Nikoluski roots for Ruski! 
I knew that already 
June 26
Track:
- 5 laps warm up
- About 250 MB abs
(yayyyyy Spain just scored
) - 1 lap w/ sister, 2 x 100m strides (oh boy! Iām progressing, these felt refreshing. I did them glued next to my sister, so I wouldnāt get carried away with the pace)
- About 250 MB abs
- 1 lap w/ sister, 1 x 100m stride (these were done on track w/trainers on)
- About 250 MB abs again
I felt light headed on the way home (I was on the bike, I actually hit a pole ā¦ 
)
Must have been the heat, and lack of food today.
Isos:
- 35minutes of rebound reps
Notes for the day:
There is still some bothering in that knee of mineā¦
In response to new physics knowledge and law of attraction theories where your āthoughts become thingsā, I looked up anatomy pictures of healthy knees on the internet and drew half a dozen of them in my art journalā¦
Now that Iām aware of how each knee joint surface is supposed to look like under normal circumstances and took the time to draw everything in detail, hopefully the image will transfer into my own compositionā¦ and SOON 
p.s. Jogging, abs and strides felt effortless.
p.s.2 Track dreams last nightā¦
unsuccessful 
June 27
Sore abs today. Yay.
Pool:
- 10 x 50m freestyle and backstroking
(I completed my first 50 FULL meters of consecutive freestyle w/out breakā¦ I rockā¦ :rolleyes: ) - 5 x 5 x 1min runs (Iām not really timing these, as the pool clock is always too far from my favorite lane, and swim w/out my contacts on, but I do 80 āstridesā per rep. 1 = right+left. It might take a bit more than a minuteā¦ who knows)
- 2 x 50m backwards swimming, no arms
- 2 x 50m forward kickboarding
Mmmā¦ didnāt do my isos today, because knee needed some rest, hence the pool. It always feels so much better in the water, btw.
I have this dichotomy of decision making when it comes to isos, because although I can ascertain their overall benefits, at times I sense dislike from the kneeās part, not in a large degree at all, but thinking that my priority is getting 100% for a comeback, I might need to hold back on my training-sickness every once in a while.
I donāt knowā¦
I have no profound thought to offer tonight, I donāt even like what i wrote above, Iāll just sketch for the night and clear my head a little bitā¦
Highlight of the day:
Indian food.
specifically?
I have this suspicion you like it tooā¦
We had a variety of tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, spicey vegetables, basmati rice and lassiās.
ah Stef you know me well a nice combo indeed .
June 28, Saturday
Early morning wake in order to fit everything in my day:
Track:
20min easy run
10 x 10m running Aās @50%
10 x 10m running Aās @75%
10 x 10m running Aās @100%
Life:
less than 1 hour of biking
(the second half is always a race, as Iām going home and donāt care about being drenchedā¦It actually takes me half hour there, and less than 20minutes back).
Todayās Comments:
Bad psychology all yesterday and first half of the day todayā¦ Itās interesting how emotional status interferes with art.
I have this very special teacher in my Byzantine Art class (I enrolled myself into something new again :rolleyes: ā¦), who read my negative energy through all the drawings I made yesterday and today. I actually have to redo 6 hours worth of work, and find some positiveness beforehand to make them sing this time.
Itās rather disappointing I wasted all that time the first time, I should know how to fixate my emotions on the first try. I know I wasnāt āthereā, thatās for sure.
Speaking of āliving the momentā, I strongly recommend the movie āPeaceful Warriorā.
P.S. Very good knee day.
June 29, Sunday
Track:
- 30min run around the track, decent pace (I donāt plan to do many long runs, but I think this is a good time for some, provided the knee feels fine, which it did).
- 10 x 10m running Aās @50%
- 10 x 10m running Aās @75%
- 10 x 10m running Aās @100%
(I love running Aāsā¦)
Isos:
- 65min extreme holds (I think I will stick with the holds rather than cycle through rebounds and altitude drop/holds, because I feel that the two latter ones still add some stress, especially at wall sits and lunges. Maybe Iāll use rebounds and drops for upper body though).
