Sunday night blues

I'm really, really not looking forward to the next three weeks: the last week of class, intense studying, and three final exams. I am not a test-taker. As much as I feel like I know the information or studied my hardest, I just never seem to be able to put it together on the exam. Last semester exam period was extremely stressful and anxiety-ridden. I couldn't sleep. I didn't see daylight. I had nightmares. Even after exams were over, I still had nightmares for a week just from all the anxiety. So not looking forward to this...

To make matters worse, my hamstring-hip-butt thing is bothering me again. I think it's this thing called Piriformis syndrome. It's this weird tightness/pain that moves around my left side. It's more uncomfortable than actually hurting, but it makes running not fun. I feel like I'm slowly turning into a blob. Still, I am at a loss of what to do make it feel better. It actually seems to feel better going faster and going up hill. Unfortunately (and, maybe this is the problem?) there are no hills in Denver. I felt great over spring break when I was hitting the mountain trail runs (lots of up hill and change in terrain seemed to really stretch out the muscles), but basically every run here in Denver is flat. flat. flat. The mountains are snowy, and who has time to go during end-of-the-semester and finals?

I got a pair of new running shoes yesterday, so maybe that will help. Sports Authority has this great deal - it's basically $5 insurance on shoes you buy there and you can go back anything within 1 year and get a free new pair! Each time you get a new pair, if you just pay the $5 fee you're entitled to another free pair within a year. $5 shoes over and over again! This is great for me because I run through (ha, no pun intended) a pair of shoes in about 3 months. And, I'm one of those cheap grad students who scours the clearance rack. I have managed to find my Nike Bowerman Series shoes 3 times now on clearance for $50. Took my old shoes for a last run on Highline trail. Pretty snowy and wet, but actually about 55 degrees and sunny. Got in an hour of tight-slow-dead leg running.