Catching up before I disappear again

How sad is it that it's been over a month since I posted last?  And how sad is it that I've legitimately been racing just to keep up?

So far, classes are going well.  I have some great students, although I'll say that as a whole, they whine more than Arizona and Boise State combined.  Ha!

I have been sneaking in some walking in the mornings.  About once a week, I walk with Linda, and I've been trying to get out another couple of times on my own.  I live next to a golf course and one lap has a few hills and is 2.25 miles - if I add in some neighborhood time, I come in around 3 miles.  I'm hanging out at 15:00 miles, but it's about all I dare do at this point.  My ITB has been acting up and if I keep it at a brisk walk, I feel okay.  And for those of you wondering, walking with audio books is great.  (For my own mileage tracking: I went 8 miles last week, 3 miles the week before, and 3 miles the week before that.)

I'll probably be MIA for another month or so.  Coming up:

• LISA in San Jose Nov 8-12.  I'll be attending the knowledge management in system administration workshop Monday morning, then some technical sessions Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.  If anyone wants to cover a cost accounting class for me that Tuesday, lemme know.  I can offer baked goods as bribery.
• CHIMIT in San Jose Nov 12-13.  I'm chairing this, and it's oddly similar to planning a wedding:  I need to have final numbers for attendees (guests) for seating, AV, and food finalized in the next couple of weeks.  I'm also waiting to hear back on invited talks and panels.  And once we get closer, I'll be putting the proceedings onto CDs or USBs (favors!).  Thank goodness I have a great co-chair and committee members.  Otherwise, I'd be in big trouble.  
• Tim's homecoming Nov 14.  I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble for not getting there on Friday for more family time, but this is the best I can do.  Anyone in the SLC area, come see him try to speak English again after two years!
• SCCUR in Malibu Nov 20.  Accepted papers aren't announced until Oct 26, but I think the research my students have been doing has a good chance.  If it does get accepted to SCCUR, the presentation happens this day.  
• DSI in San Diego Nov 22.  (And possibly also the afternoon of Nov 20 - straight south after SCCUR.)  I will be a presenter and panel discussant in a session on engaged research.  
• Nov 28.  Weekend off?  Maybe?  Crossing my fingers.  
• Various research completion deadlines:  revise my dissertation and submit, expand my HICSS paper, finish and submit a paper I'm working on with Alex and Rajiv (goal: by the end of the year), and then write up another paper or two with Alex and Rajiv (one is outlined, the other has data analysis done).  And then on to my Spring project with Kerry!  

Somewhere in there, I also have teaching preps, grading, and exams.  It's not bad, but it always ends up taking more time than I expect because it's my first semester and first prep out of this textbook.  And yet... I still decided to switch textbooks next semester.  I've heard this a million times before, but holy cow my first year is one giant sprint.  I'm so exhausted by the time Sunday rolls around, I can barely roll out of bed.

In other news, I'm a bad wife.  I essentially missed our anniversary because I had late class that day.  (When I finally got home, I was exhausted, so we just had leftovers.)  I might be out of town for Xavier's birthday on 11/21, and now it looks like I might have a work function on my birthday, too.   I am not doing a very good job of keeping up with our personal days.

Xav is wonderful, as always.  He has been holding down the fort and helping with our places in Tucson as well.  (Dear renters, please pay.  kkthxbai.)  He even got us tickets to see Carrie Underwood at the Hollywood Bowl on October 2.  OMG.  The venue is amazing.  The concert was great.  My favorite part was when Randy Travis came out to sing "I Told You So" with her.  (And yet, my crazy schedule still almost ruined the day.  We were hoping to get to the Bowl early, take a picnic and spend the day.  Unfortunately, the SCCUR deadline was the next Monday, so I went to campus to help my students with data analysis.  We missed the picnic, but did make it on time for the concert.)

Following up my new year's resolution,  Xavier tells me that my excitement for September was our fourth anniversary (and five years together).  It's kind of sad, since I missed most of the day, but it was pretty exciting hitting the day that I was officially married to Xavier longer than my ex.  It may sound strange, and it wasn't anything monumental, but it was comforting to hit that day and still be so happy.  My excitement for October was the Carrie Underwood concert.  Credit for both of those go to my hubby.

Weekend

Remember when weekends were, like, time off?  Pffft. 

On Saturday, Pepperdine had Step Forward day, which is similar to Day of Caring for those of you in Tucson.  Everyone meets on campus at 7am (ugh) for free bagels and a t-shirt (yay!).  We were assigned to service groups that were then bussed around the greater LA area.  My group ended up going to Camarillo to pick oranges for Food Store, a non profit group that provides food to needy families and school children.  After 3 hours, only 1 bin of oranges and lots of scratches later, Xavier tells me I don't make a very good Mexican.  (Hey thought police: stand down.  Xavier is Mexican, so he probably has a point.)

Saturday afternoon, Xav and I ran to Costco and the grocery store, and I'm amazed I didn't freak out or yell at someone.  Weekends at Costco are just too crazy for me.  That night, friends came over to watch the UA football game, which we streamed from my laptop to our big screen.  It was sweet.  Oh, and we destroyed Citadel, which was definitely a tune up game. 

Sunday was just hanging around and church - though I will say that going to church on Sundays is always an adventure because one of the wards we share a building with has the ginormous homes in Beverly Hills.  Two weeks ago, I chatted with Shawn King, and yesterday, I (almost literally) ran into Dr. Rey, aka Dr. 90210.  In his words (to the person he was chatting with): "I almost gave her a mastectomy!"  Hey, at least it would have looked good. 