Dynamittom, Germany did NOT please me. Although I was rooting for Spain at the beginning, I was hoping theyād make the game a bit more exciting !
Damn, this game was lame, the first 10 min we blew up, but then total conversion
We didnāt fight hard enough the rest, you can almost say we gave the victory in the hands of spainā¦
luckily :rolleyes: I couldnāt watch the whole gameā¦
ā¦this hurts
Anyway better than greece , just kidding
No need to pretend youāre kidding , itās true!
[i]I have this problem of bad short term memoryā¦ so whatever I wanted to post earlier this day, I have now forgotten. It happens a lot, but then I donāt like forcing myself to think about past feelings, because the past is not supposed to matter under the conditions of a āforward-movingā lifeā¦
Anyway, today is the last day of June, and although Iām past my personal deadline of feeling 100% and healthy and should be feeling rather disappointed by now because Iām not, I donāt feel all that sad.
But I do feel anxious about future uncertainties of what Iāll be doing, AND what Iām doing (on all aspects of life): I donāt have a set career path (architecture? art? teaching? do I have to pick one???), track doesnāt want me but I want it desperately, my best friend (ex-boyfriend) got married 2 days ago across the ocean and I wish I were there, meanwhile my love life is nonexistent (quite possibly because Iām being currently apathetic with it > whatās wrong with me).
And besides a few painting commissions here and there, Iāve been recently jobless for the next three months, unless Iām FINALLY offered this (very interesting) position that has been pending for like the past 3/4/5?? weeksā¦ this country moves soooo slowly at times. [/i]
Sorry if training sounds borring today, but I had a double ISO day. I enjoyed it. So:
June 30, Monday
ISOS:
-
65min extreme holds in the afternoon
-
65min extreme holds at night
Life:
- 2 hours of run-involving games with a 5 and 7 year old. That takes out a lot of energy, if you know what I mean. :rolleyes:
p.s. I decided to play with font, as you can see
This is all that never got posted due to site-updates!
July 1st, Tuesday
Calf cramping last nightā¦ ouchieā¦ Luckily I got out of it pretty fast.
Track:- 10min easy warm up on grass
- 20min easy running on grass
- 5 x 80m strides on grass
- 4 x 80m strides on grass
(Jogging feels unnatural. Striding feels wonderful. I should be going to Beijing, I swear).
Life:- 1 hour total biking to and from the track (went to the central one today, away from my neighborhood).
(The way back was with several up-hills, and headwinds, but I didnāt feel a thing! I can even switch to a biking career if I wanted. Why is it that women donāt participate in the Tour de France again???)
People:
This coach thinks and insists I should try out for javelin, firstly because sheās tired of watching me get hurt, and secondly because she things Iām very strong and would do well at it.
I, on the other hand, was thinking about trying a throwing event after Iām 28-30, but now Iām curious to just try it (while always preparing for running of courseā¦. ).
Other stuff:
FINALLY got that job phone callā¦ā¦ I have the second interview tomorrow, hopefully I start working regularly again if all goes well and we agree on salary of course !
(((please hire meā¦ please hire meā¦. Pleasepleasepleaseā¦.!!!)))
On an artsy noteā¦ I have a few commissions at the moment =) Working on ANOTHER āKenteris paintingā (if one more Greek asks for him again, Iām gonna shoot myself, Iām serious), then I have a Zelezny pending, then the same guy wants himself javelin, then a portrait of another trackieā¦. Then that same person wants to give a portrait gift as well.
I know I attract athletes because Iām pretty cheap at the moment (and the majority of athletes donāt have money to spare), but I think I might have to look for more āwealthyā clientsā¦ !
July 2nd, Wednesday
Kind of a schizophrenic track day todayā¦. I donāt know what I was doing:
- 10min warm up with trackie friend, on grass.
- Proceeded to a 30min easy run, but got bored after 10minutes and started chatting with another trackie (friend with a shin fracture whoās about to compete in two weeksā¦ I did try to talk her out of it, sheās as hard headed as I am).
