Zzzzzzzz

The combination of sleeping in too much over the weekend, staying up too late watching the Olympics, and pleasantly cool weather this morning made it tough to crawl out of bed.  But the Olympics comes but once every four years and the kind of weather that makes you want to stay in bed is usually the best for running (well, not snow or thunderstorms) so I'm glad I stayed up late and got up early despite my sagging eyelids now.

While we've missed watching a number of Olympic events, we have managed to catch a lot of the highlights, too.  So far my favorites have been watching Usain Bolt win the 100m, watching Oscar Pistorius ("the fastest man on no legs") run in the 400m semi-final, and, of course, the drama that is women's gymnastics.

The thing I find funny about women's gymnastics is that - except for Gabby - they all approach each event as if they are going to face a firing squad:

Could I have a cigarette and sparkly blindfold, please? [source]

I mean, I understand why.  Not only do you have the pressure of performing on an international stage, you have the pressure of not doing irreparable damage to your body ala Kerri Strug.  But still, a little smile might be nice.

Although a lot of the "big" events are already over, I'm still looking forward to the men's 200m, watching Gabby on the uneven bars, and, of course, the marathon at the end of the week.

Today's big project is to finish a talk I have to give on Wednesday morning so I have time to practice it and make revisions tomorrow.  I think I'm in much better shape with this one than the one I gave two weeks ago (the topic is much easier) but I still have a lot of work to do.  I haven't finished the results yet, and I haven't put any effort into the discussion section, which - along with the introduction - takes the most time.  Wish me luck!