Monday, March 14, 2011

I bought Yaktrax today

This was in order to run on snowy trails again.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "Yaktrax," they are a type of "snow chains" for your shoes to help give you traction on snowy/icy conditions. Why I didn't think of this sooner, I'm not quite sure.  I'm going to test them out tomorrow.  I miss trail running :(  Though I suspect that running on trails in the snow won't be quite like running on dirt trails in every other condition.  I guess I have experience on that though... The Febapple 50 (10... in my case) was on snowy trails.  It was an interesting experience, and while I'm glad I experienced it, I would rather not do another 10 + mile run on snowy conditions on trails with lots of uphill without some type of traction device.  I fell several times, and at other times, it was just impossible to run up some of those hills in the snow in my bare shoes (despite them being trail shoes...).  I really shouldn't even be awake right now, because I was hoping to get a reasonably early start to tomorrow so I could get my long-run in and still have time to enjoy my day, but I didn't sleep great last night due to several weird dreams, so I ended up sleeping in til about noon today; therefore, at about midnight tonight, I am not very tired.  Okay, I'm getting there... I should probably lie down and read rather than sit here and write, but I was too excited about my new traction devices to sleep.  Well, not really.  I did buy a new book though: Into Thin Air, about one man's ascent (or descent) to (from) Mount Everest.  You've probably heard of it... I've read excerpts of it and saw it at the little bookstore down the road, and I wanted to read it, so I bought it.  Now I need to finish my other book and move onto this one...

I suppose it's time to attempt bed now, or at least bed + books :) 

~Nina

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Run up the mountain

I ran halfway up a mountain to a Buddhist Monastery today.  I think I'm going to actually visit it when I'm not gross and sweaty from running... well, halfway up a mountain.  There is a meditation class there every Saturday that I think I will visit next weekend.  Sounds so cool!

So...   You know, my intention was actually to run up and then hike/run up the hiking trail that was up there.  Unfortunately, my running trail shoes weren't quite enough to grip onto the snow/ice that was still on the trail.  I did try for about a quarter mile when I realized that the ice would probably only get worse, so I turned around and ran back down the mountain.  Talk about quad pain... Knees and foot, however, are doing surprisingly well.  It wasn't a terribly far run... somewhere over six miles (I forgot to restart my Garmin at one point, so I don't have the exact distance), but with the level of difficulty, I don't think that was a bad thing.  I thought about making it longer, but I was hurting.  I also ran about 8.5 miles yesterday - again, not VERY far, but it also involved a decent amount of hills.  I usually don't run many hills because at school we have one giant hill... and it just isn't that much fun to keep running it over and over again... Then again, neither is the constant straight away that I run on.  Either way, this is a new area, with lots of cool new places to run! Also a lot of culture.  I want to explore some of the little shops out here!  I think tomorrow I will :)  I wandered around a bit yesterday, but really, I was too sore to walk around a whole lot today, lol.  I may drive up an hour or so north tomorrow or the day after and check out some other towns.  Ah freedom... I love it!  Feels like there is only one thing missing...

Those are my profound thoughts for the day... I'm going to drink some wine and work a bit more on this research.  So much easier to do when I'm here and not at school...

Love,
Nina

Friday, March 11, 2011

Creepy dreams about Tsunamis? And Spring break

First:  This tsunami stuff is creepy because I've had two dreams in the past three months about tsunamis.  Here is a copy and paste of my other blog from January 15th that I wrote about one of my dreams:

This one was about a tsunami.  A really big one. For some reason I lived on the coast and could see it "brewing" outside my window.  The waves in the ocean were getting bigger and bigger throughout the day after one of the guys I know (not sure why he was in the dream) told us that there was a tsunami expected at 8 p.m. the next day.  My friends and I went out dancing anyways the night before, and we started seeing the waves the next day.  Everyone was still asleep and I looked out the window and there were small lightning strikes over the water as the waves got bigger and bigger, kind of like an electrical storm of some sort, and the sky was dark (even though it was morning/afternoon... not sure of the exact time).  The random guy said "I'm getting outta here!"  And of course I thought "why didn't I think of that?"
So I go to wake my family up and they are being sluggish, so I start yelling it's an emergency and a huge tsunami is brewing outside our window.  They finally get up and are ready, but for some reason I couldn't find anything.  I couldn't find my shoes or clothes or anything so we could leave.  I was starting to panic, and then I woke up.
I wonder if these dreams are a result of my lack of sleep last week and my new sleeping schedule.

