Wanna get high?

Please excuse my inner scientist.

• The US Population today is reportedly 317 million people (http://www.census.gov/popclock/)
• In 2012 1.85 million Americans successfully completed a half-marathon, an impressive 14.9% increase from 2012 (http://www.runningusa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.details&ArticleId=333&returnTo=annual-reports). 
• According to Gallup poles, 38% of the US Population has smoked marijuana (120 million people) but only 7% report they still smoke marijuana (22 million people). (http://www.gallup.com/poll/163835/tried-marijuana-little-changed-80s.aspx)

The other day my good friend from undergrad, John Savage, flew in to D.C. on a red-eye for a New Years Reunion (for those interested, John blogs at: http://savagesentiments.blogspot.com/). The series of texts exchanged by John and I went as follows:

John: "In dc"

Me: "Awesome, headed to hotel?"

John: "Ya, caught the super shuttle."

John: "Checked in. Aim for run at 2?"

Me: "Sounds good, Ill pick you up at the metro."

Now, John and I don't claim to be a shining example of healthy living. We both enjoy the more than occasional, big mexican burrito and too many beers. Heck, I eat ice cream almost nightly. But let's say instead of a triathlete, John was a pothead. If John were a smoker, the first thing he would have done when he got off the plane was to light up. The difference? Endorphins over THC, instead of hitting up a dealer, he hits me up for a run. While I don't want to spark a big debate about whether or not weed is as "bad" for you as people make it out to be, I think we can all agree that going for a run is a healthier option.

Before writing this I wasn't really sure what the numbers were for people who smoke weed, compared to people who run. I have to say, I am shocked. 

In 2011, 12x more people regularly smoked marijuana than completed a half-marathon!!!!!! I don't hold it against people that they smoke. In fact I know a number of very fit athletes that have. To each their own. That said, here are some more facts:

• The average smoker spends more than $1,000 on weed yearly.
• The average price of a running shoe= 100 bucks, replaced 3-4x, $400/yearly

The choice is yours. 

Eyes on the prize, 2014!

My 2013 racing season came to an unfortunate end after being plagued by a chronic foot injury that held me out of 70.3 World Championships. I am delighted to say that I have finally found a fantastic physical therapist in Muncie that is using ASTYM, a progressive treatment modality intended to promote soft tissue growth, that seems to be getting me and my foot back on track!

I am excited to announce that in 2014 I will be racing for Big Sexy Racing! The team is an elite/amateur triathlon team, run by 6x Ironman Champion Chris McDonald. I look forward to partnering with some new great sponsors including, Cobb Cycling, Bonk Breaker, Precision Bikes, Toro nutrition, Blue seventy, PowerTap, Newton Running, Ogio, SL3S, Biofuse, and Rubys Lube. For the past month I have been in contact with a number of my new teammates via social media and it seems to be an energetic and enthusiastic group of fitness fiends!

In preparation for the season I have been riding the trainer as much as I can mentally stand when its dark and the cyclocross bike when its not, going for freezing cold runs, and drinking lots of beer while looking at races for the 2014 schedule. Below is a tentative race schedule for the 2014 season:

4.19.14  BSU Sprint Sprint Triathlon

5.10.14  Muncie May Olympic Triathlon**

5.31.14 AutoCar Richmond Toughman Half-Ironman

6.29.14 Ironman Couer d’Alene*

7.12.14 Muncie 70.3

08.09.14 Muncie Man

9.16.14 Muncie September Triathlon (Olympic)

10.4.14 Prairie Creek Reservoir Triathlon Championship (Olympic)

*Race tentative on my foot being back to full health by the end of January, giving me sufficient time to train for these longer distance races

**Will not be racing if I race the Marathon the week before

Muncie 70.3 Race Report

Thursday morning my good buddy Will Combs and I loaded up my trusty Mazda 3 and drove to my future home of Muncie, Indiana. This was the third time in the past 6 months the car would make this drive, it will do so again in 3 weeks for the last time in a while. One thing you can always count on during this drive is a lack of traffic, as you take back roads through the hills of West Virginia until you make it to never ending state of Ohio and finally to the fly-over state of Indiana. We arrived at our host's and my future class-mate, Ryans', just before dinner. That night we went to Scotty's Brewhouse. Foolishly I ordered a a 32 oz Alpha King (32 oz beer for 5 bucks, how could I resist!) and a Southwest burger with the local beef (a 50 cent upcharge). That night at about 2am I woke up with the worst case of heartburn known to man.

