Currently: June

After the marathon I opted not to run again until Saturday when I logged 6.5 slow and easy miles with a few walk breaks with some members of the TNT Fall team. I went for a gorgeous hike on Monday with a friend and her new Irish Setter puppy to Rabbit Lake (pictured below). Yesterday, I joined my friend Heather and her dog for a few easy miles on the trails near our neighborhood. With so little to say about running right now, I thought I would do a currently post to catch ya'll up on a few things, including a proud professor moment and a fabulous fundraising event.

Current Netflix/TV Obsession: We've been watching the latest season of Orange is the New Black. It still has great moments, but it seems like this season isn't quite as good so far.

Current Food Journaling Progress: I feel like a broken record, but I'm really trying to get back on track with this one. I embrace the idea that exercise is not a punishment for what I consume and strive to remember that I am not the value of a number on the scale or a size on a label. But I'm also trying to take to heart that adage that you can't outrun/out-train bad nutrition. Over the past couple of months, I've developed some bad habits surrounding my eating choices, and they've started to effect my overall feelings of well-being in addition to making my pants feel on the tighter side. For the next few weeks I will focus on journaling, better judgment when it comes to portion sizes, and reducing my consumption of processed foods.

Currently Looking Forward To: I'm looking forward to the coming long weekend to spend a bit more time with my spouse and maybe go for a bike ride or a hike together. We'll stick close to town, but there are so many great spots nearby. Hopefully, it doesn't rain all weekend, but if it does I have lots of novel reading to do as a back up plan....

Current Book: I swear with library books I'm either awash in an embarrassment of riches I won't have time to finish before they're recalled or am 10th on the waiting list for everything I want to read. Right now I have more books than I know what to do with checked out from the library, but I'll need to return the physical ones before I leave for Europe so I'm having to read strategically. I'm in the middle of The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami and am also (re)reading Don Quixote in Spanish. There's also currently a collection of academic essays on my desk that I need to review for an academic journal. I want to get that finished before I leave.

Current Drink: While red wine and coffee are always my standbys, I've really been enjoying margaritas here lately. After a run and with salt on the rim, they can really hit the spot.

Current Excitement: I've begun the countdown to my upcoming trip to the archives in Spain and a conference in Belgium. I'm stoked to return to a city that I love, to be in the archives, to see good friends, and to go to my Madrid yoga studio. Also I've never been to Bruges so I'm really excited about getting to explore the city and drink a lot of Belgian beers!

Current Fashion Trend: I like that sports logos are in this summer as that means I can go places right after a run without looking off trend. I kid, I kid! Mostly....

Current Love: I love texting with my running friends.

Current Food: As part of my efforts to start making small changes that contribute to better health and nutrition for training and life in general, I've got a big pot of lentil and veggie soup crocking at the moment. I'm planning on eating it for lunch every other day for the next week or so.

Current Indulgence: Last week I finally splurged and replaced my fitness tracker that went missing about a year ago with a new Fitbit Alta. It's small enough that I can wear a regular watch with it if I want to do so. It reminds me to get up after I've been sitting too long. It also seems to be a lot more accurate with regards to sleep monitoring than my Up Jawbone was.

Currently Pondering: The logistics of packing for 5 weeks and if I can fit a day in Cologne into my itinerary are things currently on my mind.

Current Mood: I've been feeling pretty proud the past few days. One of my former students (now graduated) has had an article based on his senior seminar paper that he wrote for my class accepted for publication in an academic journal. I'm thrilled for him!

Current New Find: This isn't a good one. We recently discovered a group of wasps building a giant nest under our deck where we keep our grill. The discovery came about ten minutes before a pretty major event we were hosting began and led to a great deal of consternation and scrambling. Because the nest is in a hard to reach spot I have a feeling we'll be shelling out some cash to get rid of it. 

Current Outfit: I'll show you, if you'll forgive the poor quality of the cheesy mirror shot.

