Thursday, December 29, 2011

Me, myself and the many other sides of me.

I'm a weirdo, I know. I have so many sides of myself and want so bad to keep them all that sometimes people just don't get it. And I know because I don't get it either. I've changed so much and learned a lot this past 5 years. I'm still young, but I've lived alone in 3 countries so far and have wild plans for the future. I just get bored easily and like to change things up. Going to med school was probably the most "stable" decision I've made my whole life, because it's gonna make me stay still for at least 5 more years. It scared the hell outta me just the thought of being stuck in the same place for that long, but I guess it's for a greater cause. Meanwhile, I've doing the best I can to accomplish things that are gonna come after those 5 years.

Two examples so you can get the point of it.

1) I wanna be a Sports Medicine doctor and specialize in Physiology of Running. So, I run. Not only I've grown to love this sport, but it's a good way to get to know the runners from the inside, their weaknesses, strength, fears and hopes. I think this is gonna make me more attached to my future patients once I can connect with them not only as a doctor, but as a runningmate. 

Can you find me? d: 


2) I also want to do some kind of studies about Traditional/Ancient Medicine, specially Oriental Medicine. I think countries like Japan, Korea and China has so much to offer us with their culture, their eating habits, their respect for the the tradition an so on. I've been studying japanese for 1 year and a half now. First, I started because I'm really into mangas and animes. Then I got to know more about the culture, fell in love with it and then it was too late. Most people have such prejudice with everything that sounds too unfamiliar and I really don't get it. I love all countries, all cultures and I could live 1 year in every country for the rest of my life. Maybe I'm too fearless, but I just don't see the point of doing the same thing with the same people forever. That's just me. Anyway, the point :) Now I've found a more honorable reason to keep my japanese studies on track. I think it's really good to have this sort of alternative medicine side on me, so I can offer my patients more natural treatments, which I believe is gonna be a huge influence on their performance. 

Can't express how much I love this :) 


So I have to run. To go to japanese class. To go to med school. To watch 11 tv shows/week. To watch one whole season of a korean drama/week. To stalk blogs. To go out. It really isn't easy and this year was all about trying to sort things out. I've slacked on school when I was running pretty good, then I slacked on running while I was having my finals. Maybe that's just how things go. Maybe we can do everything after all, just not 100% of all of them at all times. Usually, I'm pretty hard on myself and start blaming me for not being able to accomplish everything I want. On the top of that, I'm oh so darn impatient. But this year, with all its ups and downs, I've survived. So I can only look forward to the future and believe that things will start falling into places - a 42h day also wouldn't be bad at all :) 

My cousins are in Argentina visiting me for Christmas and New Years, so my days are filled with tons of walking on a 100F sun, 5lbs of ice-cream, lots of 1pm wake-up call and so on. I'm loving it. 


Specially to myself, who became the queen of excuses lately :) 

Friday, December 16, 2011

So, it has been so long I don't remember what vacations are anymore.

Yes, YES! I did it! I don't know how and I think I'm still high from it, but I've managed to pass every single exam and now I'm finally FREE! :D  It took everything I had, but darn it it was worth it! I basically hibernated for an entire week without even stepping outside the house to see sunlight. And, no, I'm not exaggerating. When I'm down to business with school matters, I'm all in. I don't know how to do things like normal people... like you do a bit of everything every day. No. I have to do nothing at all while I procrastinate everything else 'till the last minute. Always.

sourse from 9gag, the cool-kids version of that pinterest lamesauce page old people spend their days on lol. 


Now that's finally over, I've realized:

1) I haven't shaved for like... forever.
2) I haven't paid any bill since last month. 
3) The dark circles around my eyes due to lack of sleep are so deep that I don't think they're ever gonna go away. And I've just noticed them now because...
4) I haven't looked in the mirror, like REALLY look for the past 2 or 3 weeks. Today, I almost had a heart attack when I noticed how destroyed my face is.
... and last, the saddest one...
5) I haven't run in... oh gosh it hurts to say it... a whole... week. I know, who am I?

So, all this time while I was studying, not sleeping, leaving off oatmeal and greek yogurt all I could think of was:


-"I'm never gonna do this again",
-"If I ever make it through this test, I'm never gonna procrastinate EVER again",
-"When this is all over, the last thing I'm gonna do is stay home",
-"The first thing I'll do is run like there's no tomorrow".


So, today is officially my second day of vacation. Do you know what I did so far? Let me see if it's gonna fit in only one post:

NOTHING.


