Plucking along

I've been so busy doing so much "nothing" that I've hardly bothered to make the time to write. I made this blog public again, because, really, who cares? If someone from a grad school really takes the time to read this, cheers.

Anyway, I work part-time now (hardly). The job is interesting, the people there are even more so. I really enjoy the people I work shipments with, we have a lot of fun. My hours hover around 12 per week, leaving me extensive time to twiddle my thumbs. However, it has allowed me to take up coaching again. This season I am assisting Jim with the guys' team. I'm also helping out with any injuries between men's & women's distance as well as the sprint group. I'm enjoying it so far and seeing a few people progress towards some early season goals.

My own training has been tragically sporadic and uninspired. My motivation has hit a rut and been sent sprawling. I've always had a mental block when it came to racing. The minutes and seconds I've chipped off my time have been hard fought from that mental block. I am trying to convince myself that I can still compete after the entirety of 2011 being a complete shambles for me in terms of my running. My last seasons of "eligibility" were trashed by sickness, over-training and a variety of other factors. Now these factors no longer exist, I am having trouble realizing the potential that I still have.

My certification was officially processed and I am now in the process to applying for licensure in the state of Wisconsin. I am waiting to hear back from graduate schools. Nearly everyone in my class already has offers and have decided what they are doing next year. I haven't yet, and it is stressing me out. Yesterday we had an AT symposium that was very interesting. We had two prominent concussion researchers on campus, and I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Steve Broglio. Along with that I saw a lot of people and met students from other campuses around Wisconsin. I also had to deal continuously with the question of, "what are you doing next?"

I am tired of that question and I am tired of trying to answer it. Towards the end of the night I gave up trying to explain anything and left it at, "I don't know." So please, don't ask me anymore :P

I did end up going to the Rose Bowl again this year. I had a very relaxing week in California. I arrived in Santa Ana the day before the game, slept on the Rose Parade route overnight and enjoyed festivities from there. The Parade was equally impressive this year as it had been last year. People camping out over night were absolutely nuts. They had grills set up, flat screen tvs, and the like. On the side of the road. People driving up and down the road all night would honk and shout out the windows. It was an incredibly interesting experience.

The game was also... interesting. We ended up parking next to the family of one of our offensive linemen, and made friends with them since I knew them. We pre-gamed with them and walked to the stadium with them. They were a lot of fun and I regretted that our seats were nowhere near each others'.

The game didn't end as well as we would have hoped but I still had fun. 5th quarter afterwards was fantastic.

The next day we explored Santa Monica and the beach there. People thought us strange, in our swimsuits, as it was not particularly warm out - to them. To us, 70 was very balmy and we took advantage of it.

The following day we drove around Hollywood and Beverly Hills checking out the houses of the rich and famous. I soon had to get to Union Station, however, in order to catch my train to San Diego. The train went right along the Pacific Ocean for much of the trip. It was a phenomenal view... and I am very glad I took the train. It was only about $30 I think for the 3 hour train ride.

In San Diego I explored the lakefront while waiting for my former roommate, Erin, and her boyfriend to pick me up once they had gotten done with work. I explored Navy Pier and watched a couple of cruise ships launch, before grabbing a snack at an authentic Italian cafe. This cafe came with authentic Italians.

We went to dinner at what turned out to be a relatively expensive Italian restaurant. The food was good, making it worth the trip. What I found interesting in San Diego was that a lot of restaurants allow you to bring your own bottles of wine but have a "wine tax" that they charge for this. There is also a plethora of wine bars in the area.

That evening we played a Monopoly card game (not the board game) which was quite amusing, while they filled me in on the area around their house and things I could explore while they were at work the next couple of days. They lived right between two bays and twenty minutes' walk to the ocean itself. The forecast was around 70 and sunny for the next couple days, so in the morning I slept in and went for a run along the bays, watching sail boats and wishing I could be on one. I showered, changed, and walked down to the ocean where I found a scene that reminded me of something out of the movies rather than anything that was real life.

The oceanfront was a series of piers disbursed amongst the open beaches. There were a lot of people there despite it being "chilly" for them. I laid out for a while and read; it was extremely relaxing and I didn't mind at all that I was in a new city but no access to actually seeing things. That evening we had dinner at home then explored some of the local bars in their area, Pacific Beach.

The next day they showed me the view from the top of Mt Soledad on the way to their work. They allowed me to borrow the car for the day, which was very nice of them. I couldn't afford to explore much but I was glad to get to see some of the city, despite being nervous to drive in a big California city for the first time.

I explored Balboa Park, which is a big park with a wide variety of museums and public displays and interspersed. They also had a small botanical garden as well as a rose & cactus garden. It was all so gorgeous and the weather picture-perfect. I explored an anthropology museum and some of the local food before driving out to the peninsula, Point Loma. I found something online about it being a beautiful place to see, so I decided to check it out. It was a National Park (Cabrillo National Monument) with natural tide pools that, if visited at the proper time during the day, allowed you to see crabs and a variety of other sea life left behind as the tide recedes. There is also an old lighthouse on the point that is open to the public.

