Not to Brag...

In honor of my very favorite blogger...or really the only other blogger I really follow consistently, and who kinda made me want to blog so I could try and be as funny as her (see: MEP at Not To Brag)...no pressure MEP :), I thought I would dedicate a post to why I think I am so awesome (NTB).

NTB...I am running my third marathon on Sunday...Virginia Beach ahhh - I'M READY!!!

NTB...I go to WAKE FOREST!

NTB...My first article, from undergrad, just got published. Check it out - www.pubmed.gov and type 'Hoops ML' into the search bar. I am so pumped!

NTB...I've lost 8 pounds since July (I guess graduating from UD and not drinking 5 nights a week will do that?)

NTB...Wake Forest won in OT last night with a buzzer beater

NTB...Jerry is coming over tonight and I'm dishing up something special without setting off fire alarms (I guess this is a pending NTB)

NTB...It's 70 and sunny today here in North Carolina (so I opened a window)

I think that will do for now because frankly I cant brag about the amount of school work I have to do on this beautiful Friday.

Thanks MEP for such an awesome blog! And such a catching line! Hope you don't mind me stealing your creativity ;)

My Body Hates Me

Let me run you through the conversation I had with myself today....or better yet, the argument I had with my body today. Keep in mind my marathon in March 21....a mere 11 days away. I realize I did not ever blog about that. Now you know. Lucky number 3.

Kenz: I think I will go for a run
Legs: Are you serious
Kenz: Just a quick 40 min run or so, I didn't have a long run this weekend, so you can handle it
Legs: Psh, didn't have a long run. Who defines "long" anyways? Try being me and recruiting all these muscles to put one leg in front of the other. Then, try to absorb all this shock that me and knees have to put up with. We are through with you. We quit. We are fatigued.
Heel: Um, I hurt. Remember Kenz? I have this pump bump. It's from you wearing high heels on the weekends and dancing, and then attempting to hit me repeatedly on the ground 40-50 miles a week. Legs...geeze, you think YOU have it hard?
Kenz: Okay, here we go. Quick run, suck it up legs and heel. After all, its 70 and sunny and you have been doing school work all day. And its SPRING BREAK.

3 minutes later...
Heel: ow. ow. ow. Don't mind me, I only have a giant hump that is inflamed and digging into your shoe, making it agonizing to run.
Kenz: Maybe we should go back
Legs: Yes
Heel: Yes
Kenz: SIKE. no. Marathon is in 11 days. If we can't run a mile today, no way we'll make it 26.2 then. We go on.
Heel: I hate you.
Legs: 26? I did not sign up for this.

15 minutes in....
Kenz: Oh heel pain is going away, that's good! See, ya'll, this is not so bad.
Heel: Thanks for taking those painkillers before you went. Now I'm just swelling and chafing and progressing my injury so it hurts more later when the drugs wear off.
Legs: Kenz, seriously? 50 miles last week and you want to run more this week. I was not made to do this. We are not Kenyan here. I am only going along with this so we can get home sooner. Just wait for the charlie horses I'm going to give you tonight, bitch.
Digestive System: Hey Kenz! Remember that sushi and all that wine you had last night? And that Sonic Cheeseburger you had for lunch? It may be making a re-appearance.
Kenz: This is going to be a very long 20 more minutes.

5 minutes later....
Digestive System: PORTA POTTY!?!?!
Kenz: Oh my god, I need a porta potty.
Legs: You expect to run 50 miles last week, then go for a quick jog today, AND then expect ME to squat over a porter potty? You are crazy.
Kenz: I need to eat healthier.
Digestive System: Fried food. Beer. Mexican. Mmmmmm
Kenz: porta potty!!!

2 minutes later....post porta potty....
Legs: I hate you.
Digestive System: I'll be back in 5.
Kenz: I do not feel better.
Heel: (slurring) Whats the street name for this stuff?
Kenz: 5 minutes from home. This is ending early.

