HILDEBEAST'S Mentor Group, CLOSED! (Page 3)

Good morning Beasties!  (I love typing 'beasties'!)

I've got a planned run for today.  Probably about 4 miles.  We'll see.  Weather looking very good here in NoVA.  Will be in the 50's!  Shorts for sure.

I have to say that I've grown to love my Eau de Chlorine!  Nothing like a swim at 5:30 a.m. and you can still smell the chlorine when you go to bed that night, after 2 showers!

I got new toys in the mail yesterday, can't wait to try them out!!!  Serfas Thunderbolt LED bike lights, USB rechargeable... the rubber part comes in different colors too, I just went for basic black to go with my bike (because color matching is SOOO SOOO important!)

Argh, computer at school won't post pics this morning, will try later...

Good Evening Beasties!!

I'm slacking off a bit this week on the running. I'll go out trail running with my boy pup Brando on Saturday. Starting next Tuesday, I'll be running 2x weekly with an old training partner. Getting up at the buttcrack of dawn (4 am) to meet up at 5 am. We're gonna go about 4 miles each run. I got the Spinervals Aero Base Builder DVD today so I can get on the bike more. That's the hardest for me right now. I work approximately 10 hours a day this time of year and it's hard to get any saddle time in during the week. This will help me work on a stronger base and staying in the aero position as well. It hurts my heart to chain a tri bike to a trainer, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! Happy Training, Everyone!!

Ack!  You had to do it.  You just had to say one of the few three word phrases in the english language that would make me want to commit hara-kiri..."new course prep."

I've had nine new course preps in the last 5 years, and seven of those were courses with 3 hour labs, and I don't get a T.A.

New course prep.  Synonymous with a few other 3 word seppuku phrases: Never getting sleep. Never getting married.  Never having kids.

In fact, just reading the words on a blog nearly made me pee myself with fear that a week before the semester starts my dept chair is going to pull the old "so and so quit, so we need you to take over such and such a course."

Excuse me...I need to go cry.

What's our Beastly policy on triathlons and heavy drinking? (sob)

Scully, I think you and Alex are long lost sisters!  Too funny... no probs on the heavy drinking, just none of that during a race!  And don't drink and bike....

Here are some pics of my new lights!

I don't actually have the blue one, just wanted to show how it attaches.  The bungees are long enough that I can put it on my aero fork if I want, and you can set them to high beam, low beam, or strobing.

Good morning everyone.  Sounds like we have a bunch of hard-working folks out there!

I hope you profs out there keep things interesting -- as I hear various reports from my college-age student.

My morning started out bad but immediately turned out good!  I had put a pair of earrings in my bike pants zipper pocket, only to discover that when I got to work there was a tiny hole.  No earrings!  Damn, and they were kind of nice ones too.  But lo and behold as I stripped of the pants both earrings fell out along the hem.  Someone they had got caught in the pants leg/cycle boot area and managed to survive the entire ride into the office.

So I'm happy today.

It's a beautiful spring day here!  Wait - it's only January 11th!  We'll be back to normal 30's by Sunday afternoon.  Run scheduled for tonight, dinner may have to be a bit delayed so I can get out and enjoy the weather.

Thanks for the swim tips, I'll give them a try next time I'm at the pool. 

Wow, it's your lucky day, Melanie!

*passes you a drink* Oh MAN-- I had that happen to me last spring: told a week before classes started that my grad class was summarily cancelled and they needed me to teach a new prep. Nightmareish... I *think* it ended up going pretty well, but haven't actually looked at the student evaluation comments to be sure-- am determined NOT to go into the office while I'm on sabbatical, darnit!

OK, after some frustrating computer issues I'm finally ready to post my stats:-)

NAME: Erin

STORY:    In 2008 I gave up my party-girl lifestyle and took up running consistently for the first time since high school.  A couple years later I watched my husband complete a triathlon and I became hooked.  Last year was my first full season of multisport and I absolutely loved it.  I am definitely an addict!  I had some surprisingly good racing luck, as well, and ended up winning a few races including a sprint tri in upstate NY and a sprint duathlon here in KY that had awarded $750.  Also, I did my first 70.3 race (Augusta) and it was such a rush.

FAMILY STATUS: Married for about 3 years with a terrier/ bulldog mix named Jessie.  My husband and I work together exercise riding racehorses in Kentucky.  I'm originally from Minnesota and he is from Ireland.

CURRENT TRAINING PLANS: Currently focusing on run mileage and getting a strong base.  Just started back in the pool (my weak sport) at our Masters group.  I plan on getting the bike back in gear this week as well.  I have not been riding this winter.

2013 RACES: Last year, we started out with a sprint tri winter series and it was a great kickoff to the season.  I ended up winning the series, so I would like to defend the title, lol!  That starts at the end of January and includes one race Jan-April.  Registered for Knoxville Rev3 70.3 in May.  There will hopefully be quite a few other races but I will play it by ear.

Season Goals:  WHen it comes to the pool I am like a fish out of water, lol! So I hope to continue to work on that.  I also joined a cycling team so I hope to have fun with that.  My running has been sporadic with several injuries over the past few years, so I would love some consistency there.  One other goal (my 2013 resolution) is to skip the desserts except on race day.  They had become an obsession!

