FINALLY

I ran for an hour last night at midnight! it was the perfect run! about 50 degrees with a light wind. Some steps were worse than others as far as my back and IT band, but I mostly just felt soreness. It feels like it's been so long since I ran for that long that my body was just starting to feel pain in general. When I finished my IT band hurt pretty bad.. but I walked it off and stretched a lot and right now it feels 10 times better. Still not completely normal, so I'm going to wait to run again tonight and stretch all day. My life rocks right now. I'm so happy.

Plans for today:
1. Go to the movies with Hales.
2. Make puppy chow with Hales.
3. Try to run with Hales.
4. Possibly Zoo Lights with Hales, Cherilyn, and Austin

sounds like a great day to me!

Progress

So, I thought I finally had a break through the other night because I was able to run 40 minutes. It was incredible. I don't think I've been that elated in a long time. I was hoping to be able to run an hour the next day. Of course I try to run in the morning which was no good and resulted in a 30 minute run which was ok.. just not what I was looking for. I figured that was good because I ran a lot the day before compared to what I've been doing. Well, today I woke up and I just knew my back was not feeling it. I tried anyways and got 20 minutes it. It's a lot more than I could have done a week ago, so I'm thankful, but I want to run for an hour so bad. My back still feels the same way it did when I woke up so I don't think running now will be any better.  This is seriously one of the most frustrating things I've ever dealt with. Not to mention the fact that while I'm not running, I feel like the only things to eat in my house are cookies and all sorts of other desserts that are not helping me stay in shape by any means.
Why is this happening? Why is it taking so long? When it first started I only planned on cross training for like 2 days. Then when I was told to take off I only planned on that lasting like 2 days. This is all just so dumb.

I got to skype 2 of my friends from Starkville last night! It was probably one of the highlights of my break actually! I didn't realize how few friends I have here and how great my college friends are.

Another highlight to this break was the murder mystery party me and Hales went to. I originally really didn't want to go. It was so much fun though. It's really complicated to explain so I guess I won't even try, but I can't wait to go to the next one already.

Hope this next week gets better!

Home Sweet Home

I have been home for 6 days now and haven't gotten to write on here. Horrible. Well, not much has really been happening. I still haven't been able to run or anything for that matter. Yesterday was the first day I've exercised in over a week and it felt so good. 30 minutes on the elliptical. I felt so out of shape. My legs were burning and every rotation I was scared how my back would feel. It started to hurt after 25 minutes so I stopped at 30. All last night and today the muscle that I guess spasmed has been very sore. It's not painful at all so today I went for 45 minutes and a lot faster. I plan on running later because my back doesn't hurt at all. I can run through soreness. I just don't want to over do it and the pain spread to my IT band and then down my leg like it did the last day I ran. It was so painful and set me even further behind. I want to just be normal and run again! I'm so close, I can feel it. Also, I just remembered we're having a time trial when we get back from Christmas and I don't think I will be in too great of shape to run the minimum requirement which means I won't get all the gear. This will be very frustrating. Anyways, Im getting better and that's all that matters.

I'm already ready to go back to Starkville though. I love it so much there. I miss my friends. I miss the freedom. I miss the training. I miss the stupid dorm. I miss not having junk food in front of my face all the time. I miss not working. I miss having a trainer to keep me healthy. I even miss the school work a little. It kept me busy.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It was so good! I used to love that movie, but I just watched it after reading the book and that was the first time I have ever liked a book more than a movie. I was critiquing every aspect of the movie and it just was not as good as I remembered it. I've started the second book and hopefully after today I'll be half way through it. I'm obsessed.

Being home means I have to work. Well, not have to I guess, but I want to. I hate spending money at school without having any income. However, work is not as much fun as I left it. All the new people suck. They are so annoying and I don't have any good friends to talk to. Even if I did though, what would we talk about? I feel like all I know how to talk about these days is running which is so unhealthy. I really need to venture out. Anyways, hopefully it gets better, or my outlook on things change or something.