- Some A skips on grass
- Some running Aās on grass
- Some light jogging
- Break to retrieve some javelin pictures from a dude who wants his portrait done (just met the guyā¦.)- 7 x 80m strides on grass
- A bit more jogging.
I told you I donāt know what I was doing. Then I watched people train for another hour.
I also collected some information about Reiki around here. Hmmmmā¦ā¦ Iām looking to reach higher circuitry neurological levels. Trying to find a good expert around here. I know Reiki is supposed to have healing powers, Iām not sure what Iām gonna try.
July 3rd, Thursday:
[i]I realized today that I havenāt had a complete off day since before I started this journal, and it might actually go back a whole monthā¦ :eek: Oupsie !!! I forgot about the āoff-day optionsā !! :o
So, since the site is out of work, I might as well go out of work myself.
So today I didnāt do any track, or isos, or pool.
Butttttā¦ I biked for half hour downtown to meet a friend and sell her a painting, then time came to get back home, I reached my parked bike, and realized that some asshole (sorry) had stuck a HUGE screw inside my front tire ā¦ It was past midnight by then, home was 90 minutes away walking distance, I didnāt want to lock my bike anywhere around there during the night because I might not even find it there the following morning, so I went to the bus stop, and when the bus came, I wore my adorable face (:rolleyes:) and kindly asked the driver to let me in with my bike (:rolleyes: ), he sighed and then said yes ( ) and told me to get through the back door.
Yay.
Oh, I start work again on Monday, only 4 hours a day (administrative work, being in charge of the engineering department at the college I teach), but thatās fine, because I can be an artist the rest of the time ! (or keep looking for an architecture firm job, which has been an impossible task so far). [/i]
July 4th, Friday:
Ya know whatā¦ I took today off as well and went to the beach. I was playing beach tennis for more than an hour.
First I was playing with my sister, and we were playing so amazingly that a guy wanted to join us, so then the three of us were playing amazingly for quite a while, my sister and I side by side on offense, and the guy digging balls pretty successfully (we just never missed), and then sister went for a swim, and I was playing for another half hour with the guy, I could go on for another 3 hours, but guy got tired after a while.
Ok, my head is getting bigger, Iād better stop now.
Back to work tomorrow (training work, I mean).
Oh: I found two friends who are involved with Rieki. Maybe they can hook me up with some superhumans around here. Theyāre hard to find these days.
Reminder:
Venus is playing against Serena tomorrow. Donāt miss it !!!
Whole day of drawing until 4pm (Byzantine class stuff, itās nice to be well rounded ā¦ plus Iāve found the most authentic teacher in the city, and perhaps Northern Greece ! I love meeting superior people).
Yesterday I decided to pick up my violin again. Itās actually pretty silly of me to have neglected it in the first place (2 years ago). My deceased teacher had told me that if I would ever quit heād raise from his grave and hit me on the head, I think I should try and avoid thatā¦
And then another teacher that I had for a short amount of time during a 6 month period in Greece had told me that if I ever had to quit one thing among the things I do (art, architecture, track, violin), violin should be my very last choice.
Andddddddddd itās the first thing I left behindā¦
SO. Iām catching up and unrusting myself this summer, and deciding upon pursuing my music degree (theoretically, I need 2 more years). Of course, life will decide on what i eventually end up doing. Iām just going with the flow.
July 5th, Saturday
Track:
- 1 mile warm up
- 10 minutes MB abs (no breaks), 10lb ball.
- 1 x 100m A skips, walk/jog back
- 1 x 100m B skips, walk back
- 1 x 100m running Aās (ouchie)
- 10 minutes MB abs (no breaks)
- 1 x 100m A skips, walk/job back
- 1 x 100m B skips, walk back
- 1 x 100m running Aās (actually better)
- 10 minutes MB abs
- 1 x 100m A skips (walk back)
- 2 x 100m strides (walk back)
All good. I need isos though, I think Iām addicted. I want to hook me up into regular incorporation, because after doing them for 3 months straight, Iāve been very inconsistent.
