I bet you thought I was....

I bet you though I died during my last Marathon and that's why I haven't been blogging?

That's about the last time I blogged, just before that race of 26.2 miles happened. Well I've got good news. I did not die. I'm still around, and I'm still running. I just am not blogging (we will refrain from excuses and pretend 2 months have not passed). The Virginia Beach "Shamrock" Marathon was awesome. In fact, it Sham-rocked. I had a PR at 3:55. Only a minute faster than my last PR but I felt infinitely better throughout the race, and despite my calves cramping in the last 2 miles, I may have finished at 3:50. So, Ill consider it a success and get another PR next time. Whether the PR was due to the fact I had a "good day", I trained better this time, the weather was great, or I was just running faster to get to the free Yuengling at the end of the race...I'm not really sure, but the beer sure did taste just as good as I thought it would. Jerry was nice enough to come with me and watch me run 26 miles which I am sure was sooo exciting for him. I actually give him props on his first "almost-half-marathon" since he reports that he walked 12 miles in order to see me as many times as he could along the course. I have a great catch here. However, I was not sympathetic of complaints of sore feet or chafing on the ride home. I had enough complaints of my own that needed sympathizing.

The champion and the chafer

Now that I have recovered fully, the running continues. The Detroit Free Press Marathon is in my future. I have high hopes to get my mother to run it as well...that may be a long distant hope, but we can see how much persuading I can do. The weather in Winston keeps getting hotter (while the nightlife remains cold and unlively), and the humidity is slowly melting me like the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch of Wake Forest. That's me. Oh what a world, what a world.

Fortunately, not too much has happened to me in the last 2 months. I have successfully just completed my first year of Graduate school here at Wake. I still work crazy hours for my advisor, Dr. Messier, and I still work at HELPS. In fact, the most recent job at HELPS has been to retrieve UFO's (Unidentified Fallen Objects) from a mystery (or not so mystery) patient....however I personally think we should replace Unidentified with Identified...because there is no doubt to any of us what those fecal, I mean fallen objects are. Oh HELPS, new adventures daily. I know, you all want my job.

This marks the return of my blogging; while this is not one of my best or most entertaining posts, it will serve as a "coming back". And now that I am officially done with all my grad school classes EVER, I can no longer use that as an excuse. More to come...stay tuned.

Turkey Day Thanks(giving)

I went home to the best state in the US this last week (Ohio) for Turkey Time. I ran 40 miles while I was home and during these miles - I had a lot of time to think. Since I am crazy and run so much, I also do a lot of thinking. I think about 40 miles a week. I wonder how many thoughts per mile I average. Anyways, on a longer run I started to think of things I was thankful for...you know to try and get me in the thanksgiving spirit...

My Thankfulness List:

1) I'm thankful for where I am today. I am one of 8 HES graduate students attending Wake Forest University, one of the top in the country.

2) I'm thankful for any faculty member who has ever pushed me to be where I am today. This more than anything includes Dr. Vanderburgh, Dr. Seay, and Dr. Laubach - who pushed me more than I had wanted at the time, but have made me who I am and have given me the abilities to be where I am today. (Even though I will attribute my adherence to their pushing to Dr.Vanderburgh's stunning looks and my desire to always want to impress him)

3) The runners who have inspired me to keep running when it hurts. My iPod especially. She ran her 2nd marathon last week and would have BQed had she not vomit 6 times between miles 20 and 21 - her passion for running always seems to give me the extra boost I need to keep going. Other runners include Paul Vanderburgh (aka Dr...but in a running world, he is Paul), Dr. Messier (who is 60 and still cooking marathons 3:20), and my mother.

which brings me to...

4) My mother. One of the most amazing and inspiring people I have ever met - started running a couple months ago and is now running a half marathon with me this weekend. She is one of the most cool tempered people I know. She inspires me every day to be more like her. You can tell she loves what she does, even if she does have bad days...and sometimes it is all I need to keep my going.

5) Paul Vanderburgh's good looks. A couple examples: "You should run a marathon" Okay, Ill run 2. "You should go to grad school". Okay, Ill go to the best in the country. "You should present this research in Seattle". Okay, anything for you, Ill even pay for it.

5) Jerry Patterson*. I cant even being to talk about how thankful I am for this stud. He is the reason I wake up every morning with a smile, and why I go to sleep smiling. He makes my hardest weeks easy, just knowing he is waiting to see me on the weekend. He can always make me laugh even if the worst has happen (like I get a B on an exam...God forbid). His way of dealing with things is so admirable that I can only hope that some day I can be understanding and loving towards everyone as him. I am thankful for every minute we spend together, whether it be in Chicago or Boston exploring new cities or it be on my couch watching NFL football while he plays fantasy (gross....ITS A FANTASY).

6) The Green House Girls. My best friends. The 8 girls I lived and spent all my time with at Dayton. I cant be more thankful for them. They will always be there for me, no matter what happens, and I always love getting the email updates to see who the new flavor of the weeks are for most of them. The affairs, the gossip, the drama...we all thrive for it, but no one ever wants to be a part of it. While they are all far far away from me now, and I am in lonely old W-S with no friends and a pile of homework up to my chin, I still call them my best friends and they always will be.

8) Chocolate. God's gift.

So these things were just a couple things that I could think of that I am eternally thankful for, and I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for any of them (especially chocolate, because I would be 20 pounds lighter). So now for left overs (which I can also say I'm thankful for)



*Jerry...just an inside joke to protect his identity....so no other girlys reading my blog can look him up and take him away from me ;)