Running. A personal satisfaction.

Running is one of the most rewarding sports that an individual can participate in. It does not matter how big, how small, how slow or how fast you are; it’s the plain satisfaction of knowing you can run up a hill or run a mile without passing out. To me, a runner of 8 years, it still amazes me how through certain periods of my life, I have gotten faster, breaking my own personal records.

I may not be an Olympian, by any means. I am also not one would call a “distance” runner, however I have trained for both distance and speed. As a result, I’ve managed to run with some pretty amazing athletes within in the “mid-distance” realm. It’s been a privilege to know that I have been able to participate in meets (or races) that were of qualifying standards, and although I have more often than not come in last, I still can say I ran with some of the best.

Although I have been running x-country races, running track is a much different feel (quite literally). For x-country we train distance specifically, running hills and mile repeats. Our races were all the same, roughly 3 ½ miles and each mile had to be less than 8 minutes. Now in the track season, it’s all speed. It’s all about who has the fastest muscle twitch, the fibers in the muscles and the genetics that determines who is going to get out of the starting blocks the fastest.

Although the 80-minute runs through Rockefeller Park were very soothing, running through the trees, nothing ever beats the adrenaline of a high-speed race. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I can experience the joy of speed and agility underneath my feet that many others weren’t blessed with. I may not come first in a race, but I do know, that in the grand scheme of things, I don’t know many people who can run up a hill, or a run a mile without wanting to pass out. I believe that training and perseverance can get you anywhere, and anyone who runs well has both of these; but most importantly they must have passion.

FYI: Over exercising is an eating disorder

Many people do not recognize the symptoms in eating disorders, and so they go unnoticed and untreated for long periods of time. Boys, girls, men and women can develop them. Many people have a common misunderstanding that an eating disorder has to do with under-eating. Realistically, it’s under eating, binge eating, and even over exercising.

Binge eating is common in America. Over-eating is essentially the prime factor of America’s obesity. Individuals who have too high of a calorie intake, consuming more than they burn, it then turns to fat which leads to a heavier weight.

The exact opposite of overeating is anorexia. Anorexia doesn’t necessarily have to be defined as being so thin, it’s dangerous to one’s health, but skipping meals is also a sign of anorexia. Many people struggle with this, especially athletes who are concerned with their body weight for a high endurance sport. Anorexia has been known to affect runners, more specifically long distance, and dancers. Wrestling is also a sport that carries many boys who develop eating disorders. Weight is very important.

Bulimia also affects athletes. As mentioned before, this is a common characteristic within wrestling due to the imperative nature of “making weight”. Bulimia doesn’t just affect athletes though, but all people. Bulimia is often a result of binge eating. Binge eaters normally overeat because they feel lousy, after eating too much they feel even worse and as an outcome, they end up vomiting.

Over exercising is yet another eating disorder. Although this does not really involve “eating” per say, it is still a form of depriving the body of certain nutrition by exhausting oneself. Overall, any form of under nutrition or not having the proper intake of food is dangerous to one’s health. Bulimia causes erosion in the esophagus, the stomach lining and a person’s teeth. All of these eating disorders affect the internal organs, including the digestive track. Unfortunately, because of what people believe to be the “instant gratification” don’t realize that all of these can lead to dangerous long-term effects.

leadership

Amongst the people on this earth, walk the individuals known as leaders. They stand out; not necessarily in a bad way either. One of the qualities that make for a great leader is knowing when their leadership is needed. There’s a difference in knowing when to step in or let a situation handle itself.

In America alone there have been a variety of leaders, good and bad. In small communities, there are good and bad. So as one of those communities, how do we decipher the good from the bad?

The good leaders are charismatic, and so are the leaders who will do us harm. And from history alone, we have learned that sometimes we will not if a leader is bad, until they have encompassed all of the power they can, and then it is extremely hard to get it back.

When the country is down and out, and as individuals we are down out, all we can rely on is trust; trust that the leaders who step into our lives will be good and not bad.

Leadership is a hand that guides us through our lives, our situations and our problems. Leadership also guides our schools, gangs, and sports. Big or small, it is everywhere among us.