Life:
- 30min easy bike downtown
- 30min fast bike home (headwind and all)
July 8th, Tuesday
Iām agitated with life, but surprisingly, Iām in a good mood. People are disappointing. Iāll raise the bar for them though.
Pool:-
10 x 50m freestyle (I rock, I was completing 50full meters w/out backstroking half way through =) )
- 4 x 50m breaststroke
- 12 x 50m backstroke
- 4 x 50m forward kickboards
- 4 x 50m back-kicking
(total: 1160meters, took about an hour total with breaks)
Life:
I had two ice creams today. Hardly any food though.
July 9, Wednesday
Morning Track:
- 5 laps warm up
- 35min extreme ISOS on legs.
- 10 x 10m running Aās @50%
- 10 x 10m running Aās @75%
- 10 x 10m running Aās @100%
- 10 x 40m strides (pretty good)
Track buddy showed up for his morning session before the Olympic meeting in the afternoon (trying to make the 4x4 national team for Beijing) - 10min warm up again with him
- 4 x 50m strides (not bad)
Timed buddy for a 150. By the way, HORRIBLE day for such a great track meet that was coming up, with famous names such as VERONICA CAMPBELL. Wind was the worst itās ever been for months.
On the other hand, I was pissed and worried for having 5-9pm work and missing the Track Meet, but it actually turns out that I cannot work until after next week, for logistics purposes/paperwork issuesā¦ blah blah blah ā¦ So I could actually go and watch . YAYYYYYYYYYY !!!
Life:
-45min BIKE to work (sooooooo windyā¦ this usually takes me half hour. It was all head wind)
- 30min BIKE back
Track Meet (Thessaloniki 2008):
- Of course hung out at the practice track and watched Veronica from up close for the first time.
- Was shocked by the āmalenessā of a female Bulgarian athlete (400 runner who ran the 100 today)
- Track buddy is going to Beijing =) So jealous !
- Befriended ERIC NKANSAH (http://www.nkansah.com/About_Nkansah/about_nkansah.html) and hung out with him for the rest of the meet. Eric has just recovered from long injury and was āescortingā his Ghana team, also being the alternative for 4x1 (who won today). Very cool guy.
- Our triple jumper Devenzi did the best jump this year at triple, 15.22 ! I think she wants the world record.
Other:
My supervisor wants to start planning running trips in the woods. Actually, (as long as knee feels fine), this canāt be a bad idea once/week for basic training !
Oh, I also need to get another MRI pretty soon to know what stage my knee is in, anatomically.
July 10, Thursday
Track:
Early morning
- 6 laps jogging
- 5 x 20m running A skips
July 11, Friday
Track:
Early morning
- 5 laps jogging
- 1 x 100m A skips
- 1 x 20m running Aās
- 4 x 30m strides
- 3 x 100m strides
Pool:
I didnāt really keep track of reps, this is an approximation
- 10 x 50m freestyle
- 5 x 50m backstroke
- 2 x 50m kickboards
- 8 x 50m backwards kicking
- 5 x 50m breast stroke
- 2 x 50m freestyle
approximately 1600 meters
Life:
- One hour of biking through the city, felt tired, was windy on the way home, I thought about walking up that final long long long uphill, but then decided to turn into āsuperhero-Stef modeā and abolished all wind and fatigue in my head. I actually thought the wind disappeared then ā¦.
Isos:
- 5 min wall sit
- 5 min each leg forward extensions
Going to the big meet in Athens on Sunday =)
July 12, Saturday
- 4 laps
- 6 x 100m strides on grass
- 10min MB abs
- 6 x 100m strides on grass
- 10min MB abs
July 13, Sunday
Tsiklitiria - USAIN BOLT
Allow me to bragā¦
I took the 6hr bus and went down there, watched the meeting with friend Nikoluski
After the 200, I went down to the warm up track looking for Bolt.
The night before, I had painted a portrait of him (Iāll post later), and I wanted him to sign it.
