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June 30, 2006

Post-move recovery

I guess moving really takes a lot out of you! I woke up not feeling completely rested, even though I slept like a rock. I met my mom at the gym for the start of our mother-daughter bonding day. (My parents are going away for the weekend so I won't see them much before we leave to go to D.C.) I was going to try running a little today, but my knee was on the achy side, maybe from lifting and packing and carrying things yesterday. I just elliipticalled instead. It was a pretty good workout, although I found myself wishing I was running. That happens more and more these days. After we worked out, my mom wanted some lifting pointers so I showed her a few things and did a very little bit of lifting myself. When we were done, we cleaned up and went to eat lunch and then to get manicures and pedicures. We spent some time in the afternoon reading outside and enjoying the (finally less humid) weather.

Now I'm waiting for Matt to come over here to my parents' house for dinner. It's great to spend a few days being cooked and cleaned for, I must admit! Happy 4th of July weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 7:23 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2006

Quel horreur

It was one of my worst nightmares...we hadn't heard what time the movers were coming this morning, and I had a feeling it would be another day of waiting. So I got on the bike as early as I could drag myself out of bed after staying up too late--about 7:30--and after less than a half hour of biking, the movers called and said they'd be here within the hour! I had no choice but to get my butt in gear and do all the last-minute packing (alarm clocks, lamps, etc.) that we had been saving until this very moment. Those of you who know me well will understand that I was not happy to have my workout interrupted. I should have woken up earlier...but what can you do?

I figured I'd have some time to finish my workout once we got to New York later on in the day, but the whole moving process took a lot longer than I remembered. The movers had to inventory everything, pack some of the more fragile items we weren't sure what to do with, and load up the truck. We were working with them (they were very good, thankfully) nonstop until 4pm, when they were done and on their way. Then we spent the next hour loading up the car. Finally, we left for New York. The drive wasn't too bad, but we did hit some traffic and it was nearly 9pm when we got to Matt's mom's house. At that point, we still had to unload our car and the thought of a meal was much more intriguing than the thought of going on the elliptical for awhile. In the end, I think it was good for me to have an (almost) day off. Matt and I both worked really hard today, so it's not like I sat around doing nothing. It's a relief to be on our way, so let's hope our stuff makes it down I-95 too!

Posted by becky at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2006

Just kidding--we're still in Boston

I was just about to get on the bike this morning when the phone rang. It was the movers, saying they were having a problem with their truck and wouldn't be here on the early side of the window they had given us. Since I was already up, I did my biking while watching the series finale of Six Feet Under and figured having extra time to pack would be good. I enjoyed the show, but I felt pretty crappy the whole time on the bike. Nothing specific, just...lethargic. Plus, my sunburn from Monday feels like its getting worse, and even having sweat running down my shoulders bothers me. I hope it starts to feel better soon!

So we waited around all day and of course, the movers did not call back with an update. With the unexpected extra time, I got the car's oil change and (shocker) went to lift at the gym. We are a little nervous because we haven't heard from the movers, but hopefully we will get a better idea of when they will be arriving in the morning. In the meantime, Matt is happy to be able to spend tonight watching the NBA draft rather than driving to New York!

Posted by becky at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2006

Ready to roll

After our relaxing days on the beach, we've shifted into hectic-move-out mode. We learned this afternoon that the moving truck is coming tomorrow afternoon, so we're ready to go. Well, almost...I can hardly keep my eyes open right now, but even in the midst of all of our boxes, a blog entry is a top priority!

I went to the gym for the last time today. I am really going to miss it, especially the pool. I am quite aware that I will be hard-pressed to find a pool even half as nice as the one at MIT, let alone one that is open for lap swimming from 6am to 11pm. It was great while it lasted. Anyway, this morning I drove down to the gym, lifted for about 25 minutes, and then swam for awhile--I'm not quite sure how long because I forgot to start my watch for a little while. My body was really tired, and I had a hard time catching my breath--maybe it had to do with my nervousness/butterflied about the whole moving process. Whatever it was, it didn't make for the best swim in the world. I was quite glad to be finished, but sad when I had to clean my locker out.

Not surprisingly, we spent the rest of the day packing. We did have a nice dinner with friends from Matt's program, though, at an Argentinean place in Arlington that we had been to once before. It was delicious and I am still full!

So we're off to NY tomorrow for about a week...depending on timing, I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to update until Thursday. I'll do my best for all my adoring fans! :)

Posted by becky at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2006

The sun comes out!

