To the field!

It's been a pretty busy and draining week, but tomorrow I'm headed out of town for what should hopefully be 5 fun and enjoyable weeks.  I'll be working outside, sleeping in my tent, waking up before the sun, and digging up cool stuff.  I'm pretty excited.

I'll try to update at least a few times while I'm gone, and then I'll be back in Tucson after the first week of July.

Have a happy June, everybody.

Meg versus the Mountain

One of the things I love about Tucson is the Catalina Mountains.  Tucson was rate the Best City for Road Biking last year by Outside Magazine, and though the easy access to hundreds of miles of nice bike-laned roads is great, the availability of mountain climbing probably pushed us up in the rankings over a few other cities.  Pro cycling teams come to Tucson on a pretty regular basis to train, and riding up Mount Lemmon is always part of their schedule.  It's almost like riding up Mount Lemmon is a rite of passage for Tucson cyclists... everybody gets sucked in at some point.  If nothing else, it's a milestone that you really want to be able to say you've accomplished.

I've done quite a bit of hiking and rock climbing up in the Catalinas, and ran a half marathon up Mount Lemmon (the highest point of the range) last October, but until very recently I've been hesitant to try biking the steep and curvy road up the mountain.  From the base of the mountain, it's about 26 miles to the top, with an overall elevation gain of almost 7,000ft.  ... which also means that the return trip has an elevation loss of almost 7,000ft.  Yikes.

A few months ago I joined a cycling team here in town.  I did it mostly so that I would have more people to ride with on a regular basis, but also because the team sometimes puts on clinics covering various topics related to biking and racing.  I signed up for a clinic on road climbing, thinking that the clinic would help me tackle my fear of riding up (and down!) the mountain.  Then I realized that everyone else signed up for the clinic had been riding on the mountain for quite some time already, and that showing up and having never tried the route was probably not the best idea.

I had to do it.  So, I made Josh do it with me a couple of weeks before the clinic.  We only went 5 miles up the mountain to Molino Basin (I think it's about 1,500 feet gain by that point), I stopped multiple times to catch my breath on the way up, and then I freaked out when we had to come back down the hill.  But, I did it.  And then I did it two more times on my own.  (Note to self: When climbing mountains on a bike, do not wait until midday when the sun is directly above you and temperatures are 90+ degrees.  Bad idea.)

The clinic yesterday was pretty helpful.  They covered pacing, how to read the inclines and know when to pick up speed on an uphill, turning corners, and downhill tactics.  It gave me a lot of good things to think about, although at this point I think practice is going to help me more than anything.  My biggest problem is that I'm a big chicken when it comes to riding downhill, on curvy roads, at high speeds.  Seeing my speedometer go above 30mph still freaks me out.  But, it would be nice to eventually get comfortable enough with the descent that I don't have cramped hands at the bottom of the mountain from gripping my brakes the entire way down.

Other than El Tour de Tucson, I'm not really planning on many races for the fall.  But I think this will be my new training goal.  Some day, I'll ride all 26 miles to the top of Mount Lemmon.  It won't be any time soon, but I'm going to start working on it, a little bit at a time.  And then maybe I'll just have to bribe somebody to drive my scaredy-cat butt back down from the top once I've gotten there.

Welcome to the Real World

It's official.  I am definitely not returning to graduate school in the fall.

*insert happy dance here*

I've been on a 'Leave of Absence' from the university this year, which basically means that I'm still in the university system until August, at which point I either re-enroll in classes or I don't.  If I do, it's like I never left.  If I don't, well, I'm out.  Although I was fairly certain a year ago that I didn't really want to continue my graduate career, I decided that taking a year off would allow me the opportunity to really think about things and perhaps get a better perspective on my situation and my feelings about everything.  I've taken the time, I've thought about it all, I've talked it out... and I'm not going back.

I've got a master's, and I'm happy with that.  I don't need a Ph.D.  I don't want to work in academia.  I don't want to spend 3-5 more years feeling stressed out and being broke.  I want free time, a reliable income, and a regular schedule.  Being a student until you're 30 or 35 years old is great for people who are happy with that sort of lifestyle... but I'm tired of it.  I'm ready to live my life as a normal adult.

(Click to enlarge.  Seriously, it's perfect.)