I quickly decided there was no chance of me getting back to sleep until I was able to rid myself of my fire-breathing ways, so I made a trip to the gas station down the road where I purchased some Zantac (official sponsor of triathlete Greg Grosicki?). Thankfully it provided me with swift relief and I fell back to sleep on what was now a very deflated air mattress. Nothing like a good night's sleep two nights before the race to ensure success!

I woke up the next morning feeling far better than I had expected and after Ryan fixed Will and I up a delicious pancake and egg breakfast Will and I made our way over to the house that Bri and I will be moving in August to meet with the landlord and get some room measurements. We then proceeded to packet pick-up and the race briefing before heading out to the course to do a little pre-race shake-out. Will went on a reconnaissance ride, scouting out the run and bike course, while I went for a swim both with and without my wet-suit followed by a short bike-run. At the water I met another athlete from NC, who had competed in Raleigh 70.3 in June who informed me that the race officials will probably try their best to make sure the swim is wetsuit legal for safety purposes. Fortunately I had been given a wetsuit by a very kind and generous donor at Belew's Lake in April. Unfortunately, I had never worn it. It ended fitting pretty snuggly and kind of restricting my shoulder movement. I decided that if it was legal, I would wear it anyway for buoyancy purposes. Will and I chatted race-strategy on the way back to Ryan's and he was able to give some useful insights as to the conditions of the rolling run-course. For dinner we decided to avoid the local beef and instead stopped at Marsh (for those of you who don't know this is the name of my Master's advisor so now the joke can be thrown that I will never truly escape him), the local grocery store for some pasta and bread.

After playing with Ryan's black lab puppy, Maddie, we began fixing up some dinner. To make room Will began losing last night's dinner (never again will we opt for the local beef and IF you do I recommend getting it well done.....). Incredibly, I was able to fall asleep pretty easily, maybe because of the lack of sleep the previous night, but Ill take it!

Race morning came early as we set the alarm for 4am so that i could eat breakfast and we could be sure to make it to the transition area without worrying about being late. As soon as we pulled in the race directors announced the race would be wetsuit legal, as I had expected. After preparing my transition area I put on my wetsuit and got in a little warm-up. My wave would leave 15 minutes after the pro's at 7:15. As we waded out into the water I found a kid with a tall swimmer build and decided I would try to stay on his feet for as long as I could. As the horn went off I realized that would not be very long as he pulled away to have a 26 minute swim. As always, the beginning of the swim was chaotic. By the first buoy I had lost contact with the lead pack and found myself towards the front of a second group of swimmers. I decided I would stay with this group and focus on keeping good trunk rotation and not over-kicking to save my legs for later in the day. All-in-all the swim was pretty uneventful. Having to weave through so many of the 50-59 age groupers was rather frustrating though. Arising from the water I looked down to see my watch, just a hair over 30 minutes. Not as fast as I would have liked, but not terrible, and there was still alot of racing ahead of me.

