I have settled into a routine/rut lately. Up early (sleep light and short), run 3 times a week (4, 4, 10), and spend the rest of the time looking for work and lazing about. Well, the lazing about has some value, but it is not all that interesting.
Summer has settled in firmly. Daytime highs of 100 (and more at times) and lows of 80. We have not had rain for ages and could use some, but it makes it easier to run in the early morning when it is dry like this as the humidity is much lower. I am usually at the park by 6 and done around 7 for my short runs. The longer ones take me up to 2.5 hours depending on the temperature. The hotter it gets, the slower I go. I am still a very slow runner (penguin for sure) but I am doing the distance. I have found I need to use some Gu on the long runs to maintain my energy. I am also very happy to be using a Gutr which keeps most of the sweat out of my eyes. Last year, when I began running, sweat would run into my eyes and make running miserable. The Gutr has really helped me out this year.
Carol has a date for her defense (Aug. 9) and is working her whatsits off. I am constantly amazed by the amount of work she does (dissertation and teaching 3 summer classes). I do not know where she finds the energy as I don't really feed her all that well.
This is our 3rd summer in Texas and my 3rd year of driving around. I was reminded of this as I registered our car last night. Interestingly enough, there is an option to register a car for three years. I suspect that would be great if one had just purchased a new car and was planning on staying in Texas for a long while. The car has been a bit costly this past month. I had to replace two tires and the big serpentine belt. Hopefully, it will run (knocks on wood three times) like one of those old Swiss cookoo clocks that I wish I could afford. I still remember this one I saw on a CBC noon news show. It was amazing, and was priced at over 100,000 Canadian dollars.
Hopefully, the next time I update my blog I will be providing some good news. And I hope it won't be long.
On days like this (102) I love my ac!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
First official 5k
I ran my first official 5k this morning. The weather was not bad, a little humid (100%) but not too warm (65), and a slight breeze near the end. My time was 36 minutes or there about, I noticed the time as I crossed the finish line but forgot all the minutia (seconds, hundredths).
There were a lot of people in the run, I would guess a couple hundred. It felt weird running in a huge crowd after spending so much time running alone, but it was also energizing. My run was no different than my usual run, though I had more adrenalin at the start. There were two hills, not big ones thankfully, on the course which were hard on me as my usual runs do not include hills.
It was so humid that my glasses fogged up early in the run and with the mist on the last half mile, I had limited visibility. I have yet to decide if I want to run another, though I did enjoy this one. We will see how I feel in a few days.
Before the run:
Middle:
End:
There were a lot of people in the run, I would guess a couple hundred. It felt weird running in a huge crowd after spending so much time running alone, but it was also energizing. My run was no different than my usual run, though I had more adrenalin at the start. There were two hills, not big ones thankfully, on the course which were hard on me as my usual runs do not include hills.
It was so humid that my glasses fogged up early in the run and with the mist on the last half mile, I had limited visibility. I have yet to decide if I want to run another, though I did enjoy this one. We will see how I feel in a few days.
Before the run:
 |
| From first 5k |
Middle:
 |
| From first 5k |
End:
 |
| From first 5k |
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
My final grades are in and I have completed my second masters with a 4.0 GPA.
I am also a member of the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society. This is a group that accepts library master students who achieve a 3.7 or higher GPA and cannot exceed 25% of the graduating class of any one year. It did cost me 100 bucks to get my lifetime membership, but some honors are worth it.
It is a beautiful morning. 58, sunny, no breeze. So wonderful that Carol is working outside. We had a great run this morning, though my hands turned blue in the cold. I printed out the map for my 5k on Saturday and checked the packet pickup time (Friday). I am a little nervous about the whole thing, but I am running on a circuit that I know quite well. Still feels a bit unreal, who would have expected me to sign up to run in a 5k. Back in the day I would have driven around the block 10 times to avoid walking across the street. The forecast for Saturday is 86 with some cloud. Overnight low from Friday should be 67, so at race start it should be 70 something, nice running weather. I will let you know how things went Saturday, maybe even add a photo of the race if I have one.
The lily image promised last post:
I am also a member of the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society. This is a group that accepts library master students who achieve a 3.7 or higher GPA and cannot exceed 25% of the graduating class of any one year. It did cost me 100 bucks to get my lifetime membership, but some honors are worth it.
It is a beautiful morning. 58, sunny, no breeze. So wonderful that Carol is working outside. We had a great run this morning, though my hands turned blue in the cold. I printed out the map for my 5k on Saturday and checked the packet pickup time (Friday). I am a little nervous about the whole thing, but I am running on a circuit that I know quite well. Still feels a bit unreal, who would have expected me to sign up to run in a 5k. Back in the day I would have driven around the block 10 times to avoid walking across the street. The forecast for Saturday is 86 with some cloud. Overnight low from Friday should be 67, so at race start it should be 70 something, nice running weather. I will let you know how things went Saturday, maybe even add a photo of the race if I have one.
The lily image promised last post:
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Completion
At 2:00 pm I submitted my final assignment for my second and last forever masters. I should feel elated, delighted, proud, but it is still to new. So, here I am, a one time high school dropout, living in Texas with two masters. Over educated and broke. I should do something to mark the event, but I have no idea what that might be.
Carol and I celebrated our one year anniversary Sunday by going out to a local restaurant and having a wonderful supper. The rest of the day was spent on work, both of us facing deadlines. It was a nice break, and a great meal.
We have avoided most of the nasty storms that have been hitting the south. It did rain steady for two days last week, but has improved since then. We are warm and dry once more. Well, today is warm but threatening rain.
The tomatoes are thriving. The rest of the garden is doing great. The lilies in the corner have started to bloom (I will add a photo of them later) as well as the cone flower. All the rain has resulted in a very lush look, green so thick one might think they were in North Carolina. Bit less humid though, unfortunately.