My sister just had an interview trying to get into the PT school here in Memphis. She's freaking out about not getting in and it has hit me that I will be in the same position in a very short 3 years or less hopefully. What if my plan for life doesn't work out because I can't get into Dental School. Then what? It's so weird to think about. I'm going to be in the real world. On my own. Paying taxes and bills. This makes me more determined than ever to keep my 4.0. I need everything I can possibly do to be perfect so that when I look back, I can say I did everything in my power to do what was needed to get into Dental School.

My girlfriend is doing just as great as ever! I love her so much and I'm so proud of her for everything she has accomplished. I learn a lot from her whether she knows it or not. 

My sister also told me a new website to download music for free! It's so awesome! and I suppose it's legal. I mean, you don't have to sign up or download any program. You just go to the website - http://www.listentoyoutube.com You take the URL of a youtube video you like and then turn it to an mp3. It goes straight to your Itunes. Check it out. It's super easy and awesome.

I guess I've typed quite a bit. Hopefully it won't take me 6 more days before I get to write again.

Hurry Up

It feels like it's been forever since I posted on here. Well, my back started acting up and I wound up not getting to run like I thought I would. I saw the doctor this morning and he said there was definite muscle spasms in my lower back and gave me some medicines and told me to take off until it gets better. I absolutely hate not being able to run. Hopefully this meds will kick in in the next couple days and I'll be good as new.
As for my finals, I got A's on the 3 I took Friday and I'm 98% sure I got an A on the Biology exam I was freaking out about which means I'm 99% sure I have an A in the class! That is the best news I've heard all week! 4.0 GPA first semester in college, can't complain! I just hope I can keep it up because I know it definitely will not be this easy for the rest of college. I have one more exam on Thursday. It's going to be one of the easier ones and I just have to wait around on it. I think I'm going to start reading Harry Potter here soon.
Well I guess I have nothing else to talk about really. I'm so ready to go home though.
Thursday needs to hurry up.

Good News!

Good news!! My back is finally getting better! Just when I thought I was cursed and would never get better, I get better! Coach gave us our schedules for December while we're at home. All the workouts seem great and I can't wait to do them! This morning I was so upset because I was scared I wouldn't be able to.. but it looks like I should be good to go on Monday! Maybe not exactly what's on my schedule. I might come back a little easier to work into it, but still, improvement! I love life right now.
I've had a wonderful day with my amazing girlfriend. We went out to lunch at Umi's. So delicious. A little expensive.. I'm always thinking about money. It's probably really unhealthy. I just hate spending money without having a source of income. Money should never be an issue. And hopefully when I'm older it really never will be because I'll be a rich dentist. Fingers crossed. Anyways, that makes me think, why do people care so much about having money. I'm sure it's great to be able to go out to dinner and not worry about how much the bill is or go on vacation and not think about how much you spent on the hotel room, but I've never really experienced it. Sometimes I don't really think about it an I just enjoy the time I'm spending with her, but then the next time I go to spend money, I think about the last time I spent money. So stupid. I don't go out to eat with the guys because I save my money for when I want to take Haley out. Although this is smart, why do I care? Oh yeah, because she just mentioned I should start saving for her wedding ring. Well, if I do that, then that means we can't go out and spend money at this point in our lives. Why is life so complicated? Why am I even thinking about this stuff? It's so far in the future. This is the point at which I would usually just erase everything I've said because I don't think it's relevant, but I guess I'll leave it since it's what was going on in my head as I was typing.
Anyways, I wanted to focus on the great day I've had instead of complain, but I got distracted with thought provoking questions about money and the future and what not. After lunch we watched a movie. Something along the lines of "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo." It was pretty good! She had read the book and wanted to see the movie version. After the movie, we went back to my dorm and talk to the guys for a while. My friends are so awesome. They always crack me up. Now I'm back at Haley's apartment, supposed to be studying for Biology, but I don't want to and FRIENDS is on and I'd rather just watch that anyways. I guess I have all day tomorrow to study. I want to do so well on this exam it's not even funny. I want to know the material better than I know myself. haha
Well, I'm going to go attempt to study or eat some pretzels, reese's peanut butter, and yogurt with my awesome girlfriend!