Amazingly, we woke up to a (partly) sunny morning today. As usual, I headed out to do my thing before Matt woke up. Although the gym at the hotel/resort is closed for renovations, guests can use a local club in town, so I went to check it out today. It was very small and I felt extremely young--I think I was the only person under 65 there! Their bike selection was weak, so I hopped on an elliptical. I noticed that it was pretty warm in there, and one of the older women started complaining about the temperature, pointing at my dripping body for proof of the heat! I did protest that I normally sweat a lot, but she had a point. I mainly went to the gym so I could do at least a little lifting since that's something that I've been neglecting. I was a little scared of their old-fashioned machines (yes, I'm a snob) but I made do with the free weights and the stability balls.

When I got back to the hotel, Matt and his friend went to get the wives breakfast (nice!) and then we all went to the beach to make the most of the couple of hours we had before we had to check out. No one thought to put on sunscreen because it seemed pretty hazy, plus we knew we weren't going to be out long. Fast-forward to a couple of hours later when we were packing up the car--I noticed my neck was burning and Matt and I both realized that we had gotten totally burnt! Luckily, we had both been pretty covered up on the beach, but the parts that were exposed really got it.

We stopped at a gas station on our way out of Chatham to check on a tire that looked low and it turned out that we had a leaking tire that needed to be replaced. Luckily we were still close to town so we left the car and walked back to get some lunch. It didn't take too long for the mechanic to do the work and we were on our way, for real this time, in about an hour.

After we unpacked, I biked for a bit while watching an episode of Six Feet Under that I had been waiting to see for almost a year (it finally became available On Demand). I didn't think I'd be able to get out of packing, but we really don't have much to go and I have confidence it'll all get done tomorrow! Tonight we visited our friends who recently had a baby, both to meet the baby and to say goodbye before we leave. All these goodbyes are driving me crazy, but I know that I am good at keeping in touch. Still, it is going to be a sad couple of days...

Posted by becky at 10:54 PM | Comments (1)

June 25, 2006

Not much improvement in the weather

It's definitely been a little brighter today, but it was still raining when I woke up and the hourly forecast didn't look good, so I decided to bag the idea of going for a bike ride outside. The gym here where we are staying is being renovated, so I brought my trainer with me. I couldn't watch TV while I rode the bike because Matt was still sleeping, so I just listened to my iPod. I must have looked at my watch a hundred times...I felt like the minutes were crawling by. My legs are actually pretty sore from a few days in a row of pretty hard biking on the trainer, but I did some hills anyway because it's too boring not to mix it up. I rode for about an hour and a half, and then I couldn't stand it anymore.

We planned to meet our friends for brunch at 11am, but it turned out that the hotel stopped serving brunch at that time. So we headed into town and found somewhere there to eat. The rain had really picked up again by the time we were finished, so we decided to walk around and browse in some of the stores before going back to our hotel. The local candy store, which has awesome fudge, was of course one of my stops.

The rain kept up throughout the afternoon so we mostly read on the hotel's porch. Matt and I decided to read for awhile in the hot tub once the rain turned into drizzle, and it was actually very relaxing. I considered going for a bike ride once the rain did stop, but the jacuzzi was much more fun. Now we're getting ready to go into town again for dinner, and we'll head home sometime tomorrow in the late morning or early afternoon. Maybe we'll even see a little sun before returning to the big city!

Posted by becky at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2006

Rained out on the Cape

About a year ago, Matt and I decided with another couple to go to Cape Cod at the end of June, and we picked this weekend. Who knew it would be raining all day (and maybe tomorrow)? But you can't predict the weather that far in advance. We are trying to make the best of it, though...and at least getting a lot of reading and sudoku done!

I wanted to go to the gym this morning to swim and lift as it has been too long since I've lifted, but we wanted to get on the road on the early side and the gym opens late on weekends. So I just rode my trainer. We actually got a later start than we had wanted because we had trouble putting the bike rack and my bike on the car--it's been awhile. We finally figured it out, then of course hit traffic on the road, not to mention bad weather conditions...so we didn't get here until almost 2. But we had a fun lunch in town, then hung out for a bit and I even got to watch USATFs on TV in the room. Tonight we all went to dinner at a fabulous but low-key place. I would love to actually ride my bike outside tomorrow (as well as do other Cape Cod-y things) so hopefully the weather will improve somewhat! Cross your fingers for us.

Posted by becky at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2006

Last Fri. in Boston

If all goes according to plan with our move, this is the last Friday we'll spend in Boston. Not that we did anything remarkable today, but it was a good day. I biked in the morning while watching the movie Elephant, which came out a few years ago as a sort of fictionalization of the Columbine shootings. It was really quite disturbing, but it served its purpose of capturing my attention.