Swim time: 30:33/1:34/100m

T1 (2:29) consisted of a long run to the transition area. It went pretty well, although getting the wetsuit over my feet was more of a challenge than I would have liked. I had been practicing a fast T1 by using a flying mount/putting my shoes on while riding the bike. I am still unsure as to its benefits as it really only takes seconds to put the shoes on in transition. My flying mount went well, although I had a good deal of problems getting my feet into my bike shoes, and I believe I lost probably 30 seconds of time trying to do so..... The majority of the course was flat and fast. I passed all of the 50-59 Age groupers, a couple of the female pro's and all but 1 of the 18-29'ers that I started with. A big thanks to Charlie of Ken's Bike Shop for allowing me to borrow his disc wheel with ANT+ which allowed me to carefully monitor my intensity. My goal was to hold between 225-235 watts (75% FTP). Here is my powerfile from the race. As you can see I spent a good 40 seconds messing around with getting my feet into my shoes...My power was right where I wanted it at 230 watts, although my cadence was low (80rpm) so hopefully by doing some drills to get this higher (90pm) I can save my legs a little more for the run. 

Bike time: 2:19.05/24.16mph

In past races I have always been frustrated with my transitions. Finally however I think I am making headway. Coming off the bike with a flawless dismount I headed into T2 (1:27) where I racked my bike, slipped on my shoes, and grabbed some nutrition before heading out on the run. I also snagged a water bottle to drink/poor on myself during the first mile or two of the run. Unfortunately, I neglected to get my first mile split. By the first mile though I could see the only other age grouper up the road from me and I was reeling him in quickly. I told myself to relax and settle into a pace, the race was mine to lose now. My second mile split was a brisk 5:51. I felt good but I was uncertain about the sustainability of such a pace. I began snacking and catching women's pros, my splits right around 6 flat. 

At mile 5 I saw the first male pro, Andrew Starykowicz, go by me as he headed into the finish with no competitors in sight. At mile 6, I was sustaining my pace but felt the unfortunate and dreaded side-stitch coming on in my right side. I jogged for another 800 meters trying to rid myself of the stitch to no avail. I opted to walk for 15 or 20 seconds before resuming a jog and made sure to drink more at the aid-station instead of trying to slog through the remainder of the race at 8-minute pace with this debilitating stitch. I knew I had a good lead on my competitors, but this stitch could certainly un-rail my chances at victory. At mile 7 (6:55) I stopped and chugged 2 waters and sipped on a coke). To my delight I felt the stitch going away! Knowing I had a big lead, I decided I would be sure to get down more water at every remaining add station by briefly stopping and chugging water and sipping coke in an effort to fend off the cramp. With a mile to go,  and no one in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief as I kicked it in for the finish as best I could. Going out I averaged a 6:04 pace, back 6:39 for an average of 6:22/minutes per mile and a run split of 1:23.28. Not as fast as I would have liked, but I certainly know what I need to do to improve. First I need to start off my first couple of miles SLOWER. Next I need to find a way to get more water in during the run. Although I grabbed water cups at the first 5 aid stations, a very small amount of it actually made it down my throat, most of it ended on my face or worse, choking me.

I was the first age-grouper to cross the finish line in a time of 4:17.02. The second amateur (I was beaten by 30 seconds by someone in the 30-34 age group), and the 13th overall finisher. All-in-all, I am very pleased with my first HIM performance. All of my training and dedication for the past couple of months paid off as I earned a spot at the 70.3 World Championship in Vegas on September 8th! Time to rest up, recover, and begin preparing for a move to Muncie in the beginning of August with my lovely fiancee Briana! This will be my last week working at Mellow Mushroom and next week I will be back in the 703, catching up with my family, getting beat by my 7-year old sister at backstroke and running some loops around good ol' Burke Lake! A huge thanks to Will and Ryan for being my race crew, Enfinity fitness, Ken's Bike Shop, Blue Competition Cycles, my loving family, and all of my other fantastic supporters! 

