I haven't been updating much lately, so I suppose now is as good time as any :)
There's actually quite a bit going on right now. I've been getting settled into my job, which has been a slightly interesting experience. I'm in a Captain's position as a brand new 2nd Lieutenant, so I'm having to learn quite a bit of stuff with very little experience. Fortunately I was prior service, but UNfortunately this is my first time deploying, and, again, I'm new to the unit, so I'm still learning how it all works. Fun stuff. Fortunately I have lots of people that are helping me to learn the new job. I guess West Point taught me at least one good thing: don't act like you know everything, and don't be afraid to ask questions and take advice.
On another different (but slightly similar note), I am taking my Graduate Record Exams (GREs) tomorrow afternoon. I must say I am NERVOUS. I have been practicing for awhile; however, the initial book I used wasn't very difficult. It wasn't until I took the test on the actual ETS (the test-maker's) site that I started worrying, so I ordered THEIR book, and have been practicing since I got it, which unfortunately, has only been for a week. I still don't feel confident in a lot of the math portions, and unfortunately, because my college GPA was only okay, I would really like to do well on this exam for grad school (not that I'm sure when exactly I'm going to go, but I know it will be within the next five years, which is how long the GREs are good for).
And on ANOTHER slightly related note, I am ALSO taking my test during the Army-Navy football game! Ahhhhh! I am so disappointed I won't be able to watch it. Those of you who know me know that I absolutely do not care about football. Except for Army football (or rather, West Point football), and ESPECIALLY this one particular game. The Naval Academy is West Point's number one sports rival, and this game is huge. For those who don't know, EVERY cadet and midshipmen (Naval Academy cadet) travels to watch the game. It's a huge deal. And Army hasn't won one of these games in nine years. :( So, EVERY year everyone gets all excited for the game. I sure was looking forward to watching the game sitting down, nice and warm, probably drinking a beer (Cadets have to stand the entire game, our uniforms weren't particularly warm, and we couldn't drink during football games, so these were all novelties). Sadly, I will be sitting, nice and warm, taking a 3.5 hour test.
Finally, I suppose I will talk a little about upcoming months. First, I am very excited for the next few weeks. I will be seeing one of my best friend's West Point graduation (she's graduating a semester late because she had to take a semester off our sophomore year), which means I get to head back to West Point for a couple of days :) Following that, I get to head down South for some French Quarter and some beach goodness :) Well, I don't know how warm it will be for the beach, but I'm still excited. And THEN my sister will be visiting before we head up to Canada to go skiing for her birthday and New Year's Eve. Um, rockin' good time me thinks!
Following my amazing period of leave, I'll be training extensively for a 50-mile race when I deploy. I've never run a marathon much less fifty miles, but I think fifty miles would just be a completely different type of setting. Unlike in a marathon where I would think you would try to keep running the whole time (I know I would be trying to run the whole time), it's pretty acceptable to walk during ultra marathons. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much EXPECTED. And we get 24 hours to finish. That's like, barely over two miles per hour to finish (though I really hope that I do NOT ACTUALLY take 24 hours to finish...) Anyways, I'm excited for it, but nervous at the same time because of my tendency to get injured. I am combating this as much as possible by lifting more regularly again. I want to build strength in my hips/legs so that they are better able to handle the stresses of running AND stabilize my body more so I don't end up with all these weird injuries because my hips are weak (what my physical therapist always told me at West Point when I'd walk in with yet another overuse injury). I will also try VERY hard to slow my long runs down, and add some walking breaks in once I hit higher mileage, that way I actually recover better. I have a very difficult time running long distances as slowly as I should be when I'm just training. A 9:30 minute mile is pretty slow for me, but when I think when I start doing longer distances, I should probably be going slightly SLOWER than that. Not because I'm not capable of running faster, because I very much am (most of my long runs last time I was training for a marathon were around 9-9:15 minute miles, and I wasn't trying to pick up speed), but I think to get the kind of endurance I want for this type of distance, I need to slow it down so I don't hurt myself. I need to save speed for the speed days I guess :)
Alas, I suppose I have written quite a bit for now. Those are the big things going on now though that I've been thinking about. And we all know I like to share my thoughts :)
Love,
Nina
There's actually quite a bit going on right now. I've been getting settled into my job, which has been a slightly interesting experience. I'm in a Captain's position as a brand new 2nd Lieutenant, so I'm having to learn quite a bit of stuff with very little experience. Fortunately I was prior service, but UNfortunately this is my first time deploying, and, again, I'm new to the unit, so I'm still learning how it all works. Fun stuff. Fortunately I have lots of people that are helping me to learn the new job. I guess West Point taught me at least one good thing: don't act like you know everything, and don't be afraid to ask questions and take advice.
