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Had a realllly great Christmas break, thanks to an amazing group of family and friends that are always a pleasure to see again. It was so great, in fact, that returning to school this last week was a bit of a shock that I feel like I’m just starting to overcome. On top of the mental strain of having to think about things again (I know, thinking is rough) my body isn’t used to this whole exercising everyday thing. Sometimes I have a surprisingly large amount of energy and other times I get extremely exhausted and pass out on my bed for an hour or so (I believe that’s called a ‘nap’). Overall though I almost feel like I’m becoming addicted to exercise. I’m still pretty enthusiastic about all of this and enjoy each of the 3 activities more every time I do them. In triathlon order:

Swimming: Easily the most difficult technique wise, I owe Dave a lot for correcting my stroke every time I go out with him. Although I’m still not good, I’m certainly making progress. The occasional feeling when I get things right of gliding through the water without too much effort is pretty fantastic. It reminds me of the feeling of hitting a good shot in golf. I look forward to swimming every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Biking: Definitely my best of the 3 events as its the only one that I have any experience in. Reallllly wish I knew of some places to bike in Raleigh though. Going to the cycling club meeting here at NCSU in about an hour. Will hopefully meet some other bikers and go on rides with the club, also considering doing some lower level races if possible.

Running: When I think about how much I hated running in middle and high school and how much it bored me to death I’m, well, naturally quite thankful that it has turned into an enjoyable activity for me now. Still hurts sometimes, but makes me feel gooooood afterwards.

Going to the Triathlon club meeting tomorrow night. They seem to be pretty serious and even sent a few people to an Ironman event last year. What’s an Ironman? Often referred to as the single most physically demanding single day sporting event in the world, it’s the most difficult of the 4 levels of triathlons. You start off with a quick 2.4 mile swim, followed by a leisurely 112 mile bike ride, completed with an easy 26.2 mile run. Errrr, yeah, you run a marathon after biking for 112 miles and swimming an equally difficult 2.4 miles. It takes the winner something around 8 hours to do. Crazy. What I plan on doing this year is a much more reasonable ‘Sprint’ Triathlon. The distances depend on the specific race, but it’s about a 750 meter swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 5k run (3.1 miles). Of the remaining 2 levels, they each roughly double in distance with the Olympic distance at 1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike ride, and a 6.2 mile run. The 3rd most difficult distance is called a Half and it’s about a 2000 meter swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run.

In other news:

Physics is still confusing the hell out of me. Computer science is going well. Still studying Japanese everyday (a few days ago I finallllly caught up with my deficit that was caused by a lack of studying over break). I also got glasses.

I’m trying (hoping/wishing/praying) to find some sort of computer science internship this summer, preferably someplace I’m contemplating living after graduation like Tokyo, New York City, or the San Francisco bay area but I’d be happy to go to most any major city.

Pictures, none of which I can claim any credit for (thanks Michael!):