How have you been doing, Stefanie? Hope everything is OK.
Hi myway! Thanks for asking, things are fine! Tendonitis is gone after going to the sea a number of times, swimming and playing beach tennis on the sand 
and of course still training every day - sometimes twice a day. But I decided not to do any sprint competitions this summer, as I just got rid of my problem (completely), and all that’s left is nationals this Friday. I’m certainly not gonna go show up in nationals all of a sudden 
I apologize for not posting, but I am also working on my website at this time of the year, which is taking quite some time.
Feel free to take a look, if you care to look at some artwork, and some random blog-posts here and there: www.stefaniesart.com
I’ll be back here ! I’m discussing with a few people what kind of training structure I should follow for the upcoming fall. I’d also like to find some competitions in the early fall, as my fitness levels are pretty good at the moment, and I need stronger speed stimuli.
Great to hear from you and that things are getting better… Very nice website you set up, I registered an account there, looking really good.
2.5 years later…
I’m sometimes sorry I discontinue this journal, but other times I’m so tired of thinking how nice it would be if I wrote everything down, that it becomes more of a burden. So maybe I’ll write here and there, but some things feel like family , and this board is one thing that comes pretty close, especially with certain individuals!
I would like to think that this is my ‘final straight’ for my phd. The minimum allowable time to finish is 3 years, and that will be this coming February - if not, then I will present in February of 2013.
I’ll do everything I can to finish in the 6 months ahead.
These past 2.5 years have been truly fulfilling, from many points of view. I met tons of new people, trained for a day with Charlie Francis, got engaged to Dejan (some of you followed bits and pieces of this story when it started early in 2009), - technically I now have four more siblings (!!) visited tons of new cities, in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Turkey, France - some for conferences (got awarded the best paper internationally in one), most for fun. I studied a LOT, read a LOT and wrote a LOT, made projects… Completed 44 paintings (I just counted them!),. My oldest sister got married… she is now pregnant and I will be an aunt in December =) My middle sister opened a new english school - I made all the graphic design for their notebooks/folders/school sign/school doors/business cards/advertising pamphlets/envelopes… My parents finished building their new home in the suburbs so now we have an “extra” place to go to and rest in nature and close to the sea. I’ve participated in my first mountain races (three times) and have run as long as 15km :o , and completed my longest time-span run of 1 hour and 25min.
I’ve split a 25" 200 in a 400m race (and then did not finish haha), and I’ve pr’ed in the 150m in training in 18.3secs. (yipee) And I also have a new website (some of the posts on the home page have been ‘stolen’ from my own posts on this journal here, in which I found myself philosophizing on things that I still have in mind… ) www.stefaniesart.com
That has been the last 2.5 years. Maybe I’ve forgotten a lot or a little, but a lot has happened and most of it was fun…
I’m going to Milan again on MOnday, for an expanded period of 6 months (with short breaks in between for random events in Greece), and I will be training with the Sicilians.
I’ll try to keep this thread updated, because I like it…
Feel free to write whenever and whatever.
Cheers,
Stefanie
Nice post! Good luck to your new adventures! Enjoy the next 6 months! This is your journey now!
Nice job, wow, amazing to see the way things go for different people over the years. A lot of people on this forum, in particular those of us that were here since the early forum days and followed your journal from the start, are proud of you! Good luck!
always good to see what you are up to, and yes what a 2.5 years!
I have always read posts on your thread, I find them refreshing, in some ways innocent. You appear to enjoy life, keep it up.
Thanks everyone I’m happy I still have my forum-family reading here and there !!
Wow it’s late right now - as I was up watching the Zurich diamond League and then uploading some stuff on my website !!! (I am going to have my very first personal art exhibition at my favorite sister’s new center of foreign languages, yipeeeee, althoughhhh I have a lot to draw !!! yikessssss… but I’ll do more of that once I get to Milan and I’ll be feeling all lonely and unsociable, and inside a tunnel-vision version of me, focusing only on phd, training and art =) so… this is the banner I made, you can see it here: http://stefaniesart.com/?p=711 (comments are welcome)
Training has been going pretty ‘progressively’ lately, and I’m trying to get my lower back to be pain free, but I already know it’s from all the longggg warm ups and hard surfaces. But once I find myself in Milan, I know I’ll have my huge grass surface to run on for my tempo sessions, and that is very relieving to think about !
