A-Z About Me

I was tagged by both Kim and Kristin to do this fun quiz a few weeks ago and couldn't get around to it with bar studying. Well I could have, but it would have been pure procrastination, so I waited until now to do it. Which took an insane amount of will power because I LOVE quiz surveys.


A. Attached or Single? Attached for nearly 5 years!

B. Best friend? Sourabh (the bf) and Katie.

We were faaaabulous in college.

C. Cake or Pie? Pie, no question. But it has to be a fruit pie.

D. Day of Choice: Saturdays. I love Sundays, but too often they get filled with errands (that I put off from Saturday).

E. Essential Item: Copying Kristin -- definitely water. I like to carry water with me at all times, if possible.

F. Favorite Color: Mint green.

G. Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms? Neither. Something sour, if it's gummy.

H. Hometown: Lynden, WA

Downtown Lynden, pop. 12,000
(source)

I. Favorite Indulgence: Tortilla chips and guacamole.

J. January or July? July in Washington State, January in NYC. I really don't like humidity, guys.

K. Kids? They're cute! Don't think I'll be ready for them for a while, but I'd love for a close friend to have one so I can play with it.

L. Life isn't complete without: Pets. I laugh so much more because of my pets, despite the messes they make and smells they create.

"Obviously your life isn't complete without me."
Guys, Mason has so much attitude. 

M. Marriage Date: TBA.

N. Number of brothers and sisters: One sister, Priyanka. And going to gain a brother when she gets married next year!

O. Oranges or Apples: Apples all the way, baby. And not just because I'm from Washington State. Oranges are so hard to eat!

P. Phobias: Hmm... I don't like when people are stabbed in movies, but it's not really a phobia. I don't really like thunderstorms but again, it's not a phobia. Honestly can't think of a full-on phobia.... besides fear of death (eek, this got morbid).

Q. Quotes: "May the force be with you." Yes, I'm a nerd.

R. Reasons to Smile: Sunny days, watermelon, dogs, running a new route, mountains.

This has to make you smile, right?
(Yes, I worked in a mountain picture)

S. Season of Choice: Fall. The temperature is just right: "It's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket." Name that movie!!

T. Tag 5 People: I think everyone who wants to do this has already done it! 

U. Unknown Fact About Me: I attended the local community college instead of my public high school and graduated a year early. 

V. Vegetable: Brussels sprouts or kale. 

W. Worst habit? Being late. 

X. X-Ray or Ultrasound: My brilliant medical student friend Katie informs me x-rays involve radiation and ultrasounds do not. Unless the radiation will turn me into an awesome mutant a la X-Men, I'll go with ultrasounds.

Y: Your Favorite Food: I love so many things... If I can only pick one, I'll go with watermelon.

Z: Zodiac sign: Leo. 


If you haven't filled this out yet, please do and link me to it. I love surveys! Or just answer a few questions in the comments :)

Would You Rather? Runner Edition

It's Friday!!

I was supposed to do my long run this morning, but instead I woke up with a splitting headache. And I hadn't even had the fun night out Thursday night to earn the headache! Not fair. Also... when did running become so complicated?

Whenever I'm running early, I lay everything out the night before. If it's a long run, that ends up being quite a lot of stuff...

Anyway, I'm still not feeling great, so we'll see how the long run plan shapes up. For now I wanted to share this running quiz with you all! I clicked over to a commenter's blog and saw it there. Thanks for the inspiration, Madison! (Originally created by Olive to Run). I thought the quiz was really fun, and I'd love for you to respond to the questions as well in the comments!

1. Would you rather run a 5k or a marathon?
I haven't run a marathon yet so I'm not sure! However, I will say that so far, I love training for the marathon, and I love how much effort you have to put in. In a lot of ways, I think it makes the marathon feel more worthwhile.

