Colorado Trip

I've been back from the conference in Colorado for about a week...and I'm SO behind in class and TAing! I'm getting things caught up and I think after this weekend I should be sitting pretty well.

Conference in a nutshell: Lots of amazing scientists, awesome new friends, gorgeous mountains and some impressive science. I think it was quite a successful trip overall.

I did have to pass on what would have been my first ice climbing outing this weekend. Since I was out of town all last weekend, have tons of crap to catch up on and didn't find it fair to ask my roommate to watch my dog (again) for the weekend, I had to skip out. Hopefully it won't be my last chance and I can try it sometime. Sounds like some of my friends are looking to hit the climbing gyms pretty hard soon, I can't wait. It might be time to go ahead and buy those climbing shoes and harness I've been keeping my eye on... :)

Ethics class is calling my name...

Movin' on

is tough. This is definitely the most broken up I've been over a breakup, ever. And I even knew it was going to happen. It's really frustrating. I'm not usually someone that can't control my emotions, but I'm finding myself letting it get the better of me. I'm getting sick of wiping up tears and blowing my nose, seriously! Hopefully, a week in Colorado, keeping busy with talks and posters, is just what the doctor ordered. I'm heading out EARLY on Tuesday morning - 3:30AM Michigan Flyer to the airport!! I've got lots to do tomorrow to finish up at work and packing. This 3 oz rule is really starting to tick me off. I don't even think they make contact solution in bottles that small! No to mention liquid foundation makeup! Gah! I'm annoyed. Maybe I should just go to bed... :)

Reflecting on my resolutions

I think I'm pretty happy with the resolutions I've come up with, though I thought of one more. I'd really like to have a 200 species year for birding. I think striving to see 200 different types of birds in one year would be awesome! It won't be easy, but with some effort, I think it's doable! I got a great start helping with the Allegan County Christmas Bird Count (CBC) yesterday! I'm pretty sure I was able to see 32 species yesterday!! (I'm awaiting confirmation from fellow birders). It was the most picturesque CBC ever. I think almost a foot of snow fell while we were hiking around the county, big, huge, fluffy flakes. Very refreshing since there is hardly any snow in Lansing! Thankfully I got new hiking boots and a new North Face jacket for Christmas, I was completely warm for all 6 hours out in the frigid Michigan winter! Awesome!

So, just 168 more species to go!

Happy New Year!

Not just Happy New Year, but Happy New Decade as well!

I think 2009 shaped up to be a pretty good year, lots of firsts including my first Olympic Triathlon and First Marathon!

Here is a quick list of "My year in review"

January - Superbowl party with great rockband memories

February - Went on my first hash with GLH3, the Red Dress Run on Valentines Day, and met some awsome new and crazy friends

March - Spartans kicked @ss in March Madness - Final Four!

April - Found a great gym buddy and competed in my first indoor triathlon

May - Moved into a new house and got a Blackberry :)

June - My little brother graduated high school and I competed in my first olympic tri

July - Roadtrip to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park, first time in the mountains and hiked 3 14ers in one day - most amazing trip ever

August - Mom came to visit for the weekend and I successfully made homemade sushi

September -First time birding, mist netting and learning to drive a motorcycle

October -Roadtrip to Minnesota for my first marathon

November - First committee meeting with PhD committee

December -hmm, should have been the Christmas Bird Count, but I was too hungover :( Oh well, there is always next year!

All in all, pretty great year, I think.

Now, resolutions...those are always tough. This year I'm actually going to document my resolutions, so I remember them and know when they're broken :)

1) Do something active every day. Walk when I would have normally driven, swim, bike, run, etc.

2) Use my camera twice a week.

3) Eat healthier: no more than 1 sweet per day, get better about eating protein, fruits and veggies

4) Keep my clothes put away - this is a HUGE problem that I've had since I was in middle school. I've bagged up a bunch of clothes to get rid of in hopes that making more room in my drawers and closets will make it easier to keep it clean.

5) Purge all the clutter in my room

6) Read 1 fun book per month

So there they are. Let's see if I make any changes or break any of them...

