Quirkified

Monday, 5/5
Nothing….
Oof! It looks like the beginnings of the lazyness syndrome I always get when I’m home in Florida for the week!

Tuesday, 5/6
I pretty much slept the day away, meaning I didn’t do anything again. I can practically feel my muscles withering away Need to get some motivation.

Wednesday, 5/7
Nothing again - at least I’m getting off my bad leg!

Thursday, 5/8
Swam - a little. Okay I waded in the ocean.

Friday, 5/9
SFX acting up more than usual. Nothing done today.

Saturday, 5/10
Flew back to Atlanta. No workout today.

Sunday, 5/11
Moved back into my dorm for the summer semester, and I got to utilize the recreation center. Back to my recovery workouts, yay!

Did some weights on hips, calves, and torso rotation, then biked for 30 minutes on a 6 level hill interval, leading to a bit more then 7 miles completed. Did five sets of chin and dip assists afterwards and stretched.

At the airport, flying back to Atlanta today. Monday marks my 6th semester at Tech, my 6th consecutive semester, and my 2nd summer semester. Need a break? Nope, but I could go for a Snickers.

I love this airport. It has free wireless. Atlanta has no free wireless. The tragedy of it all, for this college student to suffer without internet. That’s why they made this airport.

And finally:

more cat pictures

Because I always have to pull tooth and nail to make sure my loans disburse on time for the beginning of every semester. I’m anxiously awaiting a loan disbursement before the deadline, next Friday. I feel like taking up arms and doing some “forceful” negotiations with my loan company for making me so worried

I actually had to look up “inaugurated” in the dictionary to make sure I was using the term right, because there certainly weren’t pomp (I looked up pomp, too) nor glitter to my “inaugurations” of today. So I did a little jig. I think that’s celebratory enough to fit the term “inauguration.” Boy have I become less and less articulate since college.

I’ve inaugurated a few things today:

1. Calcium-channel blockers for my Raynaud’s. Took one pill and I haven’t passed out - good sign that I can take the recommended three pills a day soon! And if I have, and I faint, then I’m not ready for three. I love how the doctor said to do this trial and error thing.

2. My new job official-ness. Otherwise known as I got my schedule today. I’m always so excited to take on something new, so let’s hope this enthusiasm stays that way a few weeks later. Can’t wait to wear those sports retail staff shirts!

3. My new flats. Wore them to lunch with my mother, and since the restaurant was by the beach:

Makes a good Facebook profile picture, eh?

Definitely going back to the beach tomorrow to swim

4. That new banner thing on the top. I drew it. It looks funny. Will have to figure out how to fix it. Possibly scratch this theme and going with one that allows for a more square-ish banner size.

From the people over at EST, Happy Near End of Hump Day!

I flew home to Florida on Saturday to spend a week with the family before summer semester starts. Terribly hot weather but goooooood home cookin’

Grades for the spring semester are officially released tomorrow (Tuesday), but using the Ultra-Secret-Ninja way, I found out early: A in Special Topics (being a TA haha), Bs in Calc 3 and Astronomy, C in Physics 2. It’s what I expected - not what I wanted, but whatever. That’ll bring my institute GPA up a teeny tiny bit, from 2.69 to 2.70. Haha.

The SFX fiasco on my left tibia has been in play for a little over 3 weeks now. Haven’t ran in 23 days and I’m going stir-crazy. Cross-training only hasn’t been enough to satisfy my running needs. On the flip side, calcium supplements have been a help to expedite bone recovery and it doesn’t hurt as much to walk.

I’m hoping for the best, because I want to run a practice 10k in June before Peachtree (only 59 days away for that!) If I’m not able to run the Army Hooah 10k, then that’s alright - I just want to be able to run Peachtree and get a t-shirt. I’m hoping to lace up my new Brooks by next week at the earliest, and start running again slowly.

