Sleepy... Tuesday?

Good morning, sunshine.

I had morning practice today, and it was pretty much business as usual. Getting up at 6:15 am is hard. Running in the slight rain/wind storm/cold is even harder. Weight and Strength training was a cruel and unusual punishment.

So I got back to my house, put on this XXL men's button up long sleeve I got from a Good Will, and took a nap. that lasted five hours. Five hours.

...FIVE HOURS.

I don't think that even counts as a nap anymore. I think that's basically I went to bed last night, took a brief moment to get up and run a bit, and then went back to sleep again.

...I slept until one.

...In the afternoon.

...Who let's me make these decisions?

Practice was alright today, consisting of a split tempo. There a wind storm here due to the hurricane on the east coast, but very little rain. Which is confusing, because it always rains here and I thought we'd be having weather closer to a monsoon than Chicago's everyday.

All I have left of my season is this week, ending with a 5k time trial on Thursday, and then a 10 day break from running altogether.

After practice my roommate and one of my neighbors went to Dairy Queen and got blizzards. I have a very serious question about blizzards though: when did cake blizzards get discontinued, and why was it allowed by society. I understand that this is a first world problem, but I just really want a cake blizzard. Really, really badly.

I also became emotionally attached to Eat, Pray, Love. Like, really attached. As in, I am embarrassed to admit how attached.

But it's late, and I have to get up early before my 8 am to shower and print of a homework assignment, so this is all for now!

Get That Girl Some Adderall

For some reason I have the attention span of a 2 year old on Halloween today. I haven't drank that much coffee, and I was like this before I started drinking my tea. So I don't really know, but I'm all over the place and it's sort of fun. I sort of want to be this way forever. Five-ever. Ever-ever. ALL OF THE EVERS.

Anyways.

I apparently have a Anthropology test this Friday, which would have been nice to know last week. This also really confusing for me because we're only supposed to have two tests; the midterm and the final. And we already took the midterm. Does this mean my final is my essay? Or that I don't have any final? I wish that had been clarified because now I have no idea what this class is doing to me. Absolutely none.

Computer Science actually made sense today. Which leads me to believe that I actually don't know what's happening and my brain is just telling me that I understand to save me the pain. Also we will never speak of the midterm in that class. It would be cruel and unusual to do so.

I had yet another test in Calculus today. We haven't even gotten back the last test. What is he even doing? I can't even. I can't even begin to even. At least I think I did well on this one? It was all different types of derivatives, and it seemed pretty straight forward. So maybe I did get it! It was a skills test instead of a normal test, so I need at least a 9/10 to pass, but I get multiple tries to pass. But if I get 9 right on the first try, I'll get 110% on it soooo yeah.

But our teacher let us leave early (which has never happened in this class before, so I got breakfast! At Einstein's (where else?), and got a bagel and a pumpkin muffin. They didn't put any frosting on my muffin, but it was still delicious.

Speech was boring. Therefore I'm not going to talk about it.

Something I realized today is that you can draw on coffee mugs with dryerase board marker and it'll come right off! So obviously I made art.

So much beauty

What Am I Even Doing

Wow. Wow, its been a while.

Like two weeks.

Wow.

I don't really have the details for the past two week, except for lots of tests, projects, and workouts. A few rage days where I was just angry at everything. (I'm looking at you, lab days.) Basically, really busy. So I'm going to use that as an excuse for not posting for a while.

But yeah, long time no post.

Yesterday was the cross country conference meet and we won! Which is cool, because winning is always cool. (I like winning very much if you can't tell.)

It was a kind of cold, overcast day but the wind died down and the rain stopped so there wasn't really anything to complain about, except for muddy patches on the course. The race began a bit faster than I like to begin, around low 5:40s or high 5:30s for the fist mile, and I got a bit distracted by pacing in the beginning and dropped away from one of my teammates who I had wanted to stay with (she ended up winning the race so I can't really complain about not staying with her, but I could have stayed with her longer than I did) and eventually just sort of blanked out for about 1k. (Oops. My bad.)

By that time the girl was long gone, but there was a different teammate up ahead, so I worked my way up to her, and then passed her. Then yet another teammate was up ahead (this time one of my housemates), so I made my way up to her and then passed her also. I hit the 2 mile around 11:30 or 11:40, and decided to treat the second half of the race as a new race. So I began to pick it and chasing a teammate who was pretty far ahead of me.

