Week 20: End of pre-4K life
Alright y’all, this is it. My next update will hopefully be this upcoming Saturday, after my two days of 4K orientation and the night before send-off, which means that this is my last post before I really get into the 4K experience. I’m feeling lots of emotions right now (excitement, panic, nervousness, gratitude, etc.) as…
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Weeks 17-19: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
It’s been another busy three weeks and May is practically over, which means now we’re entering the final stretch to send-off! Things were a bit chaotic there for a few days but now I have nothing to worry about (except that I’m about to bike across the country) for the next two weeks! Notable events…
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Weeks 14-16: Wrapping up
It’s hard to believe but we’ve already reached my final week in Lexington! The past few weeks involved more of the same from my last update– lots of work, not much training, and crappy weather– but I did finally finish my thesis!!!!! Well, not fully, but I have a complete draft and now just need…
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Weeks 12 & 13: Reality checks
I took a break from blogging last week to devote more time to my thesis and it kind of paid off I guess? I was hoping to be done with data analysis by now but it’s taking longer than I expected and I definitely need to consult some of my professors before actually writing the…
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Week 11: Struggles and stretches
Today (Sunday) marks only ten weeks until 4K send-off. Ten weeks from this moment I will be somewhere on the road between Baltimore and Frederick with my team, thousands of miles between us and San Francisco. No words. Other than “I’m nervous and don’t feel prepared”! Not being able to ride much this week didn’t…
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Week 10: Spring break sends
Hi friends! I’m currently wondering where the day went and trying to get resettled after spending the week in various parts of Colorado and Wyoming, skiing and hiking and even getting a last-minute bike ride in! Despite treating this as a “working vacation” and needing to spend large chunks of the week working on thesis…
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Weeks 8 & 9: Lots of work, big decisions, & MORE snow???
The last two weeks were pretty busy and I felt like my weekly updates were getting a bit repetitive, so here is a modified summary of what I’ve been up to for the first half of the month. Yikes– it’s scary when I put it that way! Time has been flying and I’ve felt a…
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Week 7: Getting warmer!
Lexington finally had some semi-decent weather at the beginning of the week so I tried to take advantage by getting back on track with the 4K training plan. I wasn’t perfect, but I’m slowly but surely getting my weekly mileage up! Sunday: One of the only flaws of the Legacy Trail is that it basically…
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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…
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Week 5: The bad kind of slushy
Between some residual bad weather and traveling for Valentine’s Day I didn’t do a whole lot in terms of training so this will be a relatively quick update! Sunday: It would have been a beautiful day for a ride, but the sidewalks and bike lanes in Lexington were still buried under a mess of snow,…
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Week 4: Getting my 4K bike!
This week was a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure situation because there was an error with the provided training plan– no scheduled rides! It ended up being the perfect week for that error though because my motivation to ride and prepare for this summer was super high after getting my 4K bike on Tuesday!!! Here’s the…
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Week 3: Cross-training szn
In what will probably be my lowest mileage week between now and August, I spent more time on the treadmill than I did on my bike! I really enjoyed the variations in exercising that I was able to do this week, though, and it will hopefully all make me a stronger cyclist in the long…
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Week 2: Cold, cold, and more cold
Week 2 of training has come and gone! This week felt a little long but also flew by. Here’s a look at some of the more notable things I did this week: Sunday: I went to the gym with zero plan, worked a little bit of everything, only did what I enjoyed, and left feeling much…
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Training: Week 1
Hello again! 4K training kicked off on Monday, which was also my first day of the semester. My start-of-the-year motivation is high so I’m trying to take advantage of that and get myself into a consistent work and exercise routine. In addition to building my biking endurance I’d also like to improve my overall strength,…
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New year, new updates
So it turns out winter break isn’t all that restful when you’re a grad student! Between traveling home, grading final papers, visiting family, submitting PhD applications, making book chapter edits, celebrating an anniversary, and lots of biking to meet my 2021 distance goal, I finally feel like I’m on break… and the spring semester starts…
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Giving Tuesday is for goal smashing
A short but exciting update: I HIT MY MINIMUM FUNDRAISING GOAL! I honestly did not expect to hit it today but shared my page again to promote the Ulman Foundation on Giving Tuesday. Lo and behold, I got a few more donations that put me past the $4800 mark. Thanks to each and every one…
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A fantastic start to fundraising!
Hello, and welcome to my first 4K for Cancer blog post! I wasn’t expecting to start documenting this experience so soon but I also wasn’t expecting things to accelerate so quickly. After months of researching the 4K, drafting and redrafting my application responses, and making hypothetical packing lists I finally decided to go for it…
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Lauren Bikes America 