He was being massaged after his fabulous race, I went to the physio (I was actually waiting for 5 minutes before I got the courage to go, they already knew I wanted something and were staring at me ), asked if mr. Usain could sign something for me, so the massage stopped, and everyone was impressed I drew that (itās not even finishedā¦shhhh !!!) Usain liked it a lot (he asked me if I had another one, but Iāll send him another original, I had to have the signed oneā¦ ) we started chatting.
What a GREAT guy. To start with, itās amazing to come across well known/famous people who will ask dozens of questions to someone who is pretty insignificant to themā¦ I battled for my chance to ask questions, they were questioning themselves.
Then Bolt kept with his massage, and I spent the next 20minutes talking with his coach, Dawson (Patrick?). He told me about him being an elementary school teacher for 14 years, and how he misses it a lot, how he also taught tennis for some years (he found it hard to understand why I quit the sport competitively, he is very fond of it), then he told me a little about them being Jamaican, being a great team, training in England in the summer, liking Greece ā¦
Both having been involved with teaching, we philosophized a bit about teaching and how much it helps with athletics; he said how much heās received from that experience to become a good coach - but he also said he studied a lot too, to gain all the more specific information. He asked me about my students and he said he guessed that they are very good from looking at my art work , and talked about students (athletes) reflecting the abilities of their teachers (coaches).
Very insightful person. Heās only 38.
When I decided to leave, we didntā know exactly how to salute each other , so we started comparing greek/jamaican/american salutes.
Jamaican guys never hug or kiss, they shake hands and/or do a finger snapping gesture. Girls get the privilege of being huged and kissed (lucky meā¦)
Bolt can have a new painting for every record he brakes.
p.s. Last Wednesday at the Thessaloniki meeting, I spent the whole second half of the meeting with Ghanaās Eric Nkansah, itās been a good week celebrity-wise.
p.s.2. But celebrity-Nikoluski put up with me more than anyone
July 14, Monday
Took the mini van back home with the Thessaloniki track group. We even stopped by an island (Evia) to drop off an athlete (lol).
July 15, Tuesday
- 7ish laps easy running
- 6 x 100m A skips
- 5 x 60m careful strides (all good =) )
July 16, Wednesday
Got bit by a crab in my dream last night.
Then I swam further in the sea and found two dolphins and swam with them (not that thatās never happened in real lifeā¦ 
)
I hugged one and it took me for a ride underwater; I didnāt drown.
Pool:
Hour and a half of swimming and running in water.
July 17, Thursday
Track:
- 10min jogging on grass, some abs
- Plenty of 100m strides on grass.
July 18, Friday
Pool:
A little under 2 hours swimming =O
I know how to breast stroke after watching a video on youtube ā I THINK I have it!!! Itās so nice !!!
Great lung workā¦ And I think it looks pretty too.
Swimming realizations:
- Forward kickboard is a good quad workout
- Backward kicking is a good hammie workout
- Breast stroking is a good whole body workout, with extra abs.
- Freestyle is hell for me.
- Backstroking is good for an even tan. (pool is outdoors)
July 19, Saturday
Track:
- 10min at good pace
- 250 MB abs continuous
- 1 x 100m running Aās
- 100 MB abs continuous
- 1 x 100m running Aās
ISOS:
1 hr extreme holds
July 20, Sunday
ISOS:
1 hr extreme holds
July 21, Monday
Pool:
1.5hr. freestyle/breast stroke/kickboards/back kicks/water running
July 22, Tuesday
Track:
- 4 laps jogging
- 1 x (4 x 150m strides), 250m jog recoveries
ISOS:
5min wall sit
July 23, Wednesday
Track:
- 7 laps jogging
- 1 x 100m A skips
- 10 x 10m running Aās
- 2 x 20m B skips
ISOS:
1 hr extreme holds
July 24, Thursday
ISOS:
1hr extreme holds
thats throughly awesome.
but not to nitpick or poop on your parade, but i think a guy named glenn mills is his primary coach, so i think the guy who signed that is a handler or has come on in the past year. either way, cool cool. you met usain bolt
Coaches: Dwayne Barrett, Pablo McNeil, Fitz Coleman, Glen Mills (thats from an IAAF profile before last years world champs)
whenever bolt wants to move up to the 400 heāll get that world record. he ran 45.3 5 years ago.