So here I am, a painful 35 minute run. An ongoing argument between my entire body. Other runners I know definitely have these conversations. I think maybe it's because I run without an Ipod? My body is ready for this ridiculous training to be over. Once again, I need to stress that...runners are crazy. I am crazy. Today was a "bad run". Tomorrow hopefully will be better. The marathon will go on.

Legs: Have you EVER heard of a day off?
Kenz: I run in my free time.

My not so secret obsession with Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

Who? God bless you? What? Before I come out and admit my most recent obsession I need to preface it with a video. I would like you to watch this and tell me your not impressed.

Who is that girl singing? Why don't I have her CD? Why don't I know who she is? Well...you just may. Why of course, it is Lady Gaga. Pre-gaga. I am not embarrassed to admit my obsession with her. In fact, it's kind of like being in a new relationship where you want to tell everyone about her and how wonderful she is and all her accomplishments in life. Hey, Mom, I met this great new lady, I cant wait till you meet her!

I can't help it. Her music is so jumpy and I can't help but crank it and sing along to Bad Romance or better known as the RAH-RAH-AH-AH-AH song. I have already listened to it twice this morning. It started early, with Poker face and Paparazzi, and it just blossomed from there. I didn't really realize how bad it was until a couple weekends ago, Jerry asked me "If you have dinner with one person dead or alive who would it be?"...and my answer, admittedly, was Lady Gaga (or Jimmy Buffet..which is another post all together). Then, I joined twitter just so I could follow her tweets. And I found myself getting upset when they were in German sometimes and I didn't know what she was saying. Yikes.

I love her music, I love her music videos (My personal favorite), I love her style (can you call it that?), I love that she may have some male..appendages making her Lady (?) Gaga, I love her hair bow...see below, I love how excited I get when I hear her music, I love her interviews (if you have never heard one, I encourage you to youtube one - she is an intelligent lady), that being said...I love her brain, I love her uniqueness, I love the new telephone song with Beyonce (while we are on it...I love Beyonce). I mean it only makes sense, she idolized David Bowie. How could you not love her? We should stop, I can't get any more excited at 9:30 on a Saturday morning.

What does concern me is when I tell people about my love for her. Their response is typically "yeah, I can see that, Kenz" or "you would love Lady Gaga", my classmates have even asked "When is Gaga coming out again?" referring to ME as Gaga. What do these people think of me?! I don't know if I am offended or flattered. More so, I just have a lot to live up to. I'm just a little monster. This is what she calls her following. Those little monsters. I may be the biggest Little Monster.

WHERE CAN I GET ONE OF THOSE?!

So, guilty pleasure? Obsession? A little maybe, but we are all guilty of them. Who are yours? New Kids on the Block? Backstreet Boys? Chumbawumba? I'm a little upset to be referring to Lady Gaga as one of these guilty-pleasure bands, but, it pains me to say it that she probably is. In my defense, I never jumped on "Spice Girls" in the 5th grade - so I can have my kicks now with Gaga. After all, I'm a free bitch baby.

Superkenz

I am known to take on more than I can handle....scratch that. I can handle everything, duh. Better...I like to be busy, and I like stay busy. I like to be successful more than anything, and you have to work hard to be successful. Or cheat, but I like to stay ethical. I usually have the mentality "I can sleep when I die". Sounds just about right. I don't get too much enjoyment out of sitting on a couch watching television..unless it is Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, or The Office. (Oh my god, I sound like a 60 year old). Jerry will back this up as it drives him nuts on a hungover Sunday when I exclaim "I'm bored" repeatedly and all I want to do is "someeeeeeetihng". Maybe I'm more of a 6 year old than a girlfriend or a 60 year old. Anyways, this is what has been keeping me busy lately...

