Busy Busy Busy

on Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 8:41 PM

So yes I thought I'd update you all.  Actually I'm trying to find ways to procrastinate.  I've been in the library working on projects since 9am this morning and it's getting around that time when I'm starting to lose my wits.  So indulge me while I procrastinate.

As for running, well there really hasn't been a lot of it lately.  I think I've run a total of 3 miles in the past month.  The reason for it is due to a bunch of things.  My free time has dropped significantly so running has been put on the back burner.  The one thing is I just don't feel like running, which is a weird feeling.  I think I've figured it out though as being a result of lack of calorie intake.  I hadn't anticipated that my eating habits would be so terrible since returning to school.  Hot dog for lunch, chocolate bar for dinner.  I'm surprised that I even have any energy at all.  Thankfully, I've only put on about 2 pounds, but I'm sure my body fat percentage has increased.  I can't even fathom trying to train for a marathon based on the food, or lack thereof I've been eating.

What this basically means is that I'm not doing the Boston marathon this year. I have a take home exam due on the day of the marathon and then another exam two days later.  I could probably go and have a terrible experience considering the lack of training and all and then regret it when I stumble into class 2 days later to try and write an exam in pain, so I figure it's best to just not go.  Yes, it will probably be the last chance of doing Boston for a while since they lowered the BQ time to 3:10 for my age group.  Did 3:10 once, not sure I could ever to it again.

Anyhow, I should probably get back to these projects.  Thanks for reading.

Bueller, Bueller ??

on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 8:16 AM

Yes, I know it's been a while and in case anyone is still reading and was wondering what I was up to, let this post fill you in.

Since I last left you over 5 months ago, running wise, I ..., well I'm not really sure cause it's been a while. I did pace the scotiabank half at 1:45 and then paced the full at the Toronto marathon to 3:45. The full wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. When I did Ottawa, I was pretty sure I didn't want to pace a full again cause it hurt, but a fall pacing job wasn't too bad since I think I was better prepared and wasn't too sore afterwards. Maybe I'll do it again. Signed up for Boston next year, but there's a good chance I won't be going which I'll get to in a bit.

Training wise, things have been slow as of late. I've only recently started up again after a prolonged layoff. At this point, I'm trying to build up mileage, but am starting off slow. I averaged about 10 min miles last week for most of my runs. Sometimes one starts to wonder where did all the speed go, but with time it should come back. I'm always amazed by how quickly woman who have just came off of pregnancy are able to bounce back so I'm hoping for the same (not the pregnancy part of course.)

The biggest news for me is that I've returned to school full time to pursue a Master's degree. Left my job in September, took a few months off and then spent a few weeks in China and just started back in school this week. Considering it's been over a decade since my undergrad, this is a big change. Part of me still isn't sure about this move, but I figure I'll try it for 4 months, see how I'm handling it and either continue on, switch to part-time or drop-out. We shall see.

Now this theoretically means I should have more time to run, but with studying who knows, I may have less. One interesting thing was that yesterday I noticed one of my profs was wearing a garmin 405 as a watch. Now only hard core runners would wear a garmin as a watch. I looked him up and he ran a sub 1:30 half at scotia and a 3:20 full at Toronto. Wow.

As for Boston, one of my other, non running, profs has scheduled a final exam for Monday, April 18, which as you may know happens to be the day the Boston marathon is on (Damn Patriots day). There's a small chance that it'll be moved since a couple of the other people in the class have already said they have conflicts with other exams, but considering that this is basically around exam time, I'll probably have to be studying or writing exams anyways on that day, so it looks like Boston will be out of the cards this year. 

I will try and post a little more often than once every 6 months, but can't guarantee anything.  Hope you all have a fantastic 2011!

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