I'm so proud of you? Congrats?

My father called me this Friday. This is normal.

He "just wanted to say hi" since we had not talked in a few days. This is normal. Both the "just wanting to say hi" and the fact that we had not talked in a few days.

However, the tone of his voice was more than he was "just calling to say hi". He was giddy and I could tell there was a huge smile plastered on his face (Bigger than what it should be talking to his faaaaaavorite...only daughter). There was something up..I knew it. He called for more than that. Excuse me mister, I've known you for 23 years and you are up to something.

"I did it". That's all he said. You did it? Really dad? You did what? Bought a new car? Cut down the rest of the tree that the tornado a couple of weeks took half of? Got a hole-in-one? Ran a marathon (this thought was not really one of them, for he thinks running is silly...along with most of the country)? Got plugs? God, I hope not.

After trying to guess silently to myself and after about 20 seconds of him sitting on the phone...I'm sure enjoying the fact that he was leaving me in the dust and knowing me well enough to know that I was getting frustrated I finally asked "YOU DID WHAT?"

Retired.

Immediate response: Oh, cool dad.

Our conversation went on and I could still tell he was excited...but I didn't know what to say. Retired? My dad is not old enough to retire. I hadn't planned what to say to someone when they tell me this. I'm so proud of you? You made it 25 years of teaching middle school hellions...I'm so proud that you got out while you could? I'm so glad you still have some hair? Congratulations on surviving? Congratulations on being done with work forever? Can I be [proud of my dad? Is that allowed? I didn't know what to say! We ended our phone chat kinda on that note. But the longer I have thought about it, I am pretty sure that retirement deserves more than a "oh, cool dad". Ooops.

So, now I am searching the world wide web looking for retirement gifts. However, I don't know how father-daughter retirement gifts go these days. Or ever. I still don't completely know what retirement is. You just stop working? What do you do all day? Aren't you bored? Hell, I have not even STARTED a job yet. I am going to be 90 before I can retire and then play all the golf (ha) I want with my artificial hips (that I invented, and then installed on myself....duh).

Open to "retirement for dad" gift suggestions....is there such a thing?

National _______ Day

Yesterday was National Running Day. Some may think that I celebrated this to the fullest and went out, ran my hardest, ran my fastest, smiled, waved, pranced around lovely Winston Salem encouraging the rest of the city to get out, run, and have a great time as the fun colors and exuberance of the website may exert ( National Running Day ). However, I did nothing of the sort. I did run. Go me. I ran a miserable 5 miles. It was more of a run/walk/die. My body recently has not been agreeing with me and its been making running very difficult/not fun. It was hard to put one foot in front of the other. And there was no way I was smiling at any other runners as they passed by. In fact, I am pretty sure I heard one of them run by and say "wow, she looks like shes struggling" ... maybe I am hearing things.

On another note...I am glad that we have a National Running Day. While I am pretty sure I don't know how many people knew about it (admittedly, I did not even until Jerry sent me the link) and I think next year they should plan in more strategically as to not be in the beginning of June when it was 90 degrees and humid as all hell, I am glad someone has taken the initiative to try and get America up and moving. Hm...while on that...who makes those up? National Event maker-uppers? Where do I get a job like that? I have lots of great holiday ideas in mind. National Wednesday off Work Day. National Free Krispy Cream Day. National Free Cheeseburgers Day. National Pigtails Day. National Re-runs Week. National Diamonds for Girlfriends Week. I could go forever.

There have been more of these folks trying to get America healthier...and I am looking at evidence of that currently as I sit at Panera (working on writing my thesis, clearly). Up on the menu board, next to my beloved Asian Chicken Salad there is a little number...410. What does that mean? Why, 410 calories of course. Looking at the rest of the board..there are numbers next to everything on the menu. Horray and Hallelujah. Now we shall have "Burger King Bob" think twice before he goes for the Panera Macaroni and Cheese (delicious) at a whopping 900+ calories (but not so nutritious) over a Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (equally delicious) at ~500 cals (and much more nutritious). I was intrigued by these numbers and looked it up. Seems this was passed at the national level and now (well as of Jan 1, 2011) every chain restaurant has to have calorie counts next to everything on the menu. Bottom Line: McDonald's menu just got a lot bigger in order to make room for all those numbers. And Subway just got a lot more appeasing. And Starbucks just got depressing....just wait til you see how many calories are jammed into a cafe mocha. May be making the switch to Herbal Teas*? So again, I am glad to see that there are other people out there that have taken the initiative to beating this obesity epidemic that has begin to take over....and whats even better...is that today I got an email with an article in it ( Dieting for Dollars) that is about companies actually PAYING their employees to WALK and lose weight. While the end results aren't to impressive yet, it's a start... and one that I am pretty pleased about.


*I recommend these by the way, TraderJoes especially has the BEST teas in all the best flavors...and at about 5 calories a cup and some caffeine, I would think it makes an excellent substitute for that java java some need every morning...and it wont stain your teeth.

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.

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