Dates: 2/1/23 – 2/4/23
Training Week: 3
Time: 95 min (walking desk on Thursday & Saturday)
Activity: Homework (brain exercise?)
Mobility/Stretching: Not really
Ate Well: Yes on Wednesday & Thursday, no on Friday and Saturday

Commentary: Wednesday, I took another full rest day. Looking at the bits of data from my watch and Runalyze, it seemed like one was in order. I was out in the desert and less than enthusiastic about it. After working from home for two and a half weeks, I wasted so much time physically going to work.

Time to get ready. Time to drive there. Waiting around for our morning meeting to start. Watching people work so I can stay “involved” in plant activities. Time driving between buildings. An hour and a half meeting where the director of the mothership yammered on about who knows what. Seriously, afterward, nobody had a clue what it was about. Time to drive home. Not counting meetings, I’d say I wasted about four hours that would have been productive if working from home.

Thursday morning, I got up bright and early to work on a project for one of my classes involving big data. Having never worked with big data before, I didn’t realize how much it would bog down my computer or the lab computer. The Ph.D. student who showed us what to do in class didn’t mention he was using a super whamadyne computer built for processing big data. As a result, I thought the software taking upwards of 30 minutes to respond or freezing up was abnormal.

All morning I worked while waiting for the software to do something and made no progress on my project. I went to the lab between classes, hoping that using the computer in person would solve the problem. Another grad student was at the lab, and she assured me the issues were expected. At the end of class, my professor informed me that I would be fine if I didn’t zoom in to select an area of interest. Think you could have mentioned that in class?!?!

I spent two hours after class finishing up my project in the lab. I got as much work done as possible while waiting for things to process. By the time I got home, I was tired. Instead of doing more work, school or otherwise, I sat on the couch with my husband. My goal was to get in at least 90 minutes of walking, but I settled on 45 minutes.

Friday morning, I meant to get up at 4:30am. Yet again, I set my work week alarm for 4:30am, not my weekend alarm. To avoid this mistake in the future, they are now one and the same. The plan was to get run before heading to my in-town office. Since I woke up an hour late, I forewent the run and scurried about getting ready instead. I met my mentee at our scheduled time and finished my hours for the week working with her.

Back at home, I worked on a project for a different class, hoping to finish the model before my date. Knowing I’d be busy the entire weekend, my husband and I planned an afternoon lunch date to ensure I took a break. We picked up food from my favorite Italian restaurant and watched movies all night. Relaxing with my husband was just what I needed to recharge.

This morning I woke up intending to run, but I didn’t feel like it. The rest of the weekend is dedicated to writing three papers for three different classes. I wanted to take some time this morning to write for myself, even if just to relive and chronicle my past few days. I can’t help but wonder when I’ll have time to train for my 50-miler.

As I impatiently waited for the big data to render in my mapping software, I got some time on the walking treadmill. I spent most of the day working on the big data project, but eventually, I got tired of that project. I moved on to a different project that was far more enjoyable. Since some of the processes are time-consuming, I played games on my phone while waiting for them to finish.

And now, it is time to finally relax before bed.

Question of the Day: What are some quick ways to recharge during a busy day? Other than coffee…

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