fitness D-

While D- exists at only a few institutions, I'm going with it. Did 7 of 15 planned miles this week, 1 of 2 lifting workouts, and 0 HIIT workouts (but I did go to 7s practice, that's close, right?). Better than last week overall, and since I felt like caca today thanks to the pollen, I'm going to take it.

This week:

Week 1 of my 16 week "Smart Coach" (runnersworld.com) half marathon program. A little tougher than Hal Higdon's novice program but more realistic for me than the 5 day/week intermediate program. 2 2 miles, 1 5 miler, and 1 7 miler this week.

2 days lifting (T/Th)

2 HIIT (really.)

Week one of the 100 pushups program. I think I'm going to try for level 2 but might move down to level 1. Plan is to do this M/W/F am after the puppy's short walk.

I have some new motivation, after a massive shopping failure this weekend. I did get a pair of (larger sized) capris and heels at Kohls...I don't usually like department stores for clothes, but since I was looking for pants I hope to only fit into this summer, I decided to bit the bullet. I've been in the market for red patent heels for a while to replace my (sob) broken slingbacks, and just stumbled upon them. Synthetic and plastic soles, and black heels not covered, but for $22.50, I'll take them. I also found a pair of yellow patent peeptoe kittenheels for $6. Out of character for me but Very summer.

Part B of my motivation: swapping out my winter/summer clothes in the closet. I re-discovered my collection of cute dresses, but sadly, by black silk polka dot and gray linen dresses are too small now...damned sleeves (thank goodness most of my summer stuff is sleeveless and just calls for cardigans and scarves for work...).

baby fever

one of best friends bought sperm yesterday.

i am jealous and kind of wallowing in awkward living arrangement self pity with a pint of Ben & Jerry's Frozen Yogurt.

training fail

Goal last week:
run 15 miles and lift twice.

Done last week:
ran 8 miles.

OK, moving on. Goals for this week: 15 miles, 2 lift, 2 HIIT (probably at end of a couple of runs)

t-7 weeks!

Dear Alaska,
We'll be there soon. Don't let the glaciers melt before July 11.

Thanks,
Cinderella

bleh

About 18 months ago, a 3 mile run at a sub-9 minute pace was an easy quick day for me.

Today, 3 miles at a sub-10-minute pace was a workout.

What happened? About a year ago I got fat and happy. Actually, scratch that. I'm generally happy, but about a year ago I got lazy. And complacent. And stopped training regularly. (And started commuting farther, taking more classes, and being interested in various things at our new house...) And so, in the last 15 or so months, I've put on 15 or so pounds. Bleh. And, bleh, gone from being pretty fit to well, not. I really doubt I could knock out 10 pushups right now (seeing as I haven't lifted or do any strength training to speak of in, oh, 3 months? maybe 6 months? I honestly can't tell you the last time I lifted.). Last spring I could knock out 25 good ones. In a row. Not on my knees.

Maybe I should scrap my little training plan for this week and just focus on getting 15 miles IN a week. Speedwork without a base is probably asking for trouble, and as much fun as my (freak accident) injury was last summer, I'd rather stay cast-free this summer. 15 miles/week till my 10k June 7, then build to 20/week till I start half-marathon training in July? Is that reasonable? Start speedwork again then?

Why do I obsess over this so much?
Part of me doesn't even want to do the 10k in 2.5 weeks because I don't think I'll make my 54 minute goal (much less my 48 minute speed demon goal) :(

getting moving again

So I haven't really been running. Or anything at all. The last few weeks, I've ran once/week (the weeks of April 6 and 13 were two runs) , plus 1-2 days of rugby. This week, one 2 mi run, one moderate practice, and 40 min of playing time. And I wonder why I'm not fitting into my pants and am gasping for air after anything more than a walk. Oye.
So I have one more week "off" (just work, no class). Time to get with the program, so to speak.
Princess Charming and I are doing a 10K June 7, so I have 3 weeks to get into some sort of shape. I'm shooting for Hal Hidgon's Intermediate10k plan's first 3 weeks. Clearly not ideal, but its similar (but more aggressive) to the last 3 weeks of the novice plan, so I think its doable.

On the plate for this week (modified to be realistic about the schedule)
Mon - 3 mi
Tues - 3 mi + lift (first time in 3 months! oye)
Wed - 35 min tempo
Thurs - 3 mi + lift
Fri - 4 mi
Sat & Sun we'll be out of town working a rugby event, so hopefully I can drag myself out of bed all week for this moderate schedule. Its been a while since I've done 16 miles in a week (which should be maintenance training for me, oops).

Going to get back in shape. Going to get back in shape. Going to get back in shape.

THIS is what you learned in school for $50k/yr??

Hi XXXX,

This may be me overachieving, but I was really hoping to make summa cum laude status (which I believe is a 3.80), my GPA is a 3.78 - I'm dismayed - is there anyone I can speak to for a possible GPA bump??


Thanks!
Clearly Insane Graduating Senior


EDIT:

There is more. Our emails (mine saying, "No, be proud of your Magna Cum Laude") must have crossed paths, because this was stacked on her first, not on my reply.

Before I embarass myself, would I stand a chance in asking my [class XXX] professors to bump me from an A- to an A? Which would bring my GPA to a 3.796 - will [Institution] round this to a 3.80?


Thanks,
Clearly Totally Insane Graduating Senior

i can't help

the snark.

I don't normally read celeb gossip, but the headline just caught me...