My second one I wrote on 15 February in my other journal (not online)... I woke up in the middle of the night (3:21 a.m.... I actually write times on my journal entries), and wrote very quickly while I still remembered it.  I will leave out the first portion (which involved crazy people):

"At Drum, lots of snow.  People in crazy boots.  Walking around in snow.  Lake got very windy.  Thought of another tsunamis.  Wave swept us awaky but I skiied w/feet.  Then woke up" (yes that's what I wrote at 3:21 a.m.

Sooo... two in the the past few months, so when I heard about this it freaked me out. 

On another note...

Today is the first day of Spring Break... My last spring break as a cadet.  I have never gone anywhere warm, and this year is no exception.  Well, okay, last year I did go to Florida, and it wasn't very warm :-/  So I have TRIED, it just hasn't happened.  Without getting into exact details as to where I went (I mean... I don't know if I have a stalker out there?  Unlikely, but you never know), I am spending my time in a very cute little place in a little mountain'ish town.  Unfortunately, there is still some snow here, fortunately, it is not a lot.  I intend on some hiking/trail running/exploring all the cool little shops and such around here. 

Currently, I am enjoying a glass of the very good complimentary red wine that was left for me on the little dining room table.   I actually got to cook dinner tonight, which was awesome.  I know, for normal people, that's not really a big deal.  For me... well... We don't get to cook much back at school.  It's not as if I have a kitchen though some people do joke that my room is like a kitchen.  So I have to brag about my meal because back in the day (high school - WAY back in the day), my family used to joke about my cooking abilities.  Of course, I CAN cook... I just chose not to.  Anyways, sauteed spinach, mushrooms and chicken sausage, topped with crumbled goat cheese as my side dish.  The main dish was three cheese and spinach ravioli with vodka sauce, and again some crumbled goat cheese.  Oh it was so good... And now I get to drink wine, which, by the way, I'm not allowed to do in my own room at school.  I may actually get some work done as well...  I remember back in Germany my college grades were awesome.  I mean, part of that was because the classes were sooo easy, but the other part I think was because I was in a relaxed state when I did my work.  I was by myself, and nobody was giving me new work to do at 9 p.m.  Actually... I was usually in bed by 9:30 or 10.  Oh how I miss those days. 

And I started that hours ago.  I actually spent a few hours working on research... and drinking wine.  So productive :) 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Grumpy, Tired, and generally Bleh

It's about 11:30 P.M. here.  I've been working on my capstone paper for awhile... It's about ten pages, and I feel like it should be much longer, but I don't really know what else to say... There is so much data on my topic that I could write an entire series of books, but I need to keep it to relevant information.  My topic is Divorce in the Military, and more specifically, we are writing about factors that cause divorce in the military, and how we are trying to contribute to solving the problem using positive psychology.  So, we created a website that is supposed to offer support to spouses in the form of "success stories."  Basically, people submit struggles they may have encountered as a married couple and how they overcame those issues.  We also link them to various sites that they can use as support such as blogs/forums/family readiness groups, etc.  It's a good idea in concept... I'm hoping we get a decent grade.  I feel like my writing sounds much more like a freshman written product as opposed to a senior's capstone paper.  Ugh. 

