Training-Week 10 summary

Half marathon: This week was another high mileage week, at 36 miles. I did my second 12-mile long run today. We've experienced a bit of a warm-up this weekend, despite the fact that it's now officially fall. So anyway, today's long run felt a bit harder than last Sunday's long run, because it was about 15 degrees warmer this morning. Hopefully, the hot weather and the humidity will fade away soon, and I can have my cool mornings back. Of course, in about 3 months, I'm sure that I'll be talking about how cold it is!

10 weeks down, 6 to go.

In other news, my thesis proposal is a week from Tuesday. I thought that the week after comps would be a bit more relaxed, but not so! I spent a greater part of the week working on thesis revisions, as well as working on a research project for one of my professors. I kind of felt like I was back at my old research job, and it was kind of nostalgic. Anyway, my next big deadline is this coming Tuesday; I have to give copies of my thesis proposal to my committee so that they can have a week to read it.

Training-Week 9 summary

Half marathon: This week I increased both the weekly mileage and my pace. My long run today was 12 miles, the longest I've ever done. It was not a bad experience because we have recently experienced a drop in temperature. When I went out this morning at about 7:30, it was only like 55 degrees. It was so awesome.

9 weeks down, 7 to go.

Comps: Well, they're done! I took them on Friday. I am so glad it's over. Well, okay, I can't officially say they're done until I find out if I've passed or not, which won't happen for at least another month. But I can take a small rest in any case and move forward with my life, as in getting back to work on my thesis.

Training-Week 8 summary

Half marathon: I'm now halfway through my training for this event. This past week was an easy running week, as I alluded to in the week 7 update. All my runs were either 5 or 6 miles, so it was a bit of a "recovery" week. Now we are stepping up the mileage and pace once more.

8 weeks down, 8 to go.

Comps: Well, last week, I worked on several of the remaining practice questions. This week is it! Just 3 days till comps. I will be SO happy when it's done. I feel pretty well prepared; of course, there are some topics that I feel less proficient in than others, but luckily we do get some choices to pick from when answering the questions. Wish me luck!

8 and a half weeks down, 3 days to go.

Training-Week 7 summary

Half marathon: This week was my heaviest weekly mileage yet, at 34 miles. I did my long run this morning; another 11-miler. This morning was great weather, when I started my run, it was in the mid 60s and not too humid. My legs were a bit sore this afternoon, but they're feeling better now. This coming week is going to be an easy week with no long runs, so that I can get a bit of a break before I increase the mileage and running pace again.

7 weeks down, 9 to go.

Comps: Man, I am getting tired of studying. I am really looking forward to getting this thing over with, although I am glad for the remaining time. I've now pretty much gone through all my materials from last year's classes; now I am finishing the practice questions. Next, I will go into high-intensity review mode, now that I have the big picture ideas down, I need to make sure I keep all the little details straight.

7 weeks down, 2 to go.

Fun music pic

I was browsing the Pittsboro Bach Society website (see link at right), and I found this picture from a concert we did back in February. This is me looking over my music during a break (I don't have the long hair anymore!). The Pittsboro Bach Society was founded about 3 years ago by a man named Ted Ehrhard, a violinist and fellow parishoner at my church. We are a group that organizes bimonthly concerts and is dedicated to the joy of social music making.

Training-Week 6 summary

Half marathon: It is still really hot and humid, so the massive stink and sweat production continues. I am now in the 30-35 weekly mileage range, which is more than I've ever done before. Today's long run was a record 11 miles. Unfortunately my ipod battery ran out right around mile 6, so the last 5 miles of my run felt like a long time since I didn't have my music to distract me. Now that I am into the heavy weekly mileage (well, heavy for me), and since it will keep increasing, I have to really make sure that I eat enough carbohydrates and drink lots of water. The former isn't too hard; I do like my carbs :) However, I could always be better about hydration, so I just need to make sure I keep my water bottle full.

6 weeks down, 10 to go.

Comps: Well, we're entering the home stretch. I'm almost finished going through all the topics; I just have a section on anaerobic training left to go over. After I finish that; I will work on the remaining study questions and review notes. In my Seminar class, our professor is going to give us some test-taking strategies to help us with time management on test day. One really good piece of news: there is a strong possibility that we get to type our comps answers this year.

6 weeks down, 3 to go.

A new semester

Well, the fall semester officially began this week. Campus is crawling again with students, and classes are back in session. On the one hand, I feel like I had a pretty long summer vacation, but on the other hand, it feels like I never left. I only have 2 real classes this semester: Seminar in Exercise Physiology, and Exercise Testing and Prescription in the Healthy Population, and then I am also taking 3 credit hours of thesis research. My assistantship is a bit different this year too. Last year, I taught a bunch of PE classes, and I was the TA for the undergrad Human Physiology class. This semester, I am only teaching 1 PE class (YES!!!!!); for the rest of my assistantship, I am once again the TA for undergrad Human Physiology, plus I am a research assistant to one of my thesis committee members. I think this is going to be a good year. I am looking forward to getting my comps out of the way so I can propose my thesis and start collecting data. Other highlights of the semester will include applying to the PhD program in Human Movement Sciences at UNC, and maybe applying for some predoctoral fellowships.