Love the Life you Live, Live the Life you Love

After seven years of meat celibacy, I've made the executive decision to start eating chicken again - and ONLY CHICKEN. Never will I gorge myself on a burger or pepperoni or, God forbid, bacon. I had my first taste of chicken yesterday, thanks to the support and love of my two best friends. B put on the Rocky soundtrack (nothing makes you want to eat meat more than blasting DUH DUH DUHHHHH! DUH DUH DUHHHH! you know, the Rocky sound track...right. Anyway.) and A was practically taking pictures, wonderful. It was only four pieces in my salad but I'm definitely not a fan. It was salty and stringy and dry and disgusting. As I was chewing on the carcus, I realized Triathlons have quite literally taken over my life. I've changed my party schedule, sleep schedule, shopping venues, and now, I've morals and values. Now on Saturdays instead of sleeping in and spending three hours in the dining hall nursing a hangover, I'm cycling to places like Weston and Walden pond. This is ...

Why does that title sound like some bad knock off of a Curious George book? Oh wait, that's because it is. The track is complete foreign land to me, I feel like a cat in a doghouse - maybe that would make me run faster? Okay, so it actually wasn't that bad, at some point I actually kind of thought "Hey maybe I'll do this again sometime...like next Wednesday." It stopped being fun when the lactic acid shriveled my calves, my breathing became wheezing, and I looked around and realized I was the only one sweating like an obese man at a 4th of July festival...then again I'm always the only one sweating like an obese man at a 4th of July festival. Why is that? At spin practice on Tuesdays I always have a small lake underneath my bike that could hold at least half the marine life of the Mediterranean Sea before the main set even starts, while everyone else is just chillin' out. Am I supposed to be working this hard? Maybe I just sweat like a man. I'll blame ...

I made the decision at about 10:05 this morning to backpack in Germany at the end of this summer. It's absolutely ridiculous I am almost 21 years old and have never been out of the country. And when else am I going to have the opportunity to trek across Europe with one of my best friends? Answer: never. So this calls for some additions to my to-do list: -Make at least $2,000 in the next 7 months -Learn some German -Buy a plane ticket to Dresden -Go to a REAL German pub -Get lost in Europe -Be fearless (Or at least pretend to be) I'm old enough to know, but young enough not to say no. Love love love, Katie

I decided resolutions are overrated, hardly fulfilled, and rarely even taken seriously. Few people realize resolutions are a lifestyle change and not a quick fix to a seemingly simple problem. They give up or forget and return to their normal schedules before Valentine's day decorations fill the Walgreen's aisles. I thought about my resolution around Christmas time, I usually make at least one, write it down in my notebook or what not, stick to it for about a week and then give up, just like everyone else. I'm only human. So this year, instead of a resolution, I'm going to make a "To-Do" list that lasts over a year. I can add to it or cross things off as I complete them - or, what I like to do, write them down and cross them off after I complete it. It might last, it might not, but I tend to stick more to specifics than to general ideas so at the very least this is a step in the right direction. -Finish A Walk in the Woods -Run 1/2 marathon -Knit a scarf -Eat ...

So today was my second ride in Boston, boy am I happy to be back to suicidal roundabouts and near death intersections. I missed them in Florida...not that the senior citizens in Naples didn't offer enough obstacles to keep me on their toes as they ignored stop signs and lights and drove half in the bike lane - when there was one...which was never. Excuse me, mister Cadillac boat-mobile I'm not sure if anyone informed you or not but in America we drive on the right side of the road. And if you hit me, I will come after you and beat you with your cane. Anyway, so yesterday I went out with the cycling team and what I thought was going to be a super challenging ride turned into a almost 40 mile ride that lasted 4.5 hours - wahhh. If that's not bad enough, I think I have to take Doctor Jones to the doctor (irony?) because something was wrong with him, and I'm not making this up! I KNOW spinning at 15 mph should be easier than that, especially when I was avg. 19 in Florida. ...

Sometimes...I wish I were more of a girl. Like a girl-girl. As in 'my nail polish isn't chipped', hi-lights, I-don't-look-awkward-in-heels girl. The kind that can pull off a babydoll dress and headband without looking like a Halloween costume and doesn't shudder at the thought of pink. Just once I would like to go one day without having giant bruises on my legs and skinned knees and bike chain oil on my right calf. Or maybe actually willingly choose to go on a shopping spree on Newbury instead of Landry's bike shop or the Nike store. It's not that I haven't tried to keep my nails unchipped for more than an hour or pretended to like spending an entire day at the mall, but honestly I find it more exhausting than doing a 6 hour century bike ride. And why would I spent $100 on a new dress I'll wear maybe once if I could buy a new set of Speedplays I'll use everyday? I blame it on my Missouri upbringing, my brothers, and triathlons. I used to love m...