Current Peeve: This is not exactly a peeve, but I get really annoyed with my inability to efficiently grocery shop. I made three mistakes on my last outing: 1) going to a different store that has a completely different layout so it took me forever to find anything 2) allowing the hunt to drag on and distract me from my list and 3) forgetting things on my list. All of this means I will need to do another run to the store in the next day or two so that I can make the baked goods I plan to sell at a booth at the market this weekend as a fundraiser for TNT.

Current Song: "Lost Boy" by Ruth B is a beautiful song that I don't mind the radio over-playing for right now.

Current Triumph: My friend Heather and I hosted a fundraising event at my home last Thursday. I was humbled and amazed that so many artists, businesses, and friends donated goods, services, gift cards, and their dollars. Thanks to them, we raised almost $3000 and took an even split of $1420 for our two non-profits (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America). The success of this fundraiser (which sadly I don't have any pictures of because I was frantically rushing around -- in part due to the unexpected discovery of the wasps' nest under the grill that forced us to grill at our wonderful next door neighbors') means that I can continue to fundraise but will be much less stressed about the logistics of doing so while I'm in Europe.

Currently Delaying: I'm procrastinating from working on that book review. It's not due for another few weeks, but, as I mentioned previously, I would like to get it done before I leave on my research trip as I want to pack as few physical books as possible. This may or may not be so as to leave room for me to buy books from Marcial Pons. So I guess I should stop dilly-dallying and do some work.

 What are you currently reading? What is currently making you feel triumphant? Are you good at grocery shopping?

Currently: March 2016

Current Netflix/TV Obsession: I haven't had much time for binge watching much of anything lately, but I've managed to sneak in all of the DVR'ed episodes of the last season of Downton over the past few weeks excepting the show's finale. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story ends even though the show declined in quality a lot after the third season. Hopefully, I can sneak in time to watch the last episode a little later this week.

Current Running Status: My past couple of long runs have not been super confidence-boosting ones. In part, I can chalk this up to the fact that I was sick, and it's a tiring time of the semester so that makes it hard to get back to 100% healthy and rested. I finally felt like I was getting my groove back on a frosty run dedicated to my friend and colleague Gretchen on Thursday. Then I took a tumble on Friday on an icy campus sidewalk which made Saturday's hilly long run something of a painfully hippy experience. Full disclosure:  20 minutes into the run I was having fantasies of just hanging out permanently at the water stop and eating gummy bears. Only my coaches and team captain and thoughts of my dear friend Lizzie to whom I dedicated the run kept me going on that one. More yoga, stretching, and foam rolling are likely in my future. 

Moving along at a decent on Thursday's run

Coach Orrin Keeping Me Going

Current Food Journaling Progress: I'm trying to get back into the habit of keeping my food journal (I fell out of it while I was sick in the middle of February). I'm not currently trying to lose weight, but it's useful information for marathon training purposes to have a log of what I'm eating and when. 

Currently Looking Forward To: Spring Break. If for nothing else than to get caught up on copy edits for my book and a little bit of a respite from the breakneck pace of this semester.  

Current Book: I'm currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I was on the waitlist for this book forever, and I'm enjoying it so far even if I'm not as in love with it as some of the reading friends who recommended it to me seem to have been. Up next is Station Eleven for my book club and a 400th anniversary of Cervantes' death (re)reading of Don Quijote in Spanish. 

Current Drink: Coffee and copious amounts of it these days.  

Current Excitement: I'm really excited about getting to explore parts of Costa Rica on an upcoming trip! A couple of days of beach time, cave hiking, and zip lining in the cloud forest are all things on an agenda that will hopefully be equal parts restorative and adventurous!

Current Fashion Trend: I would love for it to be more practical to indulge in the current culottes and cropped pants trend. In the meantime, I'm deploying some of my older pieces to tie into the new bohemian trends that are popular right now. 

Current Love: I love playing Scrabble with my mom on the app on my phone. I love this even when she opens the game with a Bingo.

