First, I mentioned in my last post that I was going to be doing a Fe (Iron) Man challenge over the course of a month. This means from today Sept 11 through October 11th I need to walk 26.2 miles, swim 2.4 miles and bike 112 miles!!! Now I try to take Prim on a walk every day, and our walks are usually at least a mile long, and often 1.5 miles long. And I try to go swim laps at least once or twice a week, and often do close to a mile every time. So I'm not worried at all about getting the walking and swimming parts done, but 112 miles!!! Are you serious!! What are these iron man people thinking?? They do this all in one day!! This week I have biked twice, and man it's tough even just on a stationary bike. But I like this challenge, and I'm a competitive person so I'm hoping having this challenge will help me push myself. Today was the first day of the challenge so I started off with a bang, I walked Prim for 1.5 miles and then I went to the gym where I ran into my SIL Noelle who was there to do a family Zumba, so I joined them for the last 15 min and then biked 7 miles which was TOUGH! But I watched 2 episodes of The Wonder Years on Netflix and that made it easier for sure!
Well as if 1.5 miles walking and 7 miles biking and a little Zumba wasn't enough, I decided to walk/jog another 1.5 miles on the treadmill. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I have a goal to run a 5k, so I've sorta started training for that some day. I downloaded the C25K app and while I can't do even the week 1 workouts, I modify the workout to make it work for me, it will take me longer than the program says it will take but baby steps right! So all in all in my first day of the challenge I did 7 miles biking and 3 miles walking/jogging. Tomorrow I plan to bike another 7 miles and swim at least 20 laps, also I'll probably take Prim on a mile walk. Needless to say I'll be pretty tired this next month!
Ok now for topic number TWO! I have had a goal/ dream since before graduating from BYU-Idaho to get a graduate degree, I have a lot of interests and I had a hard time figuring out what I would want to major in. I've often though of law school, but I don't really want to be an attorney, I just think it would be interesting to study law. I would LOVE to get a masters in diplomacy, but the program is very competitive and not near where I am.
Since I now own a house and have to work full time I'm a bit limited in my options. I found a program that I fell in love with, and that is a Masters of Public Administration. I have had my eye on getting that degree for several years now, but with my current job I work 60 hours a week, at a minimum, and I just had a hard time thinking about adding anything to that schedule.
Well about 2 weeks ago I heard from someone in my church who works at Sullivan University here in Louisville that they had a grant and they were willing to give it to someone interested in going back to school. When I saw that my interest was peaked, but I still have the scheduling issues. I did a little research on how much it would cost me to get that degree at UofL, vs Sullivan and I found out it would cost me a ton more, so I figured, why not I'll go for it. So I applied to Sullivan, they don't have an MPA degree, but they have a similar degree, Masters of Public Management.
It's been a bit of a whirlwind ever since, I have been talking to an admissions rep almost every day, and today I had an appointment with a financial aide advisor, and to top it all off I got this in the mail today:
So it's real guys... I'll be going back to school SEPTEMBER 28TH!!! So while I'm still looking for another job, I'm really hoping to stay at Humana because one of the things making this degree affordable (and so I don't have to take out a ton of student loans) is the tuition reimbursement program Humana offers. But until I find something new, I will be working 60 hours a week, and I'll be doing this Iron Man challenge until Oct 11th, and I'll be going to school Online full time for the next 18 months!!
So if over the next 18 months when you see me I look a little frazzled, tired, overwhelmed, well it's because I am! I'm certainly nervous about going back to school, I love learning and I love the competition of being in a class, but I haven't been in school for 4 years and I haven't had to challenge my brain in any way over the past 4 years. SO I will welcome any prayers and good vibes you guys want to send my way.
So as the title of my post says, I don't think I'm living on the edge for the next year and a half, I'm living beyond the edge!! Wish me luck!!
Above is a pic of Prim emulating how I'm going to be feeling for the next 18 months :)