(I shouldn’t write this late… )
I’ve been alternating 20min jog days + short tempo (100s) sessions with hill sessions (30m-150m) and a few stair (100steps) sessions.
I really miss the weight room, but I will going very steadily once I arrive in Milan, again.
I hate sitting on the chair and doing work. So I decided once I arrive to Milan (again), to go immediately and buy a Swiss ball to sit on it instead of the chair. I’ll be like Google’s happy employees.
So once I travel to Milan on Monday (again), I am taking the train to Karlsruhe (that is in Germany, for those of you who dont’ know) on Wednesday, to make it to my Thursday morning presentation. I am going to present my longest ‘speech’ ever - 35minutes 
I have a link, not because I’m inviting you (it’s an expensive entrance fee and it should make me more nervous, but I really am taking it very lightly), heck… if you’re in the area, sneak in and we’ll meet!! ( http://branded-spaces.de/speakers/culturesociety/ ) > notice how all my co-speakers of the day are Dr’s and I’m the no-title girl hahahaha.
I love Alyson Felix. She runs like a gazelle.
Sometimes I think that my oldest sister hates the fact that I’m alive. But I suppose that every child in a multiple-member family gets this impression sometimes?
Sometimes I wish I were invisible.
And I’m sure that sounded like I’m 12… Anyway, I’m 28 now.
It’s 1am and I’m not used to staying up this late.
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011
Today I had two training sessions; one in the afternoon (I died from the heat but that was ok), where I did 20min warm up, a LOT of A skips and B skips up the hill and then some short hills (I really wasn’t counting… I was just enjoying the session and paying very close attention to proper form to take any load whatsoever off my lower back which has been bothering me - again - for the past 2 weeks).
And night session (that was 9pm because my favorite sister gets off of work at that time, and we like to go train together) was another 20min jog, 6 sets of 100xstairs (alternating singles with doubles) and 5-6 x 80m strides in the end, with light jogging and walking in between (until we arrived home).
This post was a mess.
Friday, Sept. 9, 2011
-
10min MB abs
-
22min warm up
-
4x strides
-
6 x 100m stairs (doubles-singes, doubles-singes, doubles-singes)
-
1 x 100m hill
Saturday, Sept.10, 2011
- 22min warm up
- 1 x stride
- 8 x 35m hill accelerations
- 3 x 60m EFE hills
- 1 x 60m hill
Started packing today !! Although I’m a bit anxious to start training with the Sicilians :))), Germany is in the way, which is a bit nerve-racking considering my 40min presentation (where is my over-the-roof confidence??) anddd i’m sad to be leaving Thessaloniki !!! The day I leave is the opening day of my favorite sister’s new school of foreign languages, and I’ll be missing the party 
Darnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn !!!
One more day of deep breath and then Thessaloniki-Bergamo-Milano-Zurich-Karlsruhe-Zurich-Milano in the course of 6 days !
Sunday, Sept. 11th
Just a 20min warm up with my sister, and then we didn’t feel like doing anything, and we just went to the playground by the sea during sunset and talked talked talked.
Although it was nice, I was feeling nauceous. I’m not sure if it was the pre’travel-day feeling, or eating salmon after a long time, or riding the swing ! I was nauceous until the night (I am not pregnant)
Lots of baking, btw ! My sister made a party for the opening of her new language school, and I missed it =((( because I had to travel on that day.
Oupssss I have to go now, I’ll write about Monday later…
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
-
400m (should have been 1:15 but came out 1:10), 4min rest
-
200m (should have been whatever and came out 31")
-
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
Thursday, Sept. 15th
Thank goodness i’m not in Germany. Yay for training with the sicilians =)
-
22min run
-
stretch, drill and stride
-
7 x 200m (100m floating and 100m accelerate), 100m walk recovery, (lactic work for sure…) didn’t time them, felt dead
-
35min gym (strength, abs, stretch
EMS
- 35min active recovery hamstrings
- 25min relaxing massage calves
9hr sleep, mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Friday, Sept. 16th
early morning:
- 15min warm up on grass
- drills on grass
- 6 x strides on grass
evening:
- 20min biking to the park
- 40min easy run with short break every 10’
- 6 x strides
- 20min biking back
(man on bike approached me during strides and asked me if I’m ‘natural’. Okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk… )
(he also hit on me, but when he said ‘I really like strong athletic girls like you’ , I played the foreigner - which I am, after all )
My sister’s belly is getting larger, and I’m missing it…
Saturday, Sept. 17th
I took this day off after all !! It started raining and thundering and it was actually kinda nice. Did I mention that my whole one side of the room is all glass, and it creates a wonderful feeling to be there during unforeseen weather circumstances?? Also, our whole residence had a problem with the internet, and I all of a sudden became more sociable and made a new friend He’s from South Korea, doing his post-doc, and although preliminary getting-to-know-people discussions bore me (to death :P) , I liked this guy.