I finally pulled the plug and went to talk to my advisor today.  I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing, and the conversation was shockingly easy and non-stressful.  Considering that I hadn't made much of an effort to keep in touch or keep updated with her over the past nine months, I honestly don't think she was surprised by my news.  We spent most of the conversation catching up about the past year, talking about work and the department and summer plans.  I was telling her about my current work situation, what I've been up to, and she said, "So, you're planning to keep doing what you're doing, right?  I mean, you're not going to come back to the program."  It was hardly even a question at all.  And I said, "Yeah.  I'm going to keep doing this for now."  And that was it!  No drawn-out, uncomfortable silences, no awkward explanations, nothing.  I was kind of shocked, to tell you the truth.  Oh, and then she saw the Diet Coke in my hand and told me that I should really quit drinking that stuff, because, you know, it's bad for me.

For the time being, I'm going to continue with the jobs I have already.  I'm going away to New Mexico for 6 weeks starting May 29th, and then I'll come back and pick up where I left off.  I enjoy the flexibility I have right now, and will probably ride out this wave until it starts to wash away.  I foresee myself beginning a serious job search (for a real, permanent, full-time job) sometime in the late fall or winter of this year.  So for now, nothing changes.  That is, nothing except my state of mind, which is now slightly more at ease.

Maybe I need a 12-step program...

To people who spend any significant amount of time around me, this will come as no big surprise.  I have a not-so-secret dependence.  A vice.  A habit, if you will.  An addiction, even.  My body and my brain yearn for a certain substance constantly, and I experience withdraw symptoms after only a few hours of going without.  It is the first thing I reach for in the morning, and often the last thing I consume at night.  I have tried to quit in the past, but simply do not possess the strength to overcome my cravings.

Hi, my name is Meaghan.  And I'm a Diet Coke addict.

In the grand scheme of things, I realize that there are many worse things to get hooked on.  I fluctuate between convincing myself that the amount of soda I consume on a daily basis must be bad for me and simply not caring.  Rare are days that I drink less than three Diet Cokes, and although I never keep count, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that I put down as much as the equivalent of two liters on some days.  Common sense (and this bizarre comic) says that this can't be a good thing.

Apparently, I'm not crazy.  Diet soda addictions are a real thing, and lots of people have them.  Here's one article on the subject.  And it's true that you really can have withdraw symptoms from missing your Diet Coke in the morning!  So, maybe Josh should stop making fun of me for popping a can at 7am.

(Wow.  This sounds pretty dire, doesn't it?  I meant this to be more tongue-in-cheek than serious.  I really am hooked on Diet Coke, and although I do think I'd be better off if I cut back, I'm not exactly worried about it. I like the fizzy bubbly taste of it.  So sue me.)

I'm leaving for the field on May 29th.  For almost 6 weeks, I will be living in Mule Creek, New Mexico... more than an hour from the closest city, sleeping in my tent, and packing my apple-and-PBJ lunch every day from the communal food supply I'll share with 15 other people.  Unless I shuttle in my own supply of soda, it simply won't be available to me.  (And really, I think my precious packing space would be better served transporting Tecate.)  This, I've decided, is a good thing.  I'm going to take this opportunity to detox.  No Diet Coke for six weeks.  Maybe saying it here will hold me a bit more accountable?  Or, at the very least, it'll explain why I may be slightly bitchy for the first few days of the field season.  Or, why I may be spotted speeding away towards the closest country store in the middle of the night after day two...

Desert-Dwelling Monsters

I got to see my first Gila Monster in the wild!  Check it out!!

These guys are typically pretty solitary and nocturnal, so I've heard, which I assume is why I've never come across one until now.  They're the only venomous lizard native to the United States, but they move pretty slow and are generally not very much of a threat to humans.  (Just don't piss them off or stick your hand in their mouth.  That would be stupid.)

We took a sunset hike up in Sabino Canyon last weekend, and spotted this guy along the trail.  This one was about a foot long.  I hear they're good luck-- and considering that we managed to make it out of the canyon in the dark without getting eaten by mountain lions that night, maybe we should count our good fortune as having already worked its magic.  Although I'm not sure what kind of crazy mountain lion would want anything to do with this motley crew...