The Big Dance

Well, Saturday is the big day. Tomorrow morning my good friend Will Combs and I will load up the Mazda 3 and head to Muncie for my first ever half-ironman distance race (70.3 miles). To say that I am a little excited would be the understatement of the century. My training over the past couple of months has gone perfectly (with the exception of a little crash on my bike in a group ride 3 weeks ago). I am so fortunate to have found the training partners/groups in Winston-Salem that I have. Before I leave, I want to give a special thanks to some people that have helped me with my preparation for Muncie 70.3: I'm blaming you all if things dont go well ;)
1. Tim Hillen and the Enfinity master's swim group in Winston-Salem, NC. You all made me feel right at home the first day I showed up to practice. Over the course of the past two months I have gone from dreading swim practice to having it be one of my favorite parts of the day. I can't wait to see the time on the clock when I get out of the Prairie Creek Reservoir!
2. Ken's Bike Shop- Matt, Charlie, and Ken at Ken's bike shop have been nothing but supportive of me since I moved to Winston-Salem. Not only can I rely on them to fix-up my bike and order me parts, but I can always rely on them to put a smile on my face. I also want to thank my friend Stephen Vogel the strongest bike rider on the east coast, and I'm not kidding when I say that. When this dude shows up to group rides everyone knows they are in for a large dose of pain. Vogel, thanks for a healthy dose of humility on the bike the past couple of months!
3. My friend Carter for running with me the past couple of months (even if it means waiting until 10 at night when I get off work to embark on a 15 mile long run).
4. My old coach (old meaning she used to coach me, not that she is getting old) Debi Bernardes for her nutritional advice. Apparently some gatorade and a few gu's just ain't gonna cut it.
4. Last but certainly not least is my boy Will Combs, who I somehow convinced to come along and make sure I dont wreck on the drive back on Sunday.

As you might imagine this week has consisted of a good deal of tapering, which has of course been driving me nuts. To occupy my time I have been taking daily naps, baking, working on my blog, watching the Tour de France and catching up on Game of Thrones. I also enjoy watching motivational videos a couple days before the race, this is one of my favorites:

In the famous words of coach Bowerman "The hay is in the barn." Time to hurt a little. Let's race.

A Lesson in Unconditional Love

Having worked many long hours during the first year and a half of my Master's Program at Wake, by December of 2012 my thesis was complete and ready to be sent to my committee. My defense date was set for the beginning of February, freeing up a good deal of time for the rest of my semester. For those of you who don't know me, the prospect of having nothing to do doesn't sit too well. Therefore, being me, I quickly began brainstorming ways to make myself useful during the spring of 2013. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to work on the LIFE study, which would take a good deal of time and provide me with some income before heading to Ball State in the fall to begin my doctoral work. For the first time in my LIFE (no pun intended) I would be making what is almost real money.

Pleased with my good fortune I decided it would be fun to foster a dog. After a good deal of searching I came across the Forsyth Human Society. To foster a dog from the Forsyth animal shelter however first it was important I had permission from my landlords. I gave them a call and left a message and a couple days later I received a call from their daughter, Kristin, who coincidentally worked with a small animal rescue league that pulls dogs from kill shelters in North Carolina. After speaking a good bit she told me that she had two dogs in mind for me to foster and set me pictures. One of them really caught my eye. She was a mid-sized black dog with a white chest and paws, a curly tail, and big brown eyes: Lilly.

A week or so later I found myself in the pet store, buying food bowls, dog food, a dog bed (like she would ever sleep in that), toys, a collar and a leash. That night Kristin brought my FOSTER dog, Lilly over and she anxiously ran around the house. Kristin told me a little bit about Lilly's history and that unfortunately she had heartworms. She had been to a vet that had given her a couple months worth of doxycycline to help treat the worms, using the "slow-kill" method. After 45 minutes or so Kristin left and Lilly and I went to bed shortly after. Lilly quickly made it clear she had no intention of sleeping on the dog bed. I slept in a queen, and why would she sleep on a dog bed when there was so much space in my big warm soft bed? Reluctantly I allowed her to do so.

The rest is history. My spring ended up being a whole lot busier than I had originally expected. Although my thesis defense was successful, we would be re-doing the entire statistics section, which would impact both my results and discussion. On top of it I would be working at LIFE, preparing a manuscript to be submitted to the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, the flagship journal of the American College of Sports Medicine and a top-tier journal in the health and fitness industry, and to throw the icing on the cake (or the sauce on the pizza) I would pick up a part-time job waiting tables downtown at Mellow Mushroom. You might expect that with so much already on my plate having to take care of a dog would be just one more unnecessary task. This however was absolutely not the case.

