Spring Stress

Spring break was anything but a break. My long list of To-Do's was basically about to explode if I didn't get some things done. Unfortunately on the way to checking those items off I was STRESSING big time! But in my defense there was a ton to get done...wedding stuff, job application, and a grad school research paper that was due. All in the same week?!

Wedding stuff was planned and organized throughout the week. Big props to my mom for being so helpful and making all those excel sheets with time lines and due dates. I'm so grateful she decided to spend some of her time off dealing with lots of wedding planning!

Next up was taking all the necessary steps in making sure I have a job for next year! Who wouldn't be stressed? The application for another NCAA grant was due on Friday and my co-workers and I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday plowing through all those lovely questions. I couldn't be more thankful to them for spending their free time to get the application done. Now it's just a waiting game to see if we actually get it : )

Last major thing I got to stress about was my graduate research paper. The first draft was due this Monday. Basically, if I didn't get it done by then there would be a 0% chance of me graduating this semester. Seeing as how I'm ready to be done with my masters degree I figured I should probably get on this stat! 21 pages were sent off Monday night to my professor. For that, I have Jer to thank. He helped look over the paper. Luckily I chose a topic that he has a huge interest in so it wasn't quite as painful for him as it could have been (I think).

I'm a lucky girl to have so many people who are looking out for me. I also lucked out because we only had two games to work throughout the week so I was able to take some time off to get my stuff taken care of.

Double (Triple!?) Race Recap

Saturday, March 5, 8:30AM:

Jer wins Alamo Heights High School Band 10k 40:12. As you might’ve guessed from the time this was not what we would call a “maximal effort”.  Some of Jer’s work friends were doing it and he heard there were gift cards on the line, and Jer is nothing if not a sucker for gift cards.

Gift Card Acquired!

Saturday, March 5, 6:15PM:

I won the Incarnate Word Invitational 800m run in 2:19.56. This was a little over a 3 second PR for me from my freshman year of college. I haven’t raced the event in over 4 years so I was going into unknown territory. I had a blast. Lining up with my Roger Soler singlet that has 13.1 and 26.2 written on the front (because we’re waiting for our official ones to come in) was amusing to me. As soon as the race had started I was already in dead last the first 30meters and immediately started questioning whether entering in the race was the best idea. However I caught up to the group by the 200m mark and found out most of the girls had taken it out in 32 while I was a second behind. I got excited and passed on the curve, I know, a rookie mistake (jer note: that's not that bad of a mistake), and eventually took the lead before the last lap. At this point I was feeling great and was planning my awesome kick for the end, but as soon as I got to the 600m mark I immediately started to feel the lactate burn. I don’t really remember a whole bunch after that except looking behind me a couple of times, again rookie mistake (okay, this one was pretty bad), and just swinging my arms as hard as I could. I ended up winning by two seconds. It was a ton of fun and I look forward to doing more short races this season.

Crazy Arm Swing!

Saturday, March 5, 9:00PM

Jer takes seventh in the Incarnate Word Invite 5000m race. He lined up with roughly 40 other guys for what has become in the last couple of years a consistently good race, both in terms of competition and conditions. The wind had died down by this point and they were left with high 40’s and no humidity, near perfect for racing. The gun went off and Jer settled in at the back of the front back of guys. He looked amazing coming through the first 1600m at 4:50. The front pack started to pick it up and Jer’s group started to string out a little more. He was looking pretty grungy (see below) during the second mile and I started to get a little worried. I tried getting his splits, but trying to take pictures and splits at the same time was not working out so I missed the 2^nd mile. Later I found out his second 1600m was 4:54. All he had was a little over a mile to go and noticed he was starting to catch guys one by one. His grungy look started to fade and a more determined expression came on his face. I was in the dark time wise as I started to make my way over to the finish line. Once I get there I see Jer  passing the guy who had been leading the first half of the race. As soon as he finished I find out he just knocked 10 seconds off his 5000m PR set his senior year of college for a new PR of 15:16.41!

Grungy!

Looking a little more solid

Congratulating Pancho after his massive PR!

Telling these guys how awesome they are!

Back to work slacker!

Saturday March 12, 8:00AM

We both headed over to Houston to race the Bayou City Classic 10k. Unfortunately the overriding factor in both of our days was the fact that we didn't get to Jer's parents' house until after 11pm the night before the race, and then our beloved dogs (again, see picture below) were so excited they felt the need to run around like maniacs +and bark all night. In the end, we both got less than 4 hours of sleep, and felt like crappola when race time rolled around. In the end Jer came out pretty much unaffected, running 32:01 for 5th place and (officially) a 2 minute PR. I had a tougher day, maybe from the lack of sleep and maybe from the lack of leg rubs (ahem, coach!) but I hung in there for 3rd place in 37:08. Obviously not what I was hoping for, but some days you just don't have it, and at least I picked up a little cash. Jer and I have both raced 3 weeks in a row now, so now it's time for a weekend off to recharge the batteries and get geared up for what comes next. 

PR!

Attempting to take a group photo : )

Don't let these puppies fool you, they are true terrors!

3 Months Until I'm a Daum(inator)!

90 days...just 90 days until I'm officially Mrs. Emily Daum. Time has decided to take the fast track apparently. Planning a wedding is definitely a little stressful and at the rate these days are flying by it'll be a miracle if everything gets done. But I'll admit, I haven't been very good about making sure I stay on top of things either. I feel like when I cross one item off of my To-Do List I remember 5 more things. I checked theknot.com website which has a really detailed to-do list and although it was overwhelming it helped me remember some things I had forgotten which were added to my ever so growing list.

Wedding To Do List…

Invitations to the wedding

Invitations to the engagement party

Dress Alterations

Dress Shoes

Wedding Cake

Marrying Man

Wedding Favors

Flower Bouquets

Registry

Book Honeymoon

Plan for the rehearsal lunch

Formal wear for the guys

Update Wedding Website

Wedding night hotel room?

DIY Photobooth

Marriage Contract

Jer’s Ring

Get my rings resized

Guest Book

Music

SlideShow

Food at Reception

Drink list

Ring Bearer/Flower Girl Items

Garter

Jer is trying his best, as always. Since he has a more rigid work schedule he's taken the reigns on planning for our honeymoon! He's really excited and so am I! Here's to hoping time slows down just a little bit.