I have a big deadline on Wednesday. I'm writing a bunch of copy for a South Orange County Bridal Magazine. If you're saying WTF... yea, I know. I'm single, into sports and frankly don't give an F about weddings right now. But it's my publisher from the newspaper that's putting out the publication, and I was asked to come on board as writer & editor. Nice way to earn a little extra cash while still on break from school.
To be honest though, it's been a tough project. It's just not a topic that is making me excited. At all. Thankfully, I've gotten all the interviews done, now it's just a matter of writing. Then the editing, which will actually be the easiest part of all!
*Addition to original post: So I got to thinking... I feel like I hate on relationships, weddings, love, etc., a lot. I'm really not against all of it! Being in love and connected with someone is a great thing, and I know down the road I'll be ready to fall in love again and get married... But I'm just nowhere near that phase of life. So... for the record: I'm all for love and marriage, and I'm so happy for all my friends and acquaintances who are currently enjoying that phase of their lives--like the newlyweds, beth & james!
I'm hoping a little blogging will get my creative writing juices flowing.
This one is going to be full of randomness............
1) I'm starting to ENJOY swimming. Last week I swam 12,000 yards and it felt like nothing. God bless noon masters at a place that's only 2.5 miles from my house. Swimming at noon also is great way to start getting my tan back, and because I'm actually awake at noon (vs 6 a.m.) I've been motivated to do some t-runs after swim.
2) Snot rockets on group rides. I've been riding with groups a lot lately, and I have a very flowy nose no matter the weather conditions. Thus, snot rockets are frequent. When I'm by myself I just launch whenever needed, but when riding with others I have to be a lot more conscious of when I blow. Don't want to piss people off and lose friends.
3) My thesis. Still am clueless about what to do it on, and the clock's ticking. All the topics I've thought of are way too complicated to pull off with the resources, time and money I have available to me. Figures that I would choose the hard stuff. I'm considering doing a study that tests the effects of compression wear on recovery (that's a very general way of putting it). Any thoughts?
4) Power meter. I have a new iBike Pro on the Felt and I love it. The iBike is about half the price at the basic Power Tap, and studies show it's just as accurate. Granted, it's a complicated little dude in terms of setup. There would have been no way in hell I could have set it up and figured it out on my own (you need an engineering brain to do so). Just so happens, however, that iBike's West Coast headquarters is literally a mile from my house. Thus, Eben (iBike dude and competitive cyclist), set it all up for me and even took me on a ride to get it calibrated and stuff. I'll write a full review on it soon... but so far, it's AMAZING. And eye-opening.
5) Snacking. D had a post earlier on snacks and it made me think about my snacking weakness: chips, crackers, popcorn--i.e. anything crunchy and salty (or, God forbid... sweet & salty!). I tend to overdo it with said munchies and have decided to majorly cut back. Key words: cut back. I'm not a fan of giving up foods because that's just dumb--everyone needs a little indulgence in the stuff they love. But I have a tendency to lose control with chips, so I'm better off without them 99% of the time. I don't care how hard I work out... those calories add up and are basically "empty" calories (no nutritional value).
6) That said, sweet potatoes. Love them, never get sick of them. Set portion control = perfect! Good carbs, good chip replacement! A little seasoning and mmmm.
7) Triathlon team. I'm going to be on one this year. And I'm thrilled! It's one of those things where the formation of this team is the result of being in the right place at the right time. It's been in the talks for months now... like since last fall. And now it's real! More details to come. Although, one of my teammates already spilled the beans :)
8) Tapering?! This week is another big build week, then next week I taper. Can't believe it!!! Race season is here. I'm looking forward to running in the Carlsbad half-marathon, as I think I mentioned: I've never done just a half-marathon... so this will be a new & exciting experience!
OK... I'm ready to get writing, but, oops.... I have an appt for a bike fitting & cleat analysis. Guess the wedding writing will just have to wait a little longer.
oh i've been dying to read some good medical research on use of compression for recovery! Do you get to do a RCT? Let me know how it goes :)
ReplyDeleteSnot Rockets! haha, this totally made me laugh ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel ya on the whole wedding thing; my friends will spend hours looking through bridal magazines, but I have ZERO interest.
Now chocolate, tortilla chips and other snacks on the other hand... I think I am TOO interested! haha ;)
I did have a good post - that you didn't comment on! AHEM!
ReplyDeleteI like the thesis topic. I remember you saying that one a while back. Stick with that (if it's doable).
I'm going to head to the pool now... indoors. As always. Sigh.
Glad to hear things are going well in the pool. And, how fantastic about the tri team.
ReplyDeleteMy thesis could have easily turned in to a doctorate research project. It too me way longer than I thought, mainly because I had a tight inclusion criteria for participants. But, I got through it and I learned a lot. My advice to you is really rip apart what you want to do and look at it from every angle. IRB can be a pain too if you are going to recruit your own participants. If you have any questions about the process let me know.
Let's see.. where to begin? YES snot rockets, they are a must! Sweet potatoes are one of my all time favorites and they filly me up SOOO much! Your thesis sounds very cool. You should compare the effects of different brands. And/or how they're effective during/after training and racing. Personally I think CEP are the number 1 because they're a medical company and apply the right pressure in the correct places to do what they claim they do. I could go on :)
ReplyDeleteI have trouble with snacking... LOVE snacks! But it doesn't matter what it is, I can go overboard so I seriously have to limit my portions. One of my fav's is a bag of sliced apples - YUM!
Yes swimming at 6am is not much fun. Our master's begins at 5:30am and during the summer it's 5:15. Sadly I get my sorry butt out of bed most days to make it, but it's not always pretty and by 8pm all I want to do is go to bed!
Good luck with your articles! And I am jealous of your power meter!!! I don't believe HR is enough to go off of. I actually believe perceived exertion is much better as long as you KNOW your body. But POWER would be AWESOME!!! Have fun with it and before sure to blog about it!
Wow...lucky to have masters at noon. ours is at 5:30am! Way to get in some good yardage. Marni has some great tips on keeping the portions in check. I'm with you though, i'm better off without it 99% of the time.
ReplyDeletechips - yum :)
ReplyDeleteI finally made some sweet potatoes for my breakfast this morning. My first thought was where have they been all my life?!?! SCORE!
ReplyDeleteThe TJ's Sweet Potato chips... I blame you! haha
ReplyDeleteRun hard at C-Bad! Nice thing is, you will set your open half PR.