Personal Letter

I owe my mom a lot.  After all, she gave birth to me, and sources tell me that process isn't a whole lot of fun.  When I'm stressed out, she lend advice.  When my bank account dips dangerously low, she lends me enough to buy groceries.  She's a physical therapist, and given my long list of running related injuries, I've always depended on her to fix me up. 
So I've decided to write her a letter, just to thank her for all that she does.  I would've like to have done it with a feather quill, some parchment, and a wax-sealed envelope.  Unfortunately, I had to settle for the more conventional route. 

Thanks, Mom!

Perfect Day

This college schedule is getting a little old. Monotony breeds contempt.  Eveyday is the same.
I'd like to break the norm.  At least for me, a perfect day would start with:
1.) Waking up (obviously)

2.) Getting on a plane with my roomates

3.) Jet-setting over to London

4.) Spend the day sightseeing and speaking with poor British accents.

 How would I pay for this? I have no idea.  I like to buy now, and ask questions later. Life's more fun that way-at least in the short term.

My number...

I'm not huge fan of public speaking, or really anything that makes me blush, shake with nervous energy and sweat.  And so, I usually try to avoid it whenver I can.  I suppose that's one of the benefits of taking a class like this: you are forced to confront this ubiquitous fear of public speaking that almost everyone in our culture seems to have. At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to rate our comfort level, with regards to speaking in front of a group of people, on a scale from 1-100.  Back then, my number was around 57.  Oddly specific, I know.

Now, I'd say that number has increased to at least 68.  I feel considerably more comfortable speaking in front of the class, probably since I've had to do it three times since January.  Aside from just gaining public speaking experience, I've discovered that practicing my speech beforehand does wonders.  Confidence might by my problem, and sufficient practice definitely helps me stay cool and collected.

48 hours, $5000

As a college student, I'm pretty strapped for cash.  Sometimes I'm not even sure where my next meal is coming from (usually Erbert and Gerbert or Jimmy John's), and so if I suddenly found myself with $5000 that I had to spend in 48 hours, I'm sure I could find a pretty creative way to spend the money.

When I was a little kid, I loved going to the county fair and jumping around in this big inflateable hut called the "Moonwalk."  I'm sure most of you have seen it before, and even experienced it; it's a relic from most of our childhoods.  So I would spend my $5000 on renting one of these contraptions (made adult sized, of course) and I'd throw a party for a large group of my friends.

My Perfect Mate---Kara Goucher!

So as a runner, I sort of have a thing for girls that run-or at least, any girls that looks as good as Kara Goucher. But aside from just the appearance aspect, this woman is incredible. 
Here's a little backstory: she grew up in Duluth and graduated from Duluth East High School back in 1998, so she obviously has a local connection to this area, which I think is really cool.  She won a few state titles in high school at cross country running and track and field-no big deal.  At the University of Colorado, Kara established herself as one of the best collegiate runners in the nation, winning NCAA titles in the 3000m, 5000m, and in cross-country running. In 2008 she competed at the Beijing Olympics in the 5000m and 10000m.  As if that wasn't enough, she's now ventured into marathoning and is considered the best female marathoner in the United States today.
I actually had the opportunity to meet Kara a couple days ago; she was at the Fitger's complex signing copies of her new book (that's right, she's an author too).  She was extremely nice, funny, and personable. What else could a guy ask for?  Oh, and she's married...


Kara's Personal Records
1,500m - 4:05.14 (2006); 3,000m - 8:41.42 (2006); 5,000m – 14:55.02 (2007); 10,000m – 30:55.16 (2008); Half marathon – 1:06:57 (2007); marathon – 2:24:55 (2011)

I am...

I am...
a twin
musical
thoughtful
hard working
easily distracted
dedicated
a runner
not to be messed with
intelligent
a nordic skier
sarcastic
occasionally innapropriate
compassionate
impatient
slightly immature
verbose
articulate
a procrastinator
rarely on time
a daydreamer

My Ideal Job

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a science guy; I like studying chemistry, biology, anatomy-all that stuff. But I'm also really passionate about music.  After a long day of attending classes, grinding out miles on the indoor track and setting up mice traps all over my disgusting rental house, nothing eases my stress better than sitting down at the piano and writing a little music.  If I could find a way to get paid for coming up with melodies and random piano riffs, that would be ideal.  So, I guess you could say that my "dream job" would be something related to writing music for movies, television shows, or even commercials.