Getting Back on the Horse...

You've probably assumed I've forgotten about you by now. I assure you that is not the case. I'm sure you remember me talking about how the semester was going so slow and I had nothing to do. I wish that were still the case. The past few weeks have snowballed into an avalanche of work. While it's easy to assume that is due to procrastination, it isn't.

In one particular class, our final project was just assigned on Wednesday. We've known about the project the entire semester. The necessary material to begin the project was not posted until Wednesday. This isn't the first time a professor has warned my peers and me about the work involved in the final project. "Be sure you start this early, because it's a lot of work," they say. We inquire about it all semester and they say, "it's not ready yet." Then we get minimal time to complete it. Yay, engineering school.

Outside of that project, and subsequent report, I have a presentation and my Capstone report. This capstone report is the biggest thing I have to do and in the end, it's likely to breach 50+ pages. It's due on Thursday.

My knee is mostly all better. I took good care of it while it was an open wound and have been able to walk on it just fine for a few weeks. The fall I experienced, on October 11th, was a mini-trauma. As my dad would say, it made me "gun shy." I was hesitant to run again, because I didn't want to fall again. Sure, it didn't hurt that bad, but it was a major annoyance. And I fell so easily, it seemed probable to happen again. That combined with the amount of school work I've accumulated recently has been why I haven't run since that day...well, until today.

I'm working on this major report, and after I spend a few hours on it, I like to take a little break. This morning, I decided to spend that break getting back into running. While I'm well aware that my free time in the coming 12 days is limited, I decided to start back while I can. I can't be afraid forever.

If I'm not honest here, there's really no point. This blog was originally created to keep me in check. If I'm lying to my audience, I'm failing. So, I'll be honest and say I haven't lost much weight since October 11th. I've lost maybe four pounds, but I haven't gained any weight. While I'm disappointed in myself for taking an extended hiatus, I am proud of the fact that I was able to maintain my weight and not balloon back up. This raises my confidence that I'll be able to maintain my weight once I achieve my goal. I really don't want to pull a Kirstie Alley.

Knowing that I hadn't run in over a month, I assumed running would be harder than I remember. I went back to an earlier week in the C25k program. As it's been quite cold outside, I bundled up.

As luck would have it, the app didn't work properly. I did the warmup walk and thought the first run should have started. I looked at my phone and sure enough, it began 30 seconds ago! The alerts weren't working at all. So, I did the only thing I could and ran until I couldn't run any more, then walked. Rinse, repeat.

My heart rate was higher than I was used to. My body has been sitting in chairs typing programs and papers. I will say, though, getting active again feels pretty great. My calves are so sore right now, but it's worth it.

I have my father's company's Christmas party to attend tomorrow, and I'm quite looking forward to it. It'll be a nice break with some great people. Too bad all of my other time is being spent in Microsoft Word. On the upside, I do graduate in 13 days. It seems kind of unreal, that the end is finally here. Well, I call it the end, but I do begin Graduate school in January. Hopefully for just one year, though.

Outside of school, things have been pretty great. I'm making fantastic friendships and still being as sociable as possible with my existing friends. Christmas break will be a blessing.

I'm sorry for abandoning you! It was not a conscious decision, but just sort of happened. I hope to be posting regularly again soon. Thanks for reading!