Making a Comeback

I'd been frustrated with crew for a while now, mostly because I wasn't making any improvements and felt like I was regressing. It made sense, because I was sick.

But I'm making a comeback, people!

Today I was finally able to load more weight on at lifting. And I was fine. I even felt like I could do more. Do you know how good that feels? A measurable, trackable representation that you're getting better and recovering? SO GOOD. The feeling that you've got control and power over your body, even after sickness and the fact that it's 7am is unbeatable.

Yesterday we had our first 2k tests. I didn't do as well as I would've liked (especially after I was far away from Claire's best), but I learned something from it. Or, at least, Ashley did and made a really good observation. I didn't hit my potential because I like control. I've not yet given myself permission to hit that tipping point of insanity and power that you need to on a sprint. I've never had trouble letting go on a boat, because when I'm there, my competitiveness and my loyalty to my teammates takes over. On an erg, I've yet to just let it all go and hit the numbers I want.

Next time.

Also, can I point out that it is SUNNY AGAIN in Ithaca? It is turning everyone into crazies. You go through a winter of cloudy skies and 20 degree weather, and when it hits forty, the shorts and flip flops are dragged out. I love me some flip flops, but I have a line. And it is far above 40 degrees. But let me tell you, I am loving this weather.

I promise next post I'll lay off on the sport nerdiness. Maybe.

I've Blogged More Recently Than You Think

A day or two ago I wrote a blog that I didn't post. I was extremely upset and stressed. I was a little bit frantic. So I sat down and pounded at my computer, stopping all productivity to write.

I'm not posting it today. It's not worth today. I'd rather keep it for the right moment--maybe when I see everything through. Graduation? Or some sort of quiet, arbitrary validation of success that would otherwise go unnoticed?

We'll see.

I don't want to rehash the story of how my perfect story fell through and then made me get on a bus today and somehow end up at Cornell only to watch the Cornell women's hockey team take on Clarkson. I would say I watched them win their first ECAC championship, but I didn't. I am a terrible person and left after the second period, when I did enough interviews and was satisfied with my insane amount of b-roll, all of which looks exactly the same. There's people skating. Then people cheering. More skating. More cheering. Skating. Cheering.

I AM TOTALLY OVER SCHOOL.

But I was sitting in an empty ice rink today, having arrived nearly an hour early to scope out the scene. Unnecessary, but that's when the bus schedule wanted me to get there. I sat there watching the two pep bands yell at each other aggressively, and I wondered, why the hell am I here? How did I end up at an ice rink filled with Canadians (yes, nearly every single person I talked to was Canadian. Also, 90% of them did not attend Cornell. Really.) on some random Sunday at a school I don't even attend?

It was kind of fun to pretend I went there though, because I could walk in front of cars like a total tool and justify it by assimilating to campus culture. Seriously? Cornellians walk like drunk, pretentious d-bags. So I pulled on my red hat and sauntered wherever the heck I wanted. It was awesome. Sometimes I wish I had an Ivy-League pedigree to make my PMS attitude legitimate.

Oh, there's always grad school.

Anyway, here's the plan, guys. I'm taking mid-term week by storm, FINISHING IT, and then going to Georgia and having the time of my life. That cool with you? Great. Let's do it!

Another Guessing Game, This Time with More Phlegm

Guess who has bronchitis? ME!

I have this long standing policy of deciding not be sick when it is inconvenient for me. Finally I hauled my butt to the Health Center to demand that they fix me and make me be able to breathe without coughing. They did some breathing tests on me, shook their heads, and then showed me a chart at the general averages of lung strength. I want to drag that little tubey thing I had to blow into to practice to explain to Becky why my pieces were so bad.

Because apparently, I couldn't exactly breathe.

But I'm in the later stages, so they hooked me up with some pills and a snazzy little inhaler. And now I'm going to get magically better. Hopefully before Georgia.

Otherwise, things are fine here in Ithaca. I've forgotten what sun looks like. I turned in a hugely stupid paper today. I should never have purchased those chocolate Newman O's. And the snickerdoodles given so graciously to me (and the crew team, by extension) are now finished. So I can stop going into sugar comas now.

Luckily, the varsity sport thing has kept me from becoming obese. This morning, AT 7 AM, my coach used this machine and a scale to calculate our body fat percentage, which was TOTALLY FUN so early in the morning, when you're feeling totally great about yourself and all you can think about is showering. Luckily, my news was good. I'm between 21 and 22 percent, which is the healthy amount for an athlete at the D-III level. And she warned not to try and lose weight (I'm also right on target there) because I risk just losing muscle instead of fat.

I know, I just blogged about my body fat percentage. TMI ALERT. OVER SHARING. Hey, at least I didn't tweet about it. That would be lame. I only tweet about important things, like Chadwick the Crab. Oh, and Cheez-Its. Why would you ever expect discretion from me? Like, ever?

Anyway, I thought I must share one last anecdote because of its amazing nerdiness. In my political theory class yesterday, the two guys next to me were debating who would win a Presidential election in Middle Earth. The conversation included sentences like, "Well, Gandalf would take the Shire by a landslide." And, "Aragorn would probably take a majority in Rohan and the human cities, but the wizard is more likely to take Rivendell."

