I'm starting my training all over again. My goal is to run about four times a week -- three short runs (no more than 3 miles per day) on weekdays, and then building up to a long run (starting at 4 miles this week) on the weekend.
I'll also be in Chicago from this coming Saturday until Wednesday. I'm looking forward to running along the lakefront for the first time!
Finally, we're planning a side trip (well, okay, ten hours driving each way) to Banff during our trip to Vancouver this August. Should be beautiful!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Running update
I successfully defended my thesis today, so I can write about running as suggested by Morgan in a previous comment.
Two Fridays ago, I decided to go for a run after not running for two weeks due to my trip to Blacksburg and Bloomington. I had just purchased proper shoes (neutral Asics Gel Cumulus 10, size 9.5) at Pacers in Arlington, thanks to some great advice from the staff there. Stupidly, I didn't really stretch before setting out on the Capital Crescent Trail.
Early on in my 10K run, I noticed that my right knee was a bit tight. I figured I'd just run through the tightness, as it wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination. On the home stretch, I broke into a sprint to finish off my run. After I hit the 10K mark, I started walking the short distance to the stairs back up to M Street.
Almost immediately after I stopped running I experienced sharp pain in both my knees, especially when I flexed them about 15-20 degrees. I had some trouble climbing up the stairs, and hobbled my way back to my office.
I limped my way to dinner with Aly afterwards, and probably made things worse by sitting for an hour and a half at Luna Grill and Diner. I could hardly walk once we left Luna, and it took a significant amount of effort to make it over to the Dupont Metro station so I could head home.
I was still hobbling around the next day, and things didn't really get better until Tuesday. On Wednesday, I felt good enough to play a bit of volleyball. My knees were a bit shaky, but overall things were okay. I suspected (or was convinced by the Internet and my friend/running pal Michaela) that I had an iliotibial band injury, so I did some stretching to see if it would help my situation.
I did another 6 mile run this past Saturday morning on the W & OD trail. About halfway through the run, I started to feel my knees stiffen up. I barely made it through the end of the run and headed home to ice and take ibuprofen to keep the swelling down. I was hobbling around later that evening, but I felt well enough to risk a soccer game the next afternoon.
Today is Tuesday, and the knees are still a bit creaky. I signed up for the GW Parkway 10 Miler a few months ago, and it's scheduled for this Sunday morning. Should I do it?
Two Fridays ago, I decided to go for a run after not running for two weeks due to my trip to Blacksburg and Bloomington. I had just purchased proper shoes (neutral Asics Gel Cumulus 10, size 9.5) at Pacers in Arlington, thanks to some great advice from the staff there. Stupidly, I didn't really stretch before setting out on the Capital Crescent Trail.
Early on in my 10K run, I noticed that my right knee was a bit tight. I figured I'd just run through the tightness, as it wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination. On the home stretch, I broke into a sprint to finish off my run. After I hit the 10K mark, I started walking the short distance to the stairs back up to M Street.
Almost immediately after I stopped running I experienced sharp pain in both my knees, especially when I flexed them about 15-20 degrees. I had some trouble climbing up the stairs, and hobbled my way back to my office.
I limped my way to dinner with Aly afterwards, and probably made things worse by sitting for an hour and a half at Luna Grill and Diner. I could hardly walk once we left Luna, and it took a significant amount of effort to make it over to the Dupont Metro station so I could head home.
I was still hobbling around the next day, and things didn't really get better until Tuesday. On Wednesday, I felt good enough to play a bit of volleyball. My knees were a bit shaky, but overall things were okay. I suspected (or was convinced by the Internet and my friend/running pal Michaela) that I had an iliotibial band injury, so I did some stretching to see if it would help my situation.
I did another 6 mile run this past Saturday morning on the W & OD trail. About halfway through the run, I started to feel my knees stiffen up. I barely made it through the end of the run and headed home to ice and take ibuprofen to keep the swelling down. I was hobbling around later that evening, but I felt well enough to risk a soccer game the next afternoon.
Today is Tuesday, and the knees are still a bit creaky. I signed up for the GW Parkway 10 Miler a few months ago, and it's scheduled for this Sunday morning. Should I do it?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Almost there
In about 36.5 hours I'll be presenting my thesis. Working on a Keynote presentation for that; will post when ready. Also outlining my final 20-page paper, due this week: "In Search of Authenticity: Accessing the Personal." In some ways, I'm more excited about this paper than I am about my thesis ...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Approved!
I just received IRB approval today, which means that I (a) can use my survey and (b) can finally submit my thesis proposal to the graduate school. Yay! Submitted a very rough draft of the entire thing today; comments will be emailed to me on Friday while I'm in Blacksburg. Final draft is due to my thesis advisor next Tuesday. Taking a brief opportunity to relax tomorrow for dinner at Kabob Bazaar with friends and coworkers.