No, Kate, I really do not want your mullet, which by the way, was popular when I was in HS in the late 90s. You are not fashionable. Sorry.

sidebar on the mullet: typically these are "business in the front, party in the back"but Kate's is sort of backwards, length wise. However, I can't quite call the front a party; it's more like normal hair and would be business OK. The back is a party I guess, if that's how moms party. Really though, the back kind of strikes me as trendy-hipster-dyke (actually, if she added some dye and ugly glasses, the whole thing could be very Brooklyn-hipster) which is probably not what she's going for.

sidebar 2: lay off the tanning bed and tooth whitening K.G.

new training

I was thinking about a sprint tri, but EEK,$$$! And I thought marathons were expensive....

I'm toying with this women's tri though - its perfect timing to do right before half training starts for September/November (I'm planning on a 12 week schedule and "racing" in November). The catch? I'm a pretty crummy swimmer. Maybe I should do the duathlon? I need to make a committment and start training soon. For that matter...I should start running again if I'm going to do a 10k in 4 weeks....

two months

till I turn 28 and two months and a week till we go on our (belated) honeymoon.

I should work on getting back to the shape i was in 2 yrs ago. I seem to have fallen in the engagement & marriage is fattening trap (though I'm not sure its related to either of those things) and so far my commitments towards fitness this year have been futile. And not that commited.

Love & marriage

Glad has started a project to show what Gay Marriage really means to America (thanks Journal & Two Chicks!)

People who love each other.
email photos@glad.org your picture with your first names, legal marriage date and location!

Sliced

I had the removal yesterday. A 1 cm radius around the original pencil-eraser sized mole, so about an inch diameter circle. However...it seems one can not stitch up an inch diameter circle when its a centimeter deep and you're dealing with young, elastic skin.

The solution? Take out an oblong chunk (so basically a triangle on either side of the excision) and then stitch up a long line (when my derm sent me to the derm surgeon citing scarring issues, I didn't fully think this through and was kind of skeptical of her skills, but now understand).

The long and short of my 30 min lying on the table yesterday afternoon:

• I don't really want to get old (I do, but I don't really want to be spending more and more time in doctors offices. Between my foot and this, I have been to the doctor more in the last 12 months than probably the last 5-8 years combined. I don't want to think about the dozens of monthly appointments required of "full" cancer patients - I think my mom was averaging 4 a week for a while during chemo).
  
• Even with anesthetics, the sensation of thread pulling through your skin is very similar to that of thread pulling through fabric (even from the perspective of being the fabric)
• Seeing a slab of your skin in a jar is pretty strange.
• 98 cm of incision requires a lot of stitches, including some internal ones to help minimize the scarring. Currently, I am obsessing over the fact I probably can't play in this weekend's game, which has reduced my 5 weekend season to 3-4 weekends (pending next weekend) since I missed two games for coaching my college girls. Sigh.

Also, I have no idea how I'm going to change the bandage tonight. Can I pull a sheet of adhesive off my shoulder blade? I might need to enlist the roommate (since Princess Charming is away for work tonight) or just leave it an extra day till Princess Charming can change it for me. Even if I can get the medical tape off, I'm not sure I can reach to n.eosporin it and redress it adequately! (and that's kind of awkward to ask someone you're only sort of friends with to do!)

Not Izzy Stephens

I haven't seen the new Grey's yet (though since I have the office to myself today (assuming no one from next door comes in) I might crank it up on my second monitor when I get lunch, shh!), but Princess Charming called me last night and said it was super awkward to watch with my parents. Who don't know.

Don't know what you ask? Oh, don't tell me you're not in suspense from Tuesday's post!

I have melanoma. Princess Charming pointed out a weird mole on my back sometime after the wedding (I really don't recall when). I blew it off till I noticed it in the changing room at M.acy's. Clearly too dark, too misshapen, just wrong. So I called the dermatologist, and 6 weeks later, was seen.

I had the second appointment of the day, and was there under 20 minutes from check in to car. She looked, deemed it weird, told me to lay down, shot it up with anesthetic, took a biopsy, and burned off the remainder. I think anyway. She didn't really explain - I mentioned this to my boss this AM when I told him what was going on and he said its probably standard procedure so as not to worry people. I didn't really even question this till I got in the car, since I'm reasonably well educated about my body and knew what to expect going in - what if I hadn't? how much weirder of an experience would that have been? When I left, I got a "call in 10-14 days" card and no lollypop.

Monday 10 am. Phone call from the dermatologist. Now, it is obviously a bad sign when a doctor you've seen three times ever who gave you a 10-14 days directive calls you two business days after a procedure. Then asks "Is this a good time?"

Well, Dr. F., now it is, because I'm 100% sure you didn't call me 8-12 days ahead of when I was to call you to wish me a happy work week.

So melanoma it is. 0.38 mm thick and just a bit bigger than a pencil eraser, well within Stage I criteria. With full excision of a larger area around it (happening this coming Monday at a different derm who specializes in surgical-ly stuff and is better suited to minimize scarring, and includes testing of said area) I am most likely going to be cured by Tuesday. But melanoma is aggressive and has a pretty high recurrence rate, so I had a baseline(/checking for metastasis, but she didn't say exactly that either) chest x-ray today (which I think is clean, but really, I don't know how to read these things except to ID my heart and some bones, like my Massive rib cage!).

And assuming there's no problems in the excision or the CXR, I'll just be back at the derm for a check every 3-6 months for a couple of years and every 12 thereafter. And can no longer pass over the "previous conditions" page at new doctors' offices. Boo.