WEIGHTLOSS:  Lord, I hope not!  I was always teased in school for being waaaay too skinny so I now carry extra muscle with pride:-)  My diet keeps things in check, as well.  I'm a longtime vegetarian who went vegan in 2012 and love, love, love it.  Never thought I'd say that, and now my husband is moving in that direction, too.

I am looking forward to getting to know everyone and reconnecting with some of the others I got to know in Hilde's group last year.  Hilde is an INCREDIBLE mentor and all you newbies will love it here! 

So happy to hear everyone is doing well, HAPPY FREAKIN" FRIDAY BEASTS!!!!  Alex, new avatar, sporting the winter run attire!  Yes, Alex is an avid pool runner, she inheirited the HTFU gene for sure!  And Erin has ROCKED the tri world... she is FAST!

Everyone have a great weekend, I'll be by to check on you all!!  I am looking forward to some awesome Texas BBQ tonight, made my award winning BBQ master hubby... AND all the kids and their families are coming over, gonna be hectic but fun, then it will be TV Veg time.... weather is supposed to get colder tomorrow, but I HOPE to be able to bike outside...

Sadly this will be my 13th new prep in the last 3 years.  I'm only in my 3rd year, so that's partly why it's so bad.  But I'm apparently on the stupid professor plan - married 2nd year doc program, pregnant during candidacy exams, baby during the dissertation (and job interviews), and second baby during the second year tenure track.  

And putting that in writing makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with me.  (And makes me want to drink!)

I have to say that so far I am damned impressed with the beastliness going on in all y'alls logs!  Way to start off the mentor group!  If you're feeling unmotivated, be sure to drop in on everyone elses's logs, you're sure to find something motivational going on, and be sure to leave an inspire! 

Okay, I work in education but I have NO idea what you ladies are talking about with the Prep stuff, must be a college prof thing?  Can you enlighten the rest of us so I can be glad I'm in elementary?

I woke up to rain today and a cold front coming through later on today which put a kink in my plans for a 3 mile run and a nice outside bike.... so I'm going to the movies with my "daughter in law" (my son's live in, long term girlfriend) and hoping the rain gives up by the time I get home so I can at least get in the run. 

New course prep is college lingo for lesson planning.

It goes something like this: 

Dept chair: "Dana, our department has identified a need for a lab course in Evolutionary Medicine."

Me: (groan. smack forehead.) "Okay, sure."

Then you spend whatever time you've been given before the start of the class 1) digesting whatever textbooks have been published on the subject (if any) - this usually amounts to reading 3 to 7 textbooks in a short time span - and deciding which to assign, 2) reviewing the syllabi of colleagues who taught similar classes, 3) summarizing whatever you know about the subject, reading the most recent publications in the field, and then you 4) write your syllabus, 5) write all the lectures and exams - which for a 16 week semester is about 24 to 25 1hr 15 min lectures plus 3 exams and a final, and about 12 3 hour lab experiments plus 2 lab exam practicals, 6) plan all the assignments - term papers, homework, class discussions, projects, labs, etc., 7) price, order, and stock all the lab supplies (which now a days involves getting quotes from three different companies, including minority and women owned businesses), 8) attempt all the labs yourself, to, you know, prevent kids from blowing up classrooms, 9) build the course website & schedule the tech support for podcasting and video recording, 10) give the lectures (no whining just because you have a zit and don't want to show up since you know they're posting it to itunes and youtube), 11) prep, carry out and dismantle the labs, 12) grade all the assignments and exams, and 13) figure out what worked and didn't based on teaching evaluations, peer teaching critiques, and your own gut instinct so that you can modify it before you go teach it again.

It's exactly what you do each semester with your kids.  Having taught second grade, the only differences I see are that with little kids your headaches/time drains are more from the child psychology and little kid energy/noise and less from the work load.  And the reverse is true for college.  

Alex and Page...does that sound right to you?

Same song, different subject manner (exercise science).  But on the upside, I have been known to consider my time on here "work-related".  It's a great way to find out about new training stuff people are trying.

And Hilde, I don't know how you do elementary.  That is just exhausting.

http://youtu.be/q-U-Uc0BFyc

This is a series of 4 15 minute videos. It was for Ironman Louisville, but I think the principles are applicable to all distances. I've about memorized the whole thing!

Thanks for the videos Shad... I'll admit I haven't watched them (yet), I'm still sweating from my run, ha ha! 

And thanks (I think!) Scully, for the peek into college professorship... I'll stick to elementary.  Dealing with tieing shoes, snotty noses, kids that won't shut up or stop touching each other sounds better than all that!  Plus, I only have them for about 25 minutes at a time!!  And after teaching for 20 years, it's pretty old hat, nothing much changes, although I do admit that I am pretty sick of singing "Doggie, Doggie" ad nauseum! 

Feel better Alex.... we've had a flu bug going around here with stuff coming out both ends, thankfully I've avoided it thus far... hope you're enjoying some truly good trash TV, something like Honey Boo Boo... OMG, that look into white trashdom is scary!!!