Current Food: Cheese is delicious. I've been trying some new ones from my local grocery's cheese counter lately. My favorites have been a smoked sharp cheddar and a cheese with Jamaican jerk spices. 

Current Indulgence: Writing this post instead of grading or copy editing.  

Currently Pondering: How to get everything done that I need to get done this month. It's what I like to call Academic March Madness here. I have a conference paper to write, book copy edits to finish by a deadline, an undergraduate research conference to finish planning and put on, and a symposium to help plan on top of the normal demands of teaching, grading, advising, etc. 

Current Mood: Did you have a mood ring in the 70s or 80s? If I still had mine from childhood, it might or might not be orange or yellow (because, you know, those rings were incredibly calibrated and scientific) as I've been pretty stressed and anxious here lately.

Current New Find: I was thrilled to discover that I can (seemingly easily) deposit checks to LLS through their app.

Current Outfit: I'll show you. Please forgive the low quality shot.

Current Peeve: It really bothers me when people don't show up to appointments or meetings that they have scheduled. 

Current Song: I can tell you about a song that I never cared for and am now am absolutely sick of: Coldplay's incredibly banal and not catchy "Adventures of a Lifetime." As soon as the radio starts to play it, I immediately change the station. 

Current Triumph: Successful adulting and getting some dental work that I was procrastinating from done last Friday. 

Current Wish-List: I wouldn't say no to some new jewelry or some new gloves for winter running. I'd love it if I could raise another $500 of my fundraising goal for TNT over the course of the rest of the month of March. Work-wise, I wish for the three conferences/symposia that I'm involved in over the next few weeks to be successful and intellectually stimulating  

Currently Delaying: Grading, but I can delay no longer. So adieu, dear readers! Please tell me what's going on currently with you. Are you procrastinating from anything? Watching or reading anything good?

Currently: January

This month has really gotten away from me, but mainly for pretty mundane, work-related reasons. Here's what's been going on with me of late in currently fashion….

Current Netflix/TV Obsession: Even though neither seem to be as good as they were in the earlier series, I've been enjoying the return of Downton Abbey and now Sherlock. My guilty pleasure the past few months has been Dracula.

Current Running Revelation: I need to be doing more of it.

Current Food Journaling Progress: This past week involved a few meals out, so I had to do some guestimating. But I've journaled every day this month so far.

Currently Looking Forward To: I'm really looking forward to a trip to Hawaii next month. We're going to Maui! I've never been before, and I can't wait to enjoy some warmth, hike, and walk on the beach.

Current Book: I'm currently reading a novel in Spanish by Isabel Allende called Inés del alma mía. I'm reading a lot of fiction written by Latin American authors these days. Up next is The Underdogs, which was written by Mariano Azuela during the Mexican Revolution

Current Drink: I've really been enjoying Midnight Sun's beers here lately. If you can get your hands on any of them, I definitely recommend doing so. My favorites are the Panty Peeler Tripel and the Cocoho Imperial IPA.

Current Excitement: I'm pretty jazzed about the Super Bowl party that we'll be hosting on Sunday.

Current Fashion Trend: I may regret this, but I'm buying into the floral track pant trend. I'm not wearing them to work with a blazer yet, but that may change as the semester progresses. I jest… I jest….

Current Love: I love texting with my mom a few times a week in addition to our more or less weekly catch-up phone calls.

Current Food: I bought Mark a waffle maker for our anniversary, and I am enjoying reaping the rewards of my self-serving gift.

Current Indulgence: Dark Chocolate Açai Blueberries. We bought a big bag at Costco….

Currently Pondering: A haircut? I haven't been to the salon since early in the fall semester. It's pretty overdue, but I'm not sure what I want to have done to it at this point.

Current Mood: Pessimistic. For now I'll just say we are looking at some serious institutional budget cuts in the works, and I can't think that they will mean anything good for the overall quality of any of the facets of my professional life.

Current New Find: I'm not sure that I have one this month.

Current Outfit: Not the floral track pants. I hadn't planned to wear these particular tights with this dress, but I started to put on three pairs of black tights only to discover giant holes or runners in each.

