When it rains, it pours...

(Although in reality I wish it would rain as I can't tolerate this weather - it is too hot! Whine Whine Whine!)

The last week has been crazy.

Last weekend I did a 30 mile bike ride friday night. On Saturday, I did a 7 mile trail run in the morning, followed by a trip out to the Cornman course to do the 14 mile loop there. The hill of death was actually conquered on the first try. Don't get me wrong. It sucked the whole way. AndI kept thinking I wouldn't make it, but I spun it out in granny gear and made it up, swearing the whole way. Then we swam the course. There was lots of floaties, which I think might be goose poop. Yum! Then Sunday we did a 30 mile ride as well.

My legs were trashed after this weekend.

So I took three days off. It was nice. Although after partaking of July 4th grilling at WWR teammate Pete's house, I gained five pounds.

So I went for a 5 mile run this morning. I was going to test the no sock running for the last mile, but I thought I could feel the inside of the arch rubbing through my sock and decided that would not be a good place to get a blister three days before a race.

Now I have officially commenced freaking out about this race. There is a 9 am start. At 9am today, it is already 78 degrees out. And the high is supposed to be 94 on Sunday. Those last three miles of running hills somewhere between 10 and 11 am are not going to be fun. I think one benefit of being primarily a runner though is that I know how to tough it out for three miles. I have made it through hot horrible 3 mile runs. I have made it through hot horrible 10 mile runs. So mentally, I know how to deal, but that still won't make it fun.

Of course, I am also now freaking out about research stuff since we have to get something big done before Wednesday. So I worked yesterday and I may need to work this weekend, on top of 10 hour days this week. When I am not lying at bed at night thinking about how hot it will be on Sunday, I am thinking "How the hell am I going to deploy a 300 pound anchor from a 12 foot inflatable boat? Preferably in a manner that doesn't kill one of my undergrads?"

I also managed to almost destroy our meteorological station on Tuesday when some battery wires got caught in the lip of the canister where the data is recorded when we were closing it. We couldn't get data out of it and we opened up the canister again and this horrid burning smell emerged (yay for burning plastic). I came within inches of sabotaging my own research for summer and possibly delaying graduation.

But it was all good and the damages were only superficial.

Phew.

Because I already broke another one of my instruments my first year in grad school and my advisor has me on klutz probation.

So I have been forced into an extreme taper this week, but it's all good.

Hoping for a cold front to come through before Sunday!