I went to the doctors today to get my condition checked out (fingers react strongly to cool/cold weather by turning white). I knew I was going to see a rheumatologist, but I didn’t know the office was called the arthritic center. Definitely felt too young to be there. The doctor wasn’t all that friendly but he told me the bottom line - I’ve got positive ANA in my blood and Raynaud’s, which is stuff I knew before, but as far as the condition actual ailing me, it’s too early to tell. It can be nothing, it can be something as much as an autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, which my mother has. I will have to be watched for any developments and for now, keep my hands warm, eat and exercise, etc. I’ve been given medicine to open up the blood vessels, but this will have to be taken with precaution, as I have low blood pressure. Doctor recommended me buying a blood pressure machine to make sure. I also am due for another blood test this week for further confirmation. Lucky me - I’m not afraid of needles!

I’ve been seeking another job to do in the summer, alongside Work Study and school. I had an interview on Friday at a local sports store and it was very relaxed. I met the manager - awesome person - who showed me around and gave me the rundown. This was the store who sponsored Shamrock, my first race, so I was eager to brag. Basically, I was hired on the spot I will know my hours later in the week, but yay for another job! I’m very excited to be working at a store I enjoy going to as a customer, and hopefully this will alleviate some wants - like the usual food stuffs for my bottomless pit of a stomach, and a desktop computer I want to build this summer.

As for my vacation back in Florida, it’s going well. Been eating lots, sleeping lots, catching up with the parentals and my ever-so-hyper Jack Russell, and just overall relaxing. I never want to exercise when I’m down here - too hot! I will, however, take advantage of the home pool and swim. I also brought my PS2 to play some games but woe-is-me, my controller finally kicked the bucket. I’ll try slamming it some and pulling the wires, but if not, I’ll just buy another controller when I get back to Atlanta.

And finally, since I have some spare time, I will polish the blog here and there with some more information, and I hope to make a little banner. Nothing Photoshop fancy (don’t have it), so maybe I can scan a drawing. We’ll see

Monday, 4/28
After my finals, went to the gym and did the lower body circuit workout (and a new added favorite - the torso rotation machine!) Went to the pool afterwards to try out the running belt for longer, but the outer lanes were taken so I did a swimming warm up and 10 speed lengths til it cleared. Ran for 30 minutes in the pool but I didn’t feel exhausted

Tuesday, 4/29
Did an upper body workout (getting better with those dips and chin assists!) then did 30 minutes on the bike at hill+. I was able to gather about 7.8 miles, which the boyfriend said was good standing for a biking triathlon! Did more dip and chin assists afterwards.

Wednesday, 4/30
Did a lower body workout and then hit the pool. Swam the warmup, 20 lengths of speed, and cool down. My swimming technique isn’t right because I didn’t feel tired after the swim. I could swim harder if I only could dip my head in the water, but I tend to end up with a mouthful of chlorine :/

Thursday, 5/1
Same workout as Tuesday in terms of upper body, but only did 10 minutes/3 miles of hill biking. Quads and hams died… going up stairs was not fun.

Friday, 5/2
Rest day, spent packing :/

Saturday, 5/3
Another rest day packing and traveling.

Sunday, 5/4
Back in Florida and it’s really hot. Since I spent the day doing errands, I opted for a core workout in the evening. Did 75 pushups, a plank and side planks, my crunches and my bike kicks before I decided it was still too hot to do anything else. The house isn’t a good place to do any of this anyway, so I’ll do my workouts at the community gym for the duration of my stay.

This is my fifth semester at GT and thus, my fifth round of finals. I had Physics 2 yesterday and I’m pretty sure I’m out of that class with a solid C. I better - I sold my PRS and textbook already. I have the Astronomy final on Thursday and my Calc 3 on Friday, both of which I don’t hold a big concern over. I think I can pull off Bs in those classes, and with an A from my TA, I’ll get a semester GPA of 2.75. Wish I could get a GPA of 3.00+ like I did my first semester but oh well, it’s Tech

Went to the Health Center yesterday to do a further investigation on my possible stress fracture, which popped up on the 12th of this month after a race. The x-rays didn’t show that conclusive evidence of a hairline on my bone, but the doc thinks it’s still a stress fracture. I’ve been treating it as such for the past two weeks and will continue to do so until I can run again. I can walk a little better though, and I’ve been good about my increased intake of Calcium to speed up the healing process. I’ve been dying to run again, but I do find my increased body strength completely awesome!

