Determined to earn my day off.

You Tube videos, graphs, physiology pathways, coffee, rain, emails, lecture notes are my friends today. It will all pay off, right??

A sense of calm has come about inside of me. I have completed both of my presentations and made it out alive! The first, required me to take my classmates through an agility workout as if I was their coach and they were my tennis team. I have experience in telling others what to do  ;-) but sport specific agilities are very new to me. I was the first up. Nervous but refused to show it. I may have also over prepared (since the prof asked me to wrap it up). Either way, I doubt I failed. That evening there were 5 presentations total. Needless to say, I could barely pick up my legs to walk to my car after all those drills!

I was saved by the bell for the second presentation. It was a group presentation and as the only graduate student in the group I was expected to be the "leader". We were the third and final group of the morning and time was catching up. We were given 10 minutes to do a 20 min presentation. My forte: being short with words! I introduced the group, our topic, got through the first 4 slides, let them take over and had time for 1 question. I believe my face was bright red the entire time but I spoke clearly so I won't complain. We did good...

Now I can just sit and read for then next week and a half...what was I so nervous for anyway?

Workout for the morning:
Skill: Jerk (practice stabilizing over head and increasing velocity)
WOD: 12-9-6-3
 KB swings (44lbs)
Chest to bar pull ups
anchored sit ups

my time: 5:55

Physically feeling strong but looking to lose a couple of lbs.

PS-Done with finals (and grad school year #1) on MAY 3rd!

I am finally proud of myself for something! Last night, I went to my 5pm class which I always dread going to. This is the class that exposes all of my weakness and tests my spirit. I said a prayer, took a deep breath and walked in.

For the first time, I was able to remain objective, strong and pushed through. Literally. We were running agility drills and I got tackled by a football player. I didn't let him get me down. I didn't let all the criticisms soak through my skin (and believe me, I get told "I suck" for the entire 2 1/2 hrs). I did not walk out defeated.

It is not easy being the only girl at times in this field. The guys expect you to be soft but at the same time they stand back and watch to see what you can bring to the table. To see if you can be taken seriously with respect to strength & conditioning. Many days I am tired and sometimes I am stronger than them. However, I am certainly not settling for soft. Ever. Or I will never be taken seriously as a coach or a trainer.

I am still on track this week! Falling behind on wedding planning but...tucked away in a private study room of the library as we speak! The next two weeks, will be insane as I face a little public speaking fear giving two presentations on subject I do not know much about.

My 7am WOD thanks to the beautiful people at Soul:

Weightlifting: DE Deadlift 8 x 3reps 50-60% 1RM (115lbs for me)

WOD: 3 x 3min AMRAP
20 cal row
15 parallette bar hops
max air squats

5 x 3reps RDL Heavy
Max L-sit holds

Sitting for hours at the library killed my body yesterday so I decided to hit an early morning WOD. Thanks to my friends at CrossFit Soul, I am closer to feeling stronger, more  flexible, better conditioned and I learned how to hook grip the bar! Today's WOD consisted of a review of the power clean (PC) for technique. Then, 4 rounds for time of 3 PC, 12 kettle bell swings (35lbs for me), 13 box jumps. I really wanted to get to 115lb on my PC but my back is just too tight. This afternoon, I am going to practice agility drills for tennis players (this is my homework and I love it!). After 4 clients this evening, I can come home!

I feel good at what I accomplished for school and my clients. Wish I could train a little longer but I might be too beat up to read an article due for tomorrow. On track so far I think....

My first post...Lately the wheels in my brain have been turning non-stop about everything and nothing at the same time. But, in particular, I have been wondering about where I will go next. What will be the next step I take in my life? What will I do with a Master's in Strength and Conditioning (since I do not want to be a strength coach)? I'm due for a change.

You see, I'm in graduate school. Finishing up my first year, and one more to go. Since day 1, I have felt as if every time I set foot on campus I was facing a fear. Fear of what? I'm not sure but, I wonder, is this what grad school feels like for everyone else? Seems like I'm the only one unsure of every paper I hand in, every presentation I give, every test I take, every email I send out.

So I decided to start this blog today. Just now. My hopes are that this blog will hold me accountable for a)not quitting school, b)finding the positive of every day (since it seems to be the best motivator lately) and c) give graduate students a voice. Graduate students work HARD and sacrifice PLENTY.

I hope that you will relate to my thoughts, fears, joys, and anxieties by reading this and, in turn, we can  motivate one another to NOT quit until our dreams have come true (grad student or not).

3, 2, 1 take a deep breath and...GO.