Birthday anticipations!

So, Saturday the 1st is just a days away. I will be turning 19, and I am very much excited about the coming year, as well as feeling very happy about the year I've just had.
During my 19th year on this incredibly confusing planet, I've gone through serious family traumas, leading to me giving up my bed some nights for others; difficult situations in my own life, reached my peak physical fitness, lost my peak physical fitness in spectacular fashion; made some great friends, lost some great friends; lived some incredible new experiences and enjoyed past experiences again. I've worked hard in academic life, and worked just as hard outside of it in fantastic jobs with fantastic people.
The stress for this year isn't quite over, I still have to host a birthday party for my 5 year old cousin, where my Aunt wants me to do 2 hours of entertainment! I still have exams before the calendar year ends, let alone the exams I have in January, and I still have that daunting thought of more doctor trips, meaning more time out of action. Still, what can you do!

This weekend should be incredible :). Off to Frankie & Benny's with the new university crew, consisting of people from Coales Hall and my course. After a delightful meal (living like Kings for a couple of hours) it's back to our flats to get ready, followed by pre drinks and then off to the Forum (my universities club) for, a fair to say, messy night. The best part of the night, no doubt, will be when we are all a little smashed, merrily prancing around the dance floor (I'll be doing my patented Dolphin jumps), when all of a sudden... the entire club will roar, as Gareth Gates takes to the stage. Yes, the banter will be magnificent ;).

None of this, however, could come close to comparing the best part of this weekend. Later tonight, my girlfriend will be arriving to come and visit me for the weekend. Perfect. (apologies for the soppy content) The thought of being able to wake up next to her tomorrow morning is the best birthday present I can think of, and I am more than grateful that she's decided to visit. Currently, she's stressing about the delays and weather, and all I can think about is getting to spend the weekend with her! I feel like a kid on Christmas eve today, and realistically the only presents I'm going to get are bruises from birthday beats, alongside my drinks paid for by my friends. Even so, I could not be more excited! See you later Amy :).

In other news, I've taken procrastination to a new level, by spending nearly 3 hours yesterday watching videos of sloths, goats and cats on YouTube. It's not my fault that they all provide delightful entertainment! I'm sorry education, but that will certainly happen many more times. My brain is fried from all of my statistical and mathematical lectures this week, so I think a nice relaxing afternoon is in store. Oh yeah! A few of my class mates have started looking for accommodation for next year with me, and we've found a nice 5 bedroom place just outside the university. Not bad.

Here's to the weekend.

CK

Iron man training day 0; 80% sure I'm going to have to drop out.

I could not contain my excitement at the prospect of the Iron Man Triathlon study, run by my favourite lecturer, Justin. I've always been the kind of person that likes a challenge, I mean, I've been competing in numerous sports since I was 6.... 6! It all started with gymnastics, a slight form of ADD and a higher responsiveness to sugar (that the doctors said would pass by age 10, yet here I am on a constant sugar high all day every day), led my mother to ship me off to gymnastics, initially just to let me "wear myself out". Two years down the line, and I was competing for the country. Only in UK competitions, but still, to think I represented my country... it's always been a bragging point. Anyway, I'm being side tracked by my own train of thought.
Next came swimming, then athletics, then I found my new love, tennis. Being short, short-tempered, and (from gymnastics) having this relentless mental and physical toughness, put me in a strange position. I wasn't, and never have been, the best of players, but I've always managed to get the job done. It's not like I can't win free points off of the serve, hit through the court off both wings, come forwards etc... but generally, my go to play has always been percentage groundstrokes, with a bit of pace, cross-court over and over and over until my opponent has nothing left in his legs. I can run all day if I have to, and everyone I play knows it from the first point.
In a lecture, Justin states his plans of a mass study. He wants to take physically active people, but not those who compete in long distance events, and provide a training program - designed to get us ready to participate in next years Barcelona Iron Man Triathlon. Buzzing would not quite cover my excitement. Maybe I'm one of the odd few for this, but the thought of a 2.5 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle and a marathon, all in a 15 hour window, releases adrenalin like no tomorrow. I already know I'm mentally tough enough. That's what the torturous training of gymnastics does for you, as does tennis. Nothing can beat you, you simply won't stop. I'm a pretty good swimmer, but growth plate injuries and ongoing trouble in my knees and back have prevented me from being a top runner or cyclist. I don't have the muscle fibers or lung capacity to be a top performer in any of the 3, but I know I am fit enough to take part, and fit enough to finish in time. I looked at the first training program, a 3 month block of high volume, low intensity exercise. I can deal with that, not quite the dynamic, explosive interval performance I know and love, but I can handle the program... or can I?

I've always been injury prone since the gym days, and my sports choices haven't aided this. Over the last 2 years, I've competed in less than 15 singles matches, and less than 10 doubles matches. The reason? Injury. It's a barbaric thought to me, being side-lined. Not being able to run and burn off steam. The way my body responds to sugar, is like... perpetual motion, or like a wind up toy. I never stop, I can't stop! When I'm forced to stop, the pressure just builds, and builds. The screws get tighter and tighter and I just need to release! I think that's the reason why I didn't get three A's at A-level. Back injections among other things left me incapacitated for over 2 months, leaving me unable to jog up the stairs for three weeks. That was hell, and it was so close to exams. Imagine you've given a 5 year old a fridge full of sugar, whilst proceeding to try and get them to sit and read a book. It's not happening. I was the same, I couldn't focus, I couldn't release. I was grouchy. I was despondent. Three A's, that was my predicted outcome at college. I scraped three B's. Even by exam time I still wasn't fully fit. I don't think my leg stopped shaking in my Politics exam, just the sound of the continuous scratching of pencils was sending my mind into a hibernating cocoon. But... I digress.

I need the injections again, along with some other things. The supposed date, November.... didn't happen. Then, right next to exams, NOOO!!!! Now, it's looking more like right on the eve of my training start date. I can't commit, I don't know how long it will take to heal. The atrophy I'll suffer as a result of being (for me) in a vegetative state for up to two months, will be unrecoverable in time. I can't afford to pay the entrance fee and buy a bike if I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to train and commit fully. The thoughts of these recurring troubles is leaving me restless, and I'm suffering in class through it already. Revision? HA! Forget about it! Still, a 1sts on my assignment cheered me up a little.

CK