We wrapped up the day with the best simmered pork sandwiches I've ever had.  Thanks to Stephanie Call and her mom for sharing the recipe - um, back in 2002.  I really should have tried it sooner.  I'll post it later. 

Busy busy busy...

... but not running.

After that last run, I was frustrated and discouraged and bored and annoyed.  And then my schedule was all crazy with meetings and stuff, so I took some time off from running.  I think I need to listen to Nikia and Sarah and Kerry and just start running outside.  The view is better (and changing), even though I can't force myself to keep a pace.  (Hopefully the Garmin will help.)  I'll also be listening to books on tape, which, by the way, have been amazing on my commute.  Traffic - when I rarely hit traffic - doesn't even bother me.  And for those of you who may not know - good money has been on my kids' first words being "drive your sh*t!" - this is saying a lot.  So hopefully more entertainment on the run should help.  Oh, and I also need to step back and realize that forcing myself to run a 9:13 mi pace is ridiculous, especially when my someday goal is 10:00 mi.  And probably closer to 10:30 for now.  We'll see how it goes.

In other news, I love my job.  This is the view from my office:

I have great students, teaching makes me happy.. and my research is crazy busy right now.  Remember a while ago when I had that graphic of most used words, and the biggest one was "research?"  Yeah, well that's gonna be my life for the next few months.  It's so exciting.  I'll be white knuckling it the whole time.

First, I'm working on a fun project with two undergraduates here, and they're both brilliant.  I'll keep you posted on that one, but it's moving pretty quickly because we have to get an abstract submitted to a conference by (ahem, on) October 4.

Then, I have some exciting data dealing with Business Intelligence, and my coauthors (Rajiv Sabherwal and Alexandra Durcikova) and I are working on a paper for a great journal. Oh, and this has a due date of October 15.

Also in the works:  an expansion of a HICSS paper I wrote that was just accepted (side note:  YAY Hawaii in January!!!) and another paper (first draft done by Alexandra) that looks at knowledge management.  Oh, yeah.  And I need to revise a paper that comes from my dissertation so I can get it published and NEVER LOOK AT IT AGAIN.  (You'll notice this with PhDs - we get sick of our dissertation after slaving over it for so long.)  And... eventually... Kerry was nice enough to share some of her dissertation data with me and I have so many exciting things we can do with it!  (Spring semester maybe, Kerry?)  And maybe a pedagogy paper thrown in there with a classmate from Arizona.   Ooo!  And a paper maybe with Janet next summer!  That one is super fun, too. 

Just typing those paragraphs makes me tired.  And a little panicky.

But sooooo excited.

In other news, I'm really hoping I can win a La Creuset stockpot here. I currently have a 0.76% chance of winning.  It's not looking good.

Meh

I think I hit a slump already.

Sure, I like to think of myself as an athlete, but I'm really just a lazy athlete.  I don't like running ladders, I always drank soda during season, and I'm not particularly fond of warming up.  (That last one used to drive my college volleyball coach crazy.)  Today's run?  Meh.  This is what I was supposed to do:

5 min walk (warm up)
1/4 mi (or 3:00) run
1/8 mi (or 1:30) walk
1/2 mi (or 5:00) run
1/4 mi (or 2:30) walk
1/4 mi (or 3:00) run
1/8 mi (or 1:30) walk
1/2 mi (or 5:00) run

What I actually did?  Not quite.  Last night, I basically decided to game the system and calculate the run times for each distance given my 15:00mi/9:13 mi paces.  Overall, I would have run a bit less and walked a bit more.  Which, yes, might be working the system, but I also had a hell of a time with those 3:00 runs last week, and two 5:00 runs didn't seem entirely plausible.  But I didn't even get through my long runs (at 4:37) today.

Why?  Because I'm a lazy athlete.  And easily bored.  Honestly, I might not have been able to do two 4:00+ runs, but I didnt' really push myself.  I'm not sure what I was feeling:  bored?  frustrated?  annoyed?  I mean, sure, this is supposed to be a challenge.  But at this point, it really feels like busy work.  Remember me hating ladders during volleyball season?  Yeah.  Because they feel like torture and don't directly relate to the game.  I can see their relevance to basketball because you're constantly running the court, but not in volleyball.  (Yes, I know they are still useful to get in shape and work on your quick bursts of speed.  But it still feels indirect to me.)  It's like school:  I have a PhD, which should be some evidence that I can do the school thing.  But busy work?  OMG.  As an undergrad, there was nothing I hated more and it was like puling teeth to force myself to get it done.  It was hard, sure, but mostly - it was monotonous, boring, and not interesting or challenging.  Writing that PhD was super duper boring, too, but at least parts of it were interesting.  And it directly related to what I was working towards, so I could talk myself into it.  That's how these stupid runs feel.  I don't particularly like running just for the sake of running - so I'm using it as a way to get in shape (lungs and butt), sleep better, and get back to the point that I can go hike and play without feeling old.  I might have to take Kerry's suggestion and start running outside so I can distract myself better.  And maybe I'll hunt down that running group and see if I can still join even though I missed orientation - at least then I'd have someone to talk to when I run.  I have done one marathon before, and those were the only things that kept me interested. 

