Like a fish

People! I do not think I have told you about my swimming lessons! If you look back into the past, a mere 2 months ago, you will see that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to take swimming lessons. I have been doing it! Only two weeks left and I only missed one. It has been super great. Swimming is such good all body exercise, and does not ever hurt my knees. I have also made awesome progress, and really mostly need to practice more. Yesterday I made it all the way across the pool without stopping once (we are in the shallow end, so I can stand up if I get too much water up my nose). Anyway, it is super exciting, and because of my swimming success I have decided to make a long term goal of doing a triathlon by the time I am 40. I will also need to get a bike.

Now an even more awesome champion

You may recall that back in October I ran my first 5k race, beat some clowns and clocked a time of 38:54. Well today I ran another 5k. There were no clowns to beat, but I think I smashed my previous record with a new time of 34:27. Go me! It was a fun race, very neighborhood-y (not in my neighborhood) and R got to over hear some firefighters with Chicago accents talk about how they supported the IRA. The old school IRA, though, not the current one. The current IRA is just a bunch of punks. Also, this race went up "largest hill in Chicago". I did not notice a hill. I am glad I began my running career at the highest point in Manhattan so that these Chicago hills are not a threat to me.

New Year

I have made some New Year's resolutions. They are mostly about exercising, but here they are:
*run at least 2x a week
*run in at least two races
*yoga or pilates 2x a week
*be more social and get out of the house more
*don't stress so much

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And since it is already Jan 17, here is how I have been doing. I have been doing great on the running. I got a Nike+ (Santa got me an ipod Nano for Christmas) which is a huuuuuuge motivator for me. R laughs at me, but knowing the Nike+ is watching me makes me push myself harder. Also, I love graphs! So I am on track for my running. We'll have to see about the races, but I have a whole year ahead of me. I have only done yoga twice and I still need to figure that out. Basically, I need to get over being embarrassed to do yoga with R in the house. I am not home enough when he is gone to get two half hour practices in a week. I am still trying though.

We have done great on the social front! I am so happy about it. We went out two nights last weekend, had people over during the week, and are going out two nights this weekend. woo! Go us!

Finally, I have been having serious issues with my dissertation which I cannot share here. BUT I have learned an important lesson which is that I need to go easier on myself, and stop beating myself for not reaching expectations I had that were ridiculous to begin with. To this end, I dropped my spring hours which means I definitely cannot graduate in May. That is ok. I am approaching the dissertation more as a journey. I work on it, and one day it will be done. I do not know when that day is. From now on, when people ask when I am going to be done my answer will simply be, "when I am done." I have lots of things I would probably do differently if I could go back and do grad school over, but one of the biggest is that I would not be so fixated on getting out fast. I was too obsessed with finishing and that made me get so upset when I missed deadlines and therefore caused me to procrastinate more. So I am working more on enjoying the day to day. And the lack of pressure has not made me work less, but actually more, as it is less of a chore now.

I AM a champion (plus cute baby animals)

Hey! I survived the 5k! I did have to walk for a tiny little bit, but I think I finished in about 45 minutes. I forgot a watch so I tried to pay attention to the race clock, but addition, remembering numbers, and paying attention are not really any of my main talents. Anyway, my chip time (they give you this little chip to put on your shoe that records the official time) was 38:54, but that is pretty not possible. I did run the first mile in about 12:30, which is super fast for me, so I slowed down after that. My youngest brother and his wife ran the race too, and I was happy there were more experienced runners there with me, although they left me in the dust pretty quickly.

It was a Halloween themed race so there were costumes, and the highlight for me was that I beat two clowns. Ha! Take that, clowns. I also pulled ahead of a camel at the last minute. I was impressed by the camel, though, as it was two people under a sheet and I don't know how they stayed together AND how the back hump didn't fall and die, since I am pretty sure she could only see the ground and nothing in front of her. It was fun, and I am probably going to register for an 8k in March to keep me running through the winter.

Cute baby animals:
If you enjoy cute baby animals, you will enjoy this blog.

I was pointed to it due to these tiny baby gorillas!

OK, I'm off to either clean my desk or make up some activities to teach my students about the endocrine system and blood.

Chariots of Fire

I signed up for a 5k! It is not until October, but I decided I needed the motivation of paying $25 to run in a race too keep me running through my weeks in the South, where the weather is so hot. I really hate the weather there. Heat and humidity are not my thing. Anyway, I am excited as it is a Halloween themed 5k with beer afterwards and hopefully my brother and his wife will run the race too. I have no doubt they are much faster than me, with their more running experience and their youth, but that is ok.

I am proud of my running lately. I pretty steadily go 3 days a week. I graduated myself from the Couch to 5k and now I have a 2 mile route that I can ALMOST run the whole of. I think I would be able to run the whole thing if I didn't happen to live at the highest point in Manhattan, thus causing me to have to run up some terrible hills. I am also working harder to change my outlook on my running. I have a history of not liking to do things I am not immediately good at. I don't know where I picked this up, but if I struggle with something the first time I do it it is hard for me to continue. Anyway, so instead of being sad I can not quite run 2 miles, I am now happy that I CAN run two miles, when just a few months ago I couldn't even run for 2 minutes. And lately my worst runs are still at least 15 minutes. So go me! And the benefit of all this is that my regular jeans fit again! And I just feel generally better about myself.

