UIC MBA Blog of Jay Lin Past, present, and future plans in the life of an entrepreneur and Chicago UIC MBA student.

This past Sunday, I decided to run the Chicago half-marathon.  I’ve always wanted to see how hard it would be so I just signed up.  Sometimes you have to try something out to see if you can do it.  I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.  Below was my training schedule for the half marathon:

• Run 3 miles once before
• Run 5 miles once before
• Run 6 miles a week before the race

Yep, that’s it!  I thought to myself on the 6 mile run, “it’s only double this length so it shouldn’t be too hard.” Boy, was I wrong.  During the actual race, the first 7-9 miles were not bad.  It’s miles 10-13 that really kills you.  My body was breaking down and motivation to run the last 3 miles was disappearing.  Many times in life, this analogy can be translated to other problems you face.

1. The most difficult part of an obstacle is just to do it.  Sometimes you have to put all excuses aside and just do it.  The moon will never align and the timing will never be perfect.  JUST DO IT.
2. Once you start, you realize it’s not that bad just like the first 7-9 miles of my race.  This is about the time that you realize you should have done this all along and it’s really not that difficult.
3. The end of obstacle is where the true test comes in.  Mile 10-13 were extremely difficult for me.  I did get some motivation from couple of the bands playing but I was thinking about walking the rest of the way.  When the going gets tough, many people will just flake out.  The only reason I got through this was the strong support system.  It was weird.  As you can see from the picture below, my name is included on my tag.  People on the side would shout your name and encourage you.  This, couple along with the other runners, was the motivation I needed to finish the race.  When you’re approaching the end stretch of an obstacle, you need a strong support system.  I will try to look for support systems and encouragements for my other obstacles from now on.

Would I do it again?  Maybe.  Could I do a full marathon?  I’m not really sure.  My legs were gone for the next two day.  I’ll consider it for next year.  I might just end up signing up and forcing myself to do it.

This is how confident I was in my ability to run the race.

Not a bad run for no training

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I recently finished reading The China Study and decided to become pescetarian for the month of September.  If you know me at all, this is an extremely difficult challenge for me because I sure love my meat.  The book recommends being a pure vegan but I don’t think I can give up seafood and meat in one sitting.  I’m doing a modified version in which I will eat no animal protein (not counting fish - that’s an argument for another day).  I will not be eating any meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, buffalo, or whatever floats your boat) and I will not be taking in any animal related substance such as eggs, dairy, cheese, yogurt, etc..   I’m not going to be super picky and cut out anything that contains eggs as many vegetarian entrees contain eggs but I will try to avoid eating it if it includes a large portion of the items I’m avoiding.

The China Study

Brief facts about “The China Study” (If you haven’t realized yet, I love to bullet point items):

• The China Study is named after a study based in China in which people from all different regions have completely different health
• Meat and milk are the real carcinogens and cause of high cholesterol which leads to heart problems, obesity, diabetes, etc..
• The least actives Chinese take in more calories daily compared to normal active Americans and still have less health problems and weigh less
• Those in China who eat the least amount of processed vegetables, fruit and grains, have the fewest affluence-related health problems
• To sum up, a vegetable and whole food diet without meat will lead to better health.  It’s more complicated than this but you’ll have to read the book to find out

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I like to thank everyone who came up to me during the new student orientation to tell me that they enjoyed reading my blog.  It’s nice to get some positive reinforcement and it motivates me to write more entries. So…. on to my next topic:

Why it’s a good time to be a student:

• Obvious - the job market is pretty bad right now so it’s really difficult to find jobs
• When companies start hiring again, they’ll wonder why there’s such a large gap in between employment
• Pursuing an MBA is a great way to enhance your abilities during this downtime and fill the gap in between employment
• While in school, take time to networkand enjoy yourself.  Do all the things you’ve always wanted to do (travel in the summer or winter break, enjoy what the City of Chicago has to offer, stay in shape, etc..)
• It will be very difficult to find time to finish your MBA once you have children and other obligations
• NETWORK!!  I can’t emphasis this enough.  The program is a great time to meet like-minded individuals and a great step towards finding a new job

• Incoming MBA students tend to take most of the same classes together.  Joining groups will allow you to meet 2nd and 3rd year students that you would not have had the opporunity to meet otherwise.
• Social events outside of class will bring out different sides of people.  The student you sit next to in class might be completely different outside the classroom setting.  The relaxed atmosphere makes it easier to get to know one another
• Attend the community events.  Working together to help others is both rewarding and a great chance to bond with others
• Most of these social events have FREE FOOD or FREE DRINKS!  Enough said.

By the way, take advantage of benefits once you are a student.  Go workout at the fitness center.  I would compare it equally to a Lifetime Fitness that cost $60-$70/month!  Now go out and have fun!

UIC Fitness

Posted under UIC MBA Liautaud

I officially switched over to a Sigg Reuseable water bottle over a year ago.  I use to drink plastic bottle waters like you wouldn’t believe.  In a week, it wouldn’t be unusual for me to go through at least a case of 24.  How could you not love them?  They’re convenient to bring around, easy to throw away or recycle and they’re cheap!

One day last year when I realized I didn’t throw away my recycling bin and it had been accumulating for over 2 weeks, I took a look and was shocked to see so many empty plastic water bottles.  I decided then and there that I would switch over to a reusable water bottle.  After research on Amazon.com (greatest site ever), I went with the Sigg over the imitation brands and more established brands like Kleen Kanteen.

Sigg Bottle

Fact:

- I’ve probably saved at least 500 - 1000 water bottles since that time.

- That equates to about $300 savings in one year span.  The Sigg cost about $20 shipped.

- 86% of water bottles take up to 1000 years to biodegrade

- Producing, packaging and transporting a liter of bottled water requires between 1,100 and 2,000 times more energy on average than treating and delivering the same amount of tap water

- When plastic bottles get heated in the sun, you might be drinking harmful toxins.

- As a rule of thumb, scientists say that you can fill a PET bottle ¼ of the way with oil to symbolize how much energy goes into every bottle.

Now, I don’t know what 1000 bottles stacked together looks like, but I imagine something like this:

Water Bottle waste in landfill

In conclusion, save yourself some money and do something good for the earth.

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UIC MBAA board members at Chicago Care Event

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