My Thesis

The following is my completely non scientific, non researched, and most likely not really accurate thesis:

Food can be directly related to depression.

I spent a few days last week at Bowling Green - the university I used to attend. It was a very strange feeling to be back in that city (those of you who don't know, I took an internship, and ended up staying on with the company without returning). I used to walk into my favorite bar, Downtown, and would know at least 20 people in there any given night of the week. When I went up Thursday night, I knew the bartender, and that was it. Back to the original topic of the post though - I indulged in every place I used to LOVE when I lived in BG. Campus Pollyeyes has these stuffed breadsticks to die for (chicken and cheese, with a side of ranch and marinara please), and of course there's El Zarape which has the best margaritas known to man, along with excellent food, and Mr. Spots cheesesteaks, and Jimmy Johns... It all just tasted so good.
... however
I felt like crap after eating like this for the 3 days I was there. I craved fresh, homecooked food. I didn't feel happy and full of energy after eating so much food out. I wanted to make sushi, or a fruit salad with greek yogurt. Just anything natural and not greasy.
I noticed a decline in my workouts while rocking out in the Cooper Pool (shown below.) My per 100 pace slowed down dramatically too.
I always used to roll my eyes at people who claimed the felt cleansed or what have you after switching their diet. Maybe because mine was such a gradual change that I didn't really notice, but when I went back to old habits, I quickly realized that I love the way I eat currently, and what it does for my body and energy levels.

I did get a chance to stop by my favorite piercing/tattoo shop. I seriously spent a lot of time at On The Edge during my collegiate years. It was my outlet from depression or something, I'm not sure. I had 17 piercings just prior to the job fair (had to take a good deal out to look professional). I ran into John, the guy who did every piercing with the exception of my two original piercings in my ear from my childhood. We talked for a while, and ended up deciding to add to my collection again. I settled on repiercing my tragus. I went and got dinner, and couldn't help but go back and the nape of my neck. As weird and masochistic as it sounds, I enjoy the pain of triathlon (legs burning, exhaustion), but I do love the focused pain of piercings much more. I coughed a bit while he was feeding the piercing through the needle, and it caused the needle to disconnect from the jewelry. Unfortunately, that means he had to fish the jewelry through by hand, which took about 5-6 minutes, and is quite painful. As I laid on the table with essentially a stable digging around in my neck, I thought of a quote one of my teammates had sent out. "It only hurts to a point, and then it doesnt get any worse" Very true. I'll add pictures once I have my camera back in two weeks (left it at my parents house... I'll get it back at my brothers wedding). Needless to say, my mom is not too happy about the additions, but my dress covers the neck piercing.

I'll make some training updates later in the week.

23 years ago yesterday

For some, New years brings a time of self reflection, revelation, and for some, revolutions. I, on the other hand, tend to use my birthday as my mark of reflection on the past, where I currently stand, and where I hope to grow.

Thursday night I met up with the team for a happy hour/Savageman Wall viewing. My friend Robin is a flight attendant, and came back from Frankfurt shortly before the gathering bearing gifts from Germany.

Here is Robin presenting me with a beer straight from Germany..
in her awesome dollar store dress from Frankfurt.

**note: and then I got sidetracked... and never finished writing this post. So, here goes the rest:

Robin brought back a German beer, fruit bars (really good to eat on the bike!), and an absolutely fantastic poppy seed pound cake. I will fail any drug test I have to take, but it was totally worth it.

Friday I woke up, ran some errands since I had the day off, and went to Tysons. While driving around trying to find a parking spot, I encountered this:

.... Are you kidding me? We now have spots reserved for Hybrid Vehicles next to the handicapped parking spots? After I sent this off to a few friends out of state (who all wrote back "f'ing hippies...") I wondered though the mall to find a dress for my brothers wedding. FAIL. What is it with dresses these days? They are either weird and tiered, which kind of makes me look like the trunk of a tropical plant, or short and ruffled. Seriously, who is buying these dresses, and where are they wearing them to? The fashion industry sucks. While I do love the malls in DC, I'm going to opt for looking for a dress in Toledo, Ohio while I am visiting friends at Bowling Green State University. For some reason, when I absolutely must have a dress, I've had awesome luck finding dresses at Franklin Park. They just carry more practical clothing, instead of wannabe high fashion or whatever that Tysons sometimes seems to endorse. I dread dress shopping, to be honest... I'm not very comfortable wearing a dress. On a side note, anyone want to go with me to my brothers wedding October 18th? Since it seems like I'll be the only one there not married or engaged... Moving on.

Began my trek home to Ohio around 4:15pm.. on a Friday. Again, not one of my most brilliant ideas. It took about 7 hours to get home, versus the usual 5 hours and 45 minutes. Met up with my friend Matt, who took me up to our favorite spot on Headlands beach in Mentor. It was a cool, crystal clear night, and we just laid on a blanket in the sand, listening to the waves crash in while drinking Jester's Blush (one of my new favorite wines..) Sounds quite romantic, but anyone who knows Matt and I understands we're just dysfunctional like that. Lived together for almost 2 years, attempted dating on an off, but we just work better without the relationship stress. I had a wonderful night though.

I'll update more tomorrow with my adventures though the rest of the week. :)