But with that said, if you have a bad 5K, it's not a big deal, right? You can easily brush it off. As someone who had not-so-great half marathon experiences multiple times, I have to say, it sucks! When you've spent weeks training for a race, a poor race performance feels like much more of a disappointment. I can only imagine how that would feel if it were for a marathon!

So.... I still don't have an answer. For now, 5K, since I haven't run a marathon yet!

2. Would you rather run in the heat of summer or the icy winter?
Icy winter fo' sho'. Sure, it's not that pleasant, but compared to humidity? I'll take the cold every time. And when it's REALLY icy and cold I can just go run on the treadmill in my building. In the summer, even the treadmill is unpleasant since it's hot in the gym as well and humidity seeps everywhere. 

3. Would you rather have new running shoes or a new running outfit?
Definitely a new running outfit! I tend to go with the shoes that I know work for me, so while I get excited about shoes in that "I'm going to put sooo many miles on you!" kind of way, a new outfit is more fun.

4. Would you rather run alone or in a group?
Nine times out of ten, I'd rather run with friends in a group. I'm always shocked by how quickly miles tick by! I trained for my first half marathon by myself and runs could be a bit of a slog when it was two hours with myself. One time I even called my parents and chatted with them while I ran so I wouldn't feel so bored! I love running with friends and it's made running even more fun. But occasionally, I still like to run alone -- a good therapy run is required at times.

5. Would you rather run next to someone in a race who tries to talk to you constantly or someone who breathes heavy and grunts?

Haha! I love this question. Definitely someone who breathes heavy and grunts because that would be entertaining. I'd feel rude not talking to someone trying to talk to me, but I'm not really a race talker, so that would just be annoying.

6. Would you rather run a race because of the convenience (location, price, travel) or the swag?
Neither - I don't really care about race swag, and I think traveling to cool new places for races is awesome. However, if I could roll out of bed at 7:30 AM and get to the start line at 7:45 for an 8:00 AM race, that would be sweet.

7. Would you rather run a race with a group of friends or by yourself?
Probably by myself, unless my friend was pacing me and I didn't feel like I needed to be social, just to keep up. I tend not to want to talk during races, besides the occasional "that was a tough hill" or "woo almost done!"

8. Would you rather run a PR but result in an injury or finish strong and missing a PR?
I'd rather run a PR and have an injury that has me out for like 2 weeks, but if it's a serious injury then I'd definitely rather miss the PR and finish strong and healthy. No PR is worth a broken bone or torn muscle!!

9. Would you rather eat a big meal the night before or a big meal after a race?
Big meal after the race! I hate feeling heavy when I run and celebrating post-race with friends is half the fun. 

10. Would you rather be chased by a swarm of bees or a pack of dogs?
Is this, like, a vicious pack of dogs? Or just playful dogs? I love dogs, but if I'm about to get attacked, definitely bees > dogs. 


So -- what are your answers?? 5K or marathon? PR and injury or finish strong? Race with friends or alone?

Liebster Award - My Answers!

Captain's Log, day three of calf injury (Star Trek joke, anyone?). I'm feeling much less pain and tightness after two days of light movement to keep it limber, so I'm considering trying for some light cycling or elliptical today and some yoga. I'm going to reassess my training plan for the rest of the week after seeing how I feel.

Since I have no fun training updates, I thought I'd post my answers to the questions I sent to the bloggers I gave the Liebster Award two weeks ago.

I loved the responses of the other bloggers and I had a lot of fun picking out these questions, so I wanted to answer them as well because I can't let others have all the fun themselves.


1. Hugh Grant or Colin Firth?

(source)

This is a debate I've had with Sourabh. After watching Bridget Jones's Diary, he thinks Hugh Grant is a more fun choice. I think he's crazy and that Colin Firth is clearly the proper choice here. Who wants gross, messy Hugh Grant?? Plus, um, Pride and Prejudice anyone?

