Calling it a season

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since my last post, and since I realize that, to many of my readers, this is the highlight of the week (oh, happy delusions), I apologize for that. A lot has happened since my last post, so lets get started.

Lets start with running. When last we left our hero, he was struggling with why running had been progressively getting worse this spring. I had just finished the one of the worst races of my life in the Hillsdale Gina Relay 5k (the upside, and I mean only upside: I did break 16, which if you rewind to a year ago, would have been a PR, so what I guess this means that I’ve made a lot of progress to consider what I was doing a year ago as poor now). Frustrated, I turned to doctors to see if there was any explanation to the fatigue I was feeling. There was. Turns out, I have macrocytic anemia, meaning my red blood cells are large, but few in number. So what does this mean? Well, for one, it does NOT mean that I am iron deficient: iron deficiency anemia typically presents with microcytic (meaning smaller than normal) RBCs. Rather, it suggested that 1) I’m an alcoholic, 2) that I have a B12 deficiency, 3) that I have a folic acid deficiency, or 4) something else. I’m still trying to figure all of this out, so I’ll be sure to update everyone as to what is going on.

In light of this medical discovery, I’ve decided to call it a season. My logic: while I may be running to my potential from a year ago, further workouts/races will most likely lead to disappointment and frustration. The plan is to get everything figured out while building a base this summer for the fall season. I also am planning on improving my diet (including taking care of heartburn issues that have plagued me for years) and starting a consistent routine for doing core work.

So that’s about it as far as running. As far as my scientific career is concerned, I recently got some exciting news: I received a 2 year predoctoral fellowship to fund my research from the American Heart Association! To receive this award, I had to apply, which included writing a research plan about what I have been doing and what I plan to do with my research. It’s a competitive award, as 132 applications were received, and only 33 applicants received it. Most exciting about this was how high I scored: I received a 1.32, which puts me in the 4.4% rank.

            Well, I think that I’ve bored you enough with my life for now. Until next time, blaze on!