Young and Old

It happened again.  I got tagged by KDub and JoyRuN with an "11 things about me" meme.  And since I rarely get tired of talking about myself I'll throw it out there.  I still think that the last "10 things about me" post is one of the funniest things I've ever written so I doubt I can top that one.  So you should really be prepared for disappointment now.  Here are the rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random things about myself: (I'm going young and old with these, so nothing random about right now.  all stuff when I was younger and people that are older than me)

1. Freshman year of high school I was on the wrestling team for three days trying to compete in the 120 lb weigh class.  I was already almost six feet tall.  That is anorexic kind of skinny.  Not a good look at all, and I was really self conscious about it.

2. I also ran the mile on the track team that year.  I ran in every meet, one time I beat one other kid.  Every other meet (like 8 of 9 meets) I finished dead last, usually by a lot.  My times ranged from 5:55 to 6:10, not bad by most standards.  But my team also had a Feduric on there, and she won the state championship in the mile 6 years in a row (from 7th through 12th grade) with average times around 4:15.  And I wonder sometimes where my competetive nature comes from?

3. Sophomore year I didn't feel like getting my butt kicked in the mile anymore, so I threw shotput and discus instead.  Because anorexia runs rampant through the shotput community.  WTF?  I was throwing around 17 feet before the offensive lineman put out his 40 foot throws.  I don't know why I thought I belonged in there, but again I competed in every meet.  That was my last year on the track team (spring 1991), and the last time I tried to play sports at all until I found triathlon in 2008.

A crop from the team photo sophomore year track.  Bushy head, skinny, with a mullet.  oy.

4.  I graduated high school in 1993 at 6 feet tall and only 135 lbs.  Mom still complains that I used to eat an entire box of cereal every night before bed. And I still couldn't put on weight.  Oh the metabolism of teenagers. 

5. A few weeks ago I advised someone that naturalized social and leadership skills would only develop properly when you were in an appropriate comfort zone.  I never really felt accepted on any athletic team, and didn't have any kind of star qualities.  I found my comfort zone in music, specifically chorus.  And that's when I started to shine.  Senior year I was the president of my school's Concert Choir, and my chorus teacher is retiring this year.  I was the first student to make the SC Honors All-State choir all three years I was eligible to audition.  I was accepted into every choir I auditioned for, and usually put into leadership roles like President, Jr Conductor, or Lead Choreographer.  I even had one of the lead roles in Bye Bye Birdie the only year we did a school play.

6. Those leadership roles also gave me a lot of confidence and popularity. I did a lot of countywide and statewide music programs.  My advise to single people?  Confidence is all you really need to be attractive to others.  Most people dated a handful of others in high school.  I loved dating, and I like to think I was pretty good at it.  I took over 200 different girls on dates back then.  Greenville county had 14 high schools, I dated girls from 12 of them as well as from 3 other neighboring counties.  Over 90% of these girls I met through a music program so we always had something in common.  I found there was such a small percentage of people at my own school that I liked, it was easier to find the same small percentage at other schools and just keep dating than to tolerate other people I didn't like.

7. Finally senior year one girl snared me into a serious relationship.  We actually stayed together for about 3 months and broke up after prom because she was valedictorian at her school and wasn't interested in going to Appalachian State like I was.  So really she was too smart to stay with me.  As much as I would love to reconnect with her on facebook or something, she's married with a couple of kids now and I haven't heard from her for almost 20 years.  Still, you never forget that first love.

Before my senior prom

Before a 70's theme event.  Yes we did 70's stuff the way you young people do 90's stuff today.  It makes me feel old.

8.  I never put on the freshman 15 at college.  I may have found beer and lost my virginity, took five years to graduate, and changed majors once, but I never did gain much weight.  Graduated in 1998 with a degree in radio and tv production at 6' 1" tall and 145 lbs.  I only looked borderline anorexic then, with a BMI of 19.1, and anything below 18.5 is considered underweight. So I was right on the border of unhealthy and could do absolutely nothing to gain weight.

I tried to gain weight by adding hair.

9. The internet was just starting to gain popularity my senior year of college.  We had email the whole time, which was kind of rare then.  But I found a web site for the Dukes of Hazzard tv show, and that was the only site I read in college.  once.  Yes, I am that old.

10.  Proof that North Carolina women are smarter than South Carolina women:  I was only unattached for about 4 months in college.  It was hard freshman year going from being king of the social castle to, well, being a freshman.  Nobody dates a freshman.  At the start of my sophomore year I started dating this crazy chick for about a year and half.  So around new year's eve my third year in college I got rid of her and was blissfully dating again until April of that year (1996) when I met Kelley.  Of course I wouldn't trade my sweet boo for any youthful freedom in the world, but damn.  If I had known those would be my only 4 months of dating freedom I wouldn't have wasted any time grieving the loss of the crazy chick.  Now I refer to those four months as "the fun times".  Maybe that's just proof that NC women are more manipulative than SC women?  I want to eat dinner tonight so we'll go with smarter.

