Week 6: In search of energy

This week was a bit of an internal battle in terms of time management. I’ve reached the point in the semester where I feel like I’m running out of time to finish my thesis along with some burnout, so I’ve been struggling to both find the time to exercise and justify using that time for things other than school, daily tasks, and rest. Here’s an overview of what I managed to accomplish this week:

Sunday: I was extremely tired after a very late night and spent most of the day napping. I did manage to rally for a small Super Bowl party, but exercise was not on the table!

Tuesday: I spent most of the day traveling so there was no time for training. James later discovered that my flight was featured in his local paper!

On my way home I had a layover in Chicago and it occurred to me that my next arrival in the Windy City will be much different than this one: it’ll be hot, there will be no snow on the ground, and I’ll be on a bike! That’s a little scary to think about, but I also can’t wait to see the city beyond their airports.

Wednesday: I had quite a few commitments in what felt like a very busy day back in the real world but really wanted to exercise after several days off. I was pretty indecisive about what I wanted to do and ended up riding 10 miles on the trainer while watching TV right before I went to bed.

Thursday: An utterly gloomy day. I woke up from a nap in time to make it to a spin class that I really did not have the energy for and really didn’t want to walk through a torrential downpour for, but it put me in a better mood. I didn’t mind the rain so much on the walk home.

Friday: I got my first grad school rejection in the morning, which sucked, but I finished data collection for my thesis a few hours later, which is great! I celebrated with an upper body lift at the gym and a nice stretch session.

Mileage: 32.6 miles/4 rides (3 workouts and 1 short ride around town)

Lessons learned:

• Winter feels eternal.
• Never underestimate the number of times a state emergency management agency can tweet in a year.
• Dreaming about the future is often the best way to motivate myself through current situations.

In other news: I’ve gotten a few more donations over the past few weeks that have brought me within $1,000 of my current fundraising goal! If you haven’t donated yet and want to help me reach that goal you can donate here. And, some related exciting news: the 2022 4K participants have collectively raised over $100,000!!! That is such an incredible milestone and it feels even better knowing that every dollar will go toward furthering the Ulman Foundation’s mission.

Until next week!

Lauren