3 kinds of adversity training (loooong pic post)

This weekend I was "enjoying" 3 kinds of adversity training. Here they are.

1. Swimming with Elliott (my dragon)
Yesterday I went for a swim and had initially planned to do my first "quadrathlon" biking to the pool, swimming, biking back home and then run around the block. Unfortunately my favourite pool, the 50m pool, is closed on weekends during the summer. And this city applied for the olympic games in 2012! Anyway, there is only one indoor pool (outdoor pools are for fun in Leipzig and not for training) open during the summer holidays and that is located in the north of Leipzig. No biking to that one.

So since I couldn't go there with my bike Elliott started nagging, but I kicked butt and headed there via streetcar. When I got to the pool I was positively surprised when I got inside. On the outside the building looks rundown, but on the inside everything is fine and it costs less then going to the 5om pool. Good times. There were just the right amount of patrons swimming, not overcrowded, but I wasn't the only one either. But I had bad luck on eyecandy, nothing nice to see, definitely no triathletes but some 15 months pregnant men in swim briefs, ugh. ;-)
Anyway, I swam an hour for the first time in months. (I'm getting better with the timing, when I swam in January I hadn't been swimming in years!) The first few lanes were hurting and all through the hour of swimming I had to watch out, since several muscle were shortly before cramping. This remembers me I wanted to drink Magnesium, wait a sec...

Okay, I'm back with a glass of magnesium and I moved to our balcony enjoying the weather. Where was I? Oh yes, my muscles.

I didn't feel that well yesterday, so Elliott thought that 15 minutes of swimming were more than enough! After 30 minutes he really tempted me to get out of the water and back home, because I felt yucky. Nevertheless I stayed for the full hour, thanks to some old ladies who always got out of the pool when I wanted to leave, I don't need to see naked old ladies in the showers. Then I got out and headed home. At the pools streetcar stop I saw those three, aren't they the cutest things ever?




Back at home I ate some cottage cheese and took a nap. Which leads straight up to adversity training number

2. Staying awake.

Yes, you've read right. Problem is, since Friday I could sleep all day long and I feel yucky to no end. First I thought this was due to the weather or the stress of the assessment or whatever else, but no.
While eating lunch today it hit me: I had eaten tons of wheat this week. I don't have a full allergy to wheat or gluten, it depends totally on the amount I eat and this week it was obviously toooooo much, it simply adds up. It started on Monday and went on until Friday.

Wheat Food Diary:
Monday: 2 pain au chocolat
Tuesday: 1 bagel and some whole grain bread
Wednesday: 2 Spritzkuchen (something like german "doughnuts" only more fluffy, see pic below)
Thursday: 1 white flour roll and a Döner (with white bread)
Friday: Starbucks Chocolate Decadence Cake (or is it just chemistry? Doesn't matter it tastes divine!)


(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Mini-spritzkuchen-29.jpg)

All of this added up over the week, so that my body is in full out battle mode since Friday. This is also the reason why I was so sleepy on Friday, but slept like crap the night before. Even though, I still passed the project management test at class with 96% and I missed a whole day (Thursday)! Yes, I'm that fantastic.

Maybe I felt the first pressure of the Wrong Eating on Thursday, but I got that under control with an unintentional Starbucks Java Frappucino before I went to the assessment. (I came one train early, don't trust the Deutsche Bahn or you'll be lost.). I normally don't drink coffee and I ordered a Java Chocolate cream but she made a coffee one for some reason. Under other circumstances I would have given it back, but I figured I could use the caffeine to stay awake. (Universe helping me again?!) Since the assessment was scheduled for the time where I normally have my afternoon low and sink into a nap. Following you see the only pics I took on Thursday.




Since AZ asked for some explanation: This assessment center is for a postgraduate university. At which I'd like to make my Master of Science in International Management, but you can also make an MBA or an MA there. This program is special since you work for a company during those two years and the tuition, the traveling expenses and your "salary" (more like a grant) are payed by the company. The student works full time and has 2- or 3-day classes once a month and naturally some homework. The salary is pretty low, since the course costs quite a lot (mine is as usual the most expensive with 1184,- € a month) and the travel expenses don't come cheap either.
You can bring your "own" company or apply for one of the offered jobs. I applied for a job at Daimler / Mercedes, this job isn't open anymore, but there are some other new openings which are really interesting too, also Daimler.
Since I passed Thursdays assessment, my next steps are now to make the online competence test KODE (something like GMAT) and apply for the interesting jobs. I've already asked the universities key account managers on Friday evening for the contact information of the jobs that interest me. Originally I wanted to write the applications today and then just add the contact information tomorrow. But I didn't get around to make the online application training offered by the university yesterday, so I'll make some of the training after I finished this post and write the applications tomorrow.

Now, wanna know something funny? My Mom is scared by my determination to get into this program. She literally told me so on Friday, after I got the information that I passed Thursdays assessment. This is probably due to the fact that she never saw me work for something that I want and certainly not this determined. We also had a quarrel, since she again needed to tell me, that there is the chance that I might not get the Daimler job. She doesn't seem to grasp the fact that I know that, but I still do everything in my ability to get this job. Parents,... (insert annoyed sigh here)

Okay. 3rd adversity training: Picking strawberries on thistle field.
Huh?
Well, you can selfpick strawberries on a near field. Trouble or adversity was: There were as much thistles on this field as strawberry plants!! We nevertheless succeeded in finding and picking some strawberries even though my forearms were red from the thistles afterwards. Elliott was whining and Dads dragon wailed right along with Elliott (nice cacophony). Especially, since we got there really early, 9AM. We (Dad and me) got back at 10:30 AM with one full basket and I got back to bed to sleep until lunch at 1 PM.

Now I'm sitting on the balcony and enjoying the lovely summer weather in the shadow of the canvas blind. Yessss, that's a Sunday as I like it. Tonight, my parents and I will watch summer theater at the Gohlis Castle, it's a play by J.W. von Goethe. I'm quite excited since I love open air theatre, especially when I don't have to pay for it (parents pay). ;-) Here is a pic from the castle for Big Daddy. I'll see if I can take some more pictures at the venue and from the play for you tonight.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Gohliser_Schloesschen_Leipzig_2.jpg)

That's it. Hope your weekends were as relaxed as mine and have a good start in the new week.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!