Last week was a lively one. Classes started, and naturally, a routine has started to take shape. But even though I am finding comfort in settling into a pattern, that doesn’t mean I want each day to predictable. Perhaps I should watch my words though, since the unpredictable did happen earlier in the week…
On Sunday, I ran my first long run in the LA area. I decided to board the Metro Rail and hop on over to Culver City to get in some city AND residential running sans downtown LA traffic.
It was such a beautiful sunny day out, and riding on the rail gave me the opportunity to take some pictures from a better perspective.
I was able to find my footing once I reached downtown Culver City, which was a short distance away from the stop I was dropped off at. I ran through some residential areas, near the Sony Entertainment Building, and near a park where an outdoor fair was set up.
Unfortunately, the run wasn’t as spectacular as it should have been, since finding a bathroom was my body’s priority for the first six miles. I eventually did have to cut down my planned 10-miler to 8, after a restroom break at mile 6, since it was starting to reach noon and the heat was picking up.
But I did treat myself to lunch at Native Foods, nacho style.
Monday was a simple day. I woke up to make a great cup of coffee in one of my favorite mugs (it has a giraffe inside!!) and a Quest bar on the side.
After my roommate got up, I rode with her to campus. It was her first day of classes but my classes didn’t start until Tuesday, so I spent the majority of the morning in the library. After she got out of class, I met her at the bookstore and then we made our way back home…where I proceeded to do more reading/answer sample questions that one of my professors assigned “to test our understanding”.
At least I had papaya and peanut butter to snack on—trust me, it’s delicious!
I woke up extra early on Tuesday morning to get a crockpot dinner going, as well as make a comforting cup of coffee before heading out the door for my first day of class. Using just almond milk didn’t work out too great with my coffee press, but at least the grinds that did get in my mug settled to the bottom on their own…for the most part.
With morning rush hour traffic, the commute time starting from when I left the apartment to when I got to school (using mass transit) was about 2 hours. I made it to class right on time, but felt a little guilty when the professor said that “he expects us to be on time” right after I sat down.
After class, I had lunch with some other students in my program. Since we had two more hours to kill after we finished eating, we found an underground lounge area that was perfect for napping studying 
. Then it was time for my second class, followed by a long commute home. I surprised myself by going out for an evening run prior to dinner. I felt so drained from the day’s events, but I pounded out 4 miles and felt much more refreshed. It made me feel like I truly earned dinner:
And while my evening plans included relaxing on the couch and going to bed early to catch up on sleep, the most random thing happened. My roommate was having issues with the shower doors, as they were sliding out of place and starting to bend inwards. We tried to take out the panels and call management, but then one of the glass panels just shattered, and glass went everywhere.
Fortunately, I only had a small cut on my calf. My roommate had some cuts on her legs and toes (nothing major), but seeing glass and blood on the floor was definitely a signal to get this cleaned up and this situation taken care of ASAP. The service desk responded pretty quickly, and we got all of the glass pieces vacuumed up by one of the employees. We had to wait about two days to get new glass panels for the shower though…
Wednesday brought about a busy morning, but I was free in the afternoon. I found it to be a particularly hot LA summer day, so I got my drink of choice at Starbucks to cool me off. They also had a club fair going on (for undergrads and grads), so I browsed the booths while helping myself to some freebies. Ah the perks of being a student again…
After my roommate came back from class, we decided to go out for dinner. She had a craving for Chipotle, but Freebirds was nearby so we “settled” for that. She had never been, so I was able to enlighten her on what I learned from a previous visit.
We also were unfairly charged for parking. The lot we parked in apparently gave the first 45 minutes for free if we had validation, but when we tried to leave, there was no place to validate so the lady over the intercom was practically yelling at my roommate to hurry up. My roommate ended up getting charged 9 pricey dollars…the trials and tribulations of owning a car in LA!
Thursday was similar to Tuesday with classes and all. I had another successful crockpot dinner, and was excited to go to sleep and not have to set an alarm for the next morning.
Friday turned out to be a pretty productive day. I woke up when I felt like it and took my time getting coffee pressed, casually got ready to go out for a morning 4-miler, treated myself to a Quest bar, and picked up a clearance yogurt/quinoa bowl from Fresh and Easy. With almond meal and white chocolate peanut butter thrown in, it tasted like perfection.
My roommate came back to the apartment for lunch, and I hitched a ride with her when she had to go back for one of her lab classes. I hunkered down in one of the libraries, and studied for an upcoming lecture. My roommate ended up getting out early and decided to drive back home for the weekend, and after about four hours in the library, I came home to none other than a crockpot dinner . I also decided to get some laundry done, and despite having some issues with the machine, was able to get the load finally washed and dried by yesterday night.
Yesterday turned out to be a fabulous day as well. During my trip last weekend to The Grove, I learned about the Nike Run Club events hosted by the Nike Running store there. When I learned that they were having a promotional series of events starting off with a 10k group run, I immediately knew I had to check it out.
So on Saturday morning, I got myself up at 6:30AM so that I could get to The Grove on time via public transit. I was the first one there (naturally) but I took in the quiet environment around me as more and more people started to show up.
In all honesty, I just expected it to be a very chill group run, but our pacers (who were employees of the store) were enthusiastic about our presence at the event. They even allowed us to run in some Nike Pegasus shoes! And um, of course I indulged in that offer !
After group stretching and a team huddle, we were off! Since we started a little after 9AM, the weather was starting to heat up and it was a bit challenging, but I still ended up running about an 8:53/mi pace. Throughout the run, I was alongside one girl and one of the employees (who also blasted some EDM for us—which was awesome)! And the shoes? I literally felt like I was flying, and I felt like such a running pro wearing them. Wishing I could “borrow” them for more runs now…
I also loved seeing the expression of cafe customers and older folk going out for their morning stroll, probably wishing we crazy runners wouldn’t shock them so early on a Saturday morning .
Another amazing perk was given to us after the run, in the form of Sprinkles Cupcakes with the Nike Run Club logo on top. I helped myself to two cupcakes after giving back my the store’s shoes 
.
The store is hosting two more events as part of the series (a 15k and a half marathon), and attendees who ran the 10k and who run the future two events get entered in a giveaway to win some pretty neat prizes. Running for free stuff is what I’m all about, so I made sure to mark the dates of those events in my planner
After my solid group run, I went over to the Farmer’s Market to collect some produce, then made a couple more stops at some other stores. By the time I got on the bus to return home, my shoulders were more sore than my legs! At least my grocery haul was worth carrying all the way though:
What was the craziest or most fun thing you did last week?