Also - not an excuse, but something to note. Those "run"s are actually supposed to say "jog".  But I'm thinking that if I make this a challenge, I might stick with it longer.  That strategy might not be working as is.  I've been doing a 9:13 pace, which is really too fast for me right now.  My goal is actually to be able to do a 10:00 or 10:30 mile, and at some point, I'm going to have to just move my runs to that pace. 

I did 2.157 miles in 26:00, an overall pace of a 12:03 mile.

What exactly is a doctorate?

Well, a guy at the University of Utah explains it perfectly. 

http://gizmodo.com/5613794/what-is-exactly-a-doctorate

On the one hand...

I hate running.  On the other hand, I like knowing I'm done with it for the day.  It's just so boring!  If anyone has any tips for making it more tolerable, lemme know.  Because I need to get in shape if I want to be doing the fun stuff, like playing volleyball.  And wearing my cute jeans again.

Today I finished up week 3, and while the last 3 minute run was still tough, I wasn't dying like I have been.  In 23 minutes, I went 1.908 miles for an average 12:00 mile. 

In other news, I still have to finish writing my syllabi for the semester.  Key word there is finish - they are mostly done.  Still, I'm such a procrastinator. 

C25k: Week 2, Day 2

Oh, man.  I'm hoping this run gets easier on the last run this week, or I'm in big trouble next week.  Like, seriously trouble next week... either trouble or I'll be jogging instead of running.  My last 3-min run was brutal.  Overall, I ran 1.9 miles in 23 minutes, or a 12:00 mile.  In any case, I'm blogging as a big ole 'take that.'  After a full day of meetings and dinner, I still got my a$$ on the treadmill.  I griped about it to Xav a bunch, but I still did it.

In other news, Pepperdine orientation meetings started this week... which were also brutal.  As a wise man once said, your mind can absorb what your butt can endure.  (Remember, mom?  Gene Palmer at Targhee's ski instructor meetings.)  After a full day yesterday, I got home with low blood sugar and was very anxious - which usually means I'm angry and panicky.  (No, traffic wasn't bad.)  I felt much better once I ate and calmed down, so I decided to be more careful about having a snack this afternoon and sneaking outside for some sun whenever we had a break.  Once again, a full day of meetings and info sessions.  And we have another full day on Monday and Friday of next week.  It's a good thing I went into academia instead of teaching in HS.  I can't handle this all day thing anymore.  And starting at 8am?  Totally overrated.

C25k: Week 3, Day 1

This is very sad to admit, but the last minute of my last run cycle, I thought I wasn't going to finish.  I also thought about cheating, which is a good reason to stick with the treadmill, even though the weather here is beautiful. 

This week's workout is a 5 minute walk followed by two cycles of 90 sec walk/ 90 sec run and 3 min walk/ 3 min run.  Overall, 1.912 miles in 23 minutes, an average of roughly a 12:00 mile pace.  I'm hoping it's just this difficult because it's the first run of the week and that by the last one this week, it'll feel okay.

Right now, though, I blame all those ladies with their running and workout blogs for conning me into this.  Links withheld to protect the innocent. 

Corrupting the youth

Or, research with undergrads!

I know you've all missed seeing posts related to research, so here's one to soothe the ache.  I've accepted an invitation to join The Research Group as a Partner and University Affiliate.  The Research Group is an initiative to encourage research (and in particular, business research) with undergraduates.  I first caught the research bug as an undergrad at Utah State and I'm excited to pass it on.

C25k: Week 2, Day 3

This does seem to be getting a bit more do-able... but that's just on Fridays when I've gotten used to the week's workout.

Overall, 20 min, 1.581 miles.  Average pace 12:38. 

2 weeks down, 7 to go.  Next week there are options to run/walk for time or distance, but the distances are in yards, so I'll either need to find a track to run on or I'll just keep running for time.

Meh. 

In related running news, I found a running group that meets in Santa Monica every weekend and preps for the LA marathon.  I'm not really a runner, but it might be a nice way to meet people and keep myself entertained on long runs.  And lucky me:  tomorrow morning is a newbie orientation with timed 1 mile run.  If I actually get myself out of bed on time, that is.

fan girl

I got to meet Marv Dunphy yesterday, greatest men's volleyball coach ever.  (Seriously.  NCAA championships, Olympics, everything.) I even got t-shirts. 

But there's a back story to this one.  When I was interviewing with Pepperdine, the Chair of the Business Division got wind that I was a huge volleyball fan on my last day there and remarked that it was too bad she didn't know that fact earlier - they would have set up a meeting with Coach Dunphy for me.  When they offered me the job, I joked that as part of my contract negotiations, I required a meet-and-greet with Coach Dunphy.  Haha funny funny.  A few people in the University's administration knew the joke.  Coach Dunphy did not know the joke and had never heard of me. 

So on Monday, I decide to go walk around the Fieldhouse because in all of my visits to campus, it's one of the 2 or 3 buildings on campus I haven't seen yet.  The cute front desk lady says hi, I say that I'm just looking around and am a new faculty member, and mention that I love volleyball.  She insists that I can stop by Coach Dunphy's office to say hi someday... which turns into her walking me to the coaches' area.  Unannounced.  I met pretty much every coach at Pepperdine... except Coach Dunphy.  He has stepped out of the office to go to the admin building.  So I just introduce myself to his assistants and say I'll stop by later. 

Remember how some admin people were in on the joke?  Yeah, well, while Coach was out of his office in the admin building, someone told him about some new girl who wants to meet him.  Then he gets back to his office and hears about some new girl who just stopped by his office to meet him unannounced. 