During the day, we continued packing--we're almost done, really--and then I went to get a manicure with one of my friends. Matt met me afterwards at my grandparents, for one last Friday night dinner with them before we leave. It was really sad, actually--I have become a lot closer to them and I will really miss them a lot once we're gone.

My tooth was bothering me last night so I didn't sleep that well. Time for sleep--goodnight and happy weekend!

Posted by becky at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2006

Putting it all in perspective (again)

My swim was much better this morning because Mary came with me. I realized that I am probably the same speed as a pregnant Mary, which works for me! She's probably still a little faster and I know that her stroke is more efficient. But she gave me some pointers on my kick, which gets me nowhere, and that was extremely helpful. I think I'm getting the hang of it...maybe. In any case, it was great to have Mary's company and I got to give her the cutest baby present since I can't make it to the shower her sisters are throwing her this weekend.

Back at home, Matt and I packed up some more. We're definitely getting there, but I keep forgetting to open drawers and closets and clean out their contents, too. I had my massage appointment in the early afternoon, and I'm glad to report that this massage was exactly what I was looking for: the kind that causes you to grit your teeth in pain. She is a talented ex-sprinter and now cyclocross racer so she's super-strong, hence my agony. She worked a lot on the back of the knee and hams and calves and agreed that it is some aggravation/tendonitis in my popliteus. She worked really hard and hopefully that will speed up the healing process even more and then I will see my magician PT when I get back to DC, assuming I can get an appointment.

My afternoon was more packing and a little bit of riding my trainer, and then my dad called with some upsetting news about my grandmother (the one in NY, not the one who lives here.) She found out today that she has a malignant lump in her breast and is going to have surgery soon, maybe next week. My sister and I grew up seeing my grandma about once a week, so we are both really worried and scared, and of course my parents are too. She is really healthy otherwise though, so I'm hopeful that she'll make it through okay. So she's in my thoughts tonight as I continue to bubble wrap and pack...

Posted by becky at 8:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2006

Another exciting day of swimming, packing and biking

It's my own personal triathlon: swim, pack, bike! Hah. I wish. But that's pretty much how my days have been going lately. Matt woke up very early to day because he had to be downtown for a breakfast, but I didn't really budge. I slept for a couple more hours and then went to swim at MIT. On the way down to the pool, I was really not looking forward to the workout at all. I've been waking up with headaches that are probably wisdom tooth-related, and my head felt heavy and weird. Once I got in the (cold!) water, though, I felt a little better. There were a few people about my speed in my lane to try to keep up with for a little while. Then everyone was just passing me--great for my ego. I swam and used the kickboard for almost an hour and then I tried a little pool running, but it was a no-go. Those 3 minutes of running yesterday really did me in. But I won't go into my frustration tirade again. I'm getting a massage again tomorrow--this one from a professional, not a student--so maybe that will help.

Matt and I packed up a lot of our kitchen stuff when I got home from swimming for a couple of hours, and then I met my friend Steph in Harvard Square for lunch at our favorite place near where we used to have class at the Ed School in the fall (those were the days...). I did some errands after lunch and then came home to finish--or almost--finish the kitchen. I biked on my trainer for about an hour tonight while watching some of A Civil Action, a movie I have wanted to see again since reading the book it was based on last summer. Matt is out bowling tonight but I hope to get some more bubble-wrapping done while catching up on some mindless MTV shows!

Posted by becky at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2006

Still not ready to run

I had been feeling virtually no pain in my knee the past couple of days (unless I contorted it into weird positions) so after riding my trainer this morning, I headed out for a couple of minutes of running/testing it out. It is so maddening, because it always feels fine while running, but then tightens up when I stop. I literally ran for 3 1:30 intervals (with walking in between) and the pain was back by the time I got home. It's not nearly as bad as it's been, of course, but I was really frustrated. It's been about a week since I last tried running at all, and I really thought this would be it. I'm going for a more targeted deep-tissue massage on Thursday, and if that doesn't help, I don't know what I'm going to do. Grrrrr...

I spent most of the rest of the day working on a writing test for one of the jobs I've interviewed for. It is pretty intense and I am not yet finished with it but hope to wrap it up tonight. Matt had a Sloan alumni event tonight so I went over to Mary's house where they were grilling up some meat and chicken. I think it will eventually rain tonight, but it was nice and breezy while we sat outside and it was very relaxing. That's all for me--I'm going to try and finish up this test so I can devote most of the day tomorrow to packing,

Posted by becky at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2006

More biking and packing

Each hazy, hot and humid day that goes by when I can't run makes me nervous. It sure is going to be a slow road back to train my body to run well in the swamp of DC during the next few months. But at this point, I'd take dehydration over no run at all. Just putting that out there. Anyway, this morning I biked on my trainer. There was nothing good on TV so I listened to my iPod and read my book until I got too sweaty to do that. I did some hard intervals and it was a pretty good workout. Matt was up and sitting near me for a lot of it, so that was nice.