As busy and stressful as my days were this past spring, the one thing that I could consistently rely on was coming home to my happy, tail-wagging, affectionate pup. That's not to say that Lilly and I didnt run into our fair share of issues. Only a couple days after getting her I drove her to the airport to pick up Bri and she puked all over my backseat, more or less ruining the fabric in my car. Not more than a couple of weeks after getting her she went into heat. After some online research Bri figured out that dogs go into heat once every 5-6 months with each cycle lasting between 4-6 weeks. Lilly's of course lasted nearly 8. For nearly 2 months I spent my time changing doggy diapers and praying that she wouldn't chew them off when I left her alone during the day. Oh, and the heartworms weren't going to just go away with a couple doxycycline pills. Heartworms are one of the worst possible diseases for a pet to contract and to get rid of them dogs must receive a number of immiticide injections (a poisonous chemical that kills the worms). Overcoming these issues however only drew us closer. Less than a month after beginning the foster period I decided to adopt her.

Over the past couple of months Lilly and I went everywhere together. Our bond grew strong as we began to understand each other. She followed me around, watching my every move. In the morning she would scarf down her breakfast and then come downstairs to watch me make my lunch and drink my coffee before I left for workouts or to go to work. At night we would sit around watching game of thrones together before retiring upstairs to sleep. Her heartworm treatments were seemingly successful, as she had passed the 4 week danger window following the last series of injections. She began to become more energetic and actually run around like a normal dog. Last week however she came down with a cough. I called the vet and made an appointment for Tuesday but when I came home from work on Monday night her breathing was labored and she was clearly not feeling well. I rushed her to the emergency vet where she was given some medications and put on oxygen to stay the night. Unfortunately early Tuesday morning I received a call informing me that she had taken a turn for the worse.

Getting over the passing of my puppy has been hard for me. Thankfully I have had the support of many  wonderful family members and friends, all of whom have expressed their sincere condolences. But why is it that we have such a hard time getting over our pets? This is a question upon which I have been dwelling almost non-stop the past 36 hours. The answer however is simple. It is because of their ability to love completely unconditionally. Some might say that the thing that one of the biggest thing that distinguishes humans from animal is our ability to feel emotions. They have never had a dog. The type of love that a dog shows their owner, that Lilly showed me, is one that we as humans can only strive to replicate. An affection ignorant of faults. Thank you Lilly for gracing me with such infinite love. I'm sure heaven is full of peanut butter and people to pet you. I love you.

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." - Roger Caras

Mind Over Matter

Its hard to believe we are nearing the end of June. The past couple of months seem to have flown by and although I'd like to post more, it seems like there is just never enough time in the day. Yesterday was my final day working as an exercise coordinator on the Lifestyle Independence For the Elders study (LIFE). Ending my time at LIFE is bitter sweet. While it is nice to have my days free to train, sleep, and play with my dog Lilly, I will sincerely miss getting to interact with the participants and the staff, many of whom I have feel I have formed special and unique bonds with over the past couple of months. 

Six years ago as a freshmen at the University of Miami I decided I to major in exercise physiology as a means to learn ways to improve upon my performance. Call me selfish, but as an 18 year old collegiate athlete who was absolutely infatuated with running, it seemed a logical area of study. To my surprise, exercise physiology was about a lot more than running a fast 10k. Fortunately however, with the exception of Biomechanics, I came to really enjoy some of my undergraduate classes. Coming to Wake Forest for my Master's degree, I hadn't the slightest idea what I would be doing. I did know however, that I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do for a job, and going to school for 2 more years and getting paid to do so sounded like a pretty sweet gig. So what did I do at Wake Forest? In a nutshell I learned more than I could have possibly imagined about:

1) myself 

2) research

3) old people

Now I can assuredly say that my interest in exercise physiology far exceeds my desire to improve upon my performance. I find an overwhelming satisfaction in working with older adults, which is fortunate because its looking like Ill be doing so for four more years at Ball State. That being said, performance is still a great interest of mine. Please allow me to share with you a little theory that I have been investigating on my own time for the past couple of months.