Also my indian friend is back from home, so we can now eat some spicy stuff at dinner! He loves to cook… (I don’t)
Sunday, Sept. 18th, 2011
All day raining again, and I preferred to take this day easy again, and hang out with my friends.
Buttttttt I did :
- 20min abs
- 15min glute exercises and clawing technique
Monday, Sept. 19th, 2011
7.30am:
- 15min warm up
- drills
- 8 x grass strides/tempo (800m total)
6.00pm:
- 15min warm up
- 14 x 100-150m on grass tempo (1600m total)
EMS:
- 35min active recovery on hamstrings
- 25min relaxing massage on calves
epistemological conclusions for the day: lack of internet increases social interaction and work productivity. (Nobel prize material)
Tuesday, Sept. 20th, 2011
(- 15min biking)
sicialian training
-
2.5km warm up
plyometric work: -
5 sets of double hopping up the bleachers
-
2 x 5 sets of bounding up the bleachers
-
one relaxed 670m (2:30)
-
40min gym work (strength, abs and stretching).
(- 15min biking)
( realization of the day: writing a book full of genuine graphics takes up a whole second life, unless one becomes OCD during bursts of hourly zombiness and in-the-zone flashing instances during which time equals zero - only to find yourself in a suddenly pitch-dark room with no turned-on light )
Wednesday, Sept. 21st, 2011
7:30am
- 10min warm up
- 10min drills
- 10 x grass strides tempo (800m)
(6hrs of phd)
5:30pm
[COLOR="#9932cc"]- 20min biking to the park, short jog
- 1000m worth of tempo (100s, 150s,200s), short break
- 1000m worth of tempo (same as above), short jog
- 400m worth of tempo (100,100,200m) , short jog
(total 2400m)[/COLOR]
note: for the last set I was planning to do 5x100s, but during that third rep, two strange guys were waiting at my finish line, whistling and clapping like dorks who’ve never seen an athlete before - so I continued 100 more meters then jogged to my bicycle and left - 20min biking back
(total tempo today: 3200m)
(more hours of phd)
Best words of encouragement today from a good friend: "Keep it up! When all this is over, you’ll look back and feel proud of yourself! " Thanks Nick 
Thursday, Sept. 22nd, 2011
ugghh what a day !!
One of these things is going on:
a) I trained too much (??)
b) I lost 3-4 kg too suddenly
c) I’m not sleeping enough
d) I’m still recovering from the change of my environment
e) There’s not enough love surrounding me here
f) I’m working too much
g) All of the above
Why?
Because today at training all I really did was 3 pathetic 400s with 2.30min rests at 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, during which I felt extremely tight (my hamstrings almost exploded), but I can’t say I was feeling too well before them, and then I did 4x150s with walk back rests all at 22.xx secs, and since this training session I have been sneezing uncontrallably, and my nose is runny and my eyes weigh 10kg each, and I just want to sleep, but I can’t, because my nose is too stuffy.
But I know that in the morning, I will be fine, because this always happens to me when I’m tired and then go do a lactic workout.
Ughhhhh… I feel like death.
Why am I still awake?
Today was actually fun, after all. The workout started like this:
The older sicilian brother called me and said “YOU’RE RUNNING THE 400M RELAY TODAY” !!! (I love this guy…)
I said " OKKK !!! "
He said “IT’S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE 8X400M FOR EACH MEMBER OF THE TEAM”
I said " =S OKK??? "
He then explained that each team would have 3 members, and we would rotate around, running 400m each ,for a team total of almost 10,000m. This is the italian version of “the 10km relay”.
He said "BE THERE AT 12.30 !!! "
The sun was steaming and my body was aching. Anywayyy.