11.  Five months after I graduated college we got married.  I was up to 180 lbs at that point.  It was not a muscular 180 like I am today, but a flabby 180.  So at 23, all of the metabolism powers I had dried up and blew away and I finally started gaining weight.  Really skinny arms and legs, no shoulders, but a giant belly.  That was 1998.  I really think that 23 was waaaaaay too young to get married.  but that's another post.  The older I get the more I have to fight genetics and keep my weight in check now.  It seems odd to be body conscious now, but I deal with getting old the best way I can.  Stay active, know the difference between healthy and unhealthy, and make smart choices today.

11 random questions from the two people that tagged me:

1. Favorite vacation of all time (Karen)?  Kelley and I drove in circles one weekend.  Literally, we left Greenville on friday afternoon and went to Atlanta for dinner that night.  Saturday drove up to Chatanooga TN and visited the Tennessee Aquarium, then on to Knoxville for saturday night.  Sunday we drove across the mountains to Asheville and saw the Biltmore House before heading home to Greenville.  A wonderful circle indeed.

2. Favorite Running workout (Joy)?  Treadmill intervals.  I can ladder the speed and hold a consistent duration.  My absolute fav is to use half mile sets, where I run 0.3 miles fast and recover for 0.2 miles slow jog or walking.  Increase the speed by 0.2 mph each set, start with half a mile warm up and half a mile cool down and you end up with a 4-5 mile total workout where you ran 0.3 miles at a blazing fast speed.  My fastest is a 10.5 mph on the treadmill.

3. Do you track your dietary intake (Joy)?  Not anymore.  When I was losing weight to get fast last year I used training peaks to track everything, intake and workouts, and I absolutely love that software.  Read my How I Got Fast Part 1 post for all the details.

4. What were you doing around this time 10 years ago (Karen)?  In 2002 I was in my crazy weightlifting phase.  I was reading Muscle & Fitness magazine, training like a bodybuilder and trying to add as much mass as possible.  Really I was trying to take the rapid weight gain I found after we got married and turn it into something positive.  I got over 200 lbs that year by chugging whey protien and creatine like they were going out of style.  I was working for a consulting firm as the head of their software development department in my first professional management role (and I sucked at it).  I got up to about 215 lbs, got laid off in 2003 and the rest is history.

I was very excited to get my first convertible in 2002, no matter how it looked.

5. What's your favorite cheat meal (Joy)?  Five guys cheeseburger and fries.  I know it's loaded, but I don't care.  It's my reward meal after a big race or a comfort meal when I'm feeling blue.  A close second is the cajun chicken sandwich, fries and a corn dog from the Cook Out here in Raleigh.  So good, cheap, and I do that one about once a week.

6.  What was your favorite memory of 2011 (Karen)?  The ironman trip.  Not just the race, or the finish line, but the whole thing was so special to me.

7.  Have you ever been hospitalized and how were your nurses (Joy, she's a nurse)?  In 2003 I had sinus surgery and a double vericocele removal surgery for male pattern infertility treatment.  The nurses were great both times.  Before the fertility surgery I remember calmly laying on the operating table and seeing how big the room was and was surprised at how many nurses there were for the operation.  The bad part was that the nurses were all really hot (come on, you've had that fantasy too), so here I was getting a little chub on when they were about to operate on my sack!  awkward!

8.  Do you prefer to train alone or in groups (Karen)?  Alone, for sure.  It's just about timing.  I'm not ready to workout until I'm ready to workout, so meeting someone else is usually impossible.  Setting a specific time to meetup is useless, I'm going to be late.  And I hate trying to match speeds with other people.  Either they can't hang with me or I get dropped from the group ride.

9.  What's a more appealing look, designer clothes or fit, workout clothes (Joy)?  I love 'em all.  If spandex makes your ass look good hop on that bike.  My favorite part about a race is usually finding a hot chick running in a sports bra and bun huggers and just hanging behind her for a few miles.  Casual office wear can be really attractive as well. But the clothes don't make the woman.  Being nice, funny, and confident is what really makes you attractive.

10. What's your resting heart rate (Joy)?  I don't really know, but the doctors usually tell me it's around 68?  It's really unfair to compare resting heart rates or thighs with non-runners, so I try to avoid it.

11. What accomplishment makes you the most proud (Karen)?  Last week Evil Genius was talking to Kelley about having her boyfriend over (she's only 4) while he stays with his dad for a week at a time.  Normally we only get to see him when he's at his mom's. As Kelley was explaining this to her, she asked if we could have him over at least while his dad was out "to run, or bike, or even to swim"?  My work here is done.  She thinks every dad trains like I do.  She thinks regular exercise is a part of how normal people live their lives.  She will never know the fat chain smoking dad she used to have.  I have affected her expectation of normal, and set her up for a healthy, confident, active lifestyle.  That is my biggest accomplishment to date. You were expecting Ironman, weren't you?

Tag 11 more people and generate 11 questions for them?  I don't think 11 people actually still read this, so I can't do it.  I would love for Sophie and Caratunk Girl to give it a whirl.  But I can't come up with 11 questions either, so steal the questions I answered.  I know "total cop-out" isn't usually my style, but I've got to get back to work today.