I had an appointment to get panoramic dental x-rays taken today so I could bring them to DC with me to speed along the wisdom tooth extraction process, but the radiologist advised me just to wait until I get to my DC dentist and do it there. She also recommended calling Mass General to see if they could do the extraction before I leave. Meanwhile, I just take Tylenol and Advil as often as I can.

After the non-appointment with the dentist (i.e. I actually had to show up there to get this advice), I swam for a bit. Most of the gym is closed this week so I will probably just substitute more swimming for lifting. I had a good swim because there happened to be someone about my speed in my lane--that always helps.

Tonight we went to a Cornell Club of Boston event downtown. We actually didn't go to all that many of them while we lived here, but we used to go to a lot of Cornell Club of Washington events and I'm sure that will continue. Ironically, tonight's thing was at the Harvard Club, so I feel I have come full circle in my educational pursuits!

Posted by becky at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2006

Where my girls at?

Today I had a bad cross-training day. For some reason, I don't think anything of having a bad run once in a while, but I'm always surprised to feel crappy when I'm biking or swimming or something. Part of my problem is that my decayed wisdom tooth is really bothering me lately and sometimes I feel like my head or ear is aching, rather than just my tooth. It was also really hot out today and the bike I was using in the gym happened to be directly in the sun. Not to mention my (good) knee has been hurting when I pedal--I'm a mess. I was so unhappy on the bike that I switched to the dreaded elliptical for the last 30 minutes of my workout. Afterwards, I did my abs stuff and then a tiny bit of lifting since most of the gym is closed this week for annual cleaning or something. By the time I was done was all that I was tired of being at the gym and so ready to go home!

I picked up some more boxes at the U-Haul store on my way home from the gym and Matt and I spent the next few hours packing. We were very productive today, which was very good. I don't have anything else exciting to report about our day spent packing.

Tonight, Matt and I went to dinner with my Boston running friends, or "characters" as Mary referred to them tonight because they are so often featured here on my blog! It was fun to see everyone and catch up, but of course sad because I won't get to run with or hang out with these ladies anymore on a daily or weekly basis. Here's a picture of our little group, including Alison, who is the most reliable running early-morning partner I think I've ever had, my long run buddies Mary (pre-pregnancy, of course), Wynne and Alyssa, and the Kristens, both of whom I met through SRR track. Thanks to all for being such great friends and running partners and I will miss you terribly (sniff, sniff.) At least I know who to call whenever I'm back in the Boston area visiting my grandparents. I hope all of you come visit us in D.C.!

Posted by becky at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)

June 17, 2006

Packing up

Today was our first full day of not just putting clothes in suitcases, but putting things in boxes, too. It is strange because I feel like we just moved in. As I wrap things in bubble wrap, I am thinking about unwrapping all of our fragile things when we moved in! We're spending much of the evening packing, too, and it feels very cozy since it's raining outside.

I'm still not "testing" my knee since that seems to be setting me back so much every time I do it, so I biked on my trainer this morning while watching a cheesy (but kind of enjoyable!) movie On Demand, First Daughter. I'm a sucker for those movies marketed to 13-18 year old girls. Matt woke up when I had about a half hour left on the bike and he kept asking me when I would be done since he always likes to wait for me to have breakfast (it's usually a second breakfast for me.) I'm still not used to having him there when I work out!

My knee has been feeling pretty good in the past couple of days. It still bothers me when I curl up into a fetal position in bed, and when I first get up from sitting for a long time. I have been trying to make a massage appointment with someone who Mary heard was good with athletes, but she is hard to reach. It's very frustrating because I know that even though the pain has lessened, it will return once I try to run. I miss my daily runs so much.

All right, I'm going to try and do a little more work before camping out in front of the television or a movie...Good night!

Posted by becky at 9:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2006

Day of waiting around

Today was certainly not the most productive day on record. I did go to the gym in the morning to ride the bike, but when I came back to the apartment, I ended up waiting around for people with whom I had arranged tentative appointments to get back to me. Turns out none of them did (not before I got on the plane, anyway) so I did some job searching and then spent much of the day reading in the sun. Not a bad way to kill a few hours, but I didn't need to be in DC to do that.

I tried to get on an earlier flight but they were all full. I took public transportation to the airport since time wasn't an issue like it usually is, but I was still for my flight pretty early (more reading and Suduko). Matt picked me up at the airport and we just went to get some Indian food. I can't for the life of me figure out why I'm so tired right now since I barely did anything, but maybe the weather was draining as it was pretty hot in DC and I did a lot of walking around. Whatever the reason, I am going to bed shortly. Everyone: enjoy your weekends! It's supposed to be a hot one here on the east coast.

