Introduction:

Stress. It's unavoidable, especially in the life of a college sophomore. Hello and welcome to my term project. My name is Kelsey and I'm on a mission to DE-STRESS my life. I am a physical therapy major at Loyola Marymount University and was recently assigned a project in which creativity was the only requirement. The purpose of this blog is for me to relieve a little stress in my life through running, and to learn about the physiological mechanisms involved in these processes along the way.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

I CAN.

Greetings,

I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately with all the school work and work work I have ahead of me. I've just finished writing my history paper and was looking for some motivation to continue onto the next one, when I came across a site called "I feel unmotivated." Jackpot. It provided me everything I need to continue working hard, not only in class but also in training! Here are some of my favorites:

Hercules - I Can Go the Distance!

Will Smith - Running & Reading (The Key To Life)

Billy Mills - 1964 Olympics Upset; 10,000 meters 

 Now here's the one the got me. This next video was absolutely heartbreaking to watch....the FIRST TIME. Yes, I've actually already seen it before, which is why it's pretty humiliating to admit I completely bawled my eyes out while watching today. I think the reason it caught me so off guard was because I knew what it felt like to be in that marathon setting. I feel so much inspiration from this father and son and most importantly, so much love. This is one of the best videos I think I have seen in my life, something that is extremely worthwhile in sharing. Crap. I just watched it again and couldn't help crying.....Excuse me while I grab myself a tissue! (Mom, you might as well go grab the box).


Team Hoyt - I CAN
 
I hope these provided you all with some motivation to get out there and pursue whatever it is that makes you happy. YOU CAN.

Cheers,

Kelsey

Monday, April 18, 2011

The College Girl's Guide to Stress

Hello folks,

It seems that the day has finally come, the day in which my anatomy project is due. I'm not sharing this information with you in regards to my blog being over, oh no, I plan on continuing this little bit, (mainly because I've come to thoroughly enjoy it). That was not the point; the point I wanted to share with you is that my final work has been published. We, meaning Kate Jones, Jackie Uribe, and I, have finalized our website: The College Girl's Guide to Stress! 

It's been a work in progress, but finally, the site accurately shows all of the hard work we have put in throughout these past couple months in producing our final product. Looking back I know that I, for one, have learned so much throughout this experience. When I think about the goals we were trying to accomplish, I have to say we obtained them and so much more. One of the main things I was concerned about when we started this project was it having the opposite effect that we intended, one in which we became more stressed than ever trying to "de-stress" our lives. This was not the case; I feel as though I got my happy, active self back through this assignment and that I learned a lot more about what stress means to me. For all my followers out there (Sorry I'm so popular), thank you for reading and supporting my blog thus far, I hope you continue to check in on me every once in a while! (Mom & Dad). For everyone else, cheers!

Till next time,

Kelsey

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I run to be ... educated.

Greetings friends!

It's been way too long. MY BAD. I'm going to spare you my heart felt apology and delve right in to what I came here to say.....I'M OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE NIKE WOMEN'S MARATHON! Woohoo! Sorry, I'm just really excited about it :)

So the NIKE Women's Marathon will be October 16th, 2011. That means I have approximately six months to train and get my butt in shape. I've been going periodically to the gym, doing my weights and strength routine and then running on average 4 miles. It's a hell of a better start than I had last year, but I got to stick with it!

I just took my last regular anatomy exam yesterday (tear) and would like to enlighten you on how your body gets the energy to do things! So basically your body has 3 main ways of making the energy (ATP) necessary to do work. The first way, most easily accessible way is through your ATP stores, which consist of all the ATP your cells have already made. Although this is a fast method of obtaining energy, these stores run out in 2 seconds of activity. After 2 seconds, your body starts making ATP most dominantly through your ATP-PC (Phosphagen) system. This just means your body is creating ATP through the catabolism of creatine phosphate which allows ADP to become ATP. Although this is another easy and efficient way for your body to obtain energy, it only lasts 10 seconds!! What's up with that? Once that runs out, your body turns to anaerobic FAST glycolysis, which is a process that turns glucose into pyruvates and then into lactic acid. This provides your body with energy for up to 1 minute. After 1 minute, your body relies on aerobic, slow glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle, and the Electron Transport Chain to make enough ATP to run that marathon! The way in which it does this is first through slow glycolysis: one glucose molecule is turned into two pyruvic acid molecules. Then these two molecules undergo a change to become Acetyl-CoA, which then enters the Krebs Cycle to form 1 ATP each along with some additional products! Finally, the coenzymes NADH+H+ and FADH2 are taken to the membrane of the mitochondria and the hydrogens that they have pass through via enzymes number one and number two; the electrons are transferred along the chain and are not allowed through the membrane, however they eventually wind up making metabolic water! (super cool). Now back to the hydrogens that passed through the membrane....these guys are going to pass BACK through an enzyme called ATP synthase, and in doing this, they are each going to be making an ATP. One crank of the Krebs Cycle ultimately produces roughly 34-36 ATP, and the best part is, this system is indefinite, meaning it never stops! This is going to be the most dominate form of energy production after 1 minute of work. However, it's important to keep in mind that all of these systems work in conjunction with one another. They all contribute to your body's ability to produce ATP, and that is such a wonderful thing because without them, we wouldn't be able to move!

Here's a graph that visually embodies everything I've been telling you!


I hope you learned a little something from that VERY brief synopsis (it gets much more in depth). I enjoyed telling you. I'm off for a run on this beautiful, sunny day. Cheers to you!

Till next time,
Kelsey 

P.S. here's my anatomy study group & I with our beautiful depiction of the Krebs Cycle! :)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

She Runs LA


Finally, something to train for again :)

If you live in the LA area, you should definitely join me! Use ambassador's code 741.

Cheers,

Kelsey