life is good. really.

November 30, 2009

exciting eighteen

YES! i made it through my last long run of my marathon training cycle!! i am THISCLOSE to getting to the starting line injury free — finally! this last run went very well and i am feeling confident about the race that is just 2 weeks away.

splits, for the detail oriented:
(who am i kidding, they are for me to look back on more than anything else!)
mile 1: 9:06
mile 2: 8:44
mile 3: 8:54
mile 4: 8:55
mile 5: 8:48
mile 6: 8:49 ( + rest stop ~2 minutes for fuel)
mile 7: 8:49
mile 8: 8:35
mile 9: 8:36
mile 10: 8:26
mile 11: 8:50
mile 12: 8:40
mile 13: 8:35
mile 14: 8:27
mile 15: 8:37
mile 16: 8:30
mile 17: 8:41
mile 18: 8:28

i ran these miles in chapel hill because the charlotte course is not flat and i wanted to feel confident about conquering hills over a longer distance. i really did try to go at a slow relaxed pace — this just seemed to be the comfortable speed, so i stuck with it and just tried not to look at the numbers too often during the run.

i went very minimal on the fuel end and only stopped once after about 6.3 miles to chow down on a piece of clif bar and some watered down juice. i had intended to stop again but got into a groove and decided to just power through, thinking that if i hit a wall it would be good experience to work through it. reading this now i realize that is a totally stupid thought, but i’m not the most rational person 12 miles into a long run. luckily, no wall was hit and i finished feeling thirsty but strong.

sunday soirée
sunday night isn’t a typical night for dinner parties — at least not for us. but really, maybe that should change. because a simple get-together really isn’t THAT hard to put together, and last night’s version really helped dull the inevitable end-of-vacation sting.

our friend m is a hardcore oenophile. he has taken multiple trips to napa and sonoma, and he also tends to be a bit of a (self-diagnosed) impulse buyer. as a result, his wine collection is . . . well, let’s just say that for a resident, it is pretty ridic.

our generous host, filling up glasses with sauvignon blanc goondess

this peter michael sauvignon blanc was fuller in flavor than most sauvignon blancs, but with the same tropical fruit sorts of flavors that i associate with the varietal. i liked it a lot!

dinner was simple yet delicious. salad with dried cranberries and tomatoes, as shown:

chicken with roasted winter vegetables

all together now

it was a delicious seasonal meal.

now, admittedly it has been quite an indulgent week for me. i’m ready to work on eating more nutritious foods and easing up on the decadent desserts. but yesterday i ran 18 miles, and i couldn’t help it if my glycogen stores needed refilling, could i??

this pumpkin marble cheesecake was 100% worth it!

now what!?
well, vacation is over. so why am i blogging at 10:42 AM?! well, i’m on a new rotation which is research elective. if it sounds too good to be true . . . well, it probably sort of is. while i have a lot of flexibility of what to do with my time over the next 3.5 weeks, i DO have to come up with a product — in my case, a formal research proposal — by the end.

3.5 weeks may sound like a good chunk of time, but i really do have a lot i need to accomplish. i have to research my topic (hormonal influences on fatty liver disease), learn a lot more about the nuts and bolts of getting the project done (which will include spending some time out at the lab), and work with multiple investigators to turn my (novice-level) draft into something that could actually be submitted for funding.

today will be a bit of an organizational day: gathering materials, sending emails, and getting started on some reading. i will come up with some weekly goals, dividing the big project into manageable chunks that don’t seem so intimidating, and hopefully i’ll be able to shake the uneasy feeling that i have right now that i don’t know what i’m doing.

then again, after months of feeling like an indentured servant in residency, it will be pretty sweet to be able to sort of fly under the radar and structure my days however i want to! i hope it will be an enjoyable AND productive 3.5 weeks.

4 Comments

  • Reply Jess March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    Nice job on the run! I was enthralled by your splits. 😉

    I had pumpkin cheesecake on Friday and it was worth every calorie. I also need to scale back on the desserts, but there have been so many available to me!

  • Reply Kath March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    I cannot believe how fast you ran those miles!! You&#39re going to kill me on Sat!!

  • Reply Susan March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    Awesome eighteen miles! I think you&#39re definitely ready for m-day! Any thoughts of Boston? You&#39re not too far off pace, especially if that was comfortable!

    I think roasted vegetables are my new favorite…so delicious!

  • Reply Whitney@whitsgettingfit March 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    MARATHON! is so soon…You are SO FAST. I love. Cannot wait!!!!! 😀

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