Posted by becky at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2006

Another tiring day in D.C.

Another day, another interview. Not like I've had so many, but it feels like I've been doing this for a long time. I woke up this morning feeling pretty tired because I didn't sleep that well. I woke up all sweaty and tossed and turned after that. I walked up to the gym and had a feeling I wasn't going to have the best workout. I was surprised that it was as crowded as it was since it was still pretty early. I managed to snag a bike but had a hard time getting into a rhythm and staying motivated. Plus, I stopped my watch at some point and didn't really know how long I had been on, and I hate that. Eventually I decided I had had enough and did my sit-ups and went back to Laura's apartment to get ready for my interview.

The interview went pretty well, but it was tiring to be "on" for so many hours in a row. I was beat when I finished. I ended up walking back to Laura's because I couldn't quite figure the bus schedule. It was hot (especially in a suit!) but not too humid so I was okay. Later in the afternoon, I lifted and then we went to our favorite sushi place for dinner and to hang out with our cousin (my cousin-in-law, really) who also lives in D.C. Now I am very ready for bed!

Posted by becky at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2006

Back to D.C.

I'm sitting on the plane waiting to take off for yet another trip to D.C.--this time solo and for job-seeking rather than apartment-seeking purposes. I've got an interview tomorrow and hopefully my other potential interview/informational meeting prospects will come through. By the time I post this, I'll be back at my sister-in-law's apartment, my home away from home very often recently!

This morning I finally met up with Alison after what seems like a really long time, probably about a month. She was amenable to the suggestion that we cross-train together, so headed to the MIT gym. I stubbornly wanted to try run/walking again and we did that for about 10 minutes. My knee was not feeling so good, unfortunately. Then we hit the pool for swimming (me) and pool running (Alison). It's too bad you can't converse while swimming. I would have pool run too but the exaggerated running motion hurts me a lot. In any case, we got to at least catch up a little and even having company in my lane makes the time go by faster.

I didn't have much time for anything else before we had to leave for the airport. I did some interview prep, rode the trainer for about 25 minutes and just hung out. OK, we're supposed to turn off all electronic equipment so I must go!

[Update: We sat on the runway for FOUR HOURS and I only just arrived in DC...what a night!]

Posted by becky at 10:36 PM | Comments (2)

June 13, 2006

Another not-speedy Tues.

Sigh...Yet another Tuesday when I am not healed enough to do a track workout. It kills me, but I just try to put it all in perspective and think about all of the great things in my life instead of dwelling on my injury frustration. It's crazy how much I (and all of us as runners) take being healthy and able to run for granted, isn't it? So anyway, back to the task at hand. I biked this morning during Live With Regis and Kelly and a little more on either side of the 9-10 am hour. I tried to just keep up a steady cadence rather than doing a lot of hills as my legs are actually sore from the hills I did the other day! (I love it!) Matt woke up during the middle of my ride and provided some entertainment (i.e. conversation). When I was done with the bike, I put on my running sneaks and did some run/walking since I'm wondering if that is a better way to ease back into running. I did 6 2-minute jog intervals with a minute of walking in between. I felt a little soreness while running but nothing too bad. However, the knee has been a bit sore walking around all day ever since. Hmmph.

I had a rare middle-of-the-week manicure in the early afternoon because I have an interview on Thurs. (and potentially Friday) and then stopped by to say hello to my grandparents since it was nearby. Then I went to the gym to bike and lift and be back in time to give the car to Matt, who has an event somewhere kind of far away tonight. Right now I'm heading out for a walk and maybe an ice cream with Mary, once again choosing fun over being productive and preparing for my interview(s)!

Posted by becky at 6:55 PM | Comments (1)

June 12, 2006

Birthday blog 2

This is the second birthday blog entry I've had since I started blogging in August 2004. Today is #29 and even though we don't have anything too out-of-the-ordinary planned, Matt has been going out of his way to make sure I am doing "what I want" on my birthday :) Of course, that always involves working out and that is how I started my day. I swam for as long as I could stand (maybe 50 minutes?) and was bored the whole time. My arms were also killing me and I don't really know why as I haven't lifted in several days. In any case, I just had a hard time finding a rhythm and the time felt like it was passing very slowly.

