Running Shorts

Arlington, VA

Hello campers.  I made it.  It wasn't always fun-moving sucks...moving with three bikes sucks more- and I'm still not unpacked and I need to make another supermarket run, but i'm here.  I also got a 40 minute run in on the Custis Trail, my old stomping grounds.  The internet and tv are now working and I bought food to eat (dinner has been eaten) and soap to shower with (still needs to happen).  The bowls here are mini-sized so I am eating out of a pot and I bought cheap tablecloths so I can keep my bikes on the white carpet in my apartment.  There is plenty of room for them.  My apartment, besides the mini-bowls, is actually pretty awesome.  LOVE.

Proof I'm in the right place: the first person I met as I unpacked my bike-laden car was a lawyer on a Cervelo.  He has way more than three bikes and he keeps them all in his apartment.  I also think people in Virginia might be friendlier than New Englanders.  We'll see.  Tonight the plan is to get settled and read.  I have a feeling I'll be detoxing down here and also training a lot more.  I'm actually really looking forward to the warmer weather (after the snow they are expecting tomorrow!) and the chance to get back on my mt. bike.

Overhwhelmed

I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO BEFORE I LEAVE.  I also have a bike "situation."  Unbeknownst to me until 30 minutes ago there is a wait list for the bike room at the place I am staying.  I'm not on the list.  I was planning on bringing 3-4 bikes.  I've since gone down to 3 (road, mt., and hybrid.  That's too many to (tastefully) store inside in a one bedroom apartment.  AHHHHHHHHHH.  Well, they're all coming with me!!  Oh man.  Thank goodness they didn't have any efficiency apartments available (I'm getting a one-bedroom for the efficiency price).  I would have been cuddling with the bikes at night.

I also have inner tubes all over and some of them I don't think fit any of my bike tires.  I hope I'm just too harried to figure it out right now and I'm throwing them all in a bag along with tire levers and C02.  There is also a swim bag and a foam roller making the journey to Virginia.  It's chaos over here.

Yesterday's workout illustrated excellent running form /sarcasm/.  It was exciting b/c I ran further than I have since Christmas: 4 miles total.  However, sandwiched in the middle of the run was a 1.25 hour yoga session.  This meant I ran 2 miles to yoga-with a yoga mat and a mini-clothes bag-and 2 miles back.  It actually wasn't that awkward of a run holding all of that stuff.  Alright, back to the chaos.

I make my hair stylist look like a god

I never wash my hair before I get it cut (b/c they wash it anyway) and I always workout beforehand (b/c once they dry and style it it looks good).  This means I am ALWAYS going to get my hair cut (with the same guy) with disgusting workout hair.  Before my haircut today I went to 97 degree yoga for an hour and then ran for 25 minutes.  I showered but didn't wash my hair.  I looked GROSS.  I always feel kind of badly b/c they have to touch your hair to wash it!  Next time I should do before and after photo shots of my grossness.

I'm way tired and WAY discombobulated b/c I have SO MANY ERRANDS before heading to DC.  SOOO many.  I'm also tired.  I got more sleep during finals week!  I also got some books to read and everything is chic lit :)  Nothing too taxing for this brain right now.

24

I turned in my last paper today and immediately e-mailed my parents.  They've seen me through 24 years of school.  They read to me, took me to pre-k, helped me with my science fair projects, encouraged (told) me to take honors and AP classes even though our guidance counselors didn't want us to "overtax ourselves" by taking too many, and have proof-read countless versions of my resumes and cover letters.  It has been such a long journey and they were there every (sometimes excruciating) step of the way (I know they were talking about my current job situation the night before I got the offer-it was dinner table conversation but they didn't want to call me to ask why I hadn't heard yet).  Now that I think about it, my Dad went to visit a prospective law school with me.  Doesn't that stuff usually end with college visits?  Or maybe he just didn't want me wandering around Newark, NJ (his birthplace) alone.  Either way, admirable.

As a side note, I'm kind of afraid to leave the apartment b/c I think something bad will happen to me after finally achieving this milestone!