Great.  I'm looking like a stalker.

The next day (Tuesday), I get a voicemail from Coach Dunphy saying hi and that he'd like to meet with me sometime.  Somehow, I went from being "some girl" to a person that he found, looked up in the system, and called. 

So yesterday (Wednesday), I left a message for Coach Dunphy and later in the afternoon, he called me and asked if I would have time to stop by his office.  Um, yeah.  Absolutely.  I chatted with him and a couple of his assistants (one of whom is his daughter) for 30-40 minutes.  He's super nice and shared tips on where I can find some good volleyball around here (for me to play).  I can't wait for men's volleyball season.

The end.

C25k: Week 2, Day 2

Another run.  I tend to start off feeling like I'm not pushing myself hard enough, then end by liking the fact that I'm on a treadmill so I can't cheat and just slow down because I'm tired.

I still feel like a wuss and am embarrassed I'm not in the shape I used to be in (my insides are yelling, "I'm an athlete, I promise!"), so I almost hope that no one really reads this.  But putting it up here keeps me honest.  At least for now.

Overall, 1.582 miles in 20 minutes.  Average pace is 12:38 mile.  Awesome - awesomely sad.

C25k: Week 2, Day 1

Nothing exciting, but it does feel like I'm making some progress.  Last week, I was thinking that I should speed up my run pace, but after having to run for 90 seconds at a time, it seemed about right.  And good news:  the knee felt fine. 

The week 2 runs are:
5 min walk (4 mph)
cycle:  90 seconds run (6.5 mph), 2 min walk
for a total of 20 minutes

Overall:  1.578 miles in 20 minutes.

In related news, I probably won't be losing weight anytime soon.  Actual running leaves me famished all day long. 

C25k: Week 1, Day 3

Again, ugh.  But not as bad.  I even felt like I could run harder/faster, but I've tweaked behind my knee a bit, so I'm trying to still play it safe.  I'm still doing this on my treadmill (which kills me because the weather is so great), but it keeps me honest.  It's easy to see the time and set my speeds. 

The workout (again):
5 min warmup (4 mph)
cycle:  60 seconds run (6.5 mph, 9:13 mile) and 90 seconds walk (4 mph, 15:00 mile)

Overall:
20 minutes
1.592 miles. 
Average rate: 4.776 mph, 12:34 mile - right around my super slow marathon pace from back in the day.

C25k: Week 1, Day 2

Ugh. 

I really shouldn't be doing two days in a row, but since my first day was yesterday (Wednesday) and there are three workouts each week, I'll fake it this week.  I will say it's a good thing I'm starting with the couch to 5k - especially since I'm trying to really run - because I am out of shape.  I can jog (bouncy walk) with the best of them, but this running thing sucks.  Especially when it's over 100 m.

5 min warmup (4 mph)
cycle:  60 seconds run (6.5 mph) and 90 seconds walk (4 mph)

Overall:
20 minutes
1.558 miles. 
Average rate: 4.64 mph

Resolution Update

I haven't been very good at keeping this thing up-to-date (shocker, I know), but I have kept up on my New Year's Resolution, to do something exciting every month.  So to recap:

Jan:  move to Boise
Feb:  submitted a paper for publication
Mar:  skiing!
Apr:  my first trip to Seattle
May:  moving back to Tucson - to actually cohabitate with my husband.  Crazy.
Jun:  CSST.  Some day I will write a long, exciting post about this, but for now, click here.
Jul:  moving to SoCal*
Aug:  Pepperdine.

* So, when I got and later accepted the offer from Pepperdine, I was really worried because Xavier hates LA.  HATES Los Angeles.  He kept pointing out that Malibu is *not* LA, and it was fine.  After three house hunting trips, we settled on a condo in Westwood - next to everything - UCLA, a golf course, good food, Costco, everything.  Our mailing address?  LA.  Sorry, Xav.

C25k

It might be in the water here, but since I pulled into SoCal, I've been very motivated to lose tons of weight get healthier.  Again.  It could be the beautiful weather - it's very hard to want to run when it's 110 outside like it was in Tucson.  It could be my cute skinny jeans that no longer fit.  It could be the fact that my Google Reader page has 3-4 running blogs.  It could also be the herds of girls that are 100 pounds dripping wet, but yanno, whatever.  I'll take motivation wherever I find it. Heck, I even bought new shoes yesterday (because the old ones were a key player in my injury), and we all know how new toys motivate me.

In order to avoid jumping into the running thing too quickly, I've decided to take a cue from Kelly and do a Couch to 5k program.  Today was day 1. 

I'm pretty pathetically slow, but I've decided that I'll try to actually *run* when I'm supposed to run instead of just bouncy walking.  This put my walking sections at about 4 mph and my running ones at around 6.3-6.5 mph.  Yes, I realize that this is still slower than some people run entire marathons, but whatever.

Overall, I ran a mile and a half in 20 minutes, which included my warm up.  I even stretched afterwards.

We'll see if this holds.

First Day

So, my contract with Pepperdine starts on August 1, which fell on a Sunday this year.  So I headed into campus on Monday the 2nd.

Admin:  "Oh, hi Nicole!  What are you doing in today?"

And my computer isn't in yet, which means there isn't really much that I can do after unpacking a few boxes of books.  Pretty much every one of my "first days" at work have been sans technology - even when I was working as a computer programmer.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

My life is a tornado

It's true.  My life is just too crazy right now.  My solution?  Procrastination via blogging. 

