story. I casually let a girl behind me order her coffee first since my wallet was stuck somewhere in the middle of my backpack. When I finally found it and waited in line, I took an inconspicuous look. I was quite surprised. The girl who stood in front of me was an exact resemblance of Mulan. This little surprise caught me so off guard.

Step 1: Meeting. Done

Update!

Hi everyone. As you may know, running is a big part of my life and serves several important purposes. Not only does it keep my healthy, but it almost calms me, challenges me to do things I would have never thought possible, allows me to make lots of new friends and much more. So I have created another blog (go figure) that I will hopefully be update more regularly (weekly). Hopefully, it will inspire you to pursue something that changes your life.

http://runningangles.blogspot.com

The Final Countdown

Unlike millions (probably right?) of other college students who were/are spending their Spring Break under the sun with friends somewhere far from where they spend the majority of their year, I have elected to take some time and spend it, well… not with everyone else. However, this time alone has allowed me to delude myself into thinking that I am studying, working on running a bit and catching up on sleep. In order to properly describe the mood this past week, I must first introduce a little climate analysis for Toledo, OH during late March. Simplest put, it can be described as cold, harsh and windy with a chance of spring teasing.

However, running depends so much on these cold, harsh and windy days. As one of the members in the club put it, you’re a “fake runner” until you run when it's less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (or as I like to think about it, when there’s no life outside). For me, running on these days usually means running alone. I use to be a huge listen-to-music-while-running kind of person, but over the years, I’ve largely given that up since road running is already dangerous enough. So nowadays, I tend to mostly just contemplate about my life while I get my 6 miles in for training. It’s actually surprising how much you can think about in just 40 minutes.

After spending many days idling away and making lame excuses to not run, I decided that going for a run would probably help my upcoming half-marathon. Also running is the best (no, you are not allowed to argue with me on this point) stress relief. So I set up for a very punishing run (34 degrees with 10 mph wind). As always, the hardest part of the run was getting out there. After finish my first 1.5 miles, I thought back to when I started running again (early May during junior year of high school). I was so different then. During the last 4 years, my life has transformed so much. My typical, most generic, average day run is around 6 miles. Four years ago, I struggled to run 5 miles. Luckily, the last four years brought much more than just running, but also a new life and a new group of friends. While I still have parts of my old life and my closest friends from high school, I have come to realize that I have changed so much. While I have wanted to be a doctor since high school, I am actually facing that dream in the face right now (I take my MCAT tomorrow morning). Despite it being the hardest test I have ever taken in my entire life (essentially every science, math and literature test I have taken since sophomore year of high school combined into one), I know that I will take it with confidence to do the best I can. I know that I would have passed out, maybe even have a heart attack, if I were told to take the MCAT during high school. Even the simplest accomplishments over the last few years have helped me get to the stage that I am at now.

Whoops, Time Goes By Really Fast

What a busy quarter!

So I was going to put this up before last weekend… (so the date referencing is a little off…) Looking back, I’ve only blogged twice so far, but at least I got a lot done right? Since January, I ran in a track competition and basically just hung out with the club (running) all the time. Last weekend (02.25.11-02.27.11), was lots of fun mixed with a little bit of sadness. So Friday night, I went to one of my friend’s acoustic night. Besides listening to some pretty good acoustic music, I realized that I really did miss music a lot. So now I have something else to fill my increasingly small amount of free time. I am definitely planning on a cover, but there are so many good songs to choose from. I have no idea which one to pick. Then Saturday morning, I woke up and went on a 9.5 mile run with some members of the club. It felt so good during the run. I felt really energized especially as the run continued and with the soft sun beating shining down on me. After my run, I felt so good and focused and got a lot done. Unsurprisingly, Sunday was a great day. While it was a more stress filled homework day, I at least got everything done and a good whole body workout in. This is great since I for no apparent reason, decided that I really wanted to do 2 half-marathons this spring.

In other news, my roommate Jonny and I have decided to start a new channel on Youtube. This is going to be really interesting because it is something that has rarely been done before. We are currently attempting to have a variety show channel, where the two of us, along with some of Jonny’s friends, are going to release a variety of videos, ranging from let’s plays, music covers, skits and even vlogs (currently, I think that I will be keeping my own vlogs on the current channel, but others might put their vlogs there).