It's been 2 days and I haven't left the house. I haven't been at the gym. I haven't met with my running group. I haven't been to the saloon, or to pay my bills, or to the market for the matter, since I have no food at home.
No.
All I did was:
Wake up.
Turn on the computer.
Sleep.
Repeat. 

I know I'm exhausted from having a test every week since October and that I should give myself a break, but still... it frustrates me to stay home just being lazy and not enjoying every single second of my so desired vacation. In my defense, I have a total acceptable excuse. The koreans have slaved me. I don't know what they do, but I'm pretty sure those koreans are up to something. Their k-dramas are so addictive that, once I start watching one, I can't stop until I'm done with the whole thing. Just so you can get a picture of it, I've watched a whole season of Secret Garden (a korean show), which has 20 episodes of 1h each in 2 days. How on god's creation I did that, I still don't know. Yesterday, I started watching a new show called Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, which is actually currently airing in Korea and it has 13 episodes so far. I've watched the whole thang. I mean, seriously. I was never into the whole Korea thing before, I've always been really into mangas and animes, but they were all japanese. I've also taken japanese classes for about 1 year and a half now. But Korea has been growing on me after all this shows I now I'm actually so excited to get a chance to go there someday :)

I know this is a total random post which no one probably cares about (have you ever seen any american watching anything that it's not in english? lol), so I'm just gonna keep being lame while I watch another korean show and wonder when will my life begin.

One of my favorite scenes <3

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Hi, endurance, welcome back!

I ran and didn't wanna puke for the first time since my injury! Now that's some great news! :D

And since we're talking about great news, it made me think of how much our perspective of things can influence our mood and how little things can make us feel so much happiness that your problems seem really really small compared to all of the blessings you have... so, here are some really small things that I've been lucky enough to acknowledge so I can say thanks for all of them :)

This necklace Janae, from HRG's blog sent me and that I've been using it everywhere!


My new toy! 


A new vegetarian restaurant I found just around the corner from my school and that makes my tummy really happy :D 


Having blisters on my fingers from too much writing before a test, but being able to conquer all of them :) 


This new gmail program that allowed me, in Argentina, my sister, in Brazil and my best friend in Portugal to chat together and see each other all at the same time... priceless. 


My runningmates, who have always been there for me, inspiring me and making me a better runner every day :) 



My family, specially my aunt and my grandma, who basically raised me. Thanks for always showing me the bright side of everything in life. Thanks for being an example for me so I can always have someone to look up to and be proud of :) 

...and last, but not least... FRIENDS! 

..those who are close...






...and those that are far far away, and yet closer than lots of people :) 






One more thing...
My sister :)  Although I'm really lonely sometimes and wish I could talk to her more and she just ignores me because that's just the way she is, I still love her and wish she could be by my side right now :( 

ps. I was blond once a loooooong time ago lol

It looks like a Thanks Giving post, although I've never celebrated it outside the US. :)  Well, it's never too late... I guess :) 

IT'S THAT SIMPLE! :) Happy running, friends :) 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Living and learning.

I admit it, I have zero talent to do anything that requires consistency. Blogging only represents one of the many other things I suck at keeping up to date. Actually, the only thing I've been able to do religiously is to follow the 13 tv shows I'm currently watching... weekly. Then I wonder why my house is a mess, why I haven't been studying at all, why I'm not out and about doing something important.

Running has also been having its ups and downs. I was on the top of my fitness level when I first twisted my right foot, then I did it again a week after (no, I didn't twist it while I was running, somehow I manage to walk on the street like I've been chased by the police, so this kind of stuff always happens). It was a major back down for me, but I've managed to push through it and came back strong.

The Buenos Aires Marathon was around the corner (no, I wasn't gonna run the whole thing, no way Jose), but I did meet my friend at the 20K mark and we ran together the rest 22K. It was a blast! She's a rock star and was talking the whole way 'till the very end!

Maria, her daughter and I after the marathon :)

At the very same week, I had to do 16 sets of 100m. Somehow, I understood I had to do them all at 17sec, which I surprisingly did, just to realize at the end that it wasn't 17, but 27sec the real time I was supposed to do! When I finished it, my right foot was really hurting me. Since I had a 8K race on the following Saturday, I've decided to take it easy and rest the next 2 days. I thought it was gonna be ok by then but it definitely wasn't and I ran it anyway. I know, big mistake. Big, really big.

Pain, pain, pain!

