Well, hello there!

How’s it going? Good? That’s good.

Classes have started and are in full swing which means I’m buried up to my ears in work. Which is a good and bad thing. It keeps me out of trouble but also keeps me busy. Wanna know what classes I’m taking this semester? I’ve got advanced statistics II, which is basically like trying to take an advanced Chinese language class without taking intro, easy, medium and intermediate first. I got no idea what’s going on with beta, mu, group centering means and multi level modeling. Thank goodness for google and good friends to help me through it! I’ve also got legal aspects of criminal justice, which is a legal based class with a ton of reading and writing attached to it. I’ve got to read Supreme Court cases and write briefs about them while offering my analytical comments. Boy, let me tell ya, legal research and writing is a different animal than social science research and writing! My third class is an applied research of sorts where I’m working with a CJ agency to complete a research project. It’s not so much coursework as it is hands on experience. The classes, mixed with my job as a research assistant  and personal research agenda (to fulfill a portfolio aspect of the program) is keeping me pretty busy for sure!

My shoulder is healing really well, in other news. I’ve got physical therapy for twice a week for the next three weeks and then I should be well on my way to recovery. I’m hoping to get the green light to hit the pool soon just to do a few easy laps. The weight room will be off limits for a while longer but that’s alright. I actually took this surgery as a chance to work on losing some weight so I’ve been monitoring what I eat (yes, actually I have been cutting back on ice cream, it’s amazing what portion control can do!), my goal is to be between 10-15 pounds lighter for next season. So far, I’m doing well! Eating a lot more lean protein (chicken) and veggies (beans, broccoli, carrots, I’m working to expand this category) than I EVER have in the past. Feels good!

Obviously training is at a standstill for me. My season is over and it’s still freaking hot here in Texas so not a lot of outside time. I’ve been biking daily on the trainer to keep my legs fresh (thankfully I didn’t lose much fitness from surgery recovery) and am hoping to run a local 5K next month which means I’ll start running again soon enough. Right now, I’d say training is geared more towards the weight loss and just generally working out. I haven’t started planning next season’s schedule yet, that will happen soon enough.

Anyway, just wanted to supply an update for ya. I’ve got some exciting non-triathlon adventures coming up so I’ll work on getting back in the game and posting about those as they come!

Happy Training!