Current Peeve: It's not a pet peeve exactly, but I've been irritated the last couple of times I've been to the gym because a) it's been more crowded since the new year (New Year's resolutions no doubt) and b) my favorite elliptical machine got removed from the premises.

Current Song: I really found all the songs that Lily & Madeleine sang on the NPR tiny desk concert they did incredibly charming, but I especially liked "Devil We Know."

Current Triumph: I broke through a bad and ill-timed case of writer's block to get an abstract sent off for a conference and to make some progress on a book chapter. I wrote/revised over six pages in about two hours yesterday.

Current Wish-List: I'm really wanting an end to this crisis in Higher Ed. I'm more likely to actually receive a nice Le Creuset Dutch Oven.

Currently Delaying: Grading some short writing assignments from one of my classes. I can't put it off too much longer, though.

Do you have a guilty tv pleasure? Are you planning to watch the Super Bowl? What's currently on your wish-list?

Currently: November

I'm still trying to rediscover my blogging voice and carve out time for this little writing space, so I thought I would do a currently post.

Current Netflix/TV Obsession: For the past few weeks I've felt an emptiness as the world waits for more episodes of Orange of the New Black (so fracking good). In the meantime, we have been watching the series Whitechapel. However, some of my students told me that I should start watching the David Tennant Casanova ASAP.

Current Running Revelation: When you are trying to rebuild your fitness back from nothing, the most important thing is just trying to get back out there with some level of consistency. My goal for the month is to run at least 3 times each week and to add 5-10 minutes each week to at least one of those runs.

Current Weight Watchers' Progress: After losing about 10 pounds between March and June, I gained them back in July and August by not following the plan at all. In September and October, I lost and gained the same 3 pounds over and over again. This month I'm hitting reset. I joined an accountability group with some Friends and Friends of Friends on Facebook, and I'm committed to tracking everything.

Currently Looking Forward To: I'm really looking forward to seeing family over the holidays. I can't wait to meet my new niece, Lily, and to see the rest of my family!

Current Book: I'm currently reading Nada by Carmen Laforet in Spanish. I've also recently been reading some of the Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey novels, which are a lot of fun. If you like Downton and/or Sherlock, I highly recommend these.

Current Drink: Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. It's that time of the semester. What can I say?

Current Excitement: Last week I welcomed a new niece to the world! It's pretty thrilling to be an aunty again.

Current Fashion Trend: I love that red, plaids, and houndstooth are in right now. I have quite a few pieces already in my closet, so it's nice to bust them out and feel on-trend.

Current Love: It's pretty dorky, but I'm really lovin' working on my book right now. I'm trying to spend at least 30 minutes most days on it for the rest of this semester since I have a couple of other projects that are still on my desk. I hope I can increase that in the spring, and I can't wait for the summer when I can devote most of my mental energies to it.

Current Food: Pumpkin! My friend has made me delicious pumpkin soups for lunch a couple of times in the past month, and I made a delicious pumpkin seed, parsley, and cilantro pesto the other night. And of course there is the clichéd but always delicious PSL.

Current Indulgence: Painting my nails. I don't always really have the time to do it, but I do it a few times a week anyway.

Currently Pondering: Article revisions and book manuscript revisions. Everywhere I look there are revisions to be done.

Current Mood: Responsible. This afternoon I have an appointment with my financial advisor. Tomorrow I have an appointment to (hopefully) get my treadmill repaired. I'm also setting a goal to make some other appointments that I should have quite some time ago, including an annual exam and a physical.

Current New Find: My happy lamp. After several friends recommended that I get one, I purchased a happy lamp a few weeks ago. Maybe it's placebo effect, but it does seem to be helping my mood and internal clock even as we start moving into the times of much darkness here.

Current Outfit: I'll show you.

Current Peeve: Maybe I'm mellowing in my old age, but I don't have any new peeves to add right now.