I'm also grumpy... And tired.  I kept waking up last night from weird dreams.  Very vivid and odd... not BAD dreams, just very strange.  One was so realistic I literally felt everything I would have in the situation and woke up feeling as if it had happened.  Weird...  I've also had the munchies like crazy all day.  I've wanted chocolate, fatty foods, etc.  Somehow I've managed to avoid over-eating (mostly).  I suspect because for ONCE I have hardly any food in my room, hehe.  That and I've been so anxious most of the day that food hasn't been that appealing, minus the past few hours or so.  I feel bad for people who cross me when I'm in this type of mood... Luckily I've kept my mouth shut for the most part, minus this blog (which I guess is more my fingers than anything I'm SAYING), and putting my half eaten slice of pizza back in the box when one of my friends was giving me a hard time earlier (sorry for that if you're reading this!)... I ended up finishing most of it anyways. 

On a positive note, I did an 8-mile run today.  On a couple of negative notes... my knees are kind of bothering me (though oddly they are feeling better now than they did BEFORE my run), and rather than coming back from my run feeling happy like I usually am, I was still in a bad mood.  Probably because some asshole towny yelled something at me while I was trying to cross the street.  I don't know what he said, but it didn't sound nice and it was right before I got back on post.  It made me not like people very much... which I was all ready feeling today for most of the day minus a few moments where I was able to be in a good mood.

Alas, I must finish writing this paper... editing it and such.  I really hope I get a decent grade.  Maybe I should do more on it tomorrow morning when I'm more alert... I feel like right now I'm just not alert enough to come up with anything that sounds good.  I mean... it's DONE, just not... DONE DONE.  If that makes sense?  Plus I have two more papers to work on... I thought senior year was supposed to be easier??? :) 

Love,
Nina

Saturday, March 5, 2011

run and such

Today's workout was a 12 mile run.  Longest run since November (just like last weekend).  :)  My foot was hurting a little when I finished, but it's fine now.   It was overall a good run.  Not a terribly fast pace (9:24 minute mile), but I purposely ran it a little slower... It's too easy for me to start off too fast for a long run, because, well... frankly, a 9-minute mile just isn't fast, but when I'm building my endurance back up, it is.  I wear my Garmin, so I usually know my exact pace at most points in the run, and it's not uncommon for me to look down and think "Oh I better slow down."  I'm glad I did because I was pretty tired by the end of the run.  I'm still exhausted, actually. 

Funny story from my run: so one of the regiments here had Saturday training.  I have no idea where they had it considering where I saw them driving from, but anyways, I was running across the bridge here that's about six miles out from school, and a group of them in their HMMWVs and uniforms is driving back to school waved at me and was yelling "hooah!  PT is free!!!"  I was running in my uniform, of course.  So, that made me laugh.  I don't know if I knew them, I suppose if I did, they may be reading this now :) 

I probably shouldn't go out tonight.  However, I'm absolutely famished and don't have much real food to eat.  I have lots of noodles, but I had noodles for lunch, and I have spinach, but something tells me that won't really fill me up.  Of course, there's cheese.  But none of this will fill me up much after running... Especially because I've had very little to eat today. So, dinner will be at my favorite little place that is within a ... two minute walk.  Most of you who read this know exactly what I'm talking about.  Unfortunately, dinner is never just dinner... it's usually drinks too.  And it's Saturday night and everyone has had a stressful week, so I bet it will be packed. 

We had our inspection this morning, to include a room and uniform inspection.  Oh boy that was fun... I love standing in the same position for 50 minutes, but at least it wasn't cold!  It's so warm up here right now!  I wish it could stay this way.  Perfect running temps! 

Alas, my stomach is speaking to me in all sorts of expletives right now, so I had better go get some food. 