Leading can even be more literal; leading someone across the street, leading someone who is blind, and on a more valiant level, leading men to battle.

Taking charge and taking control, they are not necessarily what make a leader. Anyone can lead by this method, but what about being passive aggressive? Perhaps leading by demonstration, it is a quieter, subtle approach, but just as good. Followers often pick their leaders by demeanor, one that they like best. Instinctively then, I guess we all prefer different leaders that suit our needs; like faith.

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
Theodore Roosevelt

Relationships are a pretty peculiar subject. Many people feel that relationships vary, that work place and fun are totally separate and that what goes on within your family is a whole new ball game. Many people also believe that it is one in the same. So which is it?

Recently I discovered a woman, my supervisor actually, who preached to me about how corporate was the best thing she had ever done with her life. In her early twenties, she had gotten pregnant, and unfortunately could not attend college. She was a stay at home mom, quite different than her life now. On and on her story went, basically trying to tell me how not to get too involved, that a relationship would ruin my career, and being a working woman would be the best thing.

Neither of us knew then, what we know now. The economy took a turn for the worse, and her, even being head of the corporate department lost her job. My question is, isn’t every relationship you have a risk you are taking? Whether it’s pursuing a career or pursuing a love life, in the end, you are still at risk of being hurt. No one can predict what happens in the future, and it makes me wonder now, if this woman would’ve rather picked the human relationship.

In the short twenty one years I have lived, I believe that every one is different, and everyone needs to find their niche. Some people are more family oriented, some more career oriented, but it’s all a pursuit at the end of the day. Each person will fall into their proper place eventually. Whether it takes them their entire lifetime, or just a few short years, it happens at least once.

christmas spirit

Santa Claus is one of the world’s finest fairy tales and legends. I think it’s one of the best part of Christmas; the magic, the believing. I can’t say that many adults still believe in him, but I know that I do, and that’s what makes it fun.

Have you ever seen a little kid’s eyes light up during Christmas? I honestly think that this is where the magic lies. Scrooge’s can’t possibly exist in families with little children. For a whole month they shine with joy and try to be on their best behavior, ranting and raving that Santa is coming and they are going to be the best little boy or girl they’ve been all year.

During the holidays, things get stressful, people eat too much, you gain weight, families fight, but at the end of the day it is still magical. Why is that? For me, it’s the snow, the hot chocolate and the red noses. Bing Crosby has to be playing on the stereo, and the Christmas tree has to be overflowing with garland and Christmas tree ornaments. If I lived in Florida, I don’t think Christmas would feel the same for me. For the years we haven’t had snow, Bing Crosby and hot chocolate take on a whole different feeling, and Christmas does not feel the same.

“And so I'm offering this simple phrase
For kids from one to ninety two
Although its been said many times many ways
Merry Christmas to you” – (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

to be .. creative?

To be creative or not to be? I often have trouble writing inverted pyramids and press releases because they do not let me be creative with my own voice. I guess I could also say I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to writing, if I don’t particularly like the subject or idea I have to write about, I usually do a pretty poor job.

What I’ve noticed over the years is that although I do not like to write the boring essays and the pieces that don’t let me explore my voice, I still have been able to develop my skill quite a bit. What I’ve also noticed though, is that creatively, I’ve began to find my voice as a writer. I have not quite perfected it yet, but I think that I’m getting there.

One of the greatest things I’ve ever learned from an English teacher is that you don’t necessarily get better at writing from practicing writing (believe it or not), you get better by reading. This statement I believe to hold a lot of truth, because if you don’t read then how do you know what to write about, and how do you learn new techniques and new words? Perhaps this is why I get better as a writer creatively, because I’d rather read novels than scholarly journals or essays, or really even the newspaper.

The newspaper is something I’ll read to keep up on current events, but it’s also not really something I read from front to back. It’s contradicting myself, I know, but it’s because when I pick up the newspaper, I read the headlines, a first paragraph maybe two, but rarely the whole article. This could be why I have trouble writing Inverted Pyramid stories.

cavemen cold?