I submitted some more resumes and cover letters this afternoon and then we dropped off our bags of clothes to Goodwill. We are going to dinner tonight and then to do some bowling, but first I'm going to try and get in a quick lifting session...now that I'm nearing 30 I really need to keep myself toned! :)

Posted by becky at 4:40 PM | Comments (5)

June 11, 2006

Low-key Sunday

Matt's plan today was to relax on the couch and catch up on all the newspaper reading he has neglected in the past few weeks (we have a pile of papers about a mile high on our coffee table) and it turned out that both of us almost followed that plan to a "T". I rode my trainer in the morning for an hour and a half (my butt was killing me by the time I got off) while watching the men's final at the French Open. I did a lot of hill climbing and succeeded in tiring myself out as I could barely pedal slowly towards the end. (That's just the way I do things.)

After we had our traditional weekend bagels and coffee, I suggested going to Goodwill to drop off the numerous bags of clothes we have had sitting in our hallway for more than a week. Somehow that never happened. I was enjoying the couch way too much. In fact, even though I got a perfectly respectable amount of sleep last night, I kept falling asleep while reading the paper and searching for jobs online. Finally I just stopped fighting the instinct and let myself nap for a little while.

I thought about lifting in the evening, but I decided to get some fresh air instead. I walked to Whole Foods to get some fish for dinner and brought my iPod for entertainment. It was almost like running...almost. Tonight we'll be tuning in to HBO as usual and continuing our day of relaxation!

Posted by becky at 8:18 PM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2006

Finally, a day to relax

After all the craziness and hustle and bustle of the last few days, it was nice to have some time to myself today. In the morning, I drove Matt's sister to my parents' hotel in Medford (they drove her back to NY) and then went straight to the gym. I ran a slow mile on the track and then swam for as long as I could stand. I don't have too much pain when I run now, but when I stop running, things have stiffened up. I think the swimming helped loosen up all the muscles in my hamstring and behind my knee, but it still bothered me during the day, especially when I get up from sitting or lying down. I am so frustrated with this injury right now. Too frustrated to write much more about it--at least right now.

Matt went to a Red Sox game this afternoon (or, more accurately, he hung out for hours with a friend before the rain stopped and the game actually started) so I took care of some things here. I finally answered some emails I haven't had much time for, cleaned up, and then watched some of the NCAA champs on CBS while I rode my trainer. I unfortunately missed the women's 1,500 though, which I would have liked to see.

Tonight we met some friends for a drink before they leave for Peru (where they are getting married) and then Princeton, where they will be next year. It's strange to think about not seeing all these people who we've become close with since we've been in Boston. A lot of our friends are also graduating and scattering across the country. At least we will have places to stay in lots of cool cities!

Posted by becky at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)

June 9, 2006

All graduated but still tired

It was like deja vu this morning, only without all the stress of actually graduating myself! That meant I didn't have to wake up quite as early. I did some biking and made sure Matt was up on time before waking Matt's sister up and getting myself ready to go over to MIT for Matt's graduation. Yesterday I entertained myself on the bike by watching Rent, which I impulsively purchased from Comcast On Demand, and expected to finish it this morning. But it turns out that you can only save your movies for 24 hours, and I think I was at about the 25th hour when I tried to watch it. It is uncomfortable for me to read on my trainer so I was reduced to watching the Tori Spelling quasi-reality show So NoTORIous. All I can say is that it was ridiculous, but at least entertaining in in its craziness.

The MIT graduation was really long. They read every single graduate's name--a total of more than 2,000 names. The MBAs were last and since we are a "W", we waited more than an hour to hear Matt's name called. Still, it was fun to try to be the loudest cheering section. After the graduation, we went to a reception at the business school and eventually made our way back home (with a quick shopping detour in Harvard Square for me!) I biked for some unknown (short) amount of time since I had a little time to kill and then we all went over to my grandparents' for a nice dinner. My eyes are closing but I wanted to post a few pictures of the past days' festivities...Enjoy and happy weekend!

Posing with Matt and my parents post-graduation	Fellow blogger and classmate Audrey
Matt marches in to MIT's Killian Court	Power couple

Posted by becky at 10:58 PM | Comments (3)

June 8, 2006

One tired graduate

Wow, what a long day. I can hardly keep my eyes open and I will try to write about my graduation in more detail when I have a moment, because it was really nice. The only exercise I got to do was a little more than an hour of biking early in the morning, but I was grateful to have that start to my day. Tomorrow we do it all over again for Matt's graduation! I'll post a picture here soon...Good night!

