100 days to go...

Cross-training took place today! I rode a stationary bike instead of running. I rode a total of 11 miles in the interval training mode (slow, fast, slow, etc.) over 40 minutes. Saturday I'm planning to do my weekly long run with a total of 6.5 miles as my goal, which I haven't run since the end of December. My Runner's World book hasn't come in the mail yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive before Sunday. It would be nice to get some reading in while I have some down time over the weekend.

102 Days to go

Last night I spent time viewing the website for the St. Luke's 2012 Half Marathon and to be honest it was a little intimidating. I've gone running in the area before, but my runs were only 1-2 loops around the lake and that was all. The half-marathon involves 2 loops around the lake, plus like 9 more miles through another park and along a river. Sometimes I have to take a step back and think, "13 miles... do I really want to put myself through that?" but then my competitive spirit comes out and tells me to go for it. And so the training continues. In 102 days is my race. Today I focused on speed work - running at a quicker pace than usual - and did better than I expected. Here are today's numbers: Run length: 46 minutes (including the warm up and cool down) Mileage: 4 miles

My Latest Adventure

It's been almost two years since I last posted in this blog, which was originally intended for me to keep in touch with friends and family while I was away at school - my big adventure at the time (hence, the title of the blog). Since then, I've graduated, landed a fantastic job, met a wonderful man, and got married. My adventure is no longer grad school (or planning a wedding - man, was THAT an exhausting adventure and I didn't have had time to blog anyway). Instead, my adventure has recently become something else... and because I don't have anyone around to keep me accountable, I've decided to re-use this old blog - hoping that YOU will keep me accountable and inspired. So, here goes... In October, a dear friend of mine encouraged me to run a half-marathon with her. Now, I never ran track or played sports in high school (unless you consider marching band a sport). However, I do think I have athletic ability and a competitive nature. (Just ask my husband or watch me play Frisbee or Dutch Blitz!) Also, running a half marathon is on my bucket list of things I want to do before I die (along with visiting every national park in the contiguous United States, but maybe that'll be my next big adventure.) So, anyway, running this half-marathon in April is my latest adventure and I'm inviting you to come along for the ride and listen to my experiences, joys, and frustrations. Since getting married this past summer and moving away, I don't know anyone well enough in my area to be my running buddy. I began running 2-3 times in the fall, but now that I'm only 4 months out from the "big day", I need to start stepping up my game plan. Yesterday I ordered "Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running" to help me educate myself as to how to go about training in a healthy and safe way - not just the running, but for eating the right foods, and injury prevention and such. Today was Day 1 of my serious training, though I wasn't very tough on myself after a very lax Christmas vacation immediately followed by a nasty cold. But here's my first report: Exercise: Running/walking Time: 55 minutes, but walked half the time. Calories: 360 Like I mentioned, I'm encouraging you (maybe asking or begging would be the correct terminology) to join me in this big adventure. Comments and encouragements are welcome!

Student Teaching: Part 1

It felt so good to get back into the school environment this week! My first week of student teaching went well, even though I didn't get to actually teach much. I get along great with my cooperating teacher and she is extremely knowledgeable. I'm finding that the more I learn about running a school library, the more I don't know. Coming from an elementary background, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the authors and books that the students are asking for. I'm not too worried, though, because I figure the longer I work as a librarian, the more I'll learn. I'm hoping to take on more teaching responsibility next week!

Snowed Out

Last Friday I left Pittsburgh to spend a weekend with my sister's family in Kentucky. Because the forecast was calling for a major snowstorm to hit Pittsburgh by 7am, I left my apartment in the wee hours of the morning. I figured with the snow coming, it would definitely be good time to be out of town and around other people. I didn't want to be stranded in my small apartment by myself for days!

The visit was great! I got to spend quality time with my sister, her husband, and their 9-month old son. We spent a lot of time cooking, eating, and watching movies. While everyone was gone during the day, I spent time on my school work and doing some housekeeping for them.

I planned to drive back to Pittsburgh Monday morning. However, I was working on a project for which I had to make 80 hardcopies of an informational sheet. I knew that it was supposed to start snowing again in Pittsburgh by 8am the next day and wasn't sure if I'd make it to the copiers on time before the class started at 6pm. What if the copiers were closed? Thankfully, my sister graciously offered me the use of her copier. However, after everything was said and done, my belongings were packed, and my car de-snowed it was 6pm - meaning I would not get back to the 'burgh before 1am. Less than five minutes after saying my good-byes, my phone rang. It was an automated message from the University stating that it would be closed on Tuesday. I had to listen to the message a second time to make sure I heard it correctly - I was in shock! That would never have happened at my undergrad university! A phone call from a friend immediately afterward confirmed my hearing concerns. I turned around and went back to my sister's place, not in the least disappointed to spend a couple more days with my nephew!

Turns out that the University closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. In addition to that, both of my Thursday classes met online rather than in person, so I stayed the entire week in Kentucky. I just returned last night and the roads still look pretty bad. I'm sooooo glad I wasn't here for the worst of it!

