Last Post!

This is my last post on this blog, FOREVER!  I am so happy I took WISE and thank everyone who has been involved in this journey with me.  It's been hard work but a blast!
Over n out!

slow and steady (finishes) the race

13.1 miles later I am still alive!  I don't want to give everything about the race away before my presentation but I will share some highlights:
-the cheer when the marathon and half marathon started
-the fans who lined the streets giving their support almost the whole way, including little kids who acted like you made their day when you returned their high fives
-seeing Canada during my porta potty stop
-running with Ms. G for the first few miles
-watching a man dodge off course to take a leak right next to a downtown building
-the amount of support runners provided for each other
-the photographers cheering as they took your pictures
-chucking the water cups
-the perfect weather
...and so much else!

I will jot down more thoughts so I can remember them well enough by the time my presentation rolls around.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and I am so glad I did it!  I feel very accomplished and proud, despite my sore feet that are currently taking a rest.

Mentor Meeting 5/23

Today I met with Ms. Maddren and we discussed Luke's presentation, my presentation, and my race for the most part.  It's always good to just be able to be really honest in how I am feeling towards my project in my meetings.

I admitted that after Luke's presentation I was a bit worried about my own.  His was so interactive, but that was also the nature of his project.  Ms. Maddren reminded me that not all projects will be like that and while I don't want mine to be totally boring, it is not as easy to display what I learned or provide examples.

She helped me with presentation ideas- the possibility of having three "themes."  I need to re-read my whole blog by the end of the weekend for my narrative anyway, so that will help determine the themes.

I also went and talked to Mr. Heurich about blog binding today.  We made a plan to meet Tuesday 6th period to do that because I would really like to have a reflective post after the race in the final product before it is bound, so it needs to wait a little longer.  The issue with that is if it doesn't work out, I don't have any other times I can do it before my written work needs to be handed in in a hard copy form (by 3:32 Tuesday).

I run my last training run tomorrow before the race on Sunday!  I haven't been eating as well today because it has been hard for me to stomach food easily (a recent event is making my stomach feel uneasy most of the time) but I hope it will be better tomorrow.  I have been hydrating well especially because of the heat.  It looks like the weather will be nice for the race, fingers crossed!

Advice/Luke's presentation- in class 5/22

In class we read an article about elite athletes and how they are able to take advice well. It talks about how we are often hesitant to accept advice and use it because it takes admitting we might be wrong, and it may not go along with the plan we purposely decided on.

This article doesn't really apply to my project very much in the sense that I don't have a coach. One could argue that my teacher and mentor take that position. I have taken lots of valuable advice from my mentor, but haven't really felt reluctant to do so. This is because I don't know too much about running so any advice was helpful to me.

Now changing topics, we also had to reflect on Luke's presentation. I got to be a student evaluator for it so I had a lot more comments written on a separate piece of paper that I handed in.  But,

Luke's presentation made me think about how my life would be different if I were more musically oriented.  I played the saxophone for a few years but it was nothing I was too passionate about or good at. It also made me worry about my own presentation a bit, I am not going to lie.  I tried to use his presentation to come up with creative ideas for presenting my information (which isn't as easy because he could demonstrate and have examples and a video, none of which would be too relevant in my own).

The variety during his presentation was good. He have a background and uses different methods for explanation which enhanced it a lot.  I think Luke could have improved his presentation by talking more about the theme of fulfillment that he seemed to focus on in his narrative because it seemed to be important to him. I don't really have any questions, he answered so many I don't think I could come up with any more!! Overall, it was a really great presentation that set the standard veryyyy high.

The Smells of Spring

Today when I was running I noticed something odd.  Now this post might seem a little out of place or irrelevant, but it's something that  has kinda stuck with me since I got back.

When I started out, I ran under a tree with the strongest scent, I'm not sure what kind of flowers they were.  Maybe lilac, but it didn't look like a lilac tree.  Then probably less than a quarter of a mile later, it REAKED of porta potties.  None in sight, just the stench.  Then as I was winding back on the loop, I passed this woman (going the other direction by the way, I don't pass other runners ha) and right after it smelled like cat food!  And not just like for a little bit, but for a while after.   THEN, I was almost home and my neighbors lawn was giving off that freshly cut scent- such a spring scent.  As I ran into my driveway, my old neighbors car was there with its windows down and that stunk of cigarette smoke.

I just found it kind of funny that in three short miles I encountered so many smells.  I suppose I didn't need to share that with whoever is reading this, but hey this is a place for me to write my thoughts and for a while that is what I have been pondering.  Especially the cat food like where on earth did that come from! It wasn't even near a house!

Well, needless to say I was proud of the fact that I even got out and ran today.  Yesterday was a day off and I was reluctant to get off my butt today because of the heat.  I was lucky enough that it was such a short run, though.  And it always feels good after.... especially after a  nice cold shower...mmmmmm

Before I forget...

Before I forget... I need to talk to Mr. Heurich about printing out my blog for my evaluators.  My written work is due next Tuesday (agh!!!!!) meaning I really only have that day at school to print it, so I need to check in with him this week to see what I need to do before then.  I want to wait because I would like a reflective post and the posts leading up to the race to be included, I think it will make it easier all around.

That being said, it's really crunch time!  I need to finish my research commentary by my mentor meeting so I can give it to Ms. Maddren to look over (if she has time to).  I have three final projects/papers/assignments due within 3 days next week, and a whole lot going on this weekend.  Plus, this isn't the easiest time of the year to buckle down and work (just look outside and you'll see why!)

Taper

With less than a week until the race (ah, seems crazy) I have started to taper.  My training plan outlined that I should run 6 miles yesterday and indeed I did.  But boy, it felt hard!  Instead of planning out a route before hand, I actually just ran for an hour.  I feel like I have a good idea of what a ten minute mile pace is so I just made it up as I went.  I'm not sure if I liked that or not.  It's nice to have a definite place to end and it's hard to try to calculate distances as I go, for example thinking okay how long will it take me to do a loop around Beebe Lake? and factoring that in as I go.  I think that that kind of running will be something I take with my after my project, just setting out and not really knowing where I am going.

The run got me a little worried for Sunday, though!  I have felt not as strong lately and this is just the absolute worst time for that.  My knees felt weak yesterday and I don't think I should be that tired after 6 miles.  I hope I can get it back over the next week though because otherwise I will be miserable for the last 10 of 13.1, ha!

I have been working on my research commentary to get to Ms. Maddren this week.  Another thing that came up that I need to remember to talk to Ms. G about is the information packet that we pick up at the race.  I will still be in Rochester for my regatta during the times we can pick those up, so I have to ask her if she can get mine for me (with a note) and then we can meet up that night or the next morning.  We are both staying close to the start so that probably means close to each other.

We got an email from the race organizers and it was so long!  It made me feel a bit anxious because this is a big race and I worry I will feel like a fish out of water.  There are a lot of directions to follow especially at the start and I really don't wanna get off a on a bad foot (haha!)

Trying to stay positive for this last week of hands on work!  Crazy how the year and these 16 weeks especially have flown by.