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I just erged -- that is, I worked out on the rowing machine -- for the first time in 3 months.
I'd wanted to sprint 2000m (a standard rowing-machine workout all colleges and most clubs use to test fitness level) to see how long it would take me to finish it. My personal best is 8 minutes, 9 seconds, which isn't great but isn't too shabby, either. (Context: My team's benchmark for 'great' is 8 minutes. All of the women in my club's Best Boat Evar a couple of years back had broken 8 minutes for a 2K except for me, who finished with that.)
To my shock, I couldn't even make it a fourth of the way through that short workout tonight before my lungs were on fire and I was feeling light-headed. (That on top of the blister I ended up peeling off my ring finger and the chafing my flat ass was getting from the seat. Wah.)
Now up until a couple of weeks ago, I'd been jogging 5Ks around my neighborhood pretty regularly -- about once or twice a week, and my time has slowly been improving. So I thought I'd be OK on the erg.
But I guess in the time my aerobic threshold has improved, my strength and 'fast-twitch' muscles have waned considerably. I've barely picked up a weight in months, and I haven't done any sprint work. Time to hit the weights full-time again.
In addition, I haven't had much time or energy left to work out. (Click on [Link] below this entry for cut to boring details about work.)
So tonight, I've made a belated New Year's resolution.
I'm going to break 8 minutes for a 2K on the erg this year.
Thoughts: I'd like to do it in the next few months, actually, but I don't want to set myself up for failure by putting too aggressive of a timetable on it, since I'm obviously ill-prepared. But I'm also feeling a little bit of peer pressure to do it, since my double scull partner (photo is not of us -- I wish! -- just a visual) -- whom I used to beat handily in erg tests -- is aggressively working out with a rower/trainer and says she'll definitely break 8 minutes by Feburary, as she plans to compete in an annual erg competition in Melbourne. Is it peer pressure, worrying too much about what others are doing or competitiveness that's motivating me? I guess one person's 'competitiveness' is another person's 'determination.'
Current mood: Thoughtful
Current music: Eurochild | Massive Attack
Despite being part-time at The Paper, I've been working pretty much 40 hours a week this month. The editor of the community weekly that The Paper started publishing late last year walked out on the spot early this month. Apparently, she was dealing with -- and not very well -- lots of personal issues outside of work, with her townhouse being damaged by a hurricane, and her newlywed husband leaving her. (And I later found out that she's also a flake.) So -- due to lack of interest by anyone else -- I was asked if I could help get the paper out until the end of January.
I'm not sure I would have agreed to do it if they had told me the truth about what the job entailed. I'd been told that it would be 2 days a week of strictly copy editing that could be done from home. They'd e-mail me Word files, I'd edit them and send them back. I said sure. Who wouldn't agree to that?
Well, then came the bait-and-switch. The boss's boss -- he's way high up the food chain, apparently -- called me one day to ask me what I'd been told about the job and to tell me what it really entailed: At least 3-4 days a week, and much more than copy editing (I won't go into all the details, but it's a lot of managing/coaching/coordinating with people who know nothing about the editorial side of papers). I started to get a bit jittery at that point, since I was also still scheduled once a week for my regular duties on the night operation, plus I'll be taking a Japanese class every Thursday night at SCC starting next week. And although I'd planned to start applying to pain, chiro or doctor's clinics for massage jobs after the start of the new year, that would definitely have to take a back seat this month with everything going on.
As it turns out, I'm not minding the job so far. The first week turned out to be easily more than 40 hours of work, mainly because I was trying to make heads or tails of all the reams of paperwork and obligations the former editor had dropped in my arms before running off. I'm working during the day -- which I'm reluctantly adjusting to, since I've always enjoyed being a night owl and having my days free -- and am home by 7. Most importantly, The Paper doesn't really care what I do or how I do things, as long as the job gets done well and in a timely manner -- the boss' boss actually said that to me, just in a much more tactful, corporate-friendly way -- so I feel as though I have a bit of autonomy, I can confidently make a decision without being second-guessed, I don't feel like a drone or computer monkey, and I have a bit of ownership over what is produced.
This all actually had a point: Hopefully, by the end of the month, I'll have adjusted enough to the new schedule that I'll have the energy to work out after I get home. But for now, I'm too wiped to do anything after work.