Drs Evans to be

I haven't written about school stuff in a while, but these are exciting times in the Evans household. Ben is writing his dissertation, hoping to graduate in May. I am working on my masters thesis, also hoping to graduate in May. And yesterday, I found out that I have been officially accepted to the PhD program in Human Movement Science at UNC, so here's to another 3-4 years of learning about Exercise Physiology and cancer research!

Training summary-Week 3

This week was a hard week, and I'm not really sure why either. I did a total volume of 36 miles, which is an appropriate progression. Okay, actually it was the 3 runs at the beginning of the week that felt hard, like my legs were heavier than normal. That's probably a sign that I should make sure I stay well hydrated and eat enough carbohydrates. My tempo run felt particularly grueling; I really felt like I was pushing hard, but even so, I came in a bit slower than I should have. My runs on Saturday and Sunday were better, although my footpod battery died in the middle of my long run on Sunday, so I had to go by time as to what I though 11 miles had been. I haven't looked at my training schedule for this coming week, but I think it will be more of the same.

3 weeks down, 10 to go

Training summary-Week 2

So last week, it was bright and sunny and in the 60s and 70s. Not so this week! All of my runs were in 40-degree or below temperatures with generally overcast skies. On Saturday, it snowed! Yes! Isn't that awesome! We hadn't seen snow in quite a while, so I was quite excited. We only got about half and inch, but it still looked pretty coming down, and it even stuck on the grass and trees.

This week I did a total volume of 34 miles, including a 10-mile long run. One of my workouts was a speed workout on the track. I haven't done many of those before, but it's good for helping me to push my anaerobic threshold higher so that I can sustain a faster pace for longer periods of time.

2 weeks down, 11 to go.

Training summary-Week 1

This was a good week, highlighted by balmy weather. Today was the exception though; it was in the 40s and cloudy. I did a total weekly volume of 31 miles, which included a 10-mile long run this afternoon. I got a Polar heart rate monitor and footpod for my birthday a couple months ago, so now I can keep track of things like my heart rate, distance, and pace during each run. It is pretty handy, especially the pace and distance features, so now I can explore new routes on the fly without having to map them out first with Google Earth.

1 week down, 12 to go.

New training period

Well, it's time to get back into race shape. The race of choice this time is the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon on April 5th. Today begins my 13-week training period, and my goal is to beat my race time from the City of Oaks Half Marathon that I did back in November (1:50:37). This week begins nice and easy, with a total weekly mileage of 31 miles, including a long run of 10 miles.

Just like I did when I was training for the City of Oaks Half Marathon, I'll write weekly training summaries to chart my progress leading up to this race. Should be fun!

Sly virus

So as I mentioned in my last post, Ben and I went to New Orleans for Christmas. We brought back a small loot of Christmas presents, Sicilian foccacia, a jar of olive salad, and my aunt's cold.

My aunt Mary was battling a pretty nasty cold for much of the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. I had been secretly priding myself that I had not come down with any kind of upper respiratory ailment since March, but alas, the rhinovirus found me out and attacked me in full force.

The virus was stealthy. It did not rear it's ugly head until about 2 days after we returned to Chapel Hill. The first symptom was a really runny nose on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, the runny nose was partially replaced by a lot of chest congestion and coughing. Yesterday, the symptoms were a little better, however it had taken part of my voice with it, which was slightly problematic because I was scheduled to cantor Mass last night. That was an interesting experience because while I could still sing fairly well, I couldn't really talk much, and by the time Communion rolled around, I asked Roger our organist to announce the hymns because my speaking voice was mostly gone. Today is much better though, proving that yet again, the rhinovirus is no match for my immune system (with a little help from NyQuil and Robitussin of course).

So Mr. Rhinovirus, you sure tried to fool me. But you should know by now that you can't slow me down! Maybe you should try picking on someone your own size. HA!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

I must give a shout-out to my fellow bell-ringing grad school friend Michelle Casad, whose 29th birthday is today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Christmas in New Orleans

Ben and I spent Christmas Eve through New Year's Eve visiting my family in New Orleans. It was a good trip, with lots of good food and fellowship. Some of the highlights included going to the French Quarter to Cafe Du Monde, eating mufaletta's from Central Grocery, and eating gelato and spumoni from A. Bricota's. Ben also learned how to make this Sicilian focaccia that my grandfather used to make every Christmas. Before he died, he taught my uncles how to make it, so now the recipe has been passed on to the next generation. We all agreed that Ben's first loaf was molto bene! Enjoy viewing some of pics from the week. I will admit that a disproportionate amount will be of my aunt and uncle's rabbit!
These are the Christmas presents we gave to our family. They are wine bottles in canvas bags with homemade wine holders (courtesy of the Ben Evans woodworking shop).
My cousin Jennifer and her husband Jonathan, me, Ben, my cousin Leslie, and my grandmother.
In the French Quarter the day after Christmas.
This is Babs, the 6-year old rabbit that belongs to my aunt and uncle. She lives in the backyard and can often be found basking in the sun or munching on grass and plants. Babs is somewhat of a super-rabbit because she survived Hurricane Katrina and was without water for 10 days. But she is doing well now and she is plump as ever!
Babs in the yard.
Me and Babs
A bunny close-up.