Oh! The Midterms!

Let me lay this out for you real quick:

Monday - Tissue Mechanics quiz

Tuesday - Biomechanical Design Exam

Wednesday - Mechanical Design II Exam

Thursday - Vibrations Lab Report due

Friday - Tissue Mechanics Exam; Vibrations Homework due

Ouch...it hurts my brain just looking at the schedule!  Those are just the assignments/exams too!  There are project steps that need to be completed and classes/labs to attend as well.

I have no idea how I'm going to try to squeeze some running/biking/swimming into all of this.  I just can't convince myself that it is worth it to go for a quick run when I have so much studying to do.  When I take my breaks, I find myself pacing the kitchen and eating spoonfuls of peanut butter, nutella, ice-cream or any combination of the previous three.  This does make me feel a bit better though:

In a lighter note (read: sunnier), after my classes Friday I will be taking off to Ft. Myers, FL for Spring Break!   My older sister, her boyfriend, and I will be driving down there Friday and arriving Saturday evening.  Then, Sunday morning I will be running in the Hooters Half Marathon (race details/strategies to follow in another post).

For now, wish me luck as I try to cram all this knowledge into my brain only to make a feeble attempt at regurgitating it during an exam.

Over, out, and off to bed.

What a week!

Everything was insane last week!  Training, weather, school, my diet, etc.  I swear, everything happened just like a normal week, but it was all amplified by so much that the amount of insanity would need to be graphed on a double-log plot.  Absolutely insane!

Let's start with the weather as that dictated the training:

High's in the mid 40's and even creeping up to the low 50's

A bit windy, but sunny

All the snow melted!  All 20" that we got because of the huge storm a few weeks ago...ALL OF IT!

Training:

Run total: 5 runs, 39 miles (felt great all week, most distance I've done since I was marathon training in the fall of '09)

Bike total: 2 rides, 86 miles (not enough, especially since 62 was outdoors on Saturday afternoon)

Swim total: 3 swims, 12k scy (good workouts, felt great all three workouts)

School:

Small conflicts with professors turned into serious conflicts and concerns regarding my grade in the class.  It was a rough week full of talking to the dean and telling the same stories over and over again until I got sick of it and let it all go.  Nevertheless, I have never been involved in a conflict like that before and the amount of stress and strain it caused (clever joke because it's a Solid Mechanics class!) was ridonkulous

My diet:

I think this stems from not having a parking spot at my apartment and therefore not having a car at my apartment.  This means I have to bike/walk to the store to get groceries...I hate walking!  Therefore, I must bike to the store.  Which means I can't purchase a whole lot at one time because I have to bike it all back home!

So Saturday after my ride, I thought about biking to the store for the basics (milk, eggs, bread)  But, after 60 miles outside, my nether-region would not allow me to sit on a bike seat for longer than absolutely necessary. And the only thing that it seemed to tolerate was a ride to the Quality Dairy to get some ice-cream.  So, Saturday's dinner was a supreme pizza, ice cream, macaroni&cheese, and some cheese.  

Sunday wasn't much better as I ran 12 miles in the snowstorm and came home and ate left-over mac&cheese, peanut butter, and more ice-cream for dinner.

Overall, the week was insane...this week I hope to tone it all down a bit as I have 3 exams that I need to study hard for and a lab report due next week.  

Delicate Balancing Act, is it really?

I realize that I am in a very fortunate position in my life right now.  I am attending a great university, I'm working a great job where I get to work whenever and wherever I want, I'm in a relationship with a wonderful girl whose only downfall is that she lives 4 hours away, I have no family commitments, and I am financially stable with no student loans or debt, and I get to return to an amazing internship in the summer where I gain tons of experience and cash money.

I always have people to work out with; they're a very fast group of energetic and supportive friends/triathletes.  I'm no longer sick, my ankle is feeling much better (95%), I feel like I could work out all day every day.  Basically, the only thing preventing me from doing that is school, homework, and sleep.  Yet, seeing as how most people involved with this sport have addiction issues with the sport (aerodynamics, runner's high, sweating, lactic acid, etc.), this addictive personality carries over into other aspects of my life.

When I get focused on a topic (triathlon, cleaning, homework, studying, etc.)...I tend to stay very focused on that topic and everything else gets pushed aside.  This is something I can do at this stage in my life because I have no career or family that will suffer if I ignore them.  So, is my life really as cluttered as I make it out to be, or am I just awful at multi-tasking?  I believe the latter.  

Training Update:

Great run yesterday: 7miles at 7:20 pace (felt easy)

Hills today: 6.5 miles total with 8x30" hard & steep hills with 1' recovery

Tough swim today: MS - 30x50 (1-10 @ 50", 11-20 @ 40", 21-30 @ 45")

Two runs planned for tomorrow. 8ish in the morning, then a brick at night (75' bike, 30' run).

Feelin' Good

Ran for the first time in 10 days yesterday.  Did a good 5.5mi with a buddy at 7:30/mile.  I felt like I hadn't taken a single day off.  My legs felt fresh.

Today, however, I did a long bike with the team.
10' WU
2x20' Tempo @ 2' Recover
3x (2' Single Leg, 1' Climb, 1' Hard, 1' Recover)
5x10' Tempo @ 2' Recover
10' CD

Ouch

Sufferfest - Angels

If you don't know about this already, be sure to check out Sufferfest.  They are awesome training videos with great footage of pro races and great music.  I did their "Angels" workout today, which involved quite a bit of climbing.  Stupid Contador and Schleck had to continue attacking too...I was sprinting uphill, pushing 350+ watts for 8 minutes.  It was awful.  But great at the same time!  I'm such a glutton for pain.

On Introspection

So I came across this survey on SlowTwitch asking simple questions about triathlon and why we are involved in the sport.  It may be the fact that I have no school tomorrow (SNOW DAY! In college, shocking, right?) or that it is just a few questions I have never thought of before.  So I thought I'd share the questions and my answers to them with you.  They are good questions, and it may be good for you to think of them as well.

1. What do you enjoy about triathlon and the training involved?

• It keeps me motivated and surrounded with great people.  It provides a community both local (club teams) and worldwide (SlowTwitch) to draw information from.

2. What is important to you while you run/ride/swim?

• It depends.  If I'm run/ride/swim-ing outside, safety is the top priority.  It is very difficult to be seen outside if you're not in a car.  If I'm inside, my priorities are my workouts.  Am I hitting my intervals/watts/reps/etc.?  Am I able to accomplish the specific training that I need in the limited time that I have?

3. From a personal standpoint, what do you get from your workouts?

• Satisfaction that I have bettered myself that day.  Clarity because I can zone out during workouts and remove myself from the stress of school/work for the hour or so that I'm moving.

I'm still trying to shake this lingering cough.  It's rough, but getting better every day.