Bad News

Bad news. My trainer just told me that I need to take the next two days completely off. I hate this. My lower back still hurts because of my stupid tight hamstrings. I've never been injured like this before. It's horrible. It's been perfect running weather and I hear about everyone else's runs and I'm just really jealous. All I want is to get better. Sometimes I feel like I'm being punished for something. Does God cause pain in my legs, my running to suffer and other things because I haven't been as good of a person lately and I don't have a very close relationship with him? I feel like this a lot. Maybe some of it's mental, but it seriously does seem whenever I do something "morally wrong" everything else in life seems to fall apart too.

Anyways, finals began today. I had 3 and I got a 98 on one and pretty sure I got an A on the other 2. Looks like I'll be finishing this semester with a 4.0 GPA as long as I do pretty well on this stupid Biology final. I want to start studying right now, but I'm going to let my mind rest and relax tonight. I'll start studying tomorrow I guess.

The Dark Horse

I'm having a really rough week. So, my back has been hurting for a couple weeks now. Well once we got back running on Monday after 8 days off, the pain in my back led to pain in my IT Band. I ignored it on Monday and was just getting treatment on my back. The run Tuesday was awful. The pain from my back caused pain in the IT Band which caused pain in my whole right quad and somehow my right shin started hurting, but it feels more like inflamed muscles around my shin than the bone. After the run, I was in so much pain. I got treatment on my back and iced my legs. Towards the end of the night I could not walk it hurt so bad. The next morning was just as bad. Throughout the day, my back loosened up, but my quad and IT Band still hurt. I did a bike workout instead of running, which did not cause nearly as much pain as Tuesday's run. Afterwards I got treatment on my quad and iced my shin. I felt a million times better last night. Then my back started hurting because I didn't get to heat it after the bike ride yesterday. Our trainer Katie says that my back is probably only hurting now because my hamstrings are so tight. I've been stretching all morning. IT Band and quad feel a lot better, shin feels a bit better so now my back and tight hamstrings are the only things bothering me. The plan is to bike for one more day and continue this intense stretching and hopefully I'll be ready to go by Saturday. This is so frustrating though. I want to be the Dark Horse this track season. A stud runner that no one even sees coming. It's going to be a little harder being a week behind and now being scared that at any minute my back or IT Band could start hurting again.

The only thing I'm being positive about is that it happened now instead of in March or April. Being injured takes up so much more time. I go in about 30 minutes early, I stay about 30-40 minutes late.. it's so annoying. I just want to be normal. My friend Mike just came in my room and told me about his 100 minute run this morning. I'm so jealous. I WANT TO RUN. 

Oh, What a Break

Well, I'm back in Starkville. I love this place so much. I missed it over Thanksgiving break. What a good break it was though. With no school AND no running, well that's one relaxing holiday. The only downfall to this break was that my back still hurts pretty bad. It scares me. I want/need to be able to run and train hard this winter. I want to be a black horse this track season. No one will even see me coming.

It's great to be back and talk with all the guys about what we did over the break and hear everyone's stories. I'm not looking forward to school tomorrow though. Just 3 days and then exams and it's over. I'm starting to freak out about exams, but oh well. 

I'm laying in bed watching FRIENDS. What else is new? haha

I'm about to get a little deep, but I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately.

In FRIENDS, every character loves all the others despite all of their flaws or wrong doings. It's kind of crazy to me, but I'm very envious. I wish I was less judgmental. I mean, no matter how many girls Joey has sex with, how many times Ross gets married, how many weird things Phoebe says, or whatever it may be, they all still love each other. Why can't we all be like that? Who cares if your friend has problems with drinking, sex, drugs, eating, school, or whatever the case may be? If you are their friend, you should be there for them just like the characters in FRIENDS. haha 

Anyways, it's just something that's been on my mind. I'm striving to be like that.

