If at first you don't succeed...

Well this week again has been more actuary than running. Which in part, has been good as it has allowed my body to rest a little. It has also been in part terrible, it has meant I had to sit my CA3 exam (again).

Now the CA3 exam has become my nemesis, if I were Batman CA3 would be the Joker. I have had two of the trickier maths exams which I've failed twice and had to sit a third time but this week I attempted CA3 for the fourth time! Now the really annoying thing is it is a communications exam, all I have to do is write a short letter and prepare and give a 10 minute presentation!  This compared to some of the exams I have passed seems crazy that this one has become my nemesis. The other really annoying thing is that to sit this exam costs £400 a pop, so repeatedly failing CA3 is not a desirable habit to have.

This time round, I was keen to make a few small changes that would be the difference between a marginal fail and a pass. Something that I read in the news recently was about some research that was completed which provided evidence that good looking people are more likely to succeed in life, just because they are good looking. Now this is not something that has occurred to me before.  Usually by the time I get to an exam I look my worst, I will have not shaved for about a week, my skin will be spotty and belly will be swollen due to all the unhealthy 'study' snacks that I comfort myself with and I usually have terrible exam dreams the night before so I won't have slept all that well. All meaning I arrive at the exam hall looking like I've been living on the streets for some time.

Thankfully this doesn't usually matter as they have all been written exams so far and the examiner only sees my lovely neat writing! The presentation for CA3 is different though, I have to video record the presentation online for the examiner to watch, it's an extremely awkward experience. One of the commonly asked questions that students ask the examiner is if they are expected to wear business dress and the examiner always answers that they do not. However, I have decided that the examiner has some subconscious bias against students that look like hobos. This time I therefore set out to look as good as possible to test the theory that good looking people succeed. So for this exam I went all out suit, shirt and tie (I even ironed them), I had a shave, gelled my hair, put on my "party" glasses even went as far to remove any unsightly nasal hairs (as video camera was facing in that direction).

Unfortunately I'm no Brad Pitt, but this was by far the best I ever looked for an exam!

(the view the examiner will get to enjoy)

I had one  or two technical difficulties with the exam but by the end of the day it was all submitted and I just have the painful 12 week wait while the Faculty mark my two page letter and 10 minute presentation!

Although I can let you into a small exam secret that the examiner will never know, my top half was in actuary mode but my bottom half was ready for a run...

(the full picture) 

Well fingers cross it will be fourth time lucky, but hey becoming an actuary is a marathon not a sprint, I will just have to try, try, try again.

Vital Stats

Thanks to my exam this week I only managed one run this week but now it's out of the way all my focus is on getting fitter for the big day.

Time run this week -  2 hours 0 minutes
Distance covered this week - 18.2km
Distance covered since beginning of training - 229.3km
Average pace - 6 minutes 35 seconds

Donor of the week

I was very pleased earlier this week to receive a donation from my colleague Diane:

My good friend Diane until recently had the misfortune of sitting about 2 feet away from me every day. Diane also managed recently to pass the CA3 exam (at the first time of asking) which I am very jealous about. She also makes an awesome chocolate cheesecake, some people have just got it all.

Thanks Diane

Please give generously!

We are now just 8 short weeks away from the big day so if you would love the chance to be donor of the week and at the same time help a great cause that contributes to loads of different charities then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false