Almost There

As I'm typing this...3.5 days(ish) to race day.  WOW.  I've never been so close to a marathon start line.  I think I may have mentioned it, but I don't like this taper business.  It's not that I miss running as much (I mean I do, but I was kind of ready for a break), but the runs I DO have just feel awful. I was fine pretty much all last week, but this week my legs feel horrible, as does my breathing.

They tell me it's normal.  Taper, they say.  But it still scares me.

I don't have a whole lot to report today, so I'm going to talk about some other stuff that might interest you.  Yeah, Tim.  What's he been doing?  Well, in the past two days, he's been admiring his brand new Cervelo bike.  It arrived on Monday, and seeing him open it was like watching a kid at Christmas.  If you know Tim, he's pretty sedate...so it was kind of like watching a really sleepy kid on Christmas morning, I guess.  I know nothing about bikes, but it's very pretty and weigh less than my 8-month-old.  It must be good.

He wanted to ride it when he first got it, but it was raining.  Apparently you're not supposed to take them out in the rain.  With as much as it cost...let me tell you, it should be okay to take out in the rain.  I've run with Bill enough to know that triathletes baby their bikes.  It's something I do not understand, and I daresay I won't ever.  Being that in love with a bike.  But Tim is with this one.  He's been on it around the block, but that's it.  Wouldn't want to risk anything happening to it.

I kid about his bike and his adoration for it, but Tim really deserves it and I'm happy that he's happy.  It does look wildly uncomfortable, though.  You should see how thin the frame is.  I don't see how those guys stay on those for hours.

In other news, my dissertation is in full swing.  With all the (NON-MUSCULAR) abdominal drama going on, I haven't blogged much about my PhD progress.  But, don't despair, I've made some.  My study was FINALLY approved on April 8 (it's insane that it took them from Jan. 27 to that date to approve it).  I began recruitment the end of last week, and it's going amazingly well.  Now, I've gotten quite a few no's, but also a lot of people saying yes.  I've done three interviews today alone.  I have one tomorrow, and then several the week after Eugene.  And I've only called a fraction of the pool from which I have to draw.  I am so thankful, as recruitment in behavioral research can sometimes be a REAL problem.  So much so that dissertations can go on for YEARS.  I am fully confident that I'll be finished collecting data by early June.  Then it's time to go into hiding and write for months.  Then defend the sucker by October and get the heck out of school.  For good!

Still riding the happy wave of knowing that I'm having surgery on May 9 and that this pain is coming to an end.