Writing schedule for the next week:
Wednesday night (conduct data analysis, outline/rework section on Twitter)
Thursday night (rework lit review; outline conclusion section)
All day Sunday (data analysis; conclusion; edits from advisor)
Monday night (conclusion, introduction, thesis proposal form)
I'm using tonight to catch up on work email and planning for the CCA conference. The next few days are going to be crazy, but I'm excited to attack all this work.
Writing schedule for the next week:
Wednesday night (conduct data analysis, outline/rework section on Twitter)
Thursday night (rework lit review; outline conclusion section)
All day Sunday (data analysis; conclusion; edits from advisor)
Monday night (conclusion, introduction, thesis proposal form)
I'm using tonight to catch up on work email and planning for the CCA conference. The next few days are going to be crazy, but I'm excited to attack all this work.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Writing update
The thesis is starting to come together. I'm up to 28 pages of solid material and 10 pages of appendices/references. My intention is to write another 27-37 pages (22-32 of solid material, 5 of back material) before I'm finished, eventually bringing me to 65-75 pages total. Now to figure out how I'm going to get there by next Tuesday ...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Home stretch, maybe
Still crunch time. Still juggling work, writing, and running. I feel like my (unrealistic) goal is reducing my daily routine to nothing but writing. I'm getting a bit closer since volleyball is finished and I'm postponing most social engagements in favor of staying home and working. This weekend needs to be ultra-productive as I'm leaving town next Thursday.
Did the St. Patrick's Day 8K. Didn't break 40 min; instead, finished in 41:43. Got stuck behind a guy smoking a cigar on the course. Ugh. Labored a bit more than I should have during the second half of the race. My 5K split was pretty slow -- about 27 minutes or so, probably due to all the weaving in and out of traffic I had to do at the beginning of the race.
Now I have four weeks to train for the 10 miler. I'm just looking to finish. And this time I won't have McDonald's at midnight before the race. Or get only five hours of sleep.
OK, enough disjointedness for now. Off to knock more things off my to-do list so I don't have to worry about them when I sit down to write.
Did the St. Patrick's Day 8K. Didn't break 40 min; instead, finished in 41:43. Got stuck behind a guy smoking a cigar on the course. Ugh. Labored a bit more than I should have during the second half of the race. My 5K split was pretty slow -- about 27 minutes or so, probably due to all the weaving in and out of traffic I had to do at the beginning of the race.
Now I have four weeks to train for the 10 miler. I'm just looking to finish. And this time I won't have McDonald's at midnight before the race. Or get only five hours of sleep.
OK, enough disjointedness for now. Off to knock more things off my to-do list so I don't have to worry about them when I sit down to write.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Writing and running (in that order)
Yikes, time is going quickly. I'm still working on my thesis. This is definitely crunch time, as I have about two weeks to submit my first complete draft. This weekend, I'll be working on my thesis in such exotic locations as the reading room of the New York Public Library and ... my desk at home.
Also on tap: a mini-road trip to Blacksburg and Virginia Tech for the spring 2009 College Communicators Association of VA and DC conference at the end of this month (specifically Friday, March 27). There, I'll be doing a series of web critiques along with a colleague from Mary Baldwin College. Immediately afterwards, I'm driving the eight hours to Bloomington for an IU School of Journalism alumni board meeting the next morning. Should be fun.
Oh, and I'll be working on my thesis from both locations.
Running is going pretty well. I did eight miles two weeks in a row and then scaled back down to six miles for my long run last weekend. This Friday, I'm doing a 9 mile run right after work. (This ought to make my legs feel great on the bus ride to New York the next morning.) Shorter runs during the week have suffered, though; I went for my first 5K run in about two weeks today. I'm registered for the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 miler on April 26, which should be a good close-to-halfway-to-Chicago point for me. Also thinking about doing the St. Patrick's Day 8K race for fun. I'm going to miss running during the winter -- I think I'm definitely going to prefer it to running during the summer.
Also on tap: a mini-road trip to Blacksburg and Virginia Tech for the spring 2009 College Communicators Association of VA and DC conference at the end of this month (specifically Friday, March 27). There, I'll be doing a series of web critiques along with a colleague from Mary Baldwin College. Immediately afterwards, I'm driving the eight hours to Bloomington for an IU School of Journalism alumni board meeting the next morning. Should be fun.
Oh, and I'll be working on my thesis from both locations.
Running is going pretty well. I did eight miles two weeks in a row and then scaled back down to six miles for my long run last weekend. This Friday, I'm doing a 9 mile run right after work. (This ought to make my legs feel great on the bus ride to New York the next morning.) Shorter runs during the week have suffered, though; I went for my first 5K run in about two weeks today. I'm registered for the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 miler on April 26, which should be a good close-to-halfway-to-Chicago point for me. Also thinking about doing the St. Patrick's Day 8K race for fun. I'm going to miss running during the winter -- I think I'm definitely going to prefer it to running during the summer.
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