I went to yoga this morning.  The class is challenging but it feels awesome, especially now that I'm biking and running again and my muscles are tight.  The stretching is fabulous.

Alright, the apartment is a disaster and I have no food or clean clothes and I need to run.  YEAH FOR HAVING THE NEXT WEEK OFF!

PS.  I GOT MY COMPUTER BACK!!!!!!!!  Love.

One more day?

I guess I should be clear and note that I do not graduate from law school until May when I complete my last internship.  That said, my classmates and I are pretty stoked to be done with classes and almost done w/ finals (some people are already done!).  Can I pull it together for one more day after all of these years?  The plan is to take a final tomorrow morning and be done w/ my last paper by this time tomorrow night.  I hope it goes smoothly.  [Note:  I did celebrate my job offer with a run and I did go to spin class tonight.  I think I'm taking this exam period in stride.  I'll also probably bring sneakers/clothes to school to sneak in my usual post-test run-a ritual since college.]

Coming Together

I had a great spin class last night w/ a brick thrown in for good measure, I ran for 25 minutes today along the River, I think finals will be okay, tonight is my last school tri team meeting (that the new President is running!-i just have to sit there), the dentist and I hung out last night, and I am employed.  That's right.  I'm going to be a lawyer starting in September 2009.  Now I can stop stressing about finals and start stressing about the much more important task of advocating for real people.  It's been a good couple of days.

32nd time is a charm

Between HS (8 times), college (9 times), public health school (9 times), and law school (6 times), I've taken finals 32 times.  This is the last time.  To commemorate the experience I'm using a laptop from early this century that I almost recycled 3 times but fortunately got too lazy to complete the task.  It's really more of a word processor w/ slow e-mail and facebook access.  I'm fortunate to have it though given the timing of the computer breakdown and my internet addiction.  Back to the grind...

PS.  My teeth really hurt and there is nothing to be done about it :(  Getting them fixed in June might help.  Owwwww.

Red alert...

...the boy knows about the blog.  I guess the combination of me mentioning that I write and telling one too many stories about something I read on a blog led to him asking me if I have my own blog.  Ummm, noo, wellllll, yes.  So the secret is out, though I doubt he'll come looking.

I've also run for 16 minutes a couple of times (one day it was in the 50s here so I hit the River).  Last night Laurie hosted a sleepover party for some of our college friends and this morning we all hit up a yoga class.  I'm gross now, I have to study, and I have to find something to wear tonight!  Later...

For the love of god...

...just never kiss your spin instructor.  I walked in tonight and my bike was set up facing his, 1 foot to the right.  We could touch.  We could practically make out on bikes.

I had one bike store staff member (clearly in the loop) asking if this was okay or if I would rather move my bike somewhere else.  I wanted to be an adult and not make a big deal out of things so I said it was totally fine (even though I was like...ahhhhh).  And then the instructor and me both kind of smiling at the ridiculousness of our bike placement.  We haven't really talked much since the incident.  We did converse tonight about other random things.  It was fine-but ridiculous.

I have no update

I didn't work out today but all is good b/c my foot feels great after the stair climb and a 10 minute run yesterday (another teammate has shin splints so us gimps did a 10 minute total run around the Boston Common).  So I am happy again.  Seriously, I could do without the link between my ability to train and my happiness.  Three weeks till DC!  [That is so hard to believe!]  Two weeks till the end of law classes.  Two weeks until spring break.  One day until I better be done with my avian flu paper.  Oh, and to wrap up yesterday's post-I was the 10th woman.  TOP 10 baby :)

Also also, I need to switch my Cherry Blossom 10-miler entry to a Cherry Blossom 5K entry-except the 5k is meant for people can't that meet the 14 min/mile cut-off for the 10-mile race.  The last time I had to switch my entry due to injury I came in second in the 5K.  There were only two of us warming up before the race and running in shorts and tank-tops.  I started on the starting line for gods sake which is a huge indicator something is amiss!  It's going to look like I totally signed up for a race that was not an appropriate race for me to be in.  I will say though that I think it's dumb that they don't just advertise the race as being for anyone who doesn't want to run 10 miles but still wants to be involved with the event.