SEACSM aka "Nerd Haven". Imagine this... research and posters on physiology, cardiology, psychology, chemistry, biology, engineering and how they all related and tie into exercise. Throw in a couple professors, speakers at 7 AM on a Saturday morning, free wine at a reception dinner, a paid for trip by WFU, and a new notepad filled up with notes on concussions, biomech analysis, transporter cells, SIX1 expression, and exercise and pregnancy and you have the getaway of a life time! Last weekend, our class traveled to Greenville, SC for the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine Conference. This is annual thing that Wake sends all the graduate students, and some of the staff to in order to see what the new lines of research are in our field. I think they also send you there to see just how "free spirited" a couple of your professors can be. A couple examples....

Dr. Berry (a eccentric..very eccentric WFU professor AND the Chair of our department) receives the ACSM Service Award at the opening night Presidents Lecture. Not to brag, I know him. But oh, did I leave out the part where he unbuckles his belt upon receiving it and is referred to as an exhibitionist? WE. ARE. WAKE FOREST.

Dr. Marsh, straight from Australia, tells myself and another classmate after defeating us in yet another game of pool, (be sure to use your best Aussie accent) "the foreigners win again, take that you Americans"... (let me not leave out the fact that I may have started this after making a tricky shot and yelling "F*** yeah, AMERICA". Oh beer.)

HELPS Winter Banquet. From previous posts, HELPS is the cardiac rehab facility I work at here at Wake. Every year they have an awards banquet for the participants. "Congratulations, Tom, you've been in the program for 20 years!". This momentous occasion was held last night. Let me try and sell this one to you. Old people, lots of them. Church setting. Door prizes (lucky me I got a hand knitted blue purse...good I was looking for something to match my long sleeve, floor length gown). Coleslaw. Lots of loud talking due to lots of hearing aids. LIVE Bluegrass music. "When I had my first heart attack..." talks. Old people smell. Pictures of everything taken by our lovely, dementia-driven, photographer, who may need a bigger dose of whatever it is she is taking. You get my drift...an experience, none the less. They all love it though, and it is very rewarding knowing how much they really do appreciate everything we do for them.

studying, working, reading, teaching, grading. This is what takes up the majority of my time. I would bore you with what I read, what I teach, what I grade, but I'll spare you, and myself, the time. After all, the sooner I get done posting this, the sooner I can get back to studying for an exam I have tomorrow on Stress*

Being Excited. I am typically always excited about something. This has been escalated with a trip to West Palm Beach this weekend with my mama, Dayton next weekend for a Green House* reunion and a celebration of a Green House Girl ENGAGEMENT, and a trip to Kiawah Island for Spring Break with Jerry and friends from college, and my Marathon the next weekend....oh man it is hard to contain all my emotions. I am basically peeing my pants right now as I type I am so excited for all these trips and events and oh my gosh, FUN (minus the running 26 mile thing).

Running like a mad woman (while we are one it). This is pretty constant in all my busy weeks - but recently it has taken a turn from "I run a lot" to "I am crazy". Last week I ran 52 miles, this week I will do it again. I am sore all day, every day, my feet are too gross to share, but the Shamrock Marathon (VA Beach) is in less than 5 weeks and I am determined to be ready.

Losing weight?! I'll leave it right there, I don't want to jinx it.

So, as you can see, I am Superkenz, doing it all and saving the world at the same time. I try to not complain or get stressed because, quite simply, I love living my life and doing everything that I do. And that's all she wrote (do I have to site this?).




*Stress. Okay, Ill bore you a little bit because it's interesting. We discuss in my health Psychology class that stress is not real. It is what you perceive it to be. We all have stressors, these are the inevitable, traffic, noise, deadlines, relationships, etc...but who is to say that these stressors have to be perceived as stress? Interesting concept, I will leave it at that for you to think about. Try and catch yourself next time and don't let it turn into a negative thinking. I sound like Gandhi.

