Alive & well

Hullo!

This is my first post in months and months, and I don't think I have any readers any longer.  Still, I wanted to tell the world that I am alive & well!

I finished my first year of law school on Friday!  It feels great to be 1/3 done.  I've already started my summer job & summer school begins in less than 2 weeks, so I doubt I will be posting too often this season.  Still, a few updates are in order.

I lost about 8 lbs during my first year of law school, probably most of it muscle.  : /  I tried to keep up with my workouts as best I could with full-time school and two part-time jobs, but they definitely weren't as intense as before.  It's ok, though!  I am not entertaining any ideas of being super buff until after graduation.  In the interim, I'm content with keeping my activity level moderately high -- lifting 3-4 times per week, short-and-sweet cardio like jumping rope and lots of plyo, & lugging around a shit-ton of books...

I hope all of you are doing well!  I've been checking out your blogs when I can, but I am not a dedicated reader any more.  Do forgive me!  Please keep in mind that I still look to you all for inspiration & think of you often!

Keep up the good work & take care,
Alexandra

My very first 1L midterm

... is now complete!

^.^

I've been in the most ecstatic mood ever since 5 p.m.  It's done!

As soon as I got home, I went out for a run.  It was brilliant -- an exhilarating combination of test-is-over glee & the invigorating air just after the rain has stopped.  Best run in ages!

'Round here, it's been the same general order of things.  Lots of schoolwork, lots of working, & getting up at 5.30 a.m. to work out.  It's working pretty well so far, I have to say.  I am super anxious for daylight savings, though...

I hope all of you have been doing well.  I am going to try to catch up on all the blogs I love (you know who you are!) this weekend.  I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive & well.

Take care!

Is it fall yet?

Here's a fun fact: fall is my favorite of all the seasons.  There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to: the cooler weather, the shorter days, Halloween (best holiday ever), gorgeous leaves, Thanksgiving, my birthday, & all the pumpkin-y foods I plan on eating on my birthday.

I'm a wee bit confused right now, though, because I've already been in Fall semester for 4 weeks and it's still summer.  T_T  I want fall!  It just feels so much more appropriate to be in school-mode when the air and leaves are crisper, innit?

Anyway, that's all I have to say on that subject.

In other news, I am still busier than a one-armed paper hanger.  My days go a little something like this:
-wake up
-get a quick workout done from start-to-finish in 45 minutes
-eat breakfast while studying
-shower while thinking about studying
-drive to school
-school 9-2.30 (& study during lunch hour!)
-drive to tutoring appointments
-tutor kids for 2-3 hours
-drive home
-eat dinner while studying
-study
-sleep

I think I'm transitioning as best as I could've hoped.  Don't get me wrong, I like being busy and I'm happy that I have such a big goal to work towards, but I'm definitely learning that it's not worth it to stress over the small stuff.  I need to save my sanity.

- - -

Lastly, several weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win six samples of Muscle Gauge protein powder from the lovely Kristen's giveaway.  I have to emphasize that you all were soooooo right about MGN protein powder.  So delicious!  Here's what I thought of each one:


Premium Blend
1. Chocolate was pretty good.  It was very rich and not too sweet.
2. Vanilla was great.  It tasted liked frosting!  My number one favorite of all the flavors.  I seriously licked the glass at the end of it.
3. Ice Cream Sandwich was fun!  I really liked this one, especially since it was something unexpected.


Huge Impact
1. Strawberry was the first I tried.  It was very sweet but not in a very strawberry-like way.  Still, I really liked the flavor it had.  This one was probably my second favorite, and I would definitely consider buying it.
2. Chocolate was very good.  It tasted unbelievably similar to a chocolate milkshake.
3. Vanilla was not as good as the Premium Blend vanilla, but it was definitely not bad.  I enjoyed it.

The bottom line is that I liked every single one of the varieties, and I would consider buying all of them at some point.  Within the next few weeks, I am definitely going to buy the Premium Blend Vanilla, and after that, we'll see what else!

2 weeks in

'Ello, 'ello.  I hope your weekend is treating you well.  Six hours in to my Saturday study load, I'm taking a break to visit the blog world.  This week has been pretty intense (like last week), commuting 45 minutes each way to school every day, getting all the readings and assignments done in a timely fashion, and tutoring over 20 hours Monday through Friday to boot!  Happily, I've been able to fit in a fair amount of physical exercise.  Otherwise, my life these days is one long sit-fest.  T_T

This morning I got in a 40-minute kettlebell workout.  It was no-nonsense, fast-paced, & pretty challenging.  Lots of sweat!  I am not a stranger to the kettlebell, but I'm not super familiar with it, either.  I used the kettlebell workout in the newest issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers as my guide.  (Unfortunately, I haven't had any time to read it -- but I flipped through it while breakfasting, saw that workout, and decided it was what I should do this morning!)

On a final note, one thing I did not expect about law school: walking from the parking garage to class and back can be an intense workout when you're lugging 4 casebooks & two statute textbooks.  It's like an extreme farmer's walk.  Ha!

Alive and kickin' (er, make that liftin')

Yes, I have been absent from the online world for a little while.  It is likely that I will not be very active on the web for the next several weeks as I learn to get faster at reading & briefing cases.  In the meantime, please forgive me for my lack of new content or comments on your lovely blogs.  I will have a lot of catching up to do when I finally get a good chunk of free time!