The cold front is here. This week the temperature hovered around 20 degrees. It was the type of air that doesn’t leave a chill in your bone, it more or less crippled you and left you gasping as the air froze the alveoli in your lungs. Those little air sacs had no chance in this cold, no human should’ve stepped outside.

It makes you wonder how the cavemen did it. Granted, they were much much harrier than us, but were they blubbery like seals? No, they were fit because they had to run after the mammoths. And really after they killed those beasts, was the mammoth skin all that warm? Because I’m pretty sure even if I had a fur coat this week, I still would’ve been freezing. I digress.

Speaking of freezing, there was an incident that I witnessed in the cafeteria. Perhaps incident is not the best word, but I definitely witnessed a peculiar behavior. As I sat in the cafeteria enjoying my egg white omelet with melted american cheese and peppers (they didn’t have these in the cavemen era), I watched a girl approach the bagel station in a mini skirt and open toe sandaled high heals. I may not be a fashionista, or someone to really judge what one wears, but a mini skirt! That’s just asking for pneumonia, or some sort of ridiculous cold that takes a month or so to recover from. It definitely boggles my mind.

The holiday season is here. It actually arrived the day after Halloween when Macys’s started to decorate their stores with mistletoe and holly. Tell me- is it just me or does Christmas arrive earlier each year?

Truthfully, it was bad enough that I had to stress about Christmas for a month, starting right around thanksgiving, starting to wonder what to buy all those aunts and uncles. Well not only did my family expand by 2 nieces and 1 nephew; I have a full 20 more days to stress about what to get everyone.

A funny element about the stores setting up earlier is that you might think, “Well hey, that gives me an extra time slot to get the gifts I need”... When in reality, the gifts sell out quicker, they barely re-stock so even when you think you’re buying the gift on time, you’re not and the store is sold out. People get frantic and because the stores set up earlier, people shop earlier, and then the gifts are gone. It’s the worst ripple effect for the Christmas spirit.

A common misconception is that Black Friday, NOTE: After Thanksgiving is what really kicks off the holiday shopping. Well not anymore ladies and gentleman, this year you have a whole extra month to go hysterical around Toys R Us to find the toy that your niece, nephew, daughter, son, little cousin, baby brother or sister want. The problem is 3,000 kids want the same toy from that same store and they have only 300 in stock. It’s like mission impossible; except your not Tom Cruise and you definitely won’t get the mission done- unless of course you thought ahead and called in advance to have the toy put on layaway.

in the eyes of the beholder ...

Beauty in society is a pretty hot topic (one of the reasons I’d like to talk about it). I recently wrote my feature story on the mtv reality hit “The hills”. Throughout the entire piece, my opinion was voiced over and ever again how the public thinks that this is the way to act and that this beautiful. For me, it’s truly sad to see, and yet I want to explore the idea of “Beauty” just a bit more.

Marilyn Monroe, was, and is known still today as an iconic sex symbol, the epitome of beautiful. Interestingly, she was also a very broken individual. She was gorgeous, but she could never stay with one man, and she eventually died of a drug overdose. She was destructive to herself, but maybe that’s what made her more appealing? Does America find broken people beautiful?

In Old Hollywood with women like Sophia Loren, 1950’s pin-up girl, and men like James Dean, the American Bad ass, people are aware that these celebrities were not prim and proper, yet they were still iconic and beautiful. Maybe when a celebrity is more damaged, they are more relatable. Could this be the case?

Today, we find celebrities like Angelina Jolie beautiful. She has played almost every character in American film, from a bad girl in Gone in 60 seconds, to other roles where she played a damsel in distress. This wonderful actress has also had her share of scandals in the media ranging from making out with her brother, to her numerous tattoos and love affairs.

Maybe it’s just not realistic to be perfect, and that’s why America can falls so easily for the common belief of what is beautiful. Everyone knows that we all make mistakes and we all have our share of issues. That’s why we have the right to call whoever we want beautiful; the more broken they are, maybe the more beautiful. It’s to know that we aren’t the only ones screwing up.