Catching Up

Woah ... What the heck happened to Blogger? Not sure if I like this "update" or not. Hrm.

Anyway ... Last Thursday was my last day of Boot Camp for me. Honestly, I already miss it. I was finally getting used to waking up early and functioning through longer days. I planned to spend some time this weekend going through my notes from the last 4 weeks and figuring out how I can replicate some of the exercises using what equipment I already have (no money = no new toys), but it just didn't happen.

I chose to be lazy Saturday since the weather was crappy in the morning and I had a new book. But, Sunday felt like a perfect day for a run. It was cool and breezy and lovely. Trying to ignore the last several weeks' long(er) runs, I went out without any expectations other than to finish a loop I planned out. I pulled my sleeve down over my Garmin so I couldn't look at my pace and just ran by how I felt. I had a pretty good idea of the mileage up to a certain point so I resisted temptation until I had to decide if I was going to take a short cut and stay on the road for the rest of the way home or if I was going to add in about a mile of actual trail. I had made it 5 miles on pavement with a consistent pace around 11:30 and still felt great so I went for the trail. Oh man. I could have possibly done 7-8 miles if I had stayed on the road, but that 1 mile of trail kicked my backside and I had to cut off my run at 6 miles. I figure I sped up or something coming up out of the flood plain and my body didn't like it. At first, I grumbled about still having to walk the rest of the way home, but I had a thought about a half mile into the walk that I was GLAD for that time. I COULD have called someone to come pick me up, but it was under 2 miles and I really took the opportunity to think about things I didn't have the concentration for while I was running. Positive thinking is a wonderful thing.

I'm stressing out like never before over this paper. I literally have 2 weeks to get it through committee and defense. And I can't start work on my defense until the paper clears my head advisor. And that's all I'm going to say because I'm TRYING desperately to stay calm and productive (on something, anything) this evening.

Since my future is up in the air after graduation (if it happens, grumble grumble) and I know I'll lose my parents' health insurance in July, I decided it was best to go in for a physical and one last check with my dr to make sure I'll be ok to go without a yearly (or more often) visit until I can get on my feet with a job and all that jazz. Well, what should have been a half hour visit yesterday turned into 2 hours, a round of shots, and 2 more appointments. Lovely. I'm going back tomorrow afternoon for a procedure to remove a mole (we think) on my back that is a bit larger than the dr is comfortable with. I've had this mole as long as I can remember, but I've never noticed anything weird about it. It's large, yes, but it's symmetrical and the color is normal. But, with my family's predisposition for skin issues, the dr wants to get it off. This is where it gets a little complicated. It's raised, so he thinks it can just be scraped off and cauterized. BUT. If it's deeper than he thinks, the lab says there's something fishy about the sample, or he just can't close up the skin without making a bigger mess of it, I'll have to go to a plastic surgeon to have more skin removed (and hopefully a smaller, nicer scar). Oh, and I have to have a (hopefully) final round of blood work done. *shudders* At least I was able to put off the blood work for 3 weeks so I can get through this semester and (hopefully) graduation.

Since I'm going to be a bit tender tomorrow, I got in a nice 4.32 mile run this evening. It was warm enough outside I was able to run in my new nike tempo shorts (holy crap I need to remember to use body glide when I wear those ... not used to running in "short" shorts. darn chub rub!) and a tee shirt. Even though I was taking it easy and focusing on form, I was able to pull out a negative-split run (11:23, 11:19, 11:10, 10:49, and 10:31 for the partial mile). I'm pretty happy with it. It felt great to get my sweat on and have some time to myself to think. Now I'm just hoping I'll be ok after tomorrow so I can get my last speed workout in on Thursday. I HAD planned on running at group, but Sarah and Steph are jonesing for Buffalo Wild Wings boneless night and I have a jonesing for some girly chat time. Wings and beer are acceptable when prepping for a 5k, right? lol. Anyway, I want to get my run in early in the day so I can enjoy some time with my friends.

Power House 5k is Saturday. I'm still contemplating my goals. I know I want to PR (and probably will be able to), but do I want to bust serious a$$ and gun for that sub-30-minute at the risk of pushing myself too hard? I've got to think about it.