I have a few spare minutes tonight, so I'll recap the enjoyable lifting session I squeezed in this morning before school/studying/tutoring:

1a. barbell back squat, 105 lb., 4 sets/9 reps
  b. push-up, 4 sets/10 reps
2a. RDL, 115 lb., 4 sets/8 reps
  b. one-arm overhead press, 15 lb., 4 sets/10 reps per side
3a. bench step-up, two 20-lb. DB, 4 sets/8 reps per side
  b. bent-over row, two 25-lb. DB, 4 sets/10 reps

I managed to finish it all in under 40 minutes, including warm-up & post-workout stretching!  Thank goodness.

I've either been running or lifting 5 days out of the week, and taking 2 rest days more for lack of time than anything else.  Let's hope it does me some good!  I hope all of your training schemes/lives in general have been going well.  I can't wait to catch up with all your blogs and hear what's new!

See you soon!

-Alexandra

Just a scosh nervous

My time as a house- and dog-sitter has come to an end (T_T), but I suppose it's just in time since my law school orientation begins tomorrow.  I am really excited to finally start, but I am also quite nervous that I won't be able to make enough time for non-school endeavors.  I intend to try to keep a few tutoring clients, as well as go in to the office a few hours per week to prepare files.  I will need to keep earning money throughout school to continue paying the exorbitant tuition, after all.

This morning, I got up early and prepared a bunch of different recipes to have on hand throughout this extremely busy week -- I'll be going on campus up to 8 hours per day this week, tutoring at least 2 kids each day (the most, 4, on Monday), babysitting two of the nights, as well as walking/feeding another neighbor's dog -- in addition to Rafa, of course -- twice a day!  Whew, I'm tired just considering it.

In other news, I had a few mediocre runs I hadn't reported on so I thought I'd post 'em:

Wednesday 3 August 2011
Distance: 2.50 mi
Time: 21.12
Average pace: 8.29/mi
Average HR: 171 bpm
Max HR: 184 bpm
Ascent: 336 ft

Friday 5 August 2011
Distance: 4.00 mi
Time: 34.10
Average pace: 8.33/mi
Average HR: 174 bpm
Max HR: 189 bpm
Ascent: 493 ft

I hope you all have a nice & relaxing Sunday!

Song of the day = "Word Up" by Cameo

(check out LeVar "Geordi La Forge/Reading Rainbow" Burton in this video!  I *love* that guy!)

Wobbly & woozy

That is how I feel at present.  It is due to the following circuits that I just completed:

1a. back squat, 105 lb., 4 sets/8 reps (new PR! ^.^)
  b. push-up, 4 sets/9 reps
2a. Romanian deadlift, 115 lb., 4 sets/6 reps (new PR! ^.^)
  b. wide-grip pulldown, 70 lb., 4 sets/6-8 reps
3a. rear lunge, two 30-lb. DB, 4 sets/9 reps per side
  b. one-arm overhead press, 15-lb. DB, 4 sets/10 reps per side

I tried to go through it as quickly as possible (not the moves themselves, of course, but by cutting the rest periods quite short) because I've been trying to simulate my workouts come next week, when my schedule becomes the busiest of my life to date.  I will have less than a hour per day to fit in working out or running, in addition to post-workout foam-rolling/stretching/shake-making, so I've been trying to shave down my workouts to less than 40 minutes.  Today was *so close*.  Done in 42 minutes flat, from the second I stepped into the garage 'til I put the last barbell back on the rack.

I also had a good workout on Tuesday, but it wasn't quite as much of a killer as today's:

1a. conventional deadlift, 85 lb., 4 sets/6 reps
  b. incline bench press, two 25-lb. DB, 4 sets/8 reps
2a. Bulgarian split squat, two 25-lb. DB, 4 sets/8 reps per side
  b. seated cable row, 60 lb., 4 sets/8 reps
3a. cable pull-through, 60 lb., 4 sets/10 reps
  b. one-legged RDL, 30 lb. DB, 4 sets/8 reps per side
4a. curl to press, two 15-lb. DB, 4 sets/10 reps
  b. overhead triceps extension, 20 lb., 4 sets/8 reps

In other news, I've picked the next race I want to run.  I don't want to get my hopes up too high, though, because I've had really bum luck with the last two races I've chosen to run.  Last fall, a week before the half-marathon I'd signed up for, right when my hopes were high as I'd annihilated my goal time in a training run, my right IT band went haywire like I'd never experienced before and I ended up not being able to run for a good month.  Then, this past fourth of July, during the week before the "4 on the 4th" race I'd chosen, I came down with the flu that prevented me from getting any good working out or running in for 2 weeks.  >.<

It's not a big deal, I know.  There are many far worse things that could have befallen me, and I'm very happy that I am still able to run.  Still, all I'm saying is that I don't want to get my hopes up for the race too much!  It's a 10k in my neighborhood on Sunday 25 September, hosted by the local newspaper.

Well, I've got to go!  My 2nd batch of April's high-protein pumpkin bread this week is coming out of the oven!  Soooo good with the following "frosting" on top:

Mix with an immersion blender ~3/4 c. 0% fage, ~1/2 scoop vanilla whey, ~1 T. coconut manna, & a few drops of vanilla stevia.  Tastes a bit like cream cheese frosting!

Song of the day = "Magnet and Steel" by Walter Egan

(Oddly enough, this one was in my head while performing deadlifts today. Ha!)