So I hope I can keep up the exercise even though I am exiled to the hot weather for awhile. I will keep that 5k in my sights as my motivator. Can't waste the $25, right?

Everything's coming up roses

Well, that title might be a little too cheery, but lately I've felt like everything is falling into place for me. On Tuesday I went to the place I teach early and just sat there in my little cube working all morning/early afternoon, surrounding by the voices of economists. While I was working I literally felt a kind of click, and it was like everything in my dissertation just came together and made sense and was awesome. Seriously. And I started really enjoying working on it. It was so strange. Since then, my serious procrastination issues have departed, and I have been able to get a lot of writing hours in. In fact, here it is Saturday and I am at the library. I got here a little after 11:00 and have been here for nearly 7 hours. woo! Go me! Yay woohoo!

Also this week I've gotten back into my running and this morning I ran two eight minute runs. Monday is the first 20 minute run, which is a little scary, but I haven't actually struggled to finish any of my runs in a while. It is more I feel kinda tired and want to stop, but I'm not gasping for air or feeling like my legs are going to fall off or anything, which is how I have felt during running in the past. I've also been doing other exercises like pushups and stuff on two days a week when I am not running. So that is cool. Maybe I can fit back into two of my pairs of pants soon so I don't need to go shopping.

Super Productive!

I am not sure if I wrote here already that I quit my dog walking job. Well, I did. I am really trying to graduate in May, so I am on the big dissertation writing push, and the having to go walk dogs in the middle of the day was really cramping my style. I am a flitterer while I work. I work a while, then need to read some blogs or wander around the house or whatever. I have really intense periods of work, and then it all just falls apart and I need to recharge for a bit. All of that is to say that I work best with a whole day for it, instead of having to cram it in between other things. Also, the dog walking did not pay much. Anyway, I am loving having the writing be my only job right now (although my class does start next week, so I will have two jobs). Lately I have been going to various libraries to work and I am getting a lot done. I like the productive atmosphere in libraries. Everyone typing away or reading or jumping up once and awhile to look in fat dictionaries. It is awesome.

I've also gotten back into my running. Both Monday and today I woke up and went right out for a run. Monday I thought I was going to die as I was soooo sore, but today's run/walk was good, and I actually feel energized from it. Although that also could be be because I was having a little trouble sleeping so I took some Tylenol PM last night which made me sleep like a tired rock. R is also taking care of me this week and cooking me dinners at night. So after a week of 2008, I am enjoying it greatly with awesome food, exercise, and productivity out the wazoo.

Gold Star, Loud Brain

Gold star: I went running this morning even though it was snowing! I am so hardcore. I also finally successfully ran the full week 4 amount of running. This is the first week which it has taken me two weeks to do. The plan is to run 3 minutes, rest by walking, run 5 minutes, walk, run 3 minutes, walk, and run a final 5 minutes. I have not been able to get that last 5 minute run done. Until today! I was panting like crazy though. It was very hard.

Loud Brain: Sometimes I kinda joke about not finishing my PhD, but recently I have come to face that it is really the best job for me and I love professor-ing so much. Last night I could not sleep because I was re-working syllabi in my head. Ha!

I am a champion

Tomorrow I will finish my third week of running! Go me! Soon I will be so buff. It is funny, that as I entered my late 20's and now my 30's, I have gained a little belly. I was always skinny skinny so the belly is a little disconcerting. However, since I have been running these three weeks I don't really think the belly has diminished, I just care less about it. Because I exercise, so whatever is there is there. The sad side effect is that I have lost some weight but it was in my boobs. My boobs are always the first to gain weight and the first to lose it. Oh well.

If I were going to be in town for New Year's, I would be tempted to do a 4 mile fun run in Central Park at midnight. People wear costumes! But I will be in the lovely middle west, so no midnight fun runs for me.

lalala

I couldn't think of a better title so that is me singing to you. I have about 10 free minutes here, before I go off to walk the dogs. I'm currently importing audio tapes that are dissertation related -- I have 45 tapes, each lasting about 45 minutes and they have to be imported in real time. It is a long job. Also, I am scared to do anything else on the computer while they are importing. I am not sure if the computer and the program are smart enough to keep the importing going while I am doing other things, so I am just leaving it alone. So there are long stretched when the computer is working, but I am not working on it. This is all for the third chapter of the diss. I have put the stats drama to the side for a bit, but should get back to it by the end of the week.

The last few days have been really nice fall-like weather, but it is getting up into the mid 70's again today and for the end of the week. I do not approve! I think 60 is my new perfect temperature.

I also like the cool weather because I am copying Katie and starting to run. I am using this Couch to 5k schedule and this podcast to tell me when to switch between running and brisk walking. So far I am really enjoying the running, which is a little strange as I have tried running at various times in my life before and not liked it. I've also been going to pilates, which will never replace yoga in my heart but is more near by, cheaper, and helps keep me stretchy and my core strong. I only go once a week and it kicks my ass every time. Tonight is my third class.

OK, just a quick update so now you can stop complaining about my lack of posting (I'm looking at you, mom. :) )