Somehow the OBX half marathon has come and gone. This marks the 3rd year we’ve gone down, rented a house with friends, and had an awesome weekend. The weather was fantastic, save for the strong winds on Veteran’s Day, but Saturday and Sunday were perfect. I had a semi tough race, which was no surprise considering my lack of training. But I still did way better than my last half, the horrid Dismal Swamp Stomp back in April where I had no business running because I was sick. And next year I won’t be working on a thesis, so I have no excuse not to train properly. And do hill work.
We had our usual huge pasta dinner where of course I ate too much. We also played mini golf, which is a yearly thing. New to the trip this year was laser tag, where teeny boppers totally kicked my ass, and cornhole.
I had never played cornhole before. I was a little apprehensive. I’m not very good at activities that require any sort of coordination, which is why I run. And I’ve even screwed that up before by falling down. (Only on two occasions, so that’s still better than what would happen if I were required to throw or catch anything on a regular basis.) Anyway, I did try my hand at cornhole. And I was pleasantly surprised. After the first game, where I totally sucked, someone much more experienced than I offered some suggestions (like how to hold and throw the stupid bag!) and I greatly improved. Trent and I even had a 4 game winning streak. And sometimes I even helped by scoring a few points, so I wasn’t just dead weight! I actually had one perfect throw where the bag went right through the hole. And it wasn’t just me that saw it. In addition to my friends who were spectating, a group of guys with impeccable timing drove by and saw me land the bag and shouted their approval out of their truck window. True story.
Perhaps the best thing about the weekend was that I didn’t do any school work. Oh I brought books, but I never opened my bag. But now it’s back to my thesis. I did meet with my advisor yesterday (finally!) and I feel a little better, she said I had some good, interesting information in the two sections I’ve written so far. I’ve got to go back and tweak those a little and properly format my footnotes, but at least I know I’m sort of doing what I’m supposed to be, and I know what to do to improve my first two sections. I’m going to try to have those pretty polished before January, since in addition to my thesis my final class will begin on the 9th (?). Or somwhere around there. I’m taking Vichy and the French Holocaust. I’ve never had the professor before, but hopefully it’ll be ok. I’m nervous because I’ll have something else besides my thesis to work on, which is why I’d really like to get as much written and revised before that class starts. I do not want to wind up with anything less than an A in my final grad class!
