It's been a busy past two weeks since my last update. This past week I had a 15 page (minimum) paper, a homework problem set, and a presentation, all for one class. Then I also had an outline for another paper in a different class, and also had to grade lab reports for the organic chemistry lab I TA. It was a very stressful week. It was only Tuesday, and every time I heard the word nucleic acids or sugar or DNA or anything of the sort, I wanted to throw up and just disappear for a couple of weeks (months (years)).
I am so glad and thankful that I have the ability to exercise. I don't know what I would do without it. It's such a stress reliever by itself, and it's really the only thing that keeps me going. That just makes me think of when people find out how I train and ask "how do you do it." And really I just don't know how I could not.
Last weekend I had a couple of bike-to-run bricks. If I haven't mentioned it before, a brick workout is a combination of two or more of the disciplines (swim, bike, run) into a single workout. They're important preparation for a triathlon, because until you do one (either a triathlon or a brick), you won't be ready for the sensation that is changing from the swim to the bike, or [especially] from the bike to the run. One day was pretty easy; it was the morning I had Coast Guard duty, so the bike leg was particularly short (just 30 min on the trainer) and a 4 mile run. The next afternoon was great, with a decent 35 mile bike, followed by the same 4 mile run. What amazes me is that I seem to be significantly faster coming off the bike than if I started from a dead run. Of course, I'm just waiting to find the threshold where that is no longer true. I don't expect that when I do a half-Ironman, my half marathon off a 56 mile bike will be faster. (Of course, who knows...)
This week was suppose to be a recover week, and I did so to my mild extent, which given my school workload, it matched up nicely. I took the week off from lifting, which gave me time to do my grading. And Wednesday, due to a CBI speaker forum, I passed on attending the weekly TnT ride. This afternoon, I also decided not to brick after my bike ride. It was windy and chilly which made the ride kinda tough and miserable. This route was only the second time I've done this longer course, so I opted out of the run.
Yesterday was a very fun day. A couple of us (TnT people) went down to Salisbury, MD, a town (city?) on the Eastern Shore (you take the Bay Bridge to the big peninsula) to volunteer for a local 5k race. The TnT group out of that area has been putting on this and other fundraiser for a couple of years now to raise funds for TnT events (like Columbia, but also some of the 100 mi bike rides). By volunteering, they are able to throw some of their net our way.
It was a long day; we had to leave at 5:15am to make the two-ish hour drive. I think we wanted to get there early enough to volunteer just for registration, but we got looped into to helping through out the event, but it only kept us until about 10:30. What I really enjoyed was being able to meet all the triathletes. Baltimore is not the most [tri]athletic area; I really only started meeting triathletes through TnT. At this race though, I got to network with some interesting people. They were also amazingly nice. For helping out at the starting line, a race director hooked us up with some free lock-laces (shoelaces you don't need to tie/untie, making transitions quicker). It turned out another guy is the race director of the open water swim I'm doing in two weeks. I talked to him about inexpensive places nearby to spend the night before the race. We had moved on in the conversation, but not even 10 minutes later, he offered to put me up for that night (other common TnT acquaintances were also going to be there). Really; nice people. Another fellow volunteer took some pictures. I'll see about getting them up here or on Facebook.
We got back late enough that I decided to pass on trying to get to the lab. All I needed to do was some reading, and I would've only ended up being there for 2 or 3 hours. Instead I finally got my oil changed and made a trip to Charm City Run another local running store. I'm still up in air about if I should invest my "loyalty" in one specific store: Falls Road Running Store, or Charm City Run? And if I do, which one?
By the way, I think I will end up doing the City of Oaks Marathon. No matter how I played with the numbers, CoOaks will be cheaper, and I'll have the advantage of knowing the course location, which I learning can make a huge difference.
Right now doing laundry and relaxing until swim. I need a new swimsuit soon.
After this week, I was dying for the chance to visit Raleigh. I still don't know if/when I'll be able to do that next.
Please be thinking of my aunt Becky. Last week, her husband, my uncle, passed away. A lot of my family is with her now, so I'm sure she's in good company.
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