I feel like I have some more to say on the matter, but I just started falling asleep while typing. 

I also wanted to talk about my amazing girlfriend because today is our one year!

but - I'm calling it a night.

Tomorrow is Only a Day Away

As I lay in bed, about to go to sleep, I have a lot on my mind. I feel like a kid the night before Christmas with so much anticipation that I cannot sleep. I'm so ready to go home tomorrow that it is al I can think about. I only have 1 mandatory class tomorrow and I really don't want to go to it. I don't think I'll be able to concentrate the whole time and I just don't see the point in going. I'm tempted to get in my car and go home tonight. All of this talk of home has lead me to think of how thankful I am for the life that I live. Ironic since Thanksgiving is in 4 days.

Things I'm thankful for:

1. My family - I have a wonderful set of parents that love me more than anything else in the world and do whatever they can to make me happy and I don't show my appreciation nearly as much as I should. I am also fortunate to have a sister that I can talk to, get along with, and in some cases look up to. I also love that my extended family cares so much for me. I think about people with families that are not like mine and I just don't know what I would do if I didn't have parents that took care of me and loved me with everything they had.
2. My girlfriend - She is always there for me. She always makes me smile. She always makes me laugh. She always encourages me. She always listens to me. She's so far from perfect, but there is no doubt in my mind she's perfect for me. I'm getting off topic. Anyways, I'm just really lucky to have someone that I can talk to about anything, trust, and that encourages me as much as she does.
3. My friends - Not only did I have great friends before college, but I am so lucky to have met the people that I have and built the friendships I am building. My teammates are like my new brothers. You form a friendship as teammates that is way beyond friendships I think. Doing workouts and 90 minute runs with these guys builds a friendship other than just partying together on the weekends or playing video games. We go through some of the worst pain our bodies have ever felt together in workouts. That sounds weird or whatever, but it's true.
4. My intelligence - I am a freshman in college with a 4.0 as a Biological Science major. Although I'm only in beginner level classes, getting an A in Biology I is kind of a big deal. I graduated high school in National Honors Society and with a 3.89 GPA. I'm on academic scholarship and I'm just very thankful for the brain The Lord gave me.
5. My athleticism - I'm a Division I athlete in the SEC. Kind of a big deal. I never thought I would be here. I wouldn't be here without all the abilities The Lord gave me. Not just physical, but also the mental toughness.
6. My appearance - This sounds horrible, but sometimes you see people and they are just unfortunate looking. It's not their fault, like what they wear or how they look, but I just can't help but feel thankful that when I look in the mirror I inherited some attractive qualities from my parents.
7. All the things I'm not or haven't done - I'm thankful I've never been arrested, broken a bone, had my heart broken, had any disease, been abused. I'm not cruel, a rebel, mean, stuck up, poor, or who knows what other really bad qualities.

I'm really thankful for a lot more, I just can't think of them all at once. Maybe I should put on here one thing I'm thankful for each day to keep in mind how great my life is and that way I wouldn't take as much for granted.

I used a lot of colors in this post which leads me to think about some of my obsessions. I have a lot of weird quirks. One of them is going in order on stuff. I don't really care what color is next, I'm going in order. I'm not going to care if you can't read it perfectly, if it doesn't match, or if its pink and girly. I just have to use it. I don't really know why I'm like this, I just am and it really bothers me when I go out of order for things. I have systems for everything. One of the weirdest is deciding what to wear. People always freak out on this one. I just wear whatever is next in my closet or drawer. I never really pick out clothes. Ok, anyways, enough with my weird stuff.

Smart Decision, Conrad.

I love Sundays in college. Every single one has been relaxing and all I do is sit around with the guys watching tv, talking about what crazy things happened on the previous night and catching up on whatever school work needs to be done before Monday morning. Today's conversations consisted of many great stories from last night!