Happy New Year!

What happened to the last 6 months?

I can't really say what happened to the last 6 months, but I definitely wasn't blogging :)

The marathon training that I began, I finished and ran the Twin Cities Marathon in early October of this year. Pretty impressive stuff for not being a runner!! My time was not the focus - thankfully so, I barely squeaked by under 6 hours! - the focus was more about getting out and running and putting my mind to something and getting it done. Training was much tougher than I could have even imagined when I signed up for the race and my knee struggled through a lot of it. The saddest part of the story is that I haven't been running since the race. My foot was pretty sore right after, possible stress fracture?, so I kept off it, but have struggled to get back into a running routine. I mostly blame class and work on this, but in all reality it's my fault for being a lazy butt :)

It's the last week of classes and finals are right around the corner. My hope for the downtime I will have right after the semester ends is to unclutter my life. I am pretty good and keeping everything and throwing away nothing and my bedroom can attest to this. I'd really love to get rid of some clothes and things so that everything has a place and can be put away. I'd also like to get out and bird more, work on photography, hang out with my pup and read. So many things to do and so little time :)

Back to working on final semester projects...

End of Week 1 Training, including the workout from hell

Saturday – Mini Triathlon: Biking, I biked from my house to IM West. It took 30 minutes, but that included a sweet digger when I stopped at an intersection. I unclipped my left food, but for some reason lost my balance and leaned to the right. My right foot was still clipped and that = wipeout. Swimming, Went over TI drills from lesson 1 & 2 and then learned the new drills from lesson 3. Swam for about 45 minutes. I liked the new drills. I have to remember to not rely on kicking so much and use more of my hips and arms. Biking, Biked from IM West to Mark’s. 5 mile run, Most miserable run of my entire life. I was dead tired before the whole thing even got started. I’m chalking it up to not eating any carbs Friday night. I was tracking my nutrition on Gyminee and had already filled my carb quota for the day, however, I forgot to factor in that I was planning on doing a mini tri on Saturday. Needless to say, I had one gel during the run, about a quarter of the way though, and proceeded to actually need to stop running because I physically couldn’t make my legs move or breathe for that matter. I first stopped around mile 2 and stopped on and off til about mile 3 or 3.5. After that Mark suggested that we just run .25 mile segments, then rest and finish up the 5 miles that way. I was relieved at this suggestion since .25 miles was just a couple blocks, I would be able to do that much before needing to rest again. By the time we got to 4.5miles I was not feeling quite as miserable as I had, but I was still ridiculously tired and out of breath. In the end I did finish the 5 mile run and Mark was a trooper for running with me. I contemplated telling him to just go ahead and run on his own because I felt bad that he wasn’t really getting much of a workout jogging along with me while I was dying at an eleven minute pace, but I’m happy he stuck with me. His .25 mile suggestion was also a run-saver. So, lessons learned: 1) eat carbs before big workouts even if gyminee tells you that you’ve had enough. 2) I now know approximately what it feels like to ‘hit the wall’ and it isn’t enjoyable, but it is possible to get through it. I still felt crappy, but better at the end of the run, because the gel gave my muscles some easily accessible fuel, and/or my muscles had finally switched to using fat as a fuel source. 3) My gymbuddy rocks. FACT. More Biking, after the run I refueled with a PB&J sandwich and then Mark and I biked back to my house. Overall it was about 16 miles of biking. Pretty much the most tiring workout I’ve ever had.

Sunday – Since yesterday was so traumatic J I think I’m taking off for the bike ride today. I’ll take Lambeau for a walk later and cut the lawn. That’s enough of a workout for the day!

Week 1 (cont'd)

Friday – Swimming, 12:30pm IM West. Worked on the TI drills and played golf again. Was able to get down to 10-11 strokes and 22-24 seconds. Weights, got skipped tonight because Mark is lame, FACT. Maybe they'll get added in this weekend...The bike ride tomorrow may be cancelled due to the weather forcast - it's supposed to rain pretty much all day :(