Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.
And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70
Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...
No running today. Today was a full day, as I'm still working. I got up early to get a head start on the grant. But even with the extra hours I'm still feeling underwater today... The only thing I did not grant related was to eat and run a few shopping errands with Kaitlyn. I'll stop at midnight no matter what but had wanted a full draft tonight that doesn't look like it is going to happen :(
As much work as I got on the grant done yesterday is as
little as I got done today. Going into the lab is dangerous. It is nice to feel
needed but sometimes the constant questions get overwhelming. I was able to get
the “final” preliminary experiment started and should have the data by Wed…
Today was my first full day back in lab and it was hard
being away from the girls. I really enjoyed eating all my meals with them.
On the treadmill late. I wanted to get in a run but was
running out of time so I decided to go a little faster. I even did the last
mile at 6min first ½ and 5:30 second ½. It felt great to sweat again. Leg actually
felt better after the run than it did before. Maybe the pain has been my legs
on strike from being a slacker…
Today was too much. I thought I was going to be away from the bench and back to the grant but things have a way of getting in the way of each other.
I'm now on errand duty for everything, especially with the snow we've been having. So I spend an extra two hours in the car going to school and back and forth from work. Kaitlyn was not up to having her daddy leave her at school. It is strange she's talked about school everyday during the break and when she got there she definitely did not want me to leave... In the end everything worked out though.
Oh yeah on top of the grants, it was "suggested" that I write two abstracts for a meeting later this year. The good news is I had to write one for the grant anyway and the other one I was supposed to have had written up already so this is a good kick in the butt.
How is the saying? Two steps forward, three steps back. Overall, things went well today. I worked from home and got more done on my grant before than the previous two days combined. Also, when I did go into lab in the afternoon I got some results back that fit my hypothesis and allowed me to write another section in my grant. Problem is I had to write another section in my grant. That took extra time out of my day but at least it was for a very good reason. In any case by the time I finally got home and done with family stuff I could either run or get a slight head start on the grant (admin stuff due tomorrow). So I got that other stuff done as I've found running while stressed and sleep deprived is not a good idea. So for a running blog here is yet another long-winded entry with no running involved, sorry...
I couldn't let three days pass. My work load increased again today, don't want to write about it. But I'm keeping a positive attitude and will forge ahead. I was looking back and I've been in this mode for a little too long. Good news is that on the 23rd no matter what the grants will be out of the way until at least July if I don't get one and maybe for up to three years if I do. Wouldn't that make it all worth it? So after mommy quiet time (and daddy baby time) I did a few on the treadmill. My knee was stiff as I hadn't stretched the last two days either.
Tried to get a little extra sleep. I think the last three months have gotten to me. When you get into something sometimes you don't even realize how long it has been going on and sometimes it is better not to know... At least the abstracts for the meetings were completed today. Now if I could just get this grant out of the way. It amazes me to think that there are researchers out there with multiple funded grants much larger than this one. I guess it is all based on experience and I'm definitely still learning. Stayed home to keep from lab distractions but many of them found me anyway... I guess I could close my e-mail but sometimes a little help to others is needed "now". I was able to eat both breakfast and lunch with the fam which is nice. Then a little bit ago I needed a break so ran some on the treadmill. Now back to it, the clock is ticking (tick-tock).
I want to search how many times I use the same phrase, quote, etc. Slowly, but surely. Is a common theme. The last 24hrs were rough on the mind. This is the largest grant I've written. It is for three years and also includes a budget. I could act as a bridge grant to my independence and begin my faculty career. It is amazing how tough it is. I underestimated the challenge of writing down three years of planning in seven pages. Trying to cover all you want to do in a concise way is tough. I met with my mentor for about 2 hours on Thurs and it took me until 4:30pm today to tackle everything we addressed, and I'm not sure it was all covered yet. But it is back in his hands. So I took some daddy daughter time and a quick treadmill run to wind down. Also, finally took a night off and spent some time with my wife.
