Still Here

Thanks so much, everyone, for all your support. I can't wait to get a little bit more time and catch up on everyone's blog. I'm so behind on blogging. I have a great Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot with pics to report on but still need to get them scanned in. Anyway, lots of exciting posts to come.

For right now, I'm still working on the fellowship, still working on moving, still plugging away in lab and my training. The fellowship is in the editing phase, and I'm working my tail off in lab to finish up some preliminary studies. I am SO going to celebrate when that thing gets turned in!

I've somehow managed to do x-mas shopping and put together an awesome card for the holidays. I've been cranking those out too. I'll share this year's holiday card soon.

We are now sleeping at the new place and have all the boxes moved over but are not yet unpacked. I can only do so much until the rest of the furniture comes on Sunday. I have, however, unpacked the bathrooms, closets, and kitchen. I love the new place! I can't wait until I get to the "decorating" phase. The bunnies are adjusting well to the new place as well. Taz loves exploring--hasn't lost that adventurous spirit after 8 1/2 years! Babs is a little more nervous but as long as I tell her it's okay, she's fine.

I've been keeping up with training too! I don't know how. Luckily, December is "Prep" phase. I'm just getting my body used to working out again. Since I wasn't that out of shape to begin with, it's been relatively easy to slip back into a schedule. If I could just up the master's swimming to 3x a week, instead of 2!

Let's see...where did I leave off?
Friday, December 7
am
made it to the pool for my 2nd master's workout of the week, despite pouring rain and 40 degree weather!!! Brrrr! (It's an outdoor pool, and we San Diegans are wimps.) Once I got in, the water felt good. It felt so good to swim and overcome the weather! Putting on wet jeans afterwards? Not so much. We worked on going fast. It was so much fun. Guess what? I love going fast. It makes base pace feel like cake. The workout is below:
http://swimtri.blogspot.com/2007/12/time-to-sprint.html
pm
went for my favorite easy, 4-mile run at work. I was able to push the pace again! I think it's the cold weather. Makes me feel snappy!
Saturday, December 8
long bike day
Everyone was afraid of the rain but I called it's bluff. Doesn't everyone know it doesn't rain in San Diego? And when it does, it's only allowed to rain from 6 pm to 7 am? By 8 am, the roads were wet, it was chilly, and the winds were blustery but the sun was out. It was awesome to ride in the brisk, sunny weather. I wore my cold-weather gear (arm and leg warmers, booties, jacket w/removable arms, gloves, and skull cap) and actually got pretty hot!
Unfortunately, only 5 other guys showed up, 4 of whom were super fast. I didn't have a prayer of sticking with them so I sent them on their way. The other guy was coming back from an off-season and wanted to take it slow (sans computer and everything). I was overjoyed...even when he had to stop for flats...twice. At least I had someone to bike with! The ride took forever with the wind and the flats. It was a verrrry hard and hilly 50 miles. I was completely beat at the end and needed the rest of the afternoon on the sofa to recover.
http://sdbikeroutes.blogspot.com/2007/12/48-mile-rsf-ride.html
Sunday, December 9
long run day
I met with my running group at 7:15 am. 40 degrees. Brrrr! Again, the sun was out and there was no rain. I was only going to run 9, especially considering how beat up I felt after Saturday's ride. I ended up running 10 at a very strong pace (for me), averaging 9 min/miles. Yes! Spent the rest of the day moving.
Monday, December 10
master's swim: I remember it being really hard and having lots of butterfly and IMs but I can't actually remember the workout. Darn! I still got in 2700 meters. It was such a hectic day after that. At least I got a massage at 6!
Tuesday, December 11
OFF--completely bogged down with moving and unpacking. Sigh.
Wednesday, December 12
am:
missed my am swim. :( However, I decided to go for an exploratory bike ride around the new place. All I can say is: the biking is AWESOME!!! There are so many great biking routes to choose from. I headed out on the bike path (1 mile from my new place), turned north for awhile before turning back and returning a different route. It was wicked fun. Although very hilly. Thought I was having a bad day until I turned around and started flying. Ooooh. I had been going uphill the entire way. Made me feel a bit better. Total mileage: 20
pm:
went for my usual afternoon run from lab. 4 miles. Didn't feel as easy this time. I'm breaking in new orthotics, and my feet hurt. Yuck. I felt like I had run out of gas and could only do a slow pace. Decided to use it as a recovery run.
Thursday, December 13
Gosh, is that today already? missed my am masters swim....again! I feel so guilty. Apparently, I needed 9.5 hours of sleep last night. I slept very soundly. Went for an afternoon bike ride up the coast. 20 miles. I felt speedy! It felt so good to have juice in my legs. The 3 caffeinated Cliff Blocks didn't hurt. Climbed the inside of Torrey Pines for a good kick-my-ass workout at the end. Lab has been tough today. I'm glad I got my bike in.
Coming Up
I hope to swim and run tomorrow. Saturday will be a 60 mile ride to build from last weekend. Sunday will be another 10 miles. And I will finish moving in this weekend!