Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mesmerizing

You know that sound the dryer (is it drier?) makes when you put a pair of sneakers in there? SlideThumpSlideThumpSlideThump. Our water heater makes a sound very similar to that. The refrigerator makes a thumping sound..or a dripping sound - Dad thought it sounded like dripping. Apparently maintenance is concerned about neither of these sounds.


Orientation is over - that's right, I survived. Did I learn much? We'll have to wait and see. Of course, by "wait and see", I mean for an entire year, because I'm not teaching until a year from now. Regardless, I survived the week. Tomorrow I have an actual lab meeting, so I'm hoping to get some idea of what I'll actually be doing for the next year. I'm ready to go, I don't want to waste a year when I don't have teaching responsibilities, I want to get a lot done.

As far as running goes, I don't have a lot to say - namely because I haven't run since Saturday's race. I've been feeling bad about it, but I'm officially letting myself off the hook. I feel lousy, quite frankly. I'm tired from sitting in seminars all day and from staying up to ungodly hours watching the Olympics. Apparently allergy season in MI is very different than allergy season in NC, and my throat hurts and sinuses are all stuffy. And, eating crap and drinking more caffeine in the past four days than I have in the past four months is playing mean tricks on my stomach and probably blood pressure.

Yesterday, though, I bought a new bike for commuting to school - yay! I really think I'm going to need it to get between two specific classes, and also the walk to campus is almost twice as long as I thought it was (oops) and therefore takes nearly twice as long as I thought it would. I'm thrilled about the bike, though. My first single speed since that cute little blue Panasonic. Bet you didn't know Panasonic did bikes...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Grand Woods Trail 5k - Race Report

Last week, Doug discovered that there was a 5k going on not far from here this weekend, and hey! it was "cheap", so I decided to get my first Michigan race out of the way. This was a trail 5k, run on basically a cross country course - a lot of grass, and a little dirt. I've never raced on a course like that and never done a trail 5k at all. Looking at last year's results, I thought that if I ran well there was a chance I could place in my age group.

Realistically, I haven't trained well in the last few months. Ever since my three-week layoff in May/June I've been struggling to get my mileage back up in the NC summer weather, which I just hate. I've bounced around, really never exceeding 15mpw all summer long. In light of that, my official goals for today were

1) Have fun
2) Practice pushing outside of my comfort zone - this is an area where I really need some work.

This morning I got up a little after 6, got dressed in my fun new shirt (see below), and had some breakfast. We left a little after 7. It just occurred to me that I didn't have coffee! Maybe that was my problem When we arrived at the race it was sunny but in the low 50's still, so this NC girl shivered for a while. There was also a cool layer of fog hanging over the big grassy field, and the grass was soaked in dew. People were trickling in until a little after 8, when it got much more crowded. This was when I got intimidated - the entire Lansing Community College XC team showed up. I wandered around for a while, and checked out the famed hill right before the finish - it's a pretty steep grassy hill just before the 3 mile mark - it's probably only 15 or 20 yards long, but really quite steep. With how short it was I figured it would be fine, but with all the dew on the grass and the hill being pretty shaded, I was a little worried it might be slippery.

We lined up at the start just before 9, listened to a few announcements, and headed off. Right away I thought I had gone out too fast, but was sort of caught up in a pack of people and really wanted to find my own space. I had a side stitch within the first 1/4 mile that stuck with me for the rest of the race, it just kept switching sides. I passed quite a few people during this mile, and was passed a few times. Near the end of the mile it seemed people had found their stride and things sort of spread out. During the second mile I felt pretty much alone - there were several people maybe 10 yds in front of me, and no one I could see behind. I passed a few people this mile, and wasn't passed by anyone. At this point I was hurting from my "fast" start and slowed way down. Once I saw the 2 mile marker, though, I figured I'd survive if I held that pace to the end. I passed one more person during the third mile, and was passed by a girl who I think might have been in my age group. There was a long, gradual hill pretty much right before the steep hill, which I hadn't really planned on. I felt a little dizzy getting to the top of the gradual hill, then had a short gradual downhill before the steep climb. When I got to the bottom of the steep part I felt like I'd fall backwards if I didn't hammer the hill, so I got up on my toes and pushed it up to the top - at which point I thought I would pass out. I cut way back, and that's when the girl caught and passed me. From that point I basically just survived to the finish - before the race I noticed a long gradual downhill right after the steep part that I thought I would be able to pick up speed on, but I was dizzy enough at that point that I didn't really try.

Splits:
1st mile: 8:31
2nd mile: 9:15. Blah
3rd mile: 9:05
.1: 0:50
Watch time: 27:42 (8:55 pace)

Not a PR, unless you count it as a trail PR, but honestly to me it just feels like it isn't. I admit I'm a little disappointed because it's sad for the streak to end, BUT, this time last year my 5k PR was almost 4 full minutes slower, so looking back over the last year I am very pleased.

I have pictures, but have to find the camera cable before I can post them.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Best. Shirt. Ever. And an update

We're in Michigan! Actually we've been here for a week, and I'm just now getting around to posting. So far, we love East Lansing. The weather has been incredible, the town has a great atmosphere, running is great. I can run at 3:00 in the afternoon without dying, even!

School stuff starts Monday. Doug's had some job interviews, but no bites yet so we're hoping something will come through very, very soon.

This evening we were exploring and stopped in a Dick's Sporting Goods only to find a shirt that was apparently made just for me. Check it out!


Saturday, August 02, 2008

And so it ends...

Once again, it's been quite a while since my last post. Things have been crazy and running hasn't been going quite as I had hoped - on the bright side, though, it's been more successful than any previous summer.

Thursday was my last day of work. Three years in the working world, done. The other night I had so many thoughts and I couldn't get to sleep - I was sort of half crying, composing this entry in my head, and trying to get my mind to just shut up so I could get some sleep. Of course everything I had thought to write that night is gone now, all those profound thoughts just...poof. Over the past few years I've learned a lot about the world, research, and, most importantly, myself. The person I was three years ago compared to the person I am today - I can't even describe the difference. Fortunately I can say that I feel much more prepared to start a PhD program now than I did back then, and I'm much more confident now that I'll succeed.

As I was notifying people about email address changes, I sent off an email to my new mentor. He wrote back with words of wisdom about listening to other scholars...and always finding time for physical activity. So, that's what I have resolved to do over this next week (and beyond, but lets take it one week at a time here). Things are sure to be insane over the next few days - we have to get the apartment all packed and cleaned, drive approximately 800 miles overnight, and get all moved in to a new apartment. Earlier this week I neglected my exercise and that resulted in a meltdown on Wednesday (the same night as the crying and all that) - a 6 mile evening run, followed by a very long shower, and another 3 mile run in the morning made all the difference. I need to keep that in mind this week, and not let packing and all that get in the way of my sanity.

Tonight we hung out with close friends for possibly the last time. This is definitely an emotional time...