Maybe not all of us have run a marathon or competed in a triathlon (but if you are reading this you probably have) but nearly every one of us knows how it feels to run out of steam when we are trying to physically exert ourselves. Think back to the mile run in elementary school. The PE teacher passes out Popsicle sticks and we run 6 times around the baseball field, throwing a stick into the bucket on each lap (in retrospect giving kids sticks and telling them to run as fast as they can is a really stupid idea). Four laps down and two to go and what happens? All of a sudden we just CANT move as fast anymore. Our lungs are burning and our legs feel like lead weights. Why does this happen?

In 1920, famed physiologist AV Hill came up with a model termed the cardiovascular/anaerobic model of fatigue explaining that human performance is limited by the amount of oxygen that our heart is able to provide to working muscles. In accordance, individuals with a higher VO2 max and lactate threshold, and a better running economy should outperform those with a lower oxygen capacity and an inferior running economy. To this day, the cardiovascular/anaerobic model remains the most widely accepted explanation of fatigue. That being said, the model is not without flaw, as it neglects one of the most important aspects of performance, the mind.

Recently building on the work of Hill, a prominent South African exercise physiologist by the name of Tim Noakes has adapted Hill's model to include the power of the mind in what is known as the Central Governor Theory. To do so, Noakes sought out an answer to the question, "Where does fatigue occur?" It is known that to produce a greater amount of force an increasing number of muscle fibers are recruited to produce that force. So is fatigue the result of muscle fibers being unable to sustain a contraction? Or does fatigue occur somewhere else in the body, possibly the mind? In a one-hour cycling time trial with 6 interspersed maximal sprints Noakes and colleagues observed a decrease in muscle activation and power during sprints 2-5. On sprint 6 however, a significant increase in muscle activation and power was seen. If the decline in muscle activation and power observed in sprints 2-5 was a product of fatigue, the increase on sprint 6 would not have been possible. However the cyclists were able to produce a greater amount of power on the 6th and final sprint than on any of the previous sprints. This can be attributed to the knowledge that it was the final sprint, and therefore the cyclists were mentally ready to full exert themselves on this final effort. This, supporting Noakes Central Governor Theory. According to the Central Governor Theory our mind acts as a barrier to protect our bodies from harm and injury and preserve homeostasis. Critics will question the great frequency at which overuse injuries are observed. While Noake's Central Governor Theory might not be perfect, it certainly has some pretty cool implications.

So what can we take away from this? How can we explain the universal acceptance of Hill's model of fatigue, which blatantly neglects what seems such an integral part of performance? It is of course easy to believe what we are told, it is harder to question, because that requires the use of ones mind. Personally, I take great solace in the Central Governor Theory. The next time you think or someone tells you "it CANT be done." Think twice, maybe it can.

I Live For This

Well, I feel an appropriate amount of time and enough exciting things have passed since my last entry to warrant another blog post. In chronological order, the notable happenings of the past 2 months were as follows:

1. I started working at Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place in downtown Winston-Salem. It has given me a new persepctive/outlook on the food industry and I really wish everyone, had to work in food service at least for a short while at some point in their life.

2. I got engaged to the love of my life, Briana Paxton.

3. My fiance graduated with her Master's degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania

4. I graduated with my Master's degree in Health and Exercise Science.

5. I signed up for The Winston Salem Cycling Classic, an 18k pro criterium held in downtown Winston-Salem at 8pm tonight, Saturday June 15th.

6. I signed up for my first Half-Ironman. Muncie 70.3 on Saturday, July 13th.

As you can tell, life has been pretty exciting for me over the past couple of months. A lot of really cool and exciting things have happened, all of which I am incredibly thankful for. It is hard to believe that I have been living in Winston-Salem for nearly two years now. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I loaded up my car in Northern Virginia and headed south to start my life in North Carolina. In just a month and a half I will again load up my car again to embark for the Midwest, but first and foremost, I have a couple of races to attend to.