Back in the Swing of Things

Christmas break at home was great - I loved seeing family and catching up with friends! I'm back at school and into the swing of the my third and LAST semester. This year is flying by. For as scary as moving to a new city and not knowing anyone was, it was definitely worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had the choice!

What makes this semester even better than the previous two is that I'm doing my student teaching in a middle school library! I don't start until mid-February, but I've met my cooperating teacher-librarian and she seems like an amazing educator with a lot of knowledge to share. I can't wait to be back in a school!

I'll still be taking three other courses on top of student teaching, all of which I'm enjoying so far. Things will be busy, but worth every minute of it!

Momentary Sabbatical

I know, I know! I've been slacking in blogging this semester and I blame my demanding classes. Thankfully, it looks like my coursework will lighten up slightly between now and the end of the term. I'm enjoying Pittsburgh more than I did over the summer and have met a lot of great people in the last few months, but don't fret hometown friends - I have no desire to move here permanently!

So what have I been doing lately? Besides studying, sleeping, and eating? Well, my birthday was last month and some friends from school treated me to a chicken stir-fry dinner (my favorite) and a chocolate fondue dessert at The Melting Pot. That same night we rode the Dusquesne Incline (my second time). Another night I invited people over for chili and a movie. Also, I get together with a wonderful group of girls every couple weeks for a Bible study. I'm back in the habit of running, though I wasn't too committed this week.

Next week I only have one class Tuesday due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so I'm heading down to Kentucky to visit family this weekend. I'm especially looking forward to this as I'll get to see my baby nephew and I haven't been down there since he was born. I'll come back to Pittsburgh for my class, and then head home for Thanksgiving! I'm so relieved to be at this point in the semester!

Thank you to those of you who regularly check up on me through this blog, especially Mrs. R from home - my mom tells me you have been waiting to find out what's going on out here :o) I'll try to do a better job with this blog in the future.

Center of the World

This Thursday and Friday Pittsburgh is hosting the G20 summit, which means things could get interesting. Several protests, both legal and illegal, are scheduled throughout the week. Downtown will be closed and a lot of bus routes have been altered. Safety has become a concern for the city and several of the area universities will be closed those days, but not Pitt. However, my professors have cancelled on campus classes, but will still post lectures on the University's portal system. That means a long week with no scheduled places for me to go! I plan to go to a Bible study, do some running, and visit a coffee shop or two this week to get me out of my apartment and away from these books!

End of One Life, Beginning of Another

Before I went home for Labor Day, in fact before I even moved to Pittsburgh, I was considering purchasing a new computer. My old laptop, affectionately nicknamed "Grandma," was nearing the 5 year mark and I didn't really trust her to get me through this year. This past weekend, I was pretty sure that this was the weekend that Grandma would be retired. My thoughts were confirmed Friday night.

I was sitting at the kitchen table with mom and doing some school work on my computer. Out of the blue, my cursor would not move where I commanded it to. I could move it around just fine with the touch pad, but when I clicked on the button to signal where I wanted it to be - nothing. In a flurry of concern I did what anyone else would probably do - turn the computer off manually and reboot. Again, the cursor remained in exactly the same place blinking at me. I tried clicking on other windows and applications with no luck.

With concern, I showed the problem to my dad. He started playing around and I noticed that the cursor would move whenever my dad gave it a commanding click. What in the world? I thought. He looked at me and just told me I needed to click the button harder. Oh... right. I returned to the kitchen table and began pounding away with the clicking button. I couldn't just press it harder to make it work, I had to pound the thing. It seemed rather comedic. Had anyone who walked into the room that moment, they would have thought I was very was writing an email in a fit of rage from the loud clicks that filled the air.

Grandma was still operable, but after Friday's incident, I didn't dare to trust her to carry me through eight more months of graduate work. I had been researching computers for a few months already, so I had a good idea as to what I wanted. Sunday afternoon my dad and I walked into the Apple store at the mall and about an hour later I officially became a Mac.

Return of the Librarian

I'm back to blogging (after a brief vacation)! I spent most of August back in good old Allentown. My three-week-long summer was wonderful. I got to spend some much needed time with much loved family and friends! My summer consisted mostly of hanging out and playing games with friends, catching a few movies with the family, getting back into the running routine (which I've seemed to have lost upon returning to Pittsburgh last week), baking, and spending time at the beach. This down time was well spent, if I do say so myself!

I drove back to Pittsburgh last Wednesday for orientation. Classes start this week and I'm really looking forward to this semster. There are a lot of newbies to my program, so I think this semester will be a lot easier to meet people. A friend who was in my program with me this summer made the comment when she saw me the other day, "You seem so refreshed and relaxed! So this is what you're like when you're not stressed." Made me laugh, but also made me think how I should not let myself get bogged down with everything I have to do. I think a lot of it had to do with the lack of fellowship I had over the summer.

Keep visiting as I'll post regular updates! Thanks for following my journey so far. Good luck to my BCS family as they begin school this week!