My diet has stalled lately. Too much stress eating and not enough moving. I have managed to get back to my normal runs after my minor injury. Ran a full 6 miles last Saturday, though I was quite slow. I felt great during and after the run and I am looking forward to this weekends long run. I did a short run today (three miles) and did not really get into it until mile 2. I am definitely a long distance type of runner. Well, more long than sprinter. Can't really say long till I run long, right? I am enjoying running and that is a bit of a surprise.
It is time to start cooking supper (pasta with a poblano sauce).
Just call me master master!
Carol and I celebrated our one year anniversary Sunday by going out to a local restaurant and having a wonderful supper. The rest of the day was spent on work, both of us facing deadlines. It was a nice break, and a great meal.
We have avoided most of the nasty storms that have been hitting the south. It did rain steady for two days last week, but has improved since then. We are warm and dry once more. Well, today is warm but threatening rain.
The tomatoes are thriving. The rest of the garden is doing great. The lilies in the corner have started to bloom (I will add a photo of them later) as well as the cone flower. All the rain has resulted in a very lush look, green so thick one might think they were in North Carolina. Bit less humid though, unfortunately.
My diet has stalled lately. Too much stress eating and not enough moving. I have managed to get back to my normal runs after my minor injury. Ran a full 6 miles last Saturday, though I was quite slow. I felt great during and after the run and I am looking forward to this weekends long run. I did a short run today (three miles) and did not really get into it until mile 2. I am definitely a long distance type of runner. Well, more long than sprinter. Can't really say long till I run long, right? I am enjoying running and that is a bit of a surprise.
It is time to start cooking supper (pasta with a poblano sauce).
Just call me master master!
Friday, April 8, 2011
For the first time this year I am sitting on our back deck. It is not yet six am, no sun shine though it lightens in the east. The current temp is 70 with an expected high in the 80s. Crickets are busy singing, a bird is waking up and the traffic noise is increasing. A train whistle can be heard in the far distance as it leaves town.
It has been quiet here lately. I hurt my leg (more and more convinced it was an IT Band injury due to excessive running) and have had to take a break for a bit. I am back at it once more, though I have slowed down and am doing a very light week this week.
I received an email from the school saying I have passed my comps, so one less hurdle to leap. I am still waiting on the paper that provides hard copy evidence of completion. Beyond that, I have a month of work left to do and this degree is complete. Job hunt is going slowly. So far no one has called me, though to be honest I have only sent out my resume to a few places. Tough times here at the moment with the budget cuts decimating education and libraries.
I have some photos on my desktop that I will try to upload soon. Hopefully my computer will allow me to do this (getting video card errors which I suspect are, in part, related to the monitor failure).
Garden is doing well even though it nearly froze earlier this week. Almost all the radishes are finished (likely replace them with okra rather than reseed), lettuce is doing well (have had two feeds from that already), swiss chard is into its second cutting, cilantro is doing well, and I need to find a use for a mess of parsley. Tomato plants are looking healthy having survived the early cool weather. Hopefully, there will be lots of fruit to collect in the next two months before the hot weather knocks them over.
It has been quiet here lately. I hurt my leg (more and more convinced it was an IT Band injury due to excessive running) and have had to take a break for a bit. I am back at it once more, though I have slowed down and am doing a very light week this week.
I received an email from the school saying I have passed my comps, so one less hurdle to leap. I am still waiting on the paper that provides hard copy evidence of completion. Beyond that, I have a month of work left to do and this degree is complete. Job hunt is going slowly. So far no one has called me, though to be honest I have only sent out my resume to a few places. Tough times here at the moment with the budget cuts decimating education and libraries.
I have some photos on my desktop that I will try to upload soon. Hopefully my computer will allow me to do this (getting video card errors which I suspect are, in part, related to the monitor failure).
Garden is doing well even though it nearly froze earlier this week. Almost all the radishes are finished (likely replace them with okra rather than reseed), lettuce is doing well (have had two feeds from that already), swiss chard is into its second cutting, cilantro is doing well, and I need to find a use for a mess of parsley. Tomato plants are looking healthy having survived the early cool weather. Hopefully, there will be lots of fruit to collect in the next two months before the hot weather knocks them over.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The weather has definitely improved. Forecast high of 83 today!
My tomatoes survived the frost earlier in the week, in fact they appear to be doing well. One more cold spell yet to come this month, at least the long range forecast shows only one, so they may make it through the early planting.
Trees are greening rapidly. Grass in the woods has overtaken the old dead stuff from last year and the trail near the river is looking green. Saw a deer on the trail yesterday, silly thing stood there looking at me as if to say, what you doing on MY trail. Monday I was running into the wind (strong wind) and saw a deer who was quite obviously confused by my presence. She could not smell or hear me I think, and was uncertain what I was even though I flapped my arms and made noise to scare her away. I am hoping to see some babies in the next while.
The time change has really been strange. I am not used to sitting in the dark at 6:30 in the morning.
My tomatoes survived the frost earlier in the week, in fact they appear to be doing well. One more cold spell yet to come this month, at least the long range forecast shows only one, so they may make it through the early planting.
Trees are greening rapidly. Grass in the woods has overtaken the old dead stuff from last year and the trail near the river is looking green. Saw a deer on the trail yesterday, silly thing stood there looking at me as if to say, what you doing on MY trail. Monday I was running into the wind (strong wind) and saw a deer who was quite obviously confused by my presence. She could not smell or hear me I think, and was uncertain what I was even though I flapped my arms and made noise to scare her away. I am hoping to see some babies in the next while.
The time change has really been strange. I am not used to sitting in the dark at 6:30 in the morning.
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