Meanwhile, my entire stomach contents are swishing and splashing around. It doesn't hurt, which is really weird but I'm still grateful for, so I just run through that the entire time and try not to listen to it too much.

I don't know my 3 mile time, since there was no clock there, so I can't know for sure if I picked it up or not (which is actually super annoying) but I'm pretty sure I did. So I'm running, and running, while slowly catching up to this girl. I sort of convince myself to give up a couple times, before I remind myself that the faster I run the sooner I'll be done. Right as the course turns into the finish, I catch up to my teammate. And out kick her. I feel a bit like a bitch.

But I was fourth in the open! And had over a minute PR! (I ran 22:10 to those who want to know, and it was a 6k.) And I didn't throw up when I finished from all the stomach sloshing! So all in all a good race day! I'm sort of sad it was my last race of the season, but we have time trails from now on so I guess that's good? (Not really, not at all.)

I'm just going to finish this post off with a picture and promise to attempt to be better with my posting!

My sister and I, post-race.

Let's Play Catch Up in the Chicago Marathon

Here's some things we will NOT be talking about in this post:

• My computer science project.
• My computer science lab.
• My computer science quiz.
• That speech I just gave.

It's kind of important to my sanity that I don't relive any of those. Ever. Ever.

It has been a long time since I posted last, so this may be a bit longer than usual. Hopefully I don't bore anyone to death. I can't afford a lawsuit.

My entire Wednesday was spent on my computer science project, and is therefore a taboo subject. There were almost tears and desperate calls. I'm pretty sure that's all anybody needs to know.

I didn't get my Einstein's on Thursday, which was actually super depressing and terrible. I almost starved to death in my calculus class. Thank goodness I hoard my cliff bars in my backpack, just in case of an emergency. Otherwise bad things would have happened. Too bad I can't hoard coffee in my backpack...

Really, Thursday was pretty boring and I don't even remember what I did during it. I'm sure something funny happened that I'd like to remember and talk about, I just can't recall it right now. Or probably ever.

Friday is interesting though. At least, Friday was interesting to me. And by interesting I mean absolutely fantastic and awesome. Obviously.

I had my third meet on Friday, which was a 5k this time and the same course as my first 5k of the season. My race was last, because I was in the open race and everyone else got to go first. The women's varsity race was so fast! Our team had 5 girls at 18:00 or lower! I was pretty much frothing at the mouth while watching this. I shouldn't be left alone while I watch races.

The women's open race was tiny, in case you were wondering. There at most 40 girls, but probably closer to 30. It was cold, overcast, and windy at the starting line. To make things incredibly awkward, my ex-boyfriend's best friend was at the meet, by the line (his girl friend was racing I think) as I stripped down to my buns and tank top. I found it mildly uncomfortable. But mostly I was cold.

As the race starts, I get up to the front with one of my roommates, our neighbor (another freshman on the team) and a girl from State. The first mile was pretty slow, around 5:55, and the second was at 11:58 (which is about a 6:03 mile). This is where I decided to push the race. I don't know when I started losing people, but all I know is when I hit the last k, that there is a girl behind me and she is chasing me. So I run faster. And then one of my coaches is at the last 400, telling me I need to start going faster here. So I run faster. And then I'm at the finishing stretch, and people are screaming at me. So I run faster. And then I'm crossing the line, and the clock is saying 18:13.

To put this into perspective, I would like to point out that my previous PR was an 18:48 that I ran in my junior year of high school.

I think the words to describe me at that moment were deliriously happy.

To make a long story short, I PR'd, won my race, and didn't die. It was good.

After that I got a ride from my dad, not back to my apartment, but all the way back home (after stopping for dinner with the sisters). Why? Because I was going to Chicago that weekend to watch my sisters die run the Chicago Marathon!

In several good coincidences, my friend from high school had an 11 mile long run to do on Saturday (like me) and my team was meeting up before heading out to Portage to race.

In case you were wondering, it's really fun to sit in my coach's office and casually say hi to my old teammates and wait for their reactions. There was a lot of screaming. And hugging. And delayed reactions. My favorite was when I was standing next to my friend who's also in college now (also named Amy), and a girl named Emily was saying how good it was to see her. I'm pretty sure she didn't even see me there, which was why it was so great when she did notice I was there and had a heart attack.

Good times.