I could barely walk and I ran a 8.1K at 44min. I know it was extremely slow (hm hello, I couldn't even walk), but I shouldn't have run it in the first place. But you know how it goes, you get there, you feel the atmosphere and when you realize you're at the starting line and it's too late. As soon as I crossed the finishing line, I couldn't take one more step. I knew then I had done something reaally stupid and that it was gonna cost me. And oh boy it did. 

It's been almost a month now and only last week I was able to finally run pain free. But the timing couldn't be worse. I decided to get injured right when I had all my tests from school and that wasn't pretty. I've managed to get through some of them, but others I just couldn't concentrate at all to study. I know if I was running I would have managed the stress and pressure much easier. Living and learning, right? 

Now, my only problem is to get my resistance back, which now is close to hm zero. Nasty Buenos Aires summer is around the corner, with its 400% of humidity. I go to run 40min and come back with 30min and dying. You know how it goes, you feel frustrate and suddenly you panic that you're never gonna get where you were before. And this only gets you unmotivated even more to run harder. Now, it's time to be patient and to not let this take the best out of me. I know I'm gonna get through it and I'm gonna come back smarter and stronger than ever :) 



ps. Sorry for the really lamesauce post, I've been feeling kinda down lately :(  Hopefully, it's gonna get better and better from now on:)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

2 5K and a PR :)

Hey blog world, long loong time no see. I've been away from the virtual world in general 'cause I was really late with some subjects at school and needed to get them done asap. It was either running or the internet. Soo hard, right? (not)! :)

Last Saturday, it was about 9pm a friend from my group told me about this 5K they were running the following morning... I was like "oh well, it's not like I have to study 39483 things for school or anything right" :). So let me try to describe it: I'd rather ran 15 half-marathons than run a single 5K race. It's painful. It hurts. I don't enjoy it. I've cursed every single step of the way why the hell do I have to run, why couldn't I choose some other sport, why whyy whyyyy. But then it ended and I was like :D (ok maybe 15min after it ended when my lungs went back to my thorax and my heart stopped trying to pop out of my ribs.

Don't get fooled, I only sprint out when I'm SURE I see the finishing line within no more than 200m lol

The elites - and moi :) 

Ahnm, excuse me, my bff from my running group won the race? 

So today it was another 5K, a group race. Total of 20K covered by a group of 4. If I've suffered so much finishing the other 5K why would I do another one a week later, you ask? Glad you've asked, because I don't know why EITHER! Next thing I new, I was signing up and ready to roll. So you might think that, since I've run a 5K a week before, this one would be a piece of cake, right? WRONG. It hurt. My lungs were burning crazy, I could feel my heartbeat all over my body, I was wondering WHY WHYYY WHYYYY do I have to run, I should be sleeping like all the (un)cool kids, whyyy. Oh well. I still don't know why I do it, I just know I keep doing it. It's an addiction, isn't it? I just wonder... will it EVER ever get a little easier?

My group of today's race and our running couch. They've LIED TO ME. I told them I was gonna slow the whole group down and they said no one was worrying about time. Their 5K times? 17, 20, 21min. Yeahhh right. 

Of course the boys took the podium. :) 

The gals who kicked major bootie. 

Hanging out with Laura to see if I can catch "speedinitis" from her. 

Runner's idea of partying hard. :) 

Overall, it was an awesomesauce race. I hated every minute of it while I was running, but the before and specially the after feelings make it ALL WORTH it. Can't wait to suffer on the next one :) 

Help me here, peeps: do you guys also suffer while running short distance races or even while doing speed training or that's just me?

The perfect distance and pace ever? 
21K. The perfect pace for me would be around 8:40-ish. It's the kind of pace I totally forget I'm running and keep going on and on and on and on. It's a reminder of why I like running so much and is a MUST on a weekly basis lol.

This takes a special meaning for me. I used to be one of those people who always HAD to overdo it to think it was worth doing. If I only had time for a quick 30min run, I'd rather NOT RUN AT ALL, because I thought it was lamesauce. Now I know how MEANINGFUL those precious 30min are and I treasure every single second of it :) 

Friday, September 16, 2011

HALF-MARATHON REPORT!

Personal note: don't try running a half-marathon when you have the hardest test of the year 2 days after.

Woke up thinking I had plenty of time ahead of me, but as it turned out, I ended up getting there with only 30min to prepare. The weather was amazing...

Probably around 75F, no wind... couldn't have been any better!