I'm back in Tucson - between Boise and California.  Similar to my exit from NYC, I still need to make my list of Boise.  Without further ado...

Things I will miss:

• Friends.  Man, I miss those people already.  Sarah, Michael, Meredith, James, Dom, Juanita... ::sigh::  I will really need to get back to Boise to visit.  Possibly this summer.
• Blue Cow.  I love their frozen yogurt and went there way too many times.  
• Sort of an extension of number one, the gang at PF Chang's.  I went there every week when I was in Boise to sit at the bar, have good food, and visit with the waiters/traveling businessmen.  They were awesome and they looked out for me.  Thanks, guys.  
• The snow on the mountains.  I got back up on skis after more than a decade and loved it. 
• Proximity to the fam.  I got to see my grandparents, cousins, and niece and nephew multiple times.  Werd.
• Traffic, or the lack thereof.  Awesome. 
• BSU, and the great Accountancy Department.  Thanks for hosting me for a semester!
• The greenbelt.  I loved, loved, loved walking and running the greenbelt. 

Things I will not miss:

• People freaking driving below the already-ridiculously-low speed limits.  I was yelling at cars almost every day.  
• The cold.  That wouldn't go away.  Seriously, Boise.  You lost Spring - go find it.

Not a bad set of lists, overall.  :) 

Now, in the next few weeks I'll be in Vegas, LA, Sedona, and Portland.  With papers to write.  Wish me luck.

Seattle report

I was in Seattle last week/end for some work and collaboration and a visit with my brother and SIL.  On Thursday, I was able to meet up with Peter Baloh (U. Lublianja, Slovenia), whom I haven't seen in almost three years,  and Kevin D'Souza (U Washington).  It was a pleasure meeting Kevin and enjoyed discussing research, travel, and life in academia.  (In the pic below, Nicole, Kevin, Peter.)

I did not enjoy singing karaoke that night, but they seemed to think it was pretty hilarious.  (I was forced.  I sang Love Shack.  There is video.)  ::groan::  At least they let this tall girl wear her heels.

On Friday, I was able to meet up with Terrell Cox and Serguei Endrikhovski, whom I met at CHIMIT '08.  They do super exciting research at Microsoft (or super exciting to me) and were kind enough to take some time to visit and show me their playground:  their new user research lab.  I think I may have been drooling.  It was great seeing them again and I hope to see them at this year's CHIMIT in San Jose. 

On Saturday and Sunday, I finally got out to visit Brett (my brother) and Lauren (his wife).  Brett also works for Microsoft and they have been there for two years.  I should note that I'm off their hit list now... Xavier has already been to visit them twice and this was my first trip. 

All in all, I loved Seattle, and will need to plan another trip up some time. 

A moment of silence please

... for my patron saint. 

Spring Break

Spring Break was last week, and it was great to see family and friends again.  I flew out of Salt Lake so I could spend a few days with my family before and after my flight.  I also met with Kerry (and fam), whose dissertation I read through.  (In totally different fields, we study a similar DV, and I basically nerd-ed out when I read it.  I'm so, so sad.)

I also had several days in Tucson and the sun was soooo good for me.  Pepperdine will basically have me smiling stupidly every day, which I'm down with.  It was great catching up with friends, in-laws, and of course Xavo.  He had been in Boston for PAX East and got me a present:

I'm a huge fan of Caia Koopman's art and she designed a pair of Oakley sunglasses.  I'm  probably not cool enough to wear them, but I don't care.  I heart them.

I also worked on some research when I was in town, which was a mix of panic/disappointment when some of the data didn't hold, then excitement when other parts of it did.  Yay!  Now to write it up and hopefully get a submission into HICSS.  Because everyone loves a conference in Hawaii.  :)  

And... we're down

Well, that hip soreness got a lot worse, and some people with medical degrees told me I need to take 1-2 weeks off.

So frustrating... but just in time for Spring Break.

Bogus

A huge thanks to Paul Bahnson, a colleague in the Accountancy department, for sharing his extra free pass to Bogus today.  I survived my first ski day in over 12 years and loved every minute of it.  I took Grand Targhee for granted back in the day and never realized how much fun skiing is.  (As my mom pointed out, my last few years were as a ski instructor, so much of my time was spent skiing backwards, which may have contributed to my lack of excitement.) 

I ended up meeting a bunch of nice ski patrol folks, who showed me around the mountain.  I am happy to report I can still ski almost as fast as I used to, and after a few runs, was keeping up with the fastest in the pack.  And loving it.  We've exchanged info and may meet up for an outing at Brundage. 

I stopped at the top of the lift before my first run and took a picture, just in case I never made it back up. 

I only skiied for 4-5 hours, then called it a day.  My legs were sore (but a good sore!), but my hip started bothering me.  It wasn't bad on the skis, but I have a definite limp when I walk and it hurts.  So running training may have to scale down.  Sigh.  Just when I start moving again.

Workout: Day 6

Well, my left hip is seriously sore.  Maybe hurt.  I jogged the first half mile today, then walked the last half mile, hoping it would help stretch it out.  No such luck.  I was planning on skiing half day at Bogus - we'll see how that goes. 

today's 1 mile:  15:15/mi, 154 bpm

No P90X.  I need to get work done. 

