1. Run my third marathon and PR while doing it. I get to check this one off and put it in the Win column! I PR'ed at the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon and am still pretty happy about it. Ideally, I'd like to run an even faster marathon in Chicago, in October but I'll have to see how training while traveling goes over the next couple of months. In June I ran 63.25 miles and that brings me to 335.56 miles for the year. I've got some ground to cover in the second half of the year if I want to bring my running total to 800 miles for 2016. I'm hoping my body feels more capable of speeding some of those miles back up soon as right now I'm still feeling like each run is a bit like trying to move my legs through a vat of molasses.
2. Make significant progress on other research projects. I transcribed a number of documents in June and created a sort of database to help me keep track of a number of them as I progress through reading, transcribing, and starting to puzzle things together for this project. I'll know more once I've wrapped up my archival recon mission in Madrid and Toledo in a few weeks. I also have a paper to write for an upcoming conference and, although it's not specifically related to my research, I still need to finish that book review and send it off to the journal before I leave for Europe. The review, archival work, and the conference paper are my top priorities for the next few weeks in terms of my academic research and writing.
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| Corral del Coliseo in Seville, where I stayed on my last research trip two summers ago |
4. Write some non-academic things. I'm not sure whether or not I'll have a full draft of the short story I'm working on done by July 14th as I underestimated how much was going on (friends visiting, fundraising, academic responsibilities, travel planning, etc.), but I have been working on this and some other things (more about this eventually). Some of it is atrocious and will never see the light of day, but some of it might have potential. We'll see. I hope to have more news to report related to this goal in the coming months.
Midway through 2016, how are you feeling about your year so far? Is there something that you want to focus your energies on for the rest of the summer?
You had a big month of June! That sucks that you had to re-write this post, though! I hope they can figure out what's going on with your computer so you don't have to buy a new one!
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about the first half of the year. It's been challenging health wise as I had my first RA flare-up and I've had some mini flare-ups since then. :( And then there's the whole hip surgery thing which was challenging to deal with. But there were some highs, like going to Mexico and San Francisco with Phil and especially introducing Phil to Kyria as those two hit it off well. Moving in with Phil was also another highlight as I really do love living together. This summer I want to focus my energies on appreciating the activities I can do instead of sulking over the fact that I can't run and won't be able to for another 6-8 weeks. :/ Being able to go for long walks and bike rides is great, though, so I need to focus on the fact that I can do some things and am getting stronger every week.
Thank you, Lisa.
DeleteI really admire you for focusing on these positives as I know these past few months have not always been very easy for you. It's exciting that you are able to walk longer stretches and bike now. Here's to getting stronger each week!
I hope the computer problems resolve themselves. My iPad is dying a slow death that seems to have reached a critical point in the last few days and I'm dreading the cost of replacing it.
ReplyDeleteCourtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
Ugh! Sorry to hear about the iPad problems.
DeleteSuch a difference in your mood from when you started back up blogging with a focus on gratitude and on training for the marathon. And I just can't get over how productive you are -- knowing what an academic schedule is, it's astonishing that you could have found time to train for and run a marathon while nonetheless keeping up an active research program AND doing some non-academic writing on the side. Crazy! Brava!
ReplyDeleteI have not felt so productive the past couple of weeks.... But I also know that I will be working in very concentrated periods for most of the next month and then I immediately have to get ready for the semester when I return so I'm trying to allow myself some space for "playing hooky" now.
DeleteWhat a beautiful picture of both of you in Seattle! I hope you are putting that one in a frame!
ReplyDeleteYou are making excellent progress towards your goals! Way to go!!
I hope your computer gets fixed soon!
Thank you, Ana! It feels pretty rare to have a photo of the two of us that isn't a selfie these days so I might have to take your advice on framing it!
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