I’ve been packing up my belongings from my dorm and it’s saddening to hear my own echo in my room now. Packing is always a bother, but at least I don’t have a lot of stuff. I’ll be checked out by Saturday, my belongings will stay with the boyfriend when I go home to Florida for a week, and I will move into my summer dorm before school starts on the 12th next month.

Finally, I’ve been on a mission to acquire a summer job so I can have another source of money besides work study when I’m doing summer semester. I got my first callback today from a sports retail store and will be going to an interview later in the week. Hope I get it!

Monday, 4/21
Biked for 45 minutes on a hill interval, yielding 10.7 miles and numbed legs. Did weights on the upper body to complete the workout.

Tuesday, 4/22
Did weights on the lower body, then swam easy for 30 minutes. While I felt my heart rate increase, I didn’t get that feeling of breathlessness as when I did the speed workout in swimming, so I’m a little disappointed.

Wednesday, 4/23
Just an upper body workout. Didn’t feel up to hobbling to the far gym for biking.

Thursday, 4/24
Did a lower body strength workout, then biked for 30 minutes and did about 10 minutes of rowing.

Friday, 4/25
Did the upper body strength workout, then rowed for about 20 minutes, playing the fishie game. So cute!

Saturday, 4/26
Did the lower body strength workout, which was bothersome since rowing left my legs a little stiff. Swam for about 30 minutes, doing a warmup and some speed, then found the running belt and did 5 laps of running with it. Will do more of that tomorrow.

Sunday, 4/27
Went into the dormitory gym to do weights, but got freaked out since it was dark and left, so I did core.

This coming week is Dead Week, the next is Finals. And I’m pretty much borderline B-C in all of my classes, like every semester.

NOT COOL.

I’m only taking three classes and a TA class, which seems easy. However, it just happens to be two physics classes, my calculus 3 class, and the TA class is an EE lab. Perhaps I don’t feel too bad anymore. My summer looks pretty similar… as does my fall….

Haha. I love college.

Monday, 4/14
No running due to busy schedule.

Tuesday, 4/15
Tried to run and a small area on my left shin was just hurting too much. Only did 1.5 miles at 10 minute mile pace. Deemed a possible stress fracture, and until my doctor’s appointment, I’ll try pool-running this week.

Wednesday, 4/16
Was going to go swim, but ended up too busy. Went to the doctor’s instead to have the stress fracture checked out. Did a core workout that night to at least have had done something.

Thursday, 4/17
Did strength workouts and about 15 minutes of biking. Could have done more, but my thighs were burning, as I usually don’t do strength-training.

Friday, 4/18
Strength training left me really sore, so didn’t go swimming (again) like I had planned. Didn’t do anything else for that matter. This sucks. >:/

Saturday, 4/19
Swimming plan went down the drain again. Did upper body strength training and core instead.

Sunday, 4/20
Swimming plan put into action! First did a lower body strength workout, then did speed in the pool. Finished feeling enthralled for finally getting a decent cardio workout in. Will do core later.

Instead of the scheduled appointment I had with Health Services for the coming Tuesday, I went to the walk-in triage a few days ago (got tired of limping everywhere). After an hour and a half of deliberation, the doctors think I have a stress fracture. The X-ray scan didn’t show that hairline crack, but I do have an appointment in two weeks. If I have a callous in the problematic area, then it’s a stress fracture.

So I can’t run until I’m all better. What a huge bummer, especially since I got my new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8 in the mail. They felt comfy.

Until then, I’ll be doing other cardio work (swimming, biking), and more core/strength training. I hope I don’t lose any abillity, but I’m cutting off the May races to accommodate my recovery.

This little problem is pretty minor compared to the next one coming up: Finals. UGH.

Least it’s the weekend