Current Song: Since Lou Reed's death, I've been revisiting a lot of my favorite Velvet Undergrounds tunes like "Beginning to See the Light" and "Pale Blue Eyes."

Current Triumph: Returning to yoga. I hadn't been to a class for about a month, and I made it to a nice Yin class last night with a couple of friends.

Current Wish-List: If my treadmill cannot be easily or relatively expensively fixed, a new one will top my wish-list. With the shrinking hours of light, it is just so much more convenient to get in weekday runs on the treadmill, and it's a challenge to fit the gym in more days of the week because of work and car-sharing.

Currently Delaying: Grading.

What are you currently up to? What's currently on your wish-list? What's currently exciting you?

Currently: March

I love the currently posts that my friend Kyria does each month on her excellent blog, so I decided to do one of these again but to add a couple of categories of my own. (Mine are the first four listed.)

Current Netflix Obsession: After blazing through both series of The Hour (damn you, BBC, for not making a 3rd series!!!) earlier this month, I have been watching MI-5. It's amazing to watch episodes from 2002 and note not only how topical they were but also how much things like cellphone and computer technology have changed since then.

Current Running Revelation: I may be able to push through and have an alright run when I have a cold, but if my stomach is bothering me I pretty much turn into a complete mess. I cut two runs short this past week due to some tummy troubles that left me feeling not only a wobbliness in my gut but a bit of lightheadedness as well.

Current Weight Watchers' Progress: My first week was a success. The scale went down a couple of pounds, and I stayed within my points allowance. Admittedly, it probably helped that I wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't feel like eating all that much over part of the weekend.

Currently Looking Forward To: Getting a massage this coming weekend. Also I'm looking forward to finding out about a grant here soon so that I can start making more substantial summer research/travel plans.

Current Book: I just started Roberto Bolaño's 2666. But since I'm reading it in Spanish and it is long and thus it might be 2666 before I finish it, I'm also reading Aphra Behn's Oorinoko.

Current Drink: Lately I've been even more into cognac than usual, and in the afternoons I have been drinking Earl Grey Tea like I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard. (Just file this away under gratuitously nerdy.)

Source

Current Excitement: I'm still pretty excited that my sister is having another baby. I love being an aunt!

Current Fashion Trend: I'm loving some of the interesting floral prints that are trendy this spring. While I probably won't make many purchases due to the limited season here, I love looking at them in magazines and on style blogs.

Current Favorite Blog/Website: I love so many so it's always hard to pinpoint just one, but for this month I'll say that no site has brought me more amusement in the past few days than Undergraduate History Illustrated. Having graded more than a few Western Civ essays and exams, I've seen a few of these and similar kinds of errors myself -- just never so hilariously rendered.

Current Love: My silly-ass dog. She almost never fails to make me laugh with her hijinks, but here lately I've found them especially amusing and endearing.

Current Food: In terms of grocery store produce, this is one of my favorite times of year because Cara Cara navel oranges come back into my life. I love them and could eat them every day!

Current Indulgence: Dark chocolate with sea salt. A little goes a long way for me, and it is so, so good.

Currently Pondering: While I don't want to be deliberately and annoyingly opaque, I also don't want to over-share about other people's concerns so I'll just say that some decisions and their consequences that impact my immediate family are causing my brow to furrow a bit here lately.

Current Mood: Grateful. I'm feeling really lucky right now to have a job that I love and to have colleagues who are willing to read drafts of my work before I send them out into the wider world.

Current New Find: The Waze App. Since Mark and I share a car, it's been great for helping to coordinate pick-ups with less waiting and calling and texting.

Current Outfit: I'll show you, if you'll excuse the bad bathroom mirror shot.

Current Peeve: It drives me crazy when people talk on their phone or text at what I view as inappropriate times -- in class, at the dinner table, while ordering a latte at the coffee shop, while driving   in traffic, etc.

Current Song: I've been feeling some love for The Lumineer's "Ho Hey" here lately.

Current Triumph: Getting my copy of an academic journal with an article that I wrote in it! It's always nice to see tangible progress toward tenure.