Posted by becky at 11:00 PM | Comments (2)

June 7, 2006

The graduation madness begins

Even though biking after running a little bit didn't work so well for me last week, I decided to be an idiot and try it again since it is never fun to go out in the cold rain when you are all sweaty from biking. I ran probably 3 miles or so (slowly) and felt pretty decent. I tried to stretch as much as possible before getting on the bike, but it didn't seem to make a difference. I did not bike for very long but when I got off, my knee hurt. Not quite as badly as it did after last week's setback, but I was limping around again. As you might suspect, I am a bit frustrated. I can tell that my hamstring is extremely tight and I've been foam rolling a lot, but today was not a "good" day in terms of feeling like my cross training is leading to some healing. I will not try to run at all tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

Matt's sister, Laura, the first of the graduation guests, arrived in the late morning. She is staying with us tonight and tomorrow night. The three of us hung out for a bit today and then Laura accompanied me to my ever-important eyebrow waxing appointment. She wanted to do some working out in the afternoon so we used Matt's ID to sneak her in to the MIT gym. We didn't have too much time, but she did some ellipticalling and lifting and I biked and did a bit of lifting. Although we were inside most of the day, it is worth noting that it was chilly and pouring almost all day.

Tonight we met Matt's mom and her husband for dinner at a restaurant we like a lot, which was nice. They had just arrived into town after a pretty terrible drive from NY. (My parents were delayed in leaving and faced the same flooding and traffic about 7 hours later.) After dinner, Matt and Laura and I went to a family schmooze/dessert party hosted by one of my friends/classmates. I'm always up for a dessert party. :)

I'm about to go to bed as we are meeting at 7:30 am tomorrow and I hope to do some biking beforehand. I have to stand outside for many hours in the morning so cross your fingers that the rain holds off!

Posted by becky at 11:11 PM | Comments (2)

June 6, 2006

Mostly spinning and a tiny bit of running

The one thing that's nice about biking in the gym versus biking at home is the temperature. In the gym, it's nice and cold but no one really notices because they are all working out. At home, I try to turn the air conditioning up (or on) but Matt usually complains that he's freezing! Anyway, the temperature issue and the fact that I had errands to do nearby encouraged me to go there this morning. (I probably should be swimming more, but I'm kind of tired of it right now.) My knee is feeling stronger and stronger--at least on the bike--so I did a pretty intense "workout" with lots of climbing. I really had to mop up around the bike after that. Then I ran probably about a mile mostly on grass, stopping to feed my meter as part of the little "loop." At first, my knee was very tight (probably from biking), but then it loosened up. I felt better yesterday though, but walking around later it seemed okay so I think the healing process is continuing.

I did lots of errands in the afternoon, including picking up my cap and gown and replacing my cell phone that sort of got ruined by Gatorade this weekend. Since it was only a couple of months old, they replaced it for free. I was sooo relieved. The only thing they couldn't transfer were my photos. I'll have to work hard to get all the Boston people again before we skip town.

Tonight I had time to squeeze in a quick lifting session and then I met some friends for drinks and dinner (we changed locations to eat.) Matt is out tonight and I intended to join him, but I have a limit of how much time I can spend in bars before I hear my pillow calling. I know, it's a bad excuse. Anyway, I am going to check today's job listings since I haven't had a chance. Then it's bedtime for sure.

Posted by becky at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 5, 2006

Sad news, good news and a better test run

I learned this morning that the long-time track coach for my Somerville club passed away. We all knew he was gravely ill, but it is always a shock to hear news like that. He only received his cancer diagnosis in February or so, and he had still been running at a pretty high level not too long before that. I'm not sure how old he was, but I believe it was 50 or 51. I am glad that he is no longer suffering but I feel terrible for the many friends and family he left behind.

And in lighter news...I biked for about an hour and a half this morning on my trainer, trying to keep up a good cadence and throw in some hill intervals. I intended to swim this morning, but I woke up too late. Anyway, it worked out fine because I also ran for about 10 minutes after I got off the bike (and stretched, of course.) My knee felt fine running, but has been sore since I got back. Not nearly as bad as it felt after the last test run, though, so that's somewhat encouraging.

This afternoon Matt and I went to a graduation party hosted by one of my classmates. She lives in the tony Boston suburb of Lincoln, which is known for its amazing houses. Hers was no exception! Only about half of our class showed up, but it was still a lot of fun and the food was great. We snooped around the house a little and I was impressed by the stove that had 10 burners! I suppose they do a lot of entertaining as neither one of the kids lives at home anymore :)

We were waiting all day to find out if we had gotten the apartment we applied for on Saturday. Finally, at about 5:30, we got the word--it's ours once we sign the lease! We are very excited and glad that we will have such a nice place to move into. The lease will begin July 1 but we are still working out details about when we will move.

This week is hectic with graduation activities, social events, etc. and I am already off my lifting schedule. Hopefully I'll be able to stay toned by lifting boxes and packing up our apartment!