They all had to weight lift though, so Amy and I headed out for our run, and got to talk for a really long time. (It was 11 miles after all.) And I got to hear about her life. And her love life. And her love interest. And them swing dancing. And their dates. And how perfect he is.

If she doesn't put a ring on him, I will. Seriously.

So besides the fact that I'm slightly bitter now, it was really great seeing her and all of the girls again! It's so weird not being with them anymore.

Amy and I ended up getting breakfast before I had to leave for Chicago with my parents. I ended up sleeping for the majority of the drive. The hotel we stayed out was really nice, I sort of wish we stayed there for more than one day.

We woke up at 4:30 the next morning (an hour earlier than we had to) and drove to Chicago. I slept during that too.

Chicago at 6:30 am is freezing. As in, I thought the city was being occupied by dementors and that I'd never be warm again. I had a shirt, two sweat shirts, my thickest running tights, gloves, and ear bands on, and I was still freezing.

At least we got to see my sisters before they raced! We didn't get to talk much, but it was still nice. My dad and I then went to the 2 mile to go cheer, while my mom went to a different part of the course to cheer them on while waiting for their friend to meet up with her.

My dad and I got to see them at the 3 mile also, before they looped out into the city where we couldn't watch. So we went to Starbucks, and drank coffee while we warmed up. I feel no shame for this.

The next time we got to see them at the half way point, and they were doing really well at that point! Eileen was at around 1:38 and Meagan was around 1:42 I think, so they were moving!

We got to see them once more before the finish at the 16.5 point, but I only found Eileen though my parents found others that I didn't see. After this all we could do was go to the finish and cheer them in!

Both of the qualified for Boston! (Eileen was 3:13 and Meagan was 3:25.) Am I allowed to brag about their achievements? Because I really want to.

I don't know how they stomached this after running that far, but we got Chipotle pretty much right after they finished (which was delicious) and pretty much headed home.

Almost everything from this point on is on the list of thing I can not, will not, should not talk and/or think about. So I'll just finish with pictures.

Runners!

Even more runners!

This is a man in a skirt. There is no other significance.

Eileen!

Meagan!

All the clothes that got thrown.

Chicago!

Cookie Identity Crisis and Ramen Noodles

Today I realized I missed an assignment for my speech class, thus pulling down my grade in the class. In response to this utter bullshit problem, I decided to make sadness cookies. Which are pretty much the same thing as normal cookies, only they're made while I'm sad. What I didn't realize at the time, was that we don't have a cookie sheet. We do, however, have a cupcake tray.

This is a cinnamon sugar cookie, going through an identity crisis. It thinks it's a cupcake. Or a muffin. They're delicious, despite their sadness and ambiguity.

I did a k (kilometer) workout at practice today, which was really difficult for me. Why are those so hard? Blargh they were difficult. We started at 4:00 for the first one and progressively took off 5 seconds each rep, for 6 reps. I ended up running 3:35 for both the 5th and the 6th rep, but I don't think the coaches really minded. The majority of the team had their long run today, so the workout group was incredibly small, like it was during the 400 workout.

Afterwards I went home and made myself dinner, consisting on ramen noodles. No, I don't feel any shame for this.

Mm-mm good :)

I feel like a college student.

I also got to go get a blizzard from Dairy Queen with my mentor and some other upperclassmen. Besides the fact that I'm always ready for ice cream and dessert in general, it was especially good today, because they had the pumpkin pie blizzards that I got to try for the first time! They're delicious, in case you haven't caught on yet.

Something everyone in my house has learned today is that I can not be trusted with sugar and the internet after 9:30 pm. My roommates and I are all sitting in a room together, but we're just posting all this creepy/weird/awesome things we find on each other's walls. A lot of which pertain to Nicolas Cage. And memes.

Eventually just posting on each other's walls gets boring though, so this is when we stop. And pick a victim whose wall we were going to destroy.

I don't know where half those pictures and videos came from (did you know that Nigel Thornberry features in a lot of youtube songs and that there's such thing as Nicolas Cage everyone? I do.), but I'm pretty sure that guy is about to hate us.

Somewhere in all of this is Amanda Bynes and What A Girl Wants. I just couldn't really tell you where.

Late Post is Late

My Sunday was pretty much spent at Art Prize with my family, so instead of describing it all, I'm just going to throw pictures at all of you. Enjoy!

Meagan and I with the Elephants!

Those scissors they left on the chair are really tempting....