This turned out to be a jackpot find for me. It was one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever visited, and I highly recommend it. The cliffs overlooked the ocean in a most picturesque manner, and the waves that day were particularly high. I would have stayed there all day had I been given the chance. This trip really gave me a sense of how relaxing listening to the surf is, and how mesmerizing the continuous crash of waves can be. The scene here reminded me of something out of the "White Cliffs of Dover" only with a Spanish twist.

I walked along the cliffs for a time before venturing up to the very top of the point to explore the lighthouse. The view, all around, was so incredible. On one side of the point, the wide open ocean and sun glimmering on the massive waves far below; on the other side, a view of the entire city, harbor full of sailboats, and down south - the border with Mexico.

Needless to say I was absolutely enthralled with the city of San Diego. I had to rush to leave, though, in order to pick Erin and Bryan up from work. I had no idea how terrible traffic would be and did not allow nearly enough time to get all the way across the city. By the time I got there, they had been waiting an hour or more and the drive home was horrendous. We changed and went to dinner at an Indian restaurant downtown in the Hillcrest district. We then hit a series of wine bars including one which had a live jazz band playing.

It was a lot of fun, but the end of the night got ridiculous quickly. Around 1:30 or 2 we arrived back at the parking garage the car was in only to find that the garage had closed at TEN on a Friday night, and that it was completely closed to any access. We could not get in to get the car. We had to call a cab to get home, and then another cab in the morning so I could get to the airport - I had an early flight and the parking garage apparently didn't open until 10am.

So, that was an unhappy ending for the trip but I was still very glad to have had such a great trip anyway. It was great catching up with Erin, who I don't see anymore since she moved out there. I fell in love with the ocean and loved the mountains even more than I did last year when I was there. It was very hard for me to get on the plane to leave, because I honestly think I could've stayed there for quite some time without getting tired of it.

I had two flights on tap for the day, my first went from San Diego to Dallas-Ft. Worth and was considerably more interesting than any I have been on before. I took a nap for the first hour or so of the flight, to be awoken by the stewardess on the intercom announcing, "code red."

Well. This is an alarming statement to hear on an airplane, so I immediately sat up fast in my seat, and joined the rest of the passengers in craning our necks and looking about trying to discern what specifically was occurring.

All of the stewardesses had rushed to the front of the plane and were standing around. I saw them take the AED out of the overhead compartment and concluded that someone in first class was having a heart attack. It was strange, that when I had boarded the plane, I noticed the AED at the front of the plane. I never paid attention to it before, on my other flights, and hadn't really given it much thought. But for some reason it had stuck out to me when I boarded this particular flight and had been quite fortuitous..

In either event, I made the conclusion of a cardiac event occurring, quickly followed by the realization that I ought to go to the front of the plane to offer help. I was pondering this, because I assumed the flight attendants were trained in such things, but saw that they were all just standing around the man not doing anything. They then made an announcement that anyone who was certified in "CPR, .... , or anything really," please come to the front of the plane. So, I got up, heart pounding and rushed to the front of the plane. Another man who was a few rows ahead of me, had also gotten up and was at the man's side already when I arrived.

I did not know the affiliation of the other guy but he seemed to have some idea as far as taking basic vital signs was concerned. He didn't impress me with his questioning of the man so I kind of took that over while he initiated blood pressure reading, etc. The man had a cardiac history and had taken a number of BP lowering drugs this morning while not eating breakfast. His wife described what could have either been just a fainting spell, or a seizure - based on some of her phrases. In either event we determined he wasn't experiencing a cardiac event but likely was just lightheaded from not having had any food or drink yet. We monitored him for a while before making sure he got some food and water going. He was doing better, so we gave our info to the flight attendant and then made our way back to our seats.

I'll tell you, I've been trained in that stuff, but it was shocking truly "using" it for the first time, and being authorized to do it since I was certified. I was glad for the experience, and glad also that the man was not having a serious event. I have no idea what the protocol even IS for a man having a heart attack, but I would suspect it would involve an emergency landing or something. Obviously the best we could have done for him in the air was what we DID do, and we had the AED available if it came to that.

I also discovered that it was a strange way to gain unusual benefits on an airplane. The stewardesses were exceptionally pleasant the remainder of the flight, offering me anything I wanted to eat and drink, for free. I was in economy, in the very back of the plane, so it was very strange sitting back there eating a full meal, and at the expense of some man having a health-related event.

Well, the experiences you get when you are least expecting them!

The rest of my travel day was far less exciting, and I got home that evening. I went out with friends to a Pat McCurdy show - greatly entertaining - before heading downtown to some bars. Overall, a fantastic trip, and I hope that I get the chance to head back to San Diego soon.