The sicilian coach didn’t think it was a good idea running 8x400 (smart man, pfeew), so I ran ‘out of competition’, but with the other people, who were really having a blast. This is actually an excellent idea to go through a training session with the track full of people running one-lappers… There were like 20 teams in the same ‘race’.
I hopped in for my own session whenever I liked; I played the ‘rabbit’ for some.
Why am I still stick?
I later spoke with Dejan’s coach from back home, and I heard a few encouraging wise sentences:
a) you seem a bit ‘empty’, (this is a greek expression for lack of energy due to training), enough tired, and very loaded
b) if you ‘unload’ a bit, you’ll feel great and fast
c) it needs patience and much caution !!!
d) when we’re ‘loading’, we don’t go on a diet !!! eat something (but not ‘everything’)
e) patience once again. The body ‘breaks through walls’
So simple, so obvious, yet so much forgotten words.
Summing up the training:
-
15min biking
-
20min warm up, drills, stretch, strides
-
3 x 400m w/2.30rests (1:10, 1:15, 1:20)
-
4 x 150m w/walk back rests (22.xx, 22.xx, 22.xx, 21.xx)
-
stretch
-
15min biking
(Saturday will be faster stuff (80s and 60s), with the sicilians again, yipee, and starting next week I will start putting in more fast quality work with more accels) < this is the plan, at least
Here we call lack of energy " Punctured "
insightful description!! 
Friday, Sept. 23rd
(wow times just FLIES, it’s scary and worrisome !) work work work work work (I like it)
and trainingggg is just getting addictiveeeee
I felt sick today, so I did not go out for my morning warm-up. I was still sneezing and having a runny nose from my 400m allergies
evening:
-
25min biking to the park
-
30min long warm up that evolved into a fartlek, trying to escape from this man who kept running RIGHT behind me during the whole course (despite my switching paths etc), I wonder how I did not make him die with my 100m randomized accelerations.
Conclusion: Fartleks are KILLERS.
then relaxed with my interrupted (meaning walk between the runs, rather than jog as above) tempo:
-
150, 100, 100, 150, 200, 150, 200 (total 1050m )
-
25min bike back
(miraculously, my sinuses got healed during training and perfectly fine since then)
Saturday, Sept. 24th 2011
- 15min bike to the stadium
Training with one Sicilian (and one italian whose name we never found out, oh well)
-
22min warm up, stretch
-
drills, strides, some with spikes (first spike session since, oups, May …) :o
-
5 x 80m (I believe all were low 11s), walk back recoveries . 5min rest
-
5 x 60m (these were rather good
) all under 8" ! with slight tail wind of course,walk back recoveries. 10min rest w/ some ‘kenyan jogging’, as the Sicilian calls it. -
1 x 300m relaxed at 46.00" - can’t say I put all my effort into this one, which makes me mad, and a whimp… Sometimes I get mad at myself :mad: I could have easily been a 44 if I tried. The weather has been great, and I should be taking more advantage of it.
-
40min gym (strength, abs and stretching).
-
15min bike home
Sunday, Sept.25th, 2011
off
Monday, Sept. 26th, 2011
morning: (all grass)
- 10min warm up
- 12-14 drills followed by short stride
- 10 x 100m tempo runs (total 1000m)
- 5min cool down
evening Sicilian training
- 20min biking
- 40min run with older sicilian brother. (why do I feel like I’ve committed a crime every time I post a long run on here? =P )
- 10min cool down with 3-4 strides
- 20min biking
actually it was a crime; overstretched calf now … Surprisingly it’s not the left calf that I ALWAYS overstretch.
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011
-
20min biking
Sicilian training: -
25min warm up (calf needing care… )
-
stretch, drill, stride
-
4 x 300m w/1:20 rest, in trainers; 54", 56", 55", 50"
-
20min biking
EMS:
- 3 therapies of calves on relaxing massage (20min each)
notes of the day:
[i]- don’t try to explain things to people in 5’ that took you 10 years to learn
- be extra friendly only to people who deserve it
- take a minute and breathe sometimes. Even though while you’re working, you’re accomplishing things at a faster rate, there’s also much virtue in taking time to absorb the positive energy of peers
- hang out only with peers of positive energy
- look for alternate biking routes for one destination - look for alternate routes in life. It adds splendidness. [/i]