Workout: Day 5

Today's running training was another 2mi walk - 1mi jog - 2mi walk.  Overall, I did the 5 miles in 1:07:58, with an average speed of 4.4 mph, an average pace of 13:34/mi, and an average heart rate of 152 bpm.  Per mile:

• 14:16/mi
• 13:55/mi
• 12:00/mi
• 13:39/mi
• 14:02/mi

If you haven't noticed, I'm liking my new toy, the Garmin.  Toys are always a good motivator for me.

Unfortunately, my ITband on my left hip got pretty tight for the last mile, so I'll be doing Yoga tonight for P90X instead of legs and back (plus abs).  I could use the stretching and don't want to wear my legs out too quickly, especially after a long volleyball game last night.

UPDATE:  An hour and a half for yoga is just too long.  I can only clear my mind for so long before I start thinking about all of the other things I could be doing.  That said, I do like the stretching and poses and stuff.  I'm thinking about replacing P90X with my good old pilates DVDs.  

Workout: Day 4

Today was my day off of 1/2 marathon training, so nothing new to report there.  I was planning on Yoga X with Shelley, but temporary single parenthood (her hubby is away for 6 weeks for work) threw a wrench in our plans and we only did 15 minutes of stretching.  I'll move it to tomorrow.  But we did have a volleyball game (we lost, but played well and lost to a very good team), so I did move around. I haven't played on a women's net in years (aside from two or three random pickup games) and I think I'm finally figuring out my timing. 

In other good news, my eating was right on, if a bit low on calories.  This was a feat, considering the amount of food (and brownies) throughout the Accounting department for March Madness. 

I will say that this much working out is taking a lot of time.  Some of that has been spent driving to Shelley's and back every day for P90X (which takes an hour), so I'll probably start doing more of the workouts at home and may cut out some P90X workouts if I'm strapped for time.

Workout: Days 1 - 3

Okay, this makes three days in a row.  Not bad.  To keep myself honest, I'll be posting my progress.  No laughing or pointing.  I'm just hoping to see improvement.   As mentioned previously, these workouts are based on the 8-week 1/2 marathon training I'm subjecting myself to and the P90X workouts.

• Day 1 (Monday):  2 mile walk, 1 mile jog, 2 mile walk.  I should note that in the stellar shape I'm in (ha!), my speed remained pretty constant between the walk and jog, but my heart rate went way up.  
• 5 miles, average heart rate 145 bpm, average speed 4.2 mph, average pace 14:16/mile.  I also noticed that my ascent/decent was about 1,647 ft/1,675 ft. 
• P90X: chest and shoulders.  Shelley laughed at me.  We got through a few minutes of the Ab routine, but the power went out and the DVD player didn't recover fast enough.  
• Day 2 (Tuesday):  30 minutes of low impact cardio, on the bike.  I didn't wear my Garmin, so I don't know what my heart rate was.  But I'm taking credit for doing it. 
• P90X: Plyometrics.  I still feel like I wussed out a bit, but Shelley wasn't laughing at me as much.  I'm also motivated to get my vertical back.  
• Day 3 (Wednesday, today):  1 mile jog.  Again along the greenbelt, though a different way with a few ups and downs.  
• 1 mile, average heart rate 159 bpm, average speed 4.7 mph, average pace 12:45/mi.  Ascent/decent was 236 ft/213 ft. 
• P90X tonight will be Shoulders & Arms, followed by Abs.  
• Tomorrow is a rest day for the running training, but is Yoga for P90X.  Yay for stretching.  

Update:   I had planned on wussing out (tired, lazy), but did both P90X workouts.  I figured after my quick bite of ice cream turned into a cup and a half, I needed to do something active.  On the plus side, I had a lean cut of steak with onions and peppers for dinner.

Ow. aka I'm getting old

So, I finally decided to suck it up and train for the half marathon in May.  (For those of you in the know about Boise runs, I will not be doing Robie Creek.  That stuff is insane, though I might be tempted if I could actually partake of the shot of something special at the top of the hill.  I hear it makes the run much more tolerable.)  

I was flipping through fitness magazine (love it - thanks Ann!) and came across an 8-week training schedule here.  I'm realistic enough to know that I should do the beginner training (sure, I've done the Honolulu marathon, but that was 7 years ago)... thinking it would be a nice, easy way to get ready.  I started yesterday, and man are my hips sore.  Those five miles (2mi walk, 1mi jog, 2mi walk) weren't fast (I'm a lot slower than I used to be), but at least they were pretty:

Here's hoping I stick it out and keep up the bouncy walking.  I'll keep you posted.

On a side note, I've also been talked into doing P90X* with a friend.  Last night was shoulders and back, and she had a pretty good laugh at my wussy push ups.  We'll see how tonight goes (plyometrics).   I've lost 10" of vertical since college** and I plan on getting it back.  

UPDATE:  I did my 30 min of cross training today on a bike. 

*I'm doing a slightly modified P90X:  I'll watch what I eat, but with all of the running I'm doing and my weekly volleyball game, there's no way I'm giving up carbs.

** I would like to point out that while I've lost 10" of vertical, I can still probably jump higher than you.  :p

February's excitement

Okay, so maybe this month's exciting thing is supremely lame, but whatever. 

I just submitted a paper coauthored with Alexandra Durcikova (parts of which are pulled from my dissertation data) to a journal for review.  Yay!  Here's hoping for a quick review and some positive feedback. 

(Yes, that was my excitement.)

(And if that's not good enough for you, I also moved Lucy up here to Boise.)