When I moved to Winston-Salem I was a very mediocre Cat 3 bike racer. Thankfully during my time here I have gotten to ride with and learn from some very knowledgeable and extremely fast riders. I attribute a lot of my success in the cycling world to Jon Hamblen, my coach for the past two years, and Nathaniel Ward, who believed in me enough to take me under his wing last year and mentor me as I began competing with the big boys. A huge shout-out also goes out to Stephen Vogel my riding buddy, and Ken's bike shop for keeping my bike in working order, because lord knows if there is one thing I havent gotten much better at it's fixing bikes. 

Tonight I will get to race some of the fastest professional bike racers on the east coast. With 18k of prize money at stake, I imagine the pack will be out for blood. While my training as of late has been alot more 3-sport oriented, I still look forward to seeing what I can do. The past couple of weeks have been wet ones, which has forced my bike and I to the trainer. I have made sure to incorporate alot of quality into my 2-3 rides a week, and although my power isn't where it was last season, neither is my weight (amazing what a couple of runs a week can do). The field tonight will be full of familiar faces, and some not so familiar, hailing from the west coast and further south. Even though there is nearly 12 hours before the gun goes off, I am already jittery with excitement; I live for this shit.

EVERYTHING is relative

I'd like to share a thought that I have been wresting with for the past couple of months, the importance of relativity on individual perception. Have you ever wondered how different life would be if you were your dog? your best friend? your child-hood role-model? how about your most-hated enemy? We've all heard the idiom that "before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes." This, can apply to far more than just criticism. Take a second to think about your day or, if you had a less than eventful day, your week. Now answer the following questions as honestly as you can, no need to think long and hard about them, just go with your instinct:

1. What would you say was the best part of your day? How about the worst?

2. Did anything in your day in particular stress you out?

3. Think about a time that you felt productive--what did you do that made you feel that way?

4. Any regrets? Missed opportunities or chances?

To use myself as an example:

1. Best part of my day- well there were 3 bests today. One was getting a part-time job waiting tables at Mellow Mushroom this summer. Two was getting to run with a dude that has turned into one of my best friends, Carter Denne. And three was going to Fleet Feet with Will and getting wetsuits for the triathlon this weekend. The worst part of my day- when i discovered the kayak wetsuits we had rented for the triathlon this morning were more like parachutes and not wetsuits. (unfortunately for the rest of the race Saturday, Will and I were able to find some triathlon wetsuits at Fleet Feet)

2. Organic Chemistry... and when my mom figured out I had taken a shift at work tomorrow instead of going out for dinner with her and her quartet, who are going to be singing competitively in W-S this weekend (Good luck to them!). For those of you who care, i called  my new manager who was very sympathetic and now I am starting Sunday.

3. Two times today-One was when I was able to enter all the data at work this morning right before intervention started AND while I was driving to my interview I was able to get some payroll stuff straightened out. BOOM. Ya, this probably wont make sense to you but thats ok.

4.  I would have been frustrated if I hadn't been able to get out of my shift tomorrow, but fortunately that all worked out and now I will get to join my mom and her singing quartet for dinner. Also, I drove my car an assload today and now I need more gas, which sucks cause I hate buying gas.

Now take some time to consider how someone else might feel about these important parts of your day. In retrospect, your best friend, might not be the best person to use here, because it's more than likely that you and your best friend share many of the same experiences and similar values. But how about someone different, your best friends girlfriend for example? Or maybe branch out even more, a 30 year old single mom with two children? a 16 year old child in an impoverished part of South Africa? 

Let's take a look at my day through the eyes of an impoverished 16 year old:

1. Best- a job is great, unfortunately, I probably cant get a job, because I dont have any shoes, or maybe because I have to take care of my brothers and sisters during the day. I may go for runs, because it is a relatively inexpensive, but spending 50 bucks to rent a wetsuit?!? I might make 50 bucks a month, if I am lucky. Worst- a triathlon is the least of my worries.