Current Wish-List: I wouldn't mind having my own pair of snowshoes.

Currently Delaying: Anything that requires me to go back out into the snow -- at least without new snowshoes. We got an inch or two over the weekend, several inches last night, and it's continuing to fall steadily this morning.

What running revelations have you had lately? What are you currently reading?

Year in Review: 2010

This year has been incredibly eventful, and I just wanted to remember some of its best moments and some of my accomplishments in 2010 before I turn to my goals and plans for the upcoming year.  In more or less chronological order, here they are.

In January I married a wonderful person who makes me laugh and makes me pancakes.  After we had started to plan a big June wedding, we decided that it wasn't the right financial decision for us.  We were also both in the final stages of writing our dissertations, so we were short on the time and energy to plan.  On January 22nd we had a small courthouse wedding with immediate family and some close friends.  It was an awesome day!  I often feel that I've won the in-law lottery, as my M's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and other relatives are kind, funny, smart, and welcoming people.

Photo by Julian Allen Photography

Over the winter and spring months I revised my dissertation, and in June I defended it. M. defended his a couple of weeks later in July.  After more than a decade, I ended my tenure as a student.  I had a few interviews and accepted a job.  Also during this past year I taught five classes - two of them brand new preps - at three different institutions, made progress on two journal articles, worked on editing a primary source for publication, presented some of my research at a forum at the university at which I took my first full-time faculty position, and developed a brand new class. 

In June I started this blog.

After M. and I had both defended our dissertations and ended the academic year, we were finally able to take a belated honeymoon.  We spent nine days traveling in Italy, spending time in Venice, Siena, Florence, and Rome.  It was an amazing trip, and we made many happy memories. 

M., Bailey, and I moved across the Midwest to a new town and a new home for my new job at the end of July.

I ran a 5K and three half-marathons.  Last December I set a 2010 goal of running three half-marathons, and I accomplished it by toeing the line at Virginia Beach, VA in March, Mankato, MN in October, and San Antonio, TX in November.  Although I didn't quite reach the time goals I had for these half-marathons or set any new PRs, my times got successively better, and I finished San Antonio about ten minutes faster than I finished at Virginia Beach.  Even better, I feel like I have a pretty solid base going into next year.  I also was able to see a dear friend in Virginia Beach and my sister, brother-in-law, and mother in San Antonio.  

In October our niece was born and we got to meet her and cuddle with her during a week-long visit to Toronto for the winter holidays.

I didn't do everything that I had hoped in 2010, but overall I can't complain.  Although there were a number of stressful moments, days, and weeks as I finished my dissertation, as I moved, and as I have continued my search for a tenure-track job, there were many truly joyful moments this year.  They included my advisor greeting me as Dr. for the first time, celebrating my marriage with loved ones, meandering the streets of Siena and Florence with my spouse, and crossing the finish lines at my races.  What were some of the best moments for you during 2010?

Marvelous Bodies

I think that often we can tend to focus on the negative things about our bodies.  Many of us want to lose a few pounds or run a faster mile or do more push ups or get rid of our junk in the trunk.  Many of us waste time wishing for bigger boobs or smaller boobs or six pack abs or more toned legs.  Many of us fixate on counting calories and getting to a particular number on the scale.

Instead of focusing so much on things we don't like about our bodies, we should spend more time marveling at how amazing our bodies are and what they can do.  Our bodies have remarkable capacities to grow and to heal and to accomplish the possible and the impossible.


We should love and respect our bodies.  We shouldn't call them gross or disgusting.  Doing so only hurts the soul.  We should thank them for allowing us to breathe, to exist, to walk, to run, to ride bicycles, to do cartwheels and downward facing dogs, to relish delicious food, to smell the scents of fresh-brewed coffee and freshly-cut grass.

Our bodies are marvelous -- no matter their shape or size.

Differences This Time

About this time last year I was training for my first marathon, and it was a mighty struggle.  On most of the long runs and on some of the shorter mid-week runs, demons and doubt stalked me.  I probably lost about as much fluid crying on some of my long runs as I did sweating on them last September.

