Great summer salad.

Do you ever find a recipe that you really like and then proceed to make it over and over again until you get completely sick of it?

That's what I'm doing with this summer salad. 

[Source]

I made this salad for my roommates a few times over the course of this past school year, and it's always been a big hit. When friends were coming into town over the weekend, I wanted to make something that would accommodate everyone's preferences and dietary restrictions (vegetarianism, dairy allergies, etc.). This ended up being the perfect solution, and I got to use some fresh, sweet corn that is available in vast quantities in my country town this summer. 

All you need is tomatoes, red onion, black beans, corn, an avocado, and seasonings.  I love this recipe because it has such basic, easy ingredients that I usually have on hand, and is very quick to prepare with little clean-up. I chop everything up first, and then toss the fresh veggies in a bowl before adding the rinsed black beans. I like to cook the corn in the microwave for 4 minutes and then shear it off the cob with a knife. Once you've got everything together just add olive oil, salt, and pepper to your preferences and there you go! Great for sharing or to get you through the week. I'm getting ready to make a new batch today!

Running Lately.

So what's up with my running lately???

I've been getting back into the groove after months off on-and-off injury. A couple of months ago, after reaching a point of pain during every run after only 20-30 minutes and then having to stop, I realized how ridiculous I was being.

I was putting down a lot of junk miles. I was suffering a lot of pain and risking big-time injury for a few measly runs every week while I could just put on the brakes for a couple weeks and focus on strengthening and healing.

Sometimes we humans do silly things like that. Or is that just me???

I went on a no-running cleanse and did alllllll the strength-training and alllllll the yoga. I took 3-4 weeks off and focused primarily on these exercises (great for all runners to keep in your strength-training arsenal!).

After a those weeks off I hit the road again, expecting to be good as new.

Nope.

I still had pain after a few minutes on the pavement. Albeit, it's very hilly around here and that wasn't the best for the particular problems I was having, but I clearly still had some weaknesses that had to be worked out. I felt really defeated, though, and mentioned my frustration to Alex.

He suggested some running spots that I was unfamiliar with, out in some corn fields (not kidding). He thought the grass would allow me to run pain-free and continue to build up strength.

I was skeptical, but I tried it out.

It was an enormous success. I started doing about 30-minutes of "grass running" about 4x a week, and continued this for 2 weeks. Then I moved onto trails and built up to occasional 40 and 50-minute runs. I became quite a regular out there.

The trails are relatively popular, but I don't see many people out during the times that I run (either really early or middle of the day, depending when I can fit it into my schedule. 

Sunrise :)

I try to engage in safety precautions like bringing my phone and wearing my road ID, but luckily I do have someone to look out for me...

I named him Philip. He actually may be a girl, I don't know him that well yet. But I do stop and say hi to "Philip" every time I run past!

Now I'm running more on covered trails, and I can run on pavement occasionally and haven't had any problems. Hopefully the worst is behind me.

Now I'm trying to build my endurance back up so I can go into marathon training with a solid base, but not exhausted. Sometimes it gets a little discouraging, knowing how far I am from my goals, but then I remind myself that I'm at the exact ability-level that I was last June before I headed into marathon training!

In addition to yoga and the exercises I mentioned before, I've been sticking with General Strength and Mobility  exercises and 8-minute abs. I have not been rowing regularly, and want to keep the (little) arm and back strength that I had. So far, yoga is doing a great job of that!

Happy Thursday everyone! Have a great day!

New Summer, New Training Cycle, New Me?

I realize that this is like the 42nd time that I've said "Okay guys, I'm really going to get back into blogging now!" It feels wrong to make false promises and to say "this is really it," again, but I will say that this time I really do think I'm back. I've just extracted myself from a difficult couple of semesters, I'm going to be entering a new marathon training cycle in a few short weeks, and I find myself once again in the throes of a lonely summer with more time than usual for naval-gazing and self-reflection - two things that have, in the past, contributed to the livelihood of this blog. 

As I'm writing this morning, I should be studying for the GRE. I've even brought myself to a coffee shop in hopes that the vibe here would encourage a "study mood." The test is on June 30, and I'm supposed to be studying 3+ hours per day in preparation for it. I can't believe I'm already at this equal-parts-exciting-and-terrifying crossroads in life... I'm at the point where I'm preparing for a new stage in life - for some of my peers that stage is employment, for others it's a year of travel or volunteer-work, for me it's going to be grad school, in some way shape or form. The murkiness of the future is scary but also promising. I have little to no idea where I'll be or what exactly I'll be doing year from now. The next year will hold a series of new starts. 

I've turned the page on an academically and emotionally challenging semester. I was taking around 20 credit hours and traveling for research-related conferences, and my family also suffered the loss of my beloved grandfather. He was nearing 93 and led a wonderful, full life, but we still feel his loss sorely. We laid him to rest in Santa Ana, which elicited an impromptu trip across the country in the midst of school. It was completely worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat just to be there for him and my family. I think about him and miss him every day, and it's hard for me to believe that he's not here.

 I'm spending the summer conducting my own research project on the correlation between acquired capability for suicide in athletes (I work in a clinical psychology lab at my university). I've also recently completed training to become a "Qualified Mental Health Specialist," and now I'm and employee at my county's "Community Counseling and Crisis Center," as a hotline consultant. We're open 24/7, so it's relatively easy for me to get hours that conform around the rest of my schedule.

With some of my research at a national conference:

After eight-ish months of on-and-off post-marathon injury, I've finally gotten things together and been able to start running pretty regularly again. Right now I'm working on building my base again because as it turns out...

Yep, I'm headed back to Chicago :) I've got aspirations of a new PR, but I'm trying to stay healthy and un-injured for Boston in April 2016, as well. I've spent a LOT of time in the last month working on building my hips, core, and glute strength so that I can stay strong. I've also been trying to work more on stretching, which I definitely think I needed more of in the later phases of my marathon training and post-marathon last fall.

As it turns out, I'm also turning into a pretzel. I'm trying to better my physical and mental health through becoming heavily involved in yoga. I first developed familiarity with Vinyasa yoga when I was eight years old (which is when my parents bought me my first yoga mat and gave me a DVD) and have practiced on-and-off since then, both in studio and just on my own with what I know. 

This time around I began a 40-day yoga and meditation challenge as outlined in this book, which I would absolutely recommend, whether or not you want to do the challenge or just follow the yoga and meditation tips and instruction!

I am primarily living alone this summer (I say primarily because I'm back and forth a bit between university and home with my family) and that's led to a whole new adventure in terms of cooking! I definitely look forward to sharing some new recipes.

When I do come home I have been taking advantage of cycling with my dad, relaxing, and running around my favorite spots in my hometown.

With that... I should stop procrastinating and get my studying in. It's good to be back! See you tomorrow?