Yea, actually somebody else mentioned that on another thread I posted back when Bolt ran that 200m.
Oh well !
maybe you met bolt twin bro.
July 25, Friday
Pool:
(40min):
Set 1
- 50m freestyle
- 50m backstroke
- 100m breast stroke
- 100m forward kickboard
- 100m backward kicking
Set 2 - 50m freestyle
- 50m backstroke
- 100m breast stroke
- 100m forward kickboard
- 100m backward kicking
Set 3 - Kicked off the wall to begin the 50m freestyle and I got this huge calf cramp underwater. Ouchhhieeeā¦ Good thing I was near the wall.
Got out of it, attempted another swim, almost caught it again, so decided to stop.
Chatted with a mountain hiker/swimmer for a bit. He told me I should pursue swimmingā¦ Ooookkkā¦ :rolleyes:
Life:
1 hr biking in the city
ISOS:
45min extreme holds
Interesting news:
- Gummy bears can prevent children cavity, according to recent U.S. research.
Movie recommendation:
āMama Miaā. Pretty random and funny movie. Takes place in Skiathos, Greece; beautiful island; Iāve been. Maybe youāll want to come visit.
Much of a height difference then!
Ok, after rereading this on a better day, I get itā¦ (my momentary stupidity surprizes me at timesā¦ :rolleyes: )
Feel pretty drained todayā¦ Woke up early to study for GREās which Iām taking on Monday. Ewwā¦ Have to attend a wedding later onā¦ Double ewwwwā¦
Track:
- 3 laps easy jogging on grass
- 350 MB abs continous
- 1 x 100m A skips, walk back
- 1 x 100m running Aās (pfeeew), walk back - 350 MB abs continuous
- 1 x 100m A skips, walk back
- 1 x 100m running Aās
- 3 laps easy jogging on outter lane
Bike home.
Whole Greece is on vacation. Cityās empty. What a joy !
Just a loadfull of painting today, all day.
Woke up pretty late, as I got back in the early morning hours from a wedding that was an hour away, hidden on some mountain village. A bus took us there. There was a lot of noise from the music, party held in the middle of the village piazza, under an old platan tree, with many many stray dogs wandering around looking for food. There was plenty of left over bones from the ribs and lamb pieces that were being consumed.
A martial arts buddy got married and then heās off to live in Cyprus. Which reminds me that I should do something extreme in my life pretty soon. My last real adventure was April '07sharing the same water in the Pacific (Hawaii) with humpback whales (2 of them swam right underneath me), not sure how I survived thatā¦ and that seems a WHILE ago. Iām very tempted to pick up a backpack and get myself in some kind of similar situationā¦ (similar to the whale one, not the marriage oneā¦ goodness).
July 27, Sunday
Today ISOS:
- Lower body extreme holds
- Upper body rebound reps
I forgot to mention my last iso session was done with my sister . It was her first one. Oh boy !!
She claims itās more painful than childbirth :rolleyes: (sheās not a mother though).
July 28, Monday:
To the TRACK with the sister:
-
1 mile jog
-
300 MB abs continuous
-
1 x 100m A skips, walk back
-
1 x 100m running Aās, walk back
-
250 MB abs continuous
-
1 x 100m A skips, walk back
-
1 x 100m running Aās, walk back
-
200 MB abs continuous
-
1 x 100m A skips, walk back
-
1 x 100m running Aās
Quote of the day, shared by an friend from Israel :
" First, you need to establish what you main aim is. Who do you want to be ? What do you want to be remembered for ? This is not just for training - itās for everything. If you were to fast forward to the age of 85, what would you be able to look back on ? If your grandchildrenn ask āwhat did you do with your lifeā what would u say ? What will your headstone say ?
How will your friends remember you ? "