Yay for dead presidents

I don't know if I should count a conjugal visit to Tucson as my resolution excitement for February, but it was a great trip.  Although I was technically there for Valentine's Day, that wasn't why I chose that weekend to travel.  I went because the combination of my MWF teaching schedule and Monday vacation for President's Day gave me an almost 5-day weekend at home.  Yay!  I will warn you, however, that this is probably the most boring weekend wrap up ever. 

I flew into Phoenix on Friday afternoon so I could hang with Xav and his friend Brad, who had been in town for work that week.  We had grand plans of dinner at Pizzeria Bianco, a supposedly great place with a long waiting line that doesn't take reservations.  We arrived just after they opened to put our name on the waiting list... and it was already four and a half hours long.  ?!  Apparently they let you stop by earlier in the day - before they open - to put your name on the list.  Ugh.  I was hungry and getting cranky, so it's back on our places to eat before we move.  We headed to Mill Ave and went to Gordon Biersch so the boys could have good beer and I could have good food.  (Even if our flightly waitress ignored us most of the night.)  After dinner we headed back to Tucson with Brad and dropped him off at his mom's house.

Saturday night should have been great - dinner with friends, sweet potato fries, U of A basketball.  If any of you follow Arizona sports, you know that only two of the three worked out.  Sunday was full of family and friends, and Brad came over to crash with us for the night because he missed us.  Or wanted to use our high speed wireless internet for work on Monday.  But probably because he missed us.

On Monday, we were all hunkered down with our work, but I snuck out that night to do dinner and drinks with a great friend.  The next day, Xav went back to work, and we did lunch together before I ran around to do some errands and pack up.  (I also caught up with a couple IBM friends while I waited to meet Xav, which was fun, but only reminded me of all of my other IBM friends I was missing.)  I came back to Bosie Tuesday evening, puppy in tow. 

This is my awesome Boise roommate, Lucy:

January's excitement

So, according to the internets, my new year's resolution was supposed to be doing something exciting every month. 

I hearby declare moving to Boise my excitement for January. 

I have something exciting coming up for February, but I don't want to spoil the fun just yet (or jinx myself).  Stay tuned. 

Boise is cold, yo

... but not nearly as cold as I thought it would be.  It has been chilly, and I've needed coats and jackets, but it hasn't been freeze-your-snot-burn-your-lungs cold.  Which is a good thing.

Overall, I like being in the academic swing of things.  Once you're an academic on tenure track, your life turns into a juggle of research, service, and teaching.  So:

Research.  I'm finishing up an old paper and should be submitting it next month.  This is part of my dissertation and I HATE IT.  I can't wait to NEVER LOOK AT IT AGAIN.  I also have a great set of data and plan on kicking out a couple papers this semester.  Luckily, my coauthors also plan on kicking out at least two papers from that data this semester.  I also hope to get back into another portion of my dissertation, and a group I'd like to study just happened to expand their Silicon Valley office into the Boise area.  (And no, I didn't plan it.  I only found out about it on my drive up here.  Karma.)

Service.  I can't really do much service for Pepperdine or its students directly right now, so that's out.  But I can work on the conference I'm chairing in November.  I'm still finishing up my committee and writing the call for papers and putting together the website*, which is keeping me crazy busy, but the department has offered me grad student support for a few hours a week.  Word.  I still need to put together a break-even budget and finalize the venue.  Aye.

Teaching.  My students are pretty good.  (Note:  I have one old HS classmate in a class, which was strange at first, but now is fine.  She's great about it.  I also had one student hit on me.  Awww yeah.  I've still got it.) (Follow up note:  the hitter on-er dropped the class, so no worries.)  And most importantly, my grader is *awesome.*  She's smart, she's funny, and she told me where to find Fresca in town.

So far, work is keeping me busy, which is good because I'm in Boise and Xav is in Tucson.  But when I'm not working, I've decided to start running again.  I might even do a half marathon in May that an old college volleyball buddy is thinking about doing.  We'll be the old ladies in the back of the pack, whining about how young and fast and fit we used to be. 

*Any feedback on the temporarily-hosted site would be muchly appreciated:  http://www.nicolefv.com/CHIMIT10/home.html

Trash TV and Four Inch Heels

As some of you know (and have mercilessly teased me about), I love trash TV.  This has traditionally been almost any reality show on Bravo, E!, or TLC.  But now I can watch a reality show that's not trashy.  (You hear that program execs?  I'll watch good reality, too, if you'll actually air it.)  TLC has a new show that highlights the newlywed life of Dr. Jennifer Arnold, a Neonatologist and the Director of the Pediatric Simulation Center at Texas Children's Hospital, and Bill Klein, a business owner and entrepreneur.  Oh, and they're both little people.  The Little Couple is smart and engaging - thanks to the stars.  They aren't crazy, they aren't ditzy.  They're educated, articulate, funny, and so cute together. 

So what does this have to do with 4" heels?  Mostly, I love wearing them, and if anyone asks me to leave them at home (because it makes them feel short), I'll wear my 5" heels.  Well, I am such a fan of Dr. Arnold that Xavier has heard me say many times that I would love to be her friend IRL.  (Who, me?  Stalker?  Noooooo.)  She's kind, fun, witty, and outgoing.  So dear Jen, if we can be friends, I'll leave my heels at home.  Or maybe I'll wear them - you may appreciate how cute they are.

UPDATE:  I just watched tonight's episode, and Bill is totally invited.  That man is hilarious. 

(Yes, I know I'm crazy for acting like this will ever actually happen.) 

