to send in grad school apps.
Yikes.
I've been working on my "personal statement." I found that part of my law school app to be incredibly challenging, and I'm finding it to be so in this case, too. What do I say? I need to talk about why I want to go into the field, my education, my work history, my current work status (PT aide experience), my experience as a trainer and instructor... I need to be concise and yet thorough, somehow pack the last 25 years in to two highly relevant pages.
However, the real rub for me has become, where to apply? One school is a lock. I've visited it; it has a good rep. It's local, which means a smaller life interruption. (Side question: is that a good thing or a bad thing, and would I know, either way?) Downside? They only take 30 people per year, so if I don't get in, what next? The other schools I'm interested in are out of state and therefore automatically more expensive. One is just across the bridge in Philly; another is in Pittsburgh. Pitt is the best school of those I'm considering, and the hardest to get into, and would be the greatest life interruption if I DID get in and go. Would that I were 22 and that whole severely displaced lifestyle thing was not a factor. But I do have a life and it's hard to imagine putting it aside - even for the short term.
Perhaps I need to get over that. Because right now I'm putting a lot of stock in Plan A, and I know I need to be flexible and willing to roll with plans B and C if necessary. It's like planning to fly by instrument rules: you file your flight plan, hope air traffic control gives gives you the routing you asked for, and deal with it if they don't.
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So as usual, I'm taking a bit of mental refuge in my exercise program. I've picked out my next race, a 50K in January, and after that I'm looking at a 50-miler in February and/or a pick your distance (up to 100 miles) in April. The entry fee for the 50-miler is a bit steep considering the ambiguities of winter training in these parts (what if I can't prep?) so I may go with the pick your distance, which is FREE but runs over a flat 8 mile asphalt loop in Philly which is considerably less interesting than a hilly trail in North Jersey. Or, not. Heh. I'm sure about January, but after that, it's a bit up in the air. I keep finding new sites with different races to consider so we'll just see how things develop. What is for sure, though, is that I do plan to keep training and racing - that little dilemma - to train/race or have a Winter of Strength - is over.
Which is not to say I'm not strength training. In fact, I'm revisiting NROL/Abs, with some changes. For starters I'm just doing each workout 4 times (instead of 6 - 8); this allows for two workouts a week and puts completion of this trip through the program concurrent with the training schedule for the January 50K. Very tidy. I like tidy. I'm keeping the exercise templates but using more difficult variations of the core work, and swapping out some of the exercises for similar ones (i.e., a front squat for an overhead squat, etc.). I'm also changing the set/rep ranges in the various phases, plus I'll be adding the "extra strength" option to Phase 2 and moving Phase 2's metabolic work to Phase 1. These changes are all suggestions from the book, so I don't feel as if I'm breaking any "rules" by making them. I think the structure of this program serves me very well, so depending on how things look post next race, who knows? I may make some different swapouts and run through the program yet again.
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