Representation of the population of NYC through blown glass vials

Biggest drawing I've ever seen

What is that goat doing on that tightrope?!

This is awesome. That is all.

Art.

I would have broken this if I had made it.

Cloud zombies! Run before they eat your data! (Lame joke is lame.)

Scamper?! Where are you??

Is it just me or is that T-Rex eating the crowd?

"Please do not touch the art!" Too late.

After all of that, my family decides that we should go out to dinner (which I completely agreed with). At Olive Garden. (Which I did not completely agree with). Where our waiter decided to seat us at the exact same spot as last time.

Yes, it was too soon.

Either they are really lax with their blacklisting, or I'm still allowed in there. I have mixed feelings on this.

The only other thing that really happened on Sunday was that my roommates decided that if our house was the family from Family Guy, that I'd be Chris. At least I'm not Meg. Got that going for me.

Monday was sort of nerve-wracking because I got all my test grades back. In my anthropology class, my professor had our grades up online, but couldn't hand out our tests yet. I spent the majority of class panicking while taking notes. My walk between classes was basically me just attempting to make my iPod get to my grades.

I'm not to happy with my grade on that test. She says that her test average is usually around 70%, and I got and 82%, so I should be pretty happy, but I'm not. At the very least I wanted to get a B+ on this test, and now I'm going to have to work a lot harder to pull my grade up to an A by the end of the semester. Can you do that when there's only two more grades? Well, I guess I'm going to find out.

I got a quiz back in computer science that day too, but I don't really want to talk about that.

Calculus was awesome though! Our professor handed back our exams at the beginning of class, which is good because I might have fought him if I had to wait until the next class to get it. Anyways, I got a 93%! Which is pretty good, considering I forgot what a derivative was for like 20 minutes of the testing time.

After classes I went to practice, and then study tables. Where I worked on calculus for 2 hours straight.

Yeah calculus, yeahhhh.

Busy Weekends

Friday was weird. First off, it was the third double run of the week and I had to start running before 7 so I would have time to get to my 8 am because I had a midterm (what?) that class and it was sort of important that I was on time for it. Just a little bit.

The test is all multiple choice, which is sometimes good but sometimes very, very bad. As soon as we start the test, I sort of fly through all 60 questions and check them all in around 25 minutes. All I can think while
I'm leaving is that the test went either really, really well or horribly. There is no middle ground here.

So now I get to spend all weekend freaking out and shitting my diaper patiently waiting for my professor to either post the grade of to get it back in class, hopefully on Monday.

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do between classes in 35 minutes. I ended up sitting on a bench by my next class, listening to music and checking my email through my iPod. And drinking coffee, because it hadn't frozen like it usually does by the time I get to my second class.

I was going to ask my teacher questions about our project, but we didn't have our teacher that day. We had a sub. I didn't even know you could have subs in college. Is this a thing? Can they even do that?

Basically all that happened there was that I took a quiz and got out 30 minutes early, and got to sit in the basement of the building as I waited for my calculus class to happen. It was not really all that awesome. Not awesome at all.

The rest of my classes were boring, and I spent my time between my last class and my second run desperately hoping my anthropology professor would upload our test results. (It didn't happen.) Around three I went on a six mile run with my roommate, and I pretty much spent the rest of my night catching up on Castle a bit. Which reminds me; I'll probably be having posts about the TV shows I watch (aka crime shows) soon. Because the people I usually geek out freak out with are now at different colleges, and I need an outlet for this before I start to scare people.

Today I went with my sister Eileen to the bank, because she accidentally deposited around $200 into my account instead of her own and she needed me to switch it back. I ended up staying over at her house for most of the day, working on my computer science project (which I may or may not be doing correctly. I have absolutely no idea right now.) and eating lunch.

Since the majority of the team was away for a meet, everyone else who stayed was on their own for the long run today. I ended up running form my sister's apartment and down to this park that's about 3-ish miles away and doing some loops around there until I ran 11 miles and my sister picked me up. It wasn't that bad, but my legs were still pretty dead from the 400 workout a couple days ago.

As my sister dropped me off, I stole back my camera. But I should have checked it before she left, because while I do have my camera, I don't have my memory card.

Well played.

Tomorrow my sister Meagan and my parents are coming to visit from home and we're all going to Art Prize! Which is cool because I was planning on going this weekend, but it never really happened. So I'll definitely be looking forward to tomorrow :)