*The Green House. Always Capitalized. An accumulation of trainwrecks that lived in a Green House at UD. My best friends. Bad decisions and worse hangovers.
The Green House girls on the Green House porch, minus a couple...don't let the smiles and nice clothing fool you

My Favorite Foods....in a very particular order

#1: Cheeseburgers. Good ones that weigh half a pound and the grease drips down your arm when you take a bite. Not some silly BigMac. I like to take mustard, ketchup, and a little mayo and swirl it together til it makes a new orange sauce that it rather delicious. I like cheddar cheese. No mozzarella. No pepperjack. Cheddar. I like it cooked medium, I like it pink inside. I like to have it with lettuce and a whole wheat bun (because of course, I am healthy). When OI'm feeling randy I like grilled onions and grilled peppers on it. I like jalapenos on it. I like ranch dressing on it. I think I want a cheeseburger for lunch.

#2: Chocolate Covered Strawberry's. Oh my gosh so delicious. However, I attempted to make these yesterday for Jerry and I's romantic valentines day dinner and they did not taste any better than they looked.

#3: Belgium Waffles: Light and Crispy. This will change your life

#4: Broccoli. Kind of embarrassed to add this to the list but I just couldn't not put it on. (after all, I am supposed to promote health). I like it steamed, stir-fried, in a casserole, raw, baked, with a cheeseburger, or any other way you can prepare broccoli.

#5: Ranch Dressing. I am not lying when I say I could drink this. I enjoy it on everything. Cheeseburgers, french fries, I cant eat pizza without it, chicken nuggets, potato chips, tortilla chips, broccoli, celery, carrots, burritos, tacos, nachos, my fingers......

Hold the bacon, please



I promise I haven't been neglecting this blog, I just have been lazy and busy (if you can do both of those things).......more of Ms. Kenz to come :)

Fish Burps

Getting a Masters in Health and Exercise Science makes me believe I should live the healthiest of lifestyles.

I run 5 days a week because if I didn't then I would be a hypocrite.

I try to steer away from fast food and junk food (not well, but I try) because that's what healthy people do.

I don't smoke because its repulsive (oh, and unhealthy).

I take a multi-vitamin every day because that sounds like it should be healthy.

I feel like I get questions about this kind of stuff frequently. Lots of people will ask me what kind of vitamins they should take, or when is the best time to drink a protein shake?, Whats the magic way to lose weight?, Should I eat more calcium? More Zinc?, My back hurts - what can I take? Stop here. My back really does hurt.

I typically can't answer any of these questions having to do with nutrition - my only answers are what I read online or what nutritionists I work with tell me (which I do understand is more QT than most Americans spend with a nutritionist so I give myself credit on some of my knowledge). I am pretty good at making up answers however, not to brag, so consider yourself warned next time you ask me a nutrition question - I may know it...but I also may be bullshitting you on what I think sounds good.

I asked one of my classmates, a (very fast) runner, a healthy person (like all of us, duh), and also a girl who is up on her nutritional supplements (or could be a good bullshitter like me - but I'm willing to believe her) about this back pain that I'm sure as a 22 year old pain I should be having. She recommended taking fish oil - said helps with joint pain. (not to mention it helps with lots of other things...helping control cholesterol levels and reduced inflammation around the body - not only in the joints...but of course, I knew all that)

I thought I would give it a try...
I started last week.
The pills are large.
And urine-colored.
I ended shortly after.
My burps smell like fish.
It's so rancid it makes me want to throw up.
Don't let the cutesy wootsy design fool you


No joking, they were miserable. Any little big of indigestion you had was awful. I guess I didn't even realize how much you have those little burps that no one else even notices until I was trying will all my might to NOT have them. However, the 3 days I made it through them - I am convinced my back was feeling better - not as stiff and my runs were smoother. I just cant deal with the burps. Anyone take fish oil? Can you handle it? Other suggestions for joint pain? (stop running 40 miles a week is not an option) I've heard flax seed is supposed to be good...but I don't know how I feel about burping up flax. After all, I don't even know what flax is.

New Day, New Year, New Resolutions

Happy 2010. Two thousand Ten? Twenty Ten? Haven't yet decided what I want to call it - so typically you get Two Twenty Ten out of my mouth. Incorrect, but you know what I mean.