It took me a really long time and the help of running friends to conquer a 10-miler last summer.  For three weeks I looked at that distance on my training schedule, went out to run it, and gave up around mile 7.5.  I got behind on my training plan, but two marathon running friends offered to run with me at my pace so that I could get past that hurdle.   

There were many times that I wanted to give up entirely, but I was running the marathon for TNT and I had so many friends and colleagues who were sponsoring me.  I didn't want to have to admit to them that I was a quitter.  Even so, I struggled to run more than 6 to 8 miles during the week when I should have been running about 15 to 20.  I skipped at least three of my long runs.   I went into my marathon more anxious than excited.  I completed it, but I definitely could have been better prepared than I was and I probably would have had a more enjoyable experience if I had logged more of those miles in training.

So far in this training cycle (knock on wood!), the demons haven't been plaguing me in the same way.  Certainly, I'm not having an easy time with every run, but there's something about knowing that I've run 26.2 miles before that takes the edge off the anxiety.  I know I can complete 10 miles and 13 miles and even that 20 miler now.  Last time all of those numbers seemed so daunting.  I'm also finding it easier to fit at least most of the miles that I should into Monday - Friday.

I'm also doing a better job this time around of doing cross training and core work.  I've been commuting by cycle at least twice a week and doing core work 3 times a week.  Yoga has been sporadic, but I am still practicing some.  I didn't at all last summer and fall.

Yet, not all the differences are necessarily positive ones.  While I've been mentally lighter so far in this training cycle, I'm actually physically heavier than I was last time.  I weigh 8-10 pounds more than I did last summer and fall (thanks, dissertation!), and I am pretty sure that has impacted my average pace, which is about 30s/mile slower than it was last year for long runs and for the shorter runs in which I do make an attempt to run a bit faster - though it cannot be said that I have been doing any real speed work, but I didn't do any last time either.

For those of you who have run multiple marathons or half-marathons, what differences have you noticed in your various training cycles? 

Pre-Defense Running and Post-Defense Flowers

Yesterday morning, even though I had slept fitfully the night before due to anxiety about my defense, I went for a little run.  I knew that it would help me to clear my mind and to give an outlet to some of my nervous energy.  It was humid and my body felt heavy from the lack of sleep and nervous tension, but I kept the pace nice and slow and for a few moments I hit my stride and felt a stillness in my mind that I hadn't felt in a few days. 


Right now running isn't effortless or even easy for me.  Some muscle memory and some of my endurance have remained, but I definitely don't have the level of conditioning that I had last summer and fall, but I will get there.  Training is a lot like writing a dissertation -- just keep going a little further and a little longer and eventually you will finish.  

After I ran the marathon last October, I mentioned to some friends that I wasn't sure which was more difficult: finishing a marathon or finishing a dissertation.  Now, I know that it's definitely finishing a dissertation.  For the past few months I've felt like my life has revolved around my doctoral thesis to the point that everything else (except maybe my marriage) has suffered.  I definitely couldn't log the miles that I wanted to or get the quality of sleep that I needed to or engage in many social activities without feeling guilty.

Even though my work is far from done, as I have other projects and after a few months will start transitioning my dissertation into a book manuscript, I now feel much of the weight of all those pages beginning to slip off my shoulders.  Suddenly, allocating an hour a day for training doesn't seem like it will take too much time and energy away from my work. 

On an entirely different note, yesterday afternoon when my amazing husband picked me up from campus after my defense he handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card.   Then I arrived home to find that my sweet friend and co-blogger, Ann Underfunded Humanity, who is currently in Vermont, had also sent me flowers.

I went out last night with M. for an amazing meal, and then we met up with friends for drinks to celebrate.  I'll probably still be sweating out the toxins tonight at yoga.  I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful spouse, fantastic friends, the degree that I've worked toward for so many years, and now the time and energy to put a bit more focus back on my running goals.