Last night was Mississippi State's last home football game! It was THE most FUN game I've ever been to! We were so close to taking down those stupid razorbacks! DOUBLE OVERTIME! Doesn't get any more interesting than that! Everyone was respecting the bell until the last few minutes of the last quarter and then overtime. Hope the SEC doesn't penalize us for that one. haha. The cowbells were SO loud! The loudest I have ever heard the cowbell though was after the moment of silence for our football player, Nick Bell #36 that passed away 2 weeks ago. Anyways, the game was awesome and afterwards of course the guys are wanting to go out. Me and Hales just didn't really see the point in us leaving so we stayed in for the night. The guys asked to drive my car and I am so happy I made a smart decision and said no. I felt kind of bad at first, but I just don't feel comfortable with people driving my car. Well, the guys borrowed someone else's car and wound up getting in a wreck. Everyone was ok thank goodness, but if that was my car, I would have been pissed beyond belief. These guys just play it so cool and aren't mad at all really. So weird to me.

Other than that, it sounds like everyone had a good night, but I am definitely glad me and Hales went back to her place and pigged out on pretzels, peanut butter, and yogurt. The only bad thing about that was that I haven't been eating too wholesome the past couple days. I've had cookies, brownies, cakes and all sorts of delicious sweets that I've really just overindulged with. Now, I feel bad about it and I'm not running. This means extra crunches for me tonight! ha

As for the housing of my last entry: It looks like the 5 of us are set on living in these nice little cottages. Prospect Starkville will be my new home in the Fall and I cannot wait!! My parents think it's a little pricy, but they pay $150 more a month for my sister's rent so I don't think they should complain. However, I'm willing to make whatever sacrifices I need to in order to live there!

Housing

So today has been an awesome day. I got to sleep in, only had one class and had a fantastic run. The weather is perfect outside. I started off pretty slow, but wound up getting a pretty solid run in. I was focussing on form and just thinking of the things to come for me. I feel like I have a lot of potential and I'm more determined than ever to be the fastest I can be and do everything in my power to get me there. Words can't describe how much I love running. 
After the run, I went to get a bite to eat for lunch. I didn't realize how hungry I was!


Anyways, it's about that time of year where me and all of my friends need to decide what we're doing about housing for next year. There's usually five of us that spend all of our time together. Me, Bobby, Jay, Carson, and Mike. We all get along really well and are pretty neat people. I would like to live with any of them. Well, one of my friends told me about this new place opening up next year call Prospect Starkville. It's legit. They have a 5 bedroom place and the rent is a little pricy, but it would so be worth it. So of course, I assume it would be us 5 that live together. Well, apparently one of the other guys on our team found out about it and he wants in on the 5. I personally don't really want to live with him, but some of the other guys don't have a problem with living with him. Well, all I can say is I better not get wedged out of this 5 bedroom place. I can't afford the rent for the 4 bedroom place and no one would even know about this place if it wasn't for my friend in the first place. Plus, us 5 spend all of our time together. You snooze, you lose. Sorry, shouldn't have spent so much time with your girlfriend instead of the guys.


Well, for the rest of my day - there is a big dinner tonight with the team because there are like 12 recruits coming in. That's the most recruits we've ever had for one weekend. It's going to be crazy. Then, after that I suppose I'll go to the basketball game with the guys or just have a nice relaxing evening with my lovely girlfriend Haley. I'll talk about her very soon! I think I ranted enough today on this housing nonsense..

The Creation

So, I'm not really sure why I've created this blog or even that I will write in it all the time. I almost don't believe in blogs. It's an online diary. I just don't see the point in posting stuff on the internet for everyone to read when most people use them for intimate thoughts that should probably be kept to themselves. Like Mark Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend told him, "The internet's not written in pencil, Mark. It's written in ink." On the other hand, I understand how good it can feel to write out how you feel. I usually do this all the time in a Facebook message or something, but I end up erasing it and deciding it's not worth it.


Well, I guess I don't really even have anything to say because the day has just begun! 
I should be sleeping and I'm actually going to attempt this right now!