The Ides of March

You know that's just an old way of saying the 15th of March, right? It's not as complicated as it sounds.

Today (okay, yesterday; it's around midnight on Sat morning now) was my first studying day of the weekend...and I did study, but not as much as I intended. It sort of fell apart in the afternoon. I did my minimum stuff I had to accomplish, then went to Costco, and Old Navy...then worked out...then went to the grocery store. Cooked dinner, which was nice: catfish, sauteed swiss chard and mushrooms. Settled in to do some more studying, but surfed the Web instead. It is amazing how easy it is to suck me into the Internets.

I washed the dishes and got ready to go to bed when I discovered that our landlords have rented the downstairs apartment and someone has moved in: hence, the amazingly loud TV sounds. So I had to go introduce myself and ask him to turn it down. I hate meeting new neighbors that way. But you have to do this first noise request properly. It might degenerate later, but it must be polite and friendly to start. I hate noise, and this building is old and very loud. We hear everyone who lives here, literally, in their apartments and tromping up the stairs, which go through the middle of our living space, although it is separated out by some thin walls and doors. This building is loud, and it's not insulated, hence the enormous heating bills. (Obscene, really, but that's for another post.) But, the location is good, and it's pretty quiet during the day, so we'll stick it out until I graduate, unless things take a turn for the worse before then.

I did some studying and now am just getting ready to go to sleep. I love the weekends--it's the first time in 11 years that the weekends are all mine, like normal people, without having to work every other one. Of course I have lots of studying to do on the weekends. But I don't have to get up at any particular time or be anywhere in particular. It's lovely. And the odds are good I won't have to work weekends anymore, unless I work where I have a lot of OB call. ORs don't generally run on the weekends, unless you are in a trauma hospital.

I ran today at the hospital gym. It's where I prefer to go on my non-lifting days, because I don't have to contend with hordes of ill-behaved children in the (OMG SO LOUD) locker room. It jangles my brain and I can't spend any time in there. So, the hospital gym is small, located in the basement. It's rarely empty, unless I go very late, like 9pm. It is open 24-7, so in theory I could be there right now, although I can't imagine a parallel universe in which that would happen. I listened to more Dan Savage podcasts and ran a total of 22 minutes out of 42. I warmed up, then ran 11 minutes consecutively, a new record, then walked 5, ran 9, walked 3, ran 2, and cooled down. Once I get my running time up a bit better, I'd like to incorporate some sprints again. I feel a lot more energized when I run faster, but I think if I train at that faster speed right now I am asking for trouble. Only bummer was that I brought the wrong gym bag, and didn't have my HRM with me. :( I had to wing it. I like playing with the new toy, so tomorrow I must use it!