Shin Splints & Summer

School has been out for a while, well at least for me. To be precise I’ve been done with finals since June 11th. Skipping all the fun wisdom teeth removal and recovery, here’s what I’ve been up to:

If I’m honest, I’m having a little bit of trouble figuring out my summer schedule which is ironic because as I’m writing this I’m also writing a piece about time management. It’s just been somewhat difficult figuring out how to use my time efficiently but without burning myself out from trying to do too much.

WORK:

It’s my third week at this wastewater treatment company in Bellevue called SUEZ. I’m working as a mechanical engineering intern and will be at the company until mid-September.

It’s a lot of busy work right now but some of the things I’ll be doing are pump calculations, reading & back-checking P&IDs (piping and instrumentation diagrams), and writing specs for different projects. I’m enjoying it so far. There’s a lot I don’t know, but that’s the point of an internship, to learn. The commute back from work isn’t my favorite but I’ve been listening to a handful of podcasts & Audiobooks (I know…I’m a suburban mom) so it makes the commute a lot more enjoyable.

The nice thing too is that I’ll be able to earn credit for this class so it’ll give me an easier class load for at least one of my remaining six quarters at the UW.

Overall, I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity!

FITNESS:

I’ve been working out about five days a week, with two of those days consisting of two workouts within the day. Yeah, yeah, call me a tool…

I decided to take up kickboxing twice a week and that’s been tons of fun. I’ll be doing it for at least the duration of the summer. 

Unlike within the school year (post-Spartan), I focused almost solely on weight-lifting, now I’m trying to find a balance of weight-lifting and dare I say it…ccccc…cardio, the weight-lifters’ least favorite word. If I’m honest, I don’t know what my body or weight goal is right now. At least it isn’t specific enough to fully explain.

All I know is I do want to have a better balance of weight-lifting & cardio. I would like to slim down a little bit. At this point I also am not trying to lift more than my max. I like where I’m at with how much I curl, bench, squat, etc.

My next Spartan race is in September. I told myself I was going to run the Beast (13-15 miles) but between you and me, I think I’m going to run the Sprint (3-5 miles). I can’t increase my mileage that quickly because running isn’t my main priority with my workout routine. Unfortunately, the shin splints are back and I don’t know when they’ll go away again. That’s where the title of this entry comes from. I’ll keep you updated. I’m still training! Either way, you’ll catch me running in September.

Along with fitness comes health and I’m still trying to stick with my diet. I had a few cheat days, but I am back on it. Keep me accountable!

READING:

One of the perks of summer is making what I want to read a priority. Last summer I read around 12ish books I think. So far, I’ve read three books and counting. Like I mentioned, the close to an hour commute isn’t too bad when you’re listening to an Audiobook. Most of the time I read spiritual books to and from the commute to work. If you’re looking for something to read, check out Loveology by John Mark Comer.

JESUS TIME:

I’ve been trying to successfully study the Bible on Mondays and Tuesdays but it’s been hard to make that happen or let me better phrase it, I haven’t been making my Bible studies a priority. Ironic huh? Especially considering my last entry. Writing about this is definitely a wake-up call to me and a reminder for me to re-evaluate my priorities or at least do a better job laying out my calendar.

My main goal is to get a better grasp of what we, as Christians, are called to do in our different roles. What am I called to do as a friend? What am I called to do as a wife? What am I called to do as a mother? How do I be a leader? How do I be a listener? Of course some of these are a little more applicable than others, but it’s still good Bible study material.

AND EVERYTHING ELSE:

Balancing everything else between hanging with friends, sleeping, spending time with family, taking time to improve my hard/soft skills for future work, etc. has been a little more difficult than I imagined. The main problem is just not having a consistent week. Every week there’s been something that kind of throws off my schedule whether it’s a birthday party, spontaneous outing or graduation dinner.

With all these haphazard events, I’m in the middle of creating a more realistic schedule for myself. I’ll figure it out. It just takes time.

So in a single post, this is what I’ve been up to and what I’ll do up until September. And that being said if you wanted to hang out, don’t assume I’m too busy for you, let’s catch up. Reach out to me.

I’m hoping to write more frequently and create more content for this blog. Most of my posts have just been life updates and stories and although I like that, I will try to incorporate more posts filled with advice. Follow the journey. Thank you for your love and support. It means a lot.