If you can top the geekiness of this amazing moment in college history, please tell. I'm looking at you, RPI student and MIT grad. Share!

Guess What?

I know all of you are getting pretty comfortable with the content of this blog. I talk about being sore from crew, being frustrated with classes, and how it ABSOLUTELY NEVER STOPS...PRECIPITATING in Ithaca.

Well I've taken a break from writing the silliest paper ever for my environmental class and from digging people out of the two feet of snow we got over the past two days to inform you of a recent development.

As of Fall 2010, Shipping Off is going international.

I'll pack up my laptop and my non-existent sense of direction and make a home in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Home of international notoriety, canals, the Dutch, and a reputation for good coffee (right? that's what makes their coffee houses so popular?)!

You may think that I'm only going there because I discovered that Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer looks like Matt Damon, and I consequently fell in love. Despite the relative validity of that statement, that's not why I'm going to Amsterdam.

I'm going because of the Universiteit van Amsterdam's Pre-Law certification program. I'll immerse myself in international law and get a little certificate at the end, which may not mean anything, but looks pretty cool anyway.

It's a ways off, but I'm pretty sure I can sustain an insanely high level of excitement for multiple months.

Mark your calendars. September 2010. Me. Amsterdam.

And now this post has to come to a close, because Mannheim Steamroller just came up on shuffle AGAIN and if I don't take my Christmas music off my iPod immediately, there will be technological casualties.

Yeah, So, I Miss Them Already

For all my look-how-grown-up-I'm-getting bluster, I love when my parents visit. They trekked all the way up here to baby me a little bit. It was kind of the opportune moment, because I got a 24-hour type of virus and kind of needed to be babied.

It made me kind of un-fun, so we took in some Olympic action in between awesome meals. So I got fed AND got to lay on a comfy bed. It was awesome. We also got to go to Wegmans, which is like a pilgrimage for Washingtonians. We don't have them, and they rock. We also spent some quality time together while we got the oil changed in the Hyundai, because somehow my Dad has become buddies with the guys at Ithaca's Midas and its cheaper. My family is weird. You know this.

They were here for such a short while that it was kind of a tease, and it was hard to see them go. Even though I saw them like 10 minutes later because Mom left her phone in my room. We are absolutely unable to leave anywhere the first time. Whether it's Claire with her books or me with...everything, the emotional goodbye is never the actual goodbye. There's always the second god-I-can't-believe-we-had-to-turn-around see ya! Miss ya! Hug and leave that comes after. I love it.

I guess our dysfunction just works for us.

Okay, So Now It's @$#@% Raining

I MEAN SERIOUSLY? It stopped snowing and now it's RAINING?

REALLY, WORLD?

Also I'm not so sure I have anything interesting to say, but here are some things I just want y'all to consider.

Is it just me, or can Tiger Woods like, not read? Most awkward speech ever. And I am already sick of hearing about it. It also creeped me out to hear Al Michaels even say the phrase "sex addiction" during the midday Olympic coverage. Now I'm going to have to go to therapy.

And the main reason I am blogging is because I need to be doing work...on a Friday night. Because this weekend I am frolicking around time with my lovely parents and then being imprisoned by Newswatch. So there is work to be done.

I also have to be up early to do a six-mile team run. So, parents, if you're reading this, there's a chance I will pass out and die before you get here.

Yay!

It is Never, Ever Going to Stop Snowing

I think it has snowed lightly for the entire month of February, and I am kind of over it. The charm is gone, okay snow? You've killed it. Now you're about on the same level as rain.

So that's out of the way. The most eventful thing that has happened to me this week actually occurred this morning. There was no coffee in the dining hall. I went and tried all the dispensers. Another girl was doing the same, and after a stunned silence she looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Oh my God." I'm getting my fix now, courtesy of our cafe. But it was shocking. I mean, I'd already lifted weights and done a radio shift. I was pretty sure I'd earned some coffee.

I have problems.

Two of my problems are my hamstrings. See, they HATE me, and are the most inflexible hamstrings in the universe. We were doing a technique rotation yesterday at practice, and Becky (our coach, if you haven't caught that by now) laughs and says (as she has done before) "I guess we have to work on those hamstrings." In the next shift, she says the same thing to Ashley, and suggests we stretch each other out seeing as we live together. We share more than a love of cheeseburgers and cheez-its. We have inadequately flexible hamstrings too!

This week started the NCAA season, so we can officially go to "practice." This means we tend to die more, and also row in tanks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The only problem is said tanks are at Cornell, so we end up practicing at 8:30 p.m. Even though we also had lifting at 7 a.m. It makes for a long day.

Another problem is that I am OBSESSED with the Olympics. We have them on all day, even when it's insanely boring things like classical style cross country skiing qualifiers. I also get very invested in it all, even participating in some Sweden vs. Norway smack talk for cross country skiing. Which my ancestors totally dominate, by the way. And as much as I wanted to analyze the social symbolism of Julia Mancuso's tiara habit, I gave up and decided it was just awesome.

I also want to try out this biathlon thing, because I don't think I've ever seen a more badass sport in my entire life.

No offense, crew.