2. Organic chemistry? Why would that matter to me? I don't have access to the medicine or doctors.

3. Telephones and computers? 

4. I have bigger things to worry about than buying gas for my car, like the health of my family and if Ill be able to feed my brothers and sisters tomorrow.

Wild to think that things that matter so much to you are seemingly meaningless to others. I have dealt with what I feel is a good deal of stressors recently (from deciding I want to get a PhD, to retaking the GRE, applying to grad schools, deciding where I want to go, finding a place to live, adopting and caring for a puppy with heartworms). In all reality, to be stressed by things like these is quite the privilege. In the hustle and bustle of modern life, its easy to neglect to take a step back and realize where we are. Recently I have been particularly bad at realizing how fortunate I am, neglecting to put things in perspective. If you are reading this, realize you are doing so on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or iphone and how fortunate we are to be able to do so.

Some Things Will Never Change

Well, I almost did it, a full year without posting. Fortunately the recent emergence of a blog by my good friend and training partner John Savage, Savage Sentiments, has inspired me to write a blog post of my own. I guess a good place to start would be to give a quick run down of the major events that have transpired between April 10th of 2012 and now:

1. Last spring and summer marked what was undoubtedly one of the most exciting bike seasons of my career. I attribute my success on the bike to a few things, possibly the largest of which, I basically stopped running. This gave my legs some much needed time to recover and got me out on the bike 6-7 times a week. Also, it is no longer possible for me to leave my door in Winston-Salem without hitting some sort of elevation change, as opposed to Williamsburg where there are two hills in a 50 mile radius. This, with the help of Mountain Khaki's famed rider Jon Hamblen and a fantastic training buddy in med student Steven Vogel, undoubtedly propelled my power up and my weight down. Among the highlights of my 2012 bike racing season were winning the Tour de Moore (Cat 3), a hilly 54 mile road race, and becoming a Cat 2 bike racer. At the end of the summer I entered a good many Pro1/2/3 races, and had some solid finishes.

2. In the Fall I was forced off the bike by an injury and started running again. After 2 years of x-rays and MRI's followed by hearing "I don't know what to tell you" by doctors and physical therapists, time seems to be working its magic. The new class of first years in the Master's program here at Wake brought me a running buddy, Carter Denne. Carter and I spent our lunch hours during the fall and winter, running through the streets of Winston, pushing each other's fitness and even getting in the occasional interval session. Our first big race of the Fall was the Mayberry Half-Marathon, in Mount Airy, NC, where we finished first and second, and both set PR's (I finished second, running a 1:14.59). About a month after I broke 16 minutes and finished 4th in the VA run turkey trot. Every day I give thanks for the fact that I was born with an engine to let me pull off these kinds of miracles.

3. Possibly the biggest thing to happen since last April is finally I have decided on a career path. Never have I been able to say with such affirmation that I know what it is I want to do with my life. Now I can say that it is my goal to be a professor and researcher at a university. To pursue my dream, next year I will be moving to Muncie, Indiana with my wonderful and patient girlfriend, Briana Paxton, and entering into the Doctorate Program of Human Bioenergetics at Ball State University. Here i shall study under Professor Scott Trappe, a world re-known exercise physiologist in the field of muscle physiology.

Currently, I am back to running and biking and even swimming a little. I continue to run with Carter and have found a triathlon training buddy in another first year, Will Combs, a swimmer in high school who started riding bikes during undergrad up at App. In just a little over a week, Will and I will be competing in the Belews Lake Triathlon. This will be my first triathlon in over two years (my last tri was Collegiate Nationals in April of 2011). I really have no expectations, and by that I mean I doubt I will be satisfied with anything much less than a win...some things will never change.

I hope to write here more frequently. It's definitely a liberating outlet. Good luck to all of my friends and fellow athletes competing this weekend and as always, thanks for reading.