Thanksgiving Break so far

True to expectations, this has been a surprisingly busy Thanksgiving Break. There have been several nights so far this break when my roommate and I have glanced up from our respective schoolwork at 10:30PM, looked at each other, and said "Wait, aren't we supposed to be on break??"

That said, I haven't actually gotten all that much done. I've been doing a lot of reading for my research, which has helped things make a good deal more sense, but I haven't yet been able to code up a specific algorithm for my research. I'm getting to the point where I'm coming close to despair on this point, but I'm not there yet.

Certainly, though, I have not simply been holed up doing work this break. I have been out and about doing some epic runs as well. Between Tuesday and Thursday, I propelled my body a total of 53 miles. Which leads me to believe I might be able to take a day off today (and in fact I will).

So, Tuesday, after a morning coffee with my sister while discussing our research (we work for the same professor on some of our stuff now, which has proved to be nice, rather than competitive). I went out for a longer run than I've done in probably a year. I took off from my house, through Sanitas, past Red Rocks park, down through Eben G Fine, up Viewpoint, down Flagstaff, up Bluebell-Baird, and off onto Mesa Trail. 2:45 and a bit over 18 miles later, I got back to my house. The run itself went surprisingly well, and I even managed to pull a little sprint there at the end.

Wednesday dawned bright and beautiful. By 1PM it was over 60, sunny, and calm. So true to form, I took out my road bike and took off on the highways. I rode up to Jamestown and back (28 miles or so). Not too bad a ride all told. There's a 7-mile hill up to Jamestown itself, but on the whole it's a pretty shallow grade, so I didn't have to push all that hard. And, also a tradition, when I got back, I laced up my running shoes to go for a quick "shakedown" run.

And yesterday, prior to a Thanksgiving feast, I took off up through Sanitas again for a quick 4 miler in the morning. Nothing too hard, but I could feel that my legs were getting a bit worn down, which leaves me taking today off, probably taking an ice bath, and holed up in my favorite coffee shop for some studying, some reading, and a little bit of blogging.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgving, filled with the three F's (family, friends, and food), and are duly taking a day off from worry today.

And as I said yesterday, this year I'm thankful (as ever) for my family and friends, and my open prospects for the future, in running and everything else.