work hard, play hard

It's knuckle-down buckle-down time over here. On July 7 I'm scheduled to take my comprehensive oral exam for graduate school, and I have a whole lot of work to do to get prepared. I have a book list with ninety-five books spanning the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. I have read all of the books at some point over the past five years, but that doesn't mean I remember most of them. So I'm reviewing all my notes and making a note card for each book. It's taking me roughly an hour for each card, and I'm aiming to do fifteen books per week, which will leave me about two weeks at the end to review larger questions and themes bringing lots of different books together. Anyway, getting these fifteen note cards done each week is no easy task when I have a full-time job and am still trying to have a little bit of a social life and enjoy the beautiful weather. It's no fun, but I'm managing.

And I'm still managing to have some fun, for as my adviser always says, "work hard, play hard." Last weekend I went with Patrick and his friends to Norfolk for the Virginia Beer Festival. We drove over Saturday (after I spent a depressing Friday night studying), stopping for barbecue in Williamsburg for lunch. The festival was at a park right next to the water, and it was a beautiful day. The festival ended at 6pm, so afterwards we all went out to dinner. The next day most of the crew left town after brunch, but Patrick and I stuck around. We visited the aquarium in Virginia Beach, then went to the beach itself for a little walk and an early seafood dinner on the water. Then we finally headed home after a very fun early summer weekend.

Montalto Challenge 2015

Last weekend I ran my 6th Montalto Challenge 5k, my favorite race of the year. I had held off on registering since it was only one week after my marathon, but within three days of the marathon I wasn't sore any more and knew it would be fine to run. Thank goodness.

Patrick joined me for his first Montalto. We got to the Monticello visitor center in time to pick up our bibs, then he took the shuttle down while I jogged the two miles down to the start of the trail. We met up with JoAnne and Kurt at the starting line, and then were shortly off.

I was attempting a PR. In the past I've sometimes tried to take it a little easier during the first two miles in order to save energy for the really steep last mile, but this year I decided the last mile was going to be hard no matter what and if I wanted a fast time I couldn't dilly-dally in the beginning. Not that running up the trail there ever feels like dilly-dallying. Anyway, I pushed myself more than I usually like to. (I usually hate 5ks, remember?)

I made it up the easier portion of the trail with sub-9:00 miles, then started up the switchbacks of Montalto. There was a water stop at the 2-mile mark, and I did stop very briefly to get a sip in (I can never drink out of cups while running). Then I just slowly chugged up the mountain. There was definitely a time or two when I wanted to walk, and almost did, but I reminded myself that I needed to stay in the race mentally and not give in. I've made it up the past two years without walking and there's no reason I can't do it again.

And sure enough, I made it up without walking. When it finally leveled out toward the top I picked up the pace a little bit, and a woman who could see the clock around the bend let me know I'd make it under 30 minutes. I tried to sprint to the finish, and came in at 29:45, only 4 seconds off my 2013 PR. I'm a little bummed I didn't beat it, but plenty pleased I made it up without walking and under 30 minutes, which is only the second time I've met both those goals.

Once I'd caught my breath and had some water I went back to watch Patrick come in. Then we hung out at the top eating snacks, chatting with friends, and taking in the amazing views.

See how high we are, with Charlottesville way below?

It was pretty chilly this year, but luckily I'd come prepared with two jackets and they had heaters at the top we could huddle around to keep warm. We stayed through the award ceremony, then walked back down Montalto with JoAnne and Kurt. (Last year they wouldn't let us walk down, which was a big bummer, but this year they actually encouraged everyone to walk.)

Happy finishers.
(Photo credit: Ian Atkins)

Another successful Montalto Challenge!