Monday, Sept. 12th
Travel day. I officially hate travelling alone. 3 years back I loved it, now I’ve had enough of it.
Arrive to Milan. Everything about this day was uncomfortable and unpleasant, except for having a fabulous (much larger) room to stay in, at my nice phd student residence. One whole wall is all glass, and I like that… Plus it’s facing South =) (direct light to wake me up nicely)
Ughhhhh I miss my family and Dejan. … The older I get, the more family-dependent I seem to become. Is this normal?
Training was:
- 20min run and 10 x strides on grass, 100-180m
- assorted abs
Tuesday, Sept. 13th
Trained with the Sicilians. So happy to see them =) So happy they exist =)
Training alone would have made me miserable all fall !! I’ll be training with them every Tuesday, Thursday, and most Saturdays.
- 20min fast warm up (that was really fast for my taste! )
- stretch, drills, 2 x 100m strides
the following were fairly relaxed, and in trainers, planned to be 20" each 100m split
-
600m (should have been 2’, but came out as 1:56), 5min rest
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400m (should have been 1:15 but came out 1:10), 4min rest
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200m (should have been whatever and came out 31")
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35min gym,(general strength, abs and stretching)
I miss my mom’s food =(((((((
Evening training:
- 15min warm up
- 10 x strides on grass, 100-180m
I met with my prof today, and it went well.
Tip of the day: when stressed about one person, give him/her your warmest smile.
She seemed to acknowledge the fact that I’m working a lot on my thesis (my experience so far has shown me that these northern italian people in the uni will keep compliments to themselves), and that felt good and relieving, and I also received compliments for all my publications and conference approvals.
I know constant approval does not matter (or should not) all that much, but at a life’s period of extended isolated (from loved ones) stay among strangers and untrustful people, I have come to find myself a lot more insecure that I would hope to. It doesn’t show, but I sure feel it… It’s a constant state of discomfort, and although this is a sign of personal evolution, it sure sucks… 
Wednesday, Sept. 14th.
Ok, today was not all that good… First of all, I was supposed to go to Karlsruhe, but I didn’t want to go one bit… I told you how I hate traveling alone now… I want Dejan. Or my sister. Or my mom. Oh gosh, I’m such a baby.
I was supposed to go by train and do a 40min presentation the following day. This would have been my 5th conference presentation, so it’s not like I freaked out. I just got tired/sick/fed up with it.
I didn’t want to go.
But I went to the train station, bought my 130euro one-way ticket, and headed to the train.
The train had a problem, and the assistant said that there would be a delay, and we would have to switch to a different train at another city, before Zurich. But my trip to Karlsruhe required another switch of trains in Zurich, which allowed me only 8 minutes of switch, meaning I would for sure lose my train to Karlsruhe.
Is it shameful to say that I was relieved there was a problem? I’m sure I could have found another solution if I REALLY wanted to go, but I honestly didn’t at all. I called my mom and she told me to go straight back, because I didn’t want to go and she knew from the day before. Moms feel these things.
I got reimbursed and went home. Well, “home”.
I wish I were home-home !!
I sent an email to the conference people, I hope they don’t get ‘mad’ at me !!
Ι’m so happy I like where I’m staying, at least.
I hope I quickly get used to my environment, once again. I wish I had a good friend here, too. I’m very difficult on that matter - people bore me to death. I can only stand my middle sister and Dejan for a time span of more than half an hour, from the people that are in my life at the moment.
Oh, today I also got approved for another publication… =) I have quite a lot now :o
Training today:
- 20min biking to the park
- 16 x strides on dirt paths ranging from 100 to 200m (walk half the distance I ran) - total time 25min
- 20min biking back
I’ll do abs later.
Super thankful for drawing ! It brings something totally familiar in my day 