The Holiday was good. Colder than those living in the south can handle, but for me, a northerner or a "yankee" as they like to call me, enjoy the cold and the 10 and 20 degree temperatures. I am however, a little upset I went an entire Christmas and New Years without seeing any copious amounts of snowfall. Landing in Detroit a couple days before Christmas there was an inch on the ground, and thats all I ever saw. Bah Humbugh. I got to spend 4 days home in glorious Ohio, doing nothing except drinking more than I should, eating a lot more than I should, and running a lot less than I should. Whatever, thats what New Years resolutions are for right?

New Years Resolution One: Drink Less. Yeah right.
New Years Resolution Two: Eat Less...or maybe just healthier, I could do without the handfuls of chocolate chips at 11:30p
New Years Resolution Three: Hit the gym. I run, sure, but this flappy stuff under my butt and "biceps" is starting to look more like my grandmothers
New Years Resolution Four: RUN MORE. At least 35 miles per week. I like it when it hurts.

The day after Christmas, the family packed the car and we were in for the 12 hour miserable car ride down to our beach house in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. You can ooo and ahhh but let me stress that Kiawah is not all as great as it sounds for the 22 year old that doesn't golf. If you are a golfer, like my entire family, its great, you can golf every day in 45 degrees and be without the fear of an alligator biting your arm off (see: alligator ouchies ). But me, not so much. I ran every morning and was done by 11 where I then played tennis for an hour with the oh so cute pro's there and then sat around all day waiting for nothing. My days were done by noon. Oh woe is me. Needless to say I was a major pita*. But hey, that's what New Years Resolutions are for.

New Years Resolution Five: Don't be such a pita around my parents. After all they have given me everything that I have and I am nothing but grateful for that. I could do a much better job at showing that.

I spent New Years Eve in Charlotte with Jerry. I had been waiting forever to get his gifts, and he definitely did good. While I didn't get the Tiffanys diamonds I was hoping for, or the new pony I wanted, I did get a lot of practical things that I will be able to use throughout the year. These included such things such as a Cig water bottle (I guess its unsafe to drink out of plastic ones sitting in your car for 3 weeks?), a pair of soccer cleats (I play flag football and soccer and cant seem to take a single step without falling on my kadunk, "pretend" pulling my hamstring to get attention, and I would love to blame my not being able to catch a football on the fact that I wear tennis shoes...needless to say, I am going to have to find something else to blame my uncoordination on), a sleeve for my laptop (my treatment of anything expensive is very poor), a nice little sweater jacket, Shrek 1, Shrek 2, and Shrek the Third (these rally to be the single best gift I have just about ever got), and a book that he has been telling me to read for a long time.

New Years Resolution Six: Actually read the book - and then work on putting the book into practice and being more positive about everything...the ways I approach things sometimes can be a little ridiculous...what we like to call the downward spiral approach (I cant do this so...Ill never get a job..Ill never have a family..no one will like me...Ill live in a box..have no children...die in my 40s alone and poor). Ridiculous...and I know it.

I have actually began this resolution. The book is How to Win Friends and Influence People. I would tell you what its about but I would like to think the title is self explanatory. I have read 2 chapters, and I think they already have changed my ways of talking and conversing with people. Maybe now I'll make more friends in lame old Winston-Salem. Or with my new attitude maybe I should say..."I can't wait to make some friends here in Winston-Salem, the land of Opportunity". Sarcasm? 100%. But, its the right idea.

Sooo, here I am, back at WFU for another semester. While my break was spent mainly looking for schools I am interested in going to for my PhD program, I guess I should focus on this semester so I can get into a good one.

New Years Resolution Seven: Get all A's. I was .75 points away from this last semester. I can make it rain here.



*Pain in the ass. Whoooops! Also, I would like to note that I am not always a pain in the ass, just more than I think I probably should be