2. What chore do you hate doing the most? 
This is a toss-up. I HATE mopping/sweeping/vacuuming; anything to do with floors. I used to try to pay my sister to vacuum the stairs (my chore) but she often wouldn't go for it because she said it was my chore and I had to learn good character or something. I'm still bitter.

When I'm visiting my parents I don't mind doing laundry because it's in our house, but in NYC, I have to go down to the basement level to do laundry and it's such a pain, so I put it off forever and end up with giant loads that are even more of a pain. And since Sourabh typically does the floors and I do laundry, I guess I'll say I hate laundry the most.

3. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod? 
Oh my God, this is going to be embarrassing, isn't it. Checking ... well the #1 isn't that embarrassing,  but I should be honest that the next three are. (1) "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence And The Machine, (2) "Firework" by Katy Perry -- I seriously love that song way too much, and the part of the video where her boobs become fireworks? I die. (3) "F**k You" by Cee Lo Green -- unedited, just to be clear, (4) "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen -- told you this was embarrassing, (5) "Chammak Challo" by Akon -- this is a song Akon did for a Bollywood movie and it's pretty awesome. As is the music video.

4. What is your least favorite way to travel?
THE BUS. I HATE THE BUS SO MUCH. IT IS ALWAYS HORRIBLE. I get motion sickness, people are always weird, and in undergrad I had to take the bus 3 hours to get to the airport so I had way too many long, queasy bus rides every year. The bus will never not be my answer to this question.

5. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to and why?
I picked this one because I thought it was such a tough question, but kind of cool, too. I think I'd change my name to something a bit less generic. Not my parents' fault, but there are a lot of Jennifers in my generation (although I do like that it's derived from Guinevere). I think it'd have to be a classic name, just because I'm not a trendy person... so maybe something like Katherine or Jessica or Laura?

6. What would the theme song to your life be?
Probably Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." I love that song so much and never get sick of listening to it. But for the badass moments, it would definitely be this fantastic mix: Jay Z vs The Verve.

7. What is the best meal you’ve ever had?
I've had some pretty amazing meals in my life, so this one is crazy hard to choose. One of my favorites was an Ethiopian dinner Sourabh and I had at Kokob, a really well reviewed restaurant in Brussels, Belgium.

Brussels, right around the corner from Kokob

I'd never had Ethiopian food before and loved it. You eat family style, so there's a giant platter with tons of different curries and things on it. It was my favorite meal of our trip to Europe.

8. What is your favorite strength-training exercise, stretch, or yoga pose?
Can I say corpse pose?

Just kidding (kind of). I love crow pose. For years I couldn't do it, and basically just gave up immediately when it was called out in classes, but then after strength training for a while I got up the courage to try it again and, lo and behold, I could balance on my arms! I still get happy whenever I get up into crow pose in yoga classes.

9. What is the best gift you’ve ever given/received?
For Christmas two years ago, I put together a photo book for my mom of our family. I spent a lot of time picking out the pictures (with some help from my sister), coming up with captions, and getting it all together. Then I also put together a photo book for my dad of his best pictures from my parents' 40th anniversary trip to a town in Mexico.

10. What was the last book, movie, TV show, commercial (ain’t no shame!), or song that made you cry?

(source)

I teared up multiple times at Beasts of the Southern Wild. It's a really beautiful, melancholy film and I highly recommend it. The father and daughter dynamic is heartbreaking but so well-done.

11. Who is your favorite fictional character?
 I have a lot of loved fictional characters: Ender from Ender's Game, Sara Crewe from A Little Princess, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Katniss from The Hunger Games.

(source)

But I think my favorite fictional character has to be Princess Leia from Star Wars. This is super weird, but growing up she was my role model; when I had to get my ears pierced or get a shot, my parents would say, "what would Princess Leia do?" since that made me want to be brave, like her. The character is so sarcastic and she ends up with the best hero ever, Han Solo. She saves him, he saves her... yup, got to be my favorite.

Join in! Answer any or all of these questions that you'd like to, I think it's so much fun to see people's answers.