On another different (but slightly similar note), I am taking my Graduate Record Exams (GREs) tomorrow afternoon. I must say I am NERVOUS. I have been practicing for awhile; however, the initial book I used wasn't very difficult. It wasn't until I took the test on the actual ETS (the test-maker's) site that I started worrying, so I ordered THEIR book, and have been practicing since I got it, which unfortunately, has only been for a week. I still don't feel confident in a lot of the math portions, and unfortunately, because my college GPA was only okay, I would really like to do well on this exam for grad school (not that I'm sure when exactly I'm going to go, but I know it will be within the next five years, which is how long the GREs are good for).
And on ANOTHER slightly related note, I am ALSO taking my test during the Army-Navy football game! Ahhhhh! I am so disappointed I won't be able to watch it. Those of you who know me know that I absolutely do not care about football. Except for Army football (or rather, West Point football), and ESPECIALLY this one particular game. The Naval Academy is West Point's number one sports rival, and this game is huge. For those who don't know, EVERY cadet and midshipmen (Naval Academy cadet) travels to watch the game. It's a huge deal. And Army hasn't won one of these games in nine years. :( So, EVERY year everyone gets all excited for the game. I sure was looking forward to watching the game sitting down, nice and warm, probably drinking a beer (Cadets have to stand the entire game, our uniforms weren't particularly warm, and we couldn't drink during football games, so these were all novelties). Sadly, I will be sitting, nice and warm, taking a 3.5 hour test.
Finally, I suppose I will talk a little about upcoming months. First, I am very excited for the next few weeks. I will be seeing one of my best friend's West Point graduation (she's graduating a semester late because she had to take a semester off our sophomore year), which means I get to head back to West Point for a couple of days :) Following that, I get to head down South for some French Quarter and some beach goodness :) Well, I don't know how warm it will be for the beach, but I'm still excited. And THEN my sister will be visiting before we head up to Canada to go skiing for her birthday and New Year's Eve. Um, rockin' good time me thinks!
Following my amazing period of leave, I'll be training extensively for a 50-mile race when I deploy. I've never run a marathon much less fifty miles, but I think fifty miles would just be a completely different type of setting. Unlike in a marathon where I would think you would try to keep running the whole time (I know I would be trying to run the whole time), it's pretty acceptable to walk during ultra marathons. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much EXPECTED. And we get 24 hours to finish. That's like, barely over two miles per hour to finish (though I really hope that I do NOT ACTUALLY take 24 hours to finish...) Anyways, I'm excited for it, but nervous at the same time because of my tendency to get injured. I am combating this as much as possible by lifting more regularly again. I want to build strength in my hips/legs so that they are better able to handle the stresses of running AND stabilize my body more so I don't end up with all these weird injuries because my hips are weak (what my physical therapist always told me at West Point when I'd walk in with yet another overuse injury). I will also try VERY hard to slow my long runs down, and add some walking breaks in once I hit higher mileage, that way I actually recover better. I have a very difficult time running long distances as slowly as I should be when I'm just training. A 9:30 minute mile is pretty slow for me, but when I think when I start doing longer distances, I should probably be going slightly SLOWER than that. Not because I'm not capable of running faster, because I very much am (most of my long runs last time I was training for a marathon were around 9-9:15 minute miles, and I wasn't trying to pick up speed), but I think to get the kind of endurance I want for this type of distance, I need to slow it down so I don't hurt myself. I need to save speed for the speed days I guess :)
Alas, I suppose I have written quite a bit for now. Those are the big things going on now though that I've been thinking about. And we all know I like to share my thoughts :)
Love,
Nina
Go Navy! :-)
ReplyDeleteBoo! Really?!? How are you going to just post propaganda like that to MY blog? Psshh!
ReplyDeleteHaha. If it makes you feel any better, back when I was a mid, we only beat you guys once. Oh well...good times, good times...
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the GRE!
Yes GO NAVY! and they did hahahaha ;-) I could never turn my back on the Navy... even though I'm an Army wife now! :-P I love your persistence hun! Your determination to get that marathon under your belt is amazing! I ran the Marine Corps Marathon back in 2006 and there is no better feeling than finishing. It really meant a lot to me to be apart of that race. I definitely am in no shape to run one these days, but I'm glad I did.
ReplyDelete