~Nina

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Nothing too profound

I just felt like writing rather than cleaning for a little bit... I think I am coming down with something.  Since my roommate was just sick, I guess it would make sense that I would be getting sick as well.  I got a reasonable amount of sleep last night and slept for two hours this morning, but I still feel icky, and felt pretty terrible upon waking up.  Even my appetite is kind of dead right now... Which, by the way, DOESN'T HAPPEN.  Well, it hasn't completely affected my appetite... I still had some rice noodles and cheese and crackers as an early dinner and hot chocolate/green tea ice cream (yes, I put some green tea ice cream in the hot chocolate, and it's delicious).  I didn't finish the hot chocolate though, and I don't feel like devouring the entire pint of ice cream, which is unusual (though I've had this particular pint for three weeks, so I suppose I might be past that stage of my life in the realm of ice cream... at least for now.)  Now I'm just drinking some Yerba Mate tea to give me some energy to continue with my evening.  I'm trying to cut back on my caffeine consumption, so I've been pretty good about sticking to just tea unless I need an extra boost from coffee or in an energy drink.  I figure they'll help me more if I'm not drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day and an energy drink in the afternoon. 

 I found out at lunch today that I have to help with the boxing smoker we have here tonight.  Yep, you read it right... I found out about it six hours in advance.   Basically, a bunch of cadets compete for the best boxer.  Turns out they need people to monitor alcohol intake, and they recommend that my position is one of them.  Of course, I all ready HAD plans with my friends, but it's okay... I cancelled them.  Work first, right?  It could be worse, I was just upset about the short notice, but I knew it wasn't really anybody's fault... things change at a level higher than any cadets have control over and we just have to adjust.  I suppose the rest of the Army is this way too, except instead of having to walk down to a boxing smoker last minute for a few hours, you have to go TDY or deploy at a last minute's notice (yes, I recall having to go TDY for a month with a day's notice in Germany).   At least I don't have to be in a uniform, and I suppose it will only be a few hours, and then I hope to go drink away my sorrows.  Just kidding on the drink away my sorrows part... but I may have a couple of drinks pending how I'm feeling.  I HAVE just spent the past 3.5 hours cleaning and reorganizing everything... which, by the way, is a LOT of stuff for this tiny little room.  We have a big inspection on Saturday morning.  I suppose everyone who reads this actually all ready knows that anyways... well, for the few of you who may randomly stumble across this blog some other way besides my Facebook page, once a semester we have a Saturday morning inspection where they check our drawers, look for dust, etc.  Everything has to be very spic and span and look pretty much exactly like a diagram they have for us.  "They" is the institution.  Yes, I intentionally used they as a singular noun... My grammar isn't THAT terrible :)  But this blog is all over the place.. ah... once again, I feel drunk and I haven't had a drink.

Speaking of grammar... that paper I was up until very late working on on Sunday.  I got an A.  Hooray.  And here I thought I was going to get a C...

I suppose I should stop rambling about nothing (haha, it fits with my blog name!!!) and actually get ready for this boxing thing.  Even though it doesn't start for another hour...

~Nina

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Thoughts on singledom

I was realizing just a few minutes ago that this is the longest time I have been single since I was a freshman.  It's been about nine months.  I was also realizing that this is the longest period of time I've felt like myself since... well... before I came to this place.  I really don't know if there is any link there.  Probably not a huge one, but there seems to be a bit of correlation.  I actually think the fact that I'm getting more okay with who I am is why I'm happy, not because I'm single.  Being content being single means that I'm just more content with who I am.  Of course, I wasn't looking for anyone the last two times I was in a relationship.  They just kind of happened.

These are just some observations... not to say if something did come along I would mind.  I think I'm probably in a better place now than I ever was the last two times I started relationships.  How can you be happy with someone else when you can't be happy with yourself?  If anyone has ever seen or read ... the movie whose name I can't remember... ugh... Anyways, it's a little more extreme than the average person because the girl is very depressed and suffers from bipolar disorder, anyways, she says when she meets  her boyfriend in the film: "Little does he know that he's going to save me."  Well, the relationship falls apart.  I hope I didn't ruin the movie for anyone, but I suppose if you haven't seen it yet you probably won't because it's an old movie.  I'll put in the name when I can remember :)

This is probably the most open I've been on a public blog, and I have no idea who will read this, but I think the ideas are pretty applicable to most people. 

Now I must stop procrastinating and finish reading these four pages before class... :)

~Nina