(No, I'm not creepy, and I don't ever plan on meeting anyone else on television.) 

(Okay, except maybe Kristen Bell.  Or if I'm really lucky, Anderson Cooper.)

(Yeah.  Anderson Cooper.  Right after he gets back from Haiti.)

Diet Coke, how I love thee

I would write my own ode to Diet Coke, but Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) is much funnier than I am.  (Kerry, this is the quote I was telling you about.  Thanks again for my Diet Cokes with lime!)

Recently I quit caffeine. My doctor seems to think that 17 Diet Cokes per day is too much. In case you ever consider getting off caffeine yourself, let me explain the process. You begin by sitting motionlessly in a desk chair. Then you just keep doing that forever because life has no meaning.

Just after I met Xav, I went to Thanksgiving dinner at his house.  As we sat down to dinner - a huge table, because Xav has a huge Messican family - his dad toasted the meal and the guests.  And wished that by the same time the next year, we would all be healthy, happy, and no one would be drinking diet soda.  Yep - I was the ONE person with a Diet Coke next to my glass (others had Coke and iced tea). Awkward.  (And sorry, George.  Not giving this stuff up.)

New Year's Resolution

I generally don't do resolutions... because I never actually *do* them.  I'd like to lose weight, but I also like food.  I'd like to play more volleyball, but I don't know if that really counts since it's something I like doing so much.  And I'm moving to Pepperdine, where volleyball is just a way of life.

But according to msn astrology, each sign has a resolution they should keep for the year.  Blah blah blah... until I read mine.  I think I can try this one:

Sagittarius
Expansive Sagittarian energy demands both freedom and adventures. Even if you are experiencing tight financial times, resolve this year to do at least one very exciting thing each month. It could be hiking in the national parks, leading a children's sports team, or campaigning for your favorite cause - anything that pushes your limits and expands your horizons will do. The more people you meet, the better you will feel.

Check yours out here.

A question for the internets

Now that I'll be in front of a bunch of crazed undergrads a few days a week, they'll have to address me. And wadded up paper just won't work every time. So...

Suck it, 2000's

Before I write about any resolutions I might have, I'm gonna do a year in review. Except I'll do one better and kick out a decade in review. Because the 2000's were pretty crappy and I'm happy to see them go.

• 2000: At Utah State - go Aggies. Did a 6 month internship with IBM, which brought me to Tucson for the first time.
• 2001: Finished my undergrad as Valedictorian (yay) and moved to Tucson (#2) to work for IBM. Published my first paper in a conference. Got engaged to college boyfriend. Lost my dad. Got "married" to my college boyfriend - in quotes because it should have been annulled after 2.35 days. Or maybe 2.35 hours. But at least I got to live in...
• 2002: Hawaii. Worked for IBM, then Time Warner cable (consulting), then eWorld. Met some great people, trained for a triathlon (until crashing and burning) and ran the Honolulu Marathon.
• 2003: Still in Hawaii, working and planning my escape. Lost my Grandpa, proving that Thanksgiving sucks in my family. (My dad was in a snowmobile accident two days after turkey day; grandpa died a day or two after turkey day.)
• 2004: Got Lasik and could see without glasses for the first time since Kindergarten. Moved to Tucson (#3) and started my PhD. Filed for divorce. Paperwork died.
  
• 2005: Back to IBM to pay the billz for my schooling. Drama from divorce and overly enthusiastic student, who ended up earning himself a restraining order. Divorce finalized (finally). Met Xav. First date with Xav. Awwwww.
• 2006: Started the year back in Hawaii for a friend's wedding and a Lasik retouch (but done with PRK - bad idea). Got my puppy Lucy. Got engaged, then married, to the greatest guy in the world. Another restraining order.  Lost my father-in-law.
  
• 2007: Surgery on my left eye to remove scar tissue from 2006 retouch. Serious pain for 2 months. Finished up my coursework, then headed to New York for 6 months to do research with IBM Watson. Passed my orals, making me a PhD Candidate (aka "the end is in sight" and "zomg now I need to write a dissertation"). Left IBM to focus on my dissertation.
  
• 2008: Wrote my dissertation. Got the PhD. Vowed to never be a student again. Looked for jobs in a tanking academic market. Back to IBM in August. Second eye surgery (4 total on left eye now) to remove scar tissue. Laid off from IBM at the end of the year. Had some crazy idea I should get a Masters in Accounting to take advantage of their awesome academic market. Turned 30. Didn't freak out.
  
• 2009: Back to school. Ugh. Interned with local accounting firm (no comment). Looked for jobs in both Accounting and MIS markets. Landed a job at Pepperdine, with a semester stint lined up at Boise State beforehand. Turned 31. Freaked out because I thought for sure I was turning 30. Finished school. Vow to never go to school as a student again. And I mean it this time.

Wow. No way could I have imagined all of this happening back when I was an undergrad. Honestly, I would rather have skipped much of it. I had thought about the PhD, but this sprinter had never considered a mile run, let alone a marathon. "Marriage" #1 was crappy, but somehow, my do-over has made it all worth it. I still need another surgery on my left eye, but I have a great eye doc who also has a PhD and has been very supportive with my crazy schedule.

A big thanks to all of my friends who have been there for me through the years and to Xav for putting up with me. I promise the next few years won't be nearly as crazy. Well okay, this year might, with a semester in Boise, then a move in the summer, starting a new job, and chairing a conference. So I promise that starting in 2011, things won't be nearly as crazy.