Almost 15.000 runners! It was a major record this year... I think half of Brazil was here lol




Let me know if you need any help with making such sexy poses for pictures :) 








Finished it in 2:10! I was so soo proud of myself, I can't even start describing it... my couch was expecting me to finish at 2:20, so when I saw the clock I was like "wow"! I really felt the last 2K (the longest I've ever run in my life before was 18.5K) and, somehow, I've sprinted out the last K... I wasn't out of breath at all for the whole race, but those last 2K my legs felt it a little... still, when I've crossed the line, tears came down like instantly because I still didn't believe I had finished it... And I started thinking that 5 months ago I was wondering if I run a 8K without dying and look where I am now! Between an injury and 2 months without training, med school, gym I have NOTHING to complain about; I'm grateful and proud of my accomplishments this year. When I look back at this very same time of the year in 2010, I was such a different person than I am now... I was going through some serious eating disorders, I battled an almost chronic anorexia on my own without anyone (not a single person) knowing it (to date); I was dating a stupid guy who didn't give two craps about me; I was slacking on my studies and partying hard almost every day of the week. I still have a looooooong way down the road, but I can tell you that, from here, I'm only climbing upwards :) 

After the marathon, I had to HIBERNATE for 2 whole days to try catching up on my test... In 48h, I slept a total of 5 hours. I went to the exam expecting the worst of the worst... but, somehow, I've passed it! I was exhausted out of my mind, but the feeling that I had passed on the hardest test of the year was way too exciting... now it's time to catch up with everything I have on "pending mode"somewhere d: 

Thanks guys for ALL YOUR SUPPORT, you were truly amazing! 

Inspiration of the day:


Tell me the last awesomesauce movie you've watched lately! I need to catch up with the world lol 

Friday, September 09, 2011

HALF-MARATHON!

It's coming this Sunday!


Wish me luck!

ps. goal time: to finish it alive ('cause that's how positive I am!). 

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Sucker for inspiration.

I LOVE any kind of sports movie. They're so powerful and inspirational... they often impact me in so many ways I can't even describe. I'm always searching for new ones... running, baseball, football, basketball, surfing, you name, If there're sports in it, I'm watching. You put a very inspirational story behind (better yet if it's based on a real story), and I'm sold.

The one I've just watched is called SOUL SURFER. It's not a new movie, but it has just come out on dvd, so I've finally had a chance to watch it (I'm cheap, so I wait for the movies to come on dvd in the US so I can download them with a great quality :D ).


First thing you need to know about me: I'm a cry-baby in movies. I cry watching Disney movies. I cry watching youtube videos. I cry watching big catastrophes happening. I don't know why, I'm not really the sensitive type of person. But yet, I cry a lot with this kind of stuff. So with that said, you can imagine how much I've cried over this one. I've heard the story of Bethany Hamilton before, but I confess I didn't quite know anything about it at all - besides the fact that she was a surfer who has lost her arm due to a shark attack in Hawaii when she was 13 years old. The movie is based on her auto-biography book and she took very close participation on the production. Besides, AnnaSophia Robb plays her part and I love her to die since I've seen her for the fist time in Bridge to Terabithia (another really awesome movie). 

For a 13 year old girl to be attack by a shark and have a come back like hers it just blows my mind. I can't help but get amazed by everything we can do if we really want to, if we really put ourselves into. Yet... we don't. Why the biggest tragedies need to happen to shake us off of our lame routine and make us realize all the potential we got? 

The great things about sports movies (and I've said this a thousand times) is how much we can learn from other people's strength, courage, devotion, faith. This motivates me to be the best I can be with whatever I decide to be, you know? It's not always easy... some times along the way you'll find yourself complaining about lame things like how come I didn't run fast enough today, or why I couldn't get an A on this test, or why something this horrible happened to me. The truth is... bad things happen. I don't truly believe they happen for a reason (but that's just me). I think nature takes its course and we are the ones that are gonna define the intensity of the things that come to us and how it's gonna affect our lives. 

When I've injured my knee, I got so pissed. I was depressed, I've cried, I've blamed myself, I've blamed others, I got jealous of others for their ability to do what I couldn't. I gave in. I decided running wasn't for me and I punished myself every single day for something that wasn't anybody's fault. But now I'm back and I'm much better, wiser and stronger than I could have ever asked for. It took me an injury to learn that we shouldn't try to change what has passed; it's better to just decide what to do from now on. 

"I wouldn't change what happened to me, because then I wouldn’t have this chance in front of all of you. This chance to embrace more people than I ever could have with two arms." [ Bethany Hamilton ].

"I don't want easy. I just want possible" [ Bethany Hamilton ]

Any really good inspirational movies to recommend? 

Do you get motivated by other people's stories?

Spread it!