A running & research long weekend - Part 1

This long weekend is the type of weekend that I adore. A lot of economics and a lot of running.

First stop: Virginia Beach, VA for the 2012 Virginia Association for Economists Annual Meeting. It all kicks off today with our Board of Directors Meeting, followed by the plenary session. For the first time I will be presenting in this session. I will be discussing the results from my work with the IPOR on Virginia Consumer Sentiment. After a second afternoon session, there is a small break and then a dinner. Two of my students will arrive this afternoon. Marko Krkeljas and Nathan Castellano are presenting their papers from econometrics in the student research session Friday morning. I will chair their session tomorrow and am excited to see them show off their hard work.

Second stop: Wilmington, NC for the 2012 Quintiles Marathon at Wrightsville Beach on Sunday. The plan is to leave VA Beach Friday around lunch to make it to ILM for dinner with my mom. I will have all day Saturday to rest and get ready for the marathon.

This blog post is a part of a series of this filled weekend. Staying calm will be crucial to presenting well today and running well Sunday.

Day 1 - Travel
I had a great send off yesterday by Macy and Dean. It is always so hard to leave these cute little faces, but it has to be done.

I drove from home to Lexington and stopped at Washington and Lee University to get in my last workout before the marathon. I used the beautiful track there and got to see my husband at work. He was in the middle of a pole vault session with some of his athletes. A beautiful day to be at the track.

After lunch with Brandon I hit the road again and made my way to Virginia Beach.The traffic was light. The only surprise was my first experience paying over $4.00/gallon for gas at a station outside of Williamsburg. With my Kroger Card discount (thank you Shell for taking it!) I still paid $4.09/gallon! As I watched dollars flow out of my wallet and into my gas tank I thought about the drain on the economy that this will take over the summer. It will be tough for folks to make summer trips paying that price at the pump.  

I am staying at a hotel next door to the host hotel so that I could bring our little poodles Millie (named after my favorite economist Milton Friedman) and Lily. They are great company and a calming influence.

Before I got to work on my presentation, I went out and stood in the 50 degree ocean to ice my legs. My legs have been feeling heavy and I hope that icing a few times will help. My goal running-wise over the next few days is to stop thinking about how "bad" I have been feeling over the last few weeks and start thinking about all of the work that I have put in to get me ready for Sunday.

Day 2 - Presentation Prep

This morning I finished up my presentation. I am using Prezi for the first time. It looks amazing. Move over PowerPoint! You can find a copy of the presentation here: http://prezi.com/_ab6nznmpm8f/consumer-sentiment-in-virginia/ Although I am always anxious when I use a new medium in front of an audience. Practice, practice.

The view from my room this morning was inspiring. How can a presentation not be successful when you start the day with this view!

The second installment of this blog series will detail the presentation and other events of Day 1 at the VAE. Off to practice my Prezi...