111925_stress fuel

early start

I had an early start to my workday because there was something I had to fix. It ended up taking me 4-ish hours (6 in total), but at least the issue is resolved.

after-work treat

With the early start to the day (7), I logged off earlier than usual (16:30) and treated myself to a run. I was going to do the entire zone 2 thing, so I focused on the "conversational" nature of easy runs. Turns out I can speak comfortably in full sentences when my heart rate is around 160-170.

I'm really just trying to focus on form after my injuries rather than keeping myself within strict heart-rate zones because my form tends to break down when I run slow enough to the point I am more prone to injuries.

brainstorming

The hardest part of writing application essays/statements/etc. is brainstorming and coming up with something creative, but not too delusional and unrealistic. I've been using Claude and ChatGPT for brainstorming, and it's interesting to see how they differ in their response and feedback.

So far, Claude has given me the kind of raw & honest feedback I would like someone to give on my writing, so I've been branching off some of those ideas to revise/rewrite my first draft.

I'm probably going to have multiple versions of my SoP by the end of this application cycle – we'll have to see about that.

Welp, tomorrow's office day, so that's it for today.

Ael