Word of the day: apricity

This semester has been even more insane than last semester, as evidenced by my super frequent posts.  I've gotten into a wicked habit of drowning in work during the week and doing absolutely nothing but playing on the weekends, and that lifestyle leaves very little free time. came back from break a week early to do triathlon training week, which was an absolute blast.  I imagine that's what it'd be like to be pro: wake up around 7, eat, run up a mountain, eat, watch a movie, got to swim practice, eat, shower, watch another movie, snack again, and be in bed by 10 at the latest.  We didn't do a lot of biking because it snowed about eight inches in one night, but it was still so fun to get to know my team and not worry about anything except working out.  You really form a special kind of bond when you're hanging out in all your early morning, sweat-soaked glory.

The view from the pulloff on the road up to Mountain Lake Resort.

So much bonding!

Later on in the semester I did the Blacksburg Classic 10 miler, and it went so well!  I had only been seriously training for a run of that distance for about two weeks, but I finished in 1:17 and I was really happy with my performance!  The first two miles were terrible, mile 9 was a serious mental battle, but the majority and the end of the race felt phenomenal!  It was snowing throughout most of the race, and I really should have packed a gel to keep my energy level up around mile 7.

Last weekend, I went to the Terrapin Mountain half and ultra marathons to support a bunch of friends on the tri and ultra teams!  This was an incredible experience, and I'm contemplating switching over to ultra running if I can just get and stay healthy.  There is just something incredibly appealing about running 30-50 miles in the woods.  The Mountain Masochist is officially added to my bucket list.  Next fall perhaps?  

The Sedalia Center in Big Island, VA was absolutely gorgeous with blue skies and mountains nearby.

After the 10 miler, I realized that I had really screwed up my ankle, so I haven't really been able to do anything since then.  It's from a combination of rolling it running in the snow, falling off of my bike, getting stomped on while playing Twister, and not giving myself adequate time to heal.  Going from about 15 mile weeks to two 30 mile weeks probably didn't help it either.  I've been seeing an athletic trainer turned chiropractor (getting my back, shoulder, neck, and ankle sorted out all at the same time!) and I realized that I've also got a wicked case of achilles tendinitis which explains why it feels like my ankle is on fire when I wear tennis shoes.  The good news:  I'm almost recovered!!!  I was cleared to run a mile today, and, though it felt like fire for the first quarter of a mile, the last three quarters were pain free!  I'm icing as I write this and praying for a smooth recovery.  

So I think that about sums up my semester so far!  I'm sure I'm leaving out something horribly important, but here is most of the active stuff.  I've also met some seriously interesting people ranging all ages and occupations.  It can be really  eye-opening to see how some people experience the same world I do in such a different way.