Posted by becky at 9:23 PM | Comments (3)

June 4, 2006

A less hectic day

Today felt like a much more relaxing day even though (Matt) still did a lot of driving. I used the elliptical for 70 minutes or so this morning at Matt's mom's house. My knee felt better than it did the past couple of days but I had a hard time staying focused and making sure I was getting as good of a workout as I wanted. I watched part of Jerry Maguire, which seemed really outdated, and a couple of episodes of the new season of the Real World/Road Rules challenge show. Nothing like quality TV to pass the time. I am actually reading a funny new book but I find it extremely difficult to read on the elliptical because the words bounce up and down. So the boob tube it was.

We drove back up to Boston in the early afternoon and since it was so gloomy and overcast out, I slept almost the whole way. I didn't intend to, I just couldn't keep my eyes open! We had dinner tonight with Mary and her husband, which was fun, and now we are about to watch the season finale of The Sopranos!

Posted by becky at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2006

In another state again

We're currently back in New York after spending most of the day in D.C. We finally saw an apartment we liked a lot, but I'm going to wait until we find out if we get it before I say too much!

This morning I biked at Washington Sports Club. I tried to do a little "workout" with "hill" intervals on the spin bike. Although my knee feels a lot better--much closer to how it felt before my test run--it still bothers me when I climb on the spin bike. So I don't know how great of a workout I got. But I was sweating all over the place so I suppose I did okay.

Anyway, this is just a quick update because the rest of the day was either spent walking around or in a car...not too exciting but a day is a day!

Posted by becky at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2006

Another D.C. pop-in visit

We decided late last night to drive to New York and stay at Matt's mom's house for the night and get going on the road early today for D.C. We figured that there's no real reason not to look at a few more apartments while we don't have any real responsibilities like school or a job to worry about right now. So, I woke up at 5am today to use the elliptical that is in the little gym at Matt's mom's place. Normally I don't use the elliptical as a rule because it bothers my IT band, but I just didn't feel like taking another half hour to drive to the gym when it was already so early! I woke up a few times during the night because my knee hurt when I changed positions, so I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to do the elliptical. It turned out okay—I had the TV on to distract me from being bored, although at that hour all that's on is the morning news shows that (as I learned today) repeat themselves over and over.

My knee definitely stiffened up even more after sitting in the car for more than four hours. I was pretty upset about how much it hurt to walk around when we first got to D.C. How could 30 minutes of running have set me back so much? But walking around actually loosened it up. Or maybe it was the humidity; I felt like I was melting. Whatever it was, I made it through another few apartment visits and we definitely have another couple of options. Tonight we went to dinner at a Vietnamese place we like (well, Matt loves it. I am not the hugest fan of Vietnamese food in general, but it's a good restaurant) and then Matt convinced me to see Mission Impossible 3 even though I had vowed to avoid Tom Cruise at all costs. It was in an old-fashioned style theater with a huge screen, so that made it more bearable. It was actually better than I expected, but I'm not sure I should admit that!

We plan to stay here for most of the day tomorrow. I'm sad to miss another weekend long run, but what can you do? Life goes on. Happy weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

June 1, 2006

Relief, fatigue and frustration

I decided to "test out" my knee today by running a little. I felt like I was running extremely cautiously, but was ecstatic to note that I did not feel any pain...for the first two miles of my run. I should have only done that much for my whole run, probably, but I was in the middle of a four-mile loop and I stubbornly decided to finish it. When I got home, it had definitely tightened up again. And then I got right on my trainer and rode for awhile. I'm not sure if it was the run itself or the combination of running and then biking, but basically I've been in pain the whole rest of the day. I really, really hope I didn't totally erase the week that I've taken off to heal this thing. I'm icing a lot and I guess I'll just have to ease back into running a lot more slowly than I anticipated. I'm very bummed but at least I know that by not running, I've been helping it.

I also felt extremely out of shape during my little run, but how could I have lost that much fitness in a week? (I don't take weeks off usually, so maybe I have lost that much.) It was also very humid today and I know that it always takes me a few weeks to acclimate. Also, my quads and hamstrings were tight, probably from biking.

In between icing and being depressed about my knee, I went through all of my clothes and picked out a lot to donate to Goodwill. Plus I packed up all my winter running stuff since I know I won't be needing tights and hats probably until the middle to end of December. (In DC, my tights season is even shorter, obviously.) I swam a little in the late afternoon instead of lifting, because it is definitely an upper body workout when I'm pulling the whole time. The pool was sooo crowded--at one point I was sharing a lane with 4 people. I actually don't mind, though, it keeps me from getting bored!

All right, I'm going to go make us dinner. Keep your fingers crossed that I didn't do too much damage to my knee!

Posted by becky at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)