Hey Ya'll!

Well, it's been a while... What can I say, I'm a busy fella. But honestly, its been a combination of procrastination and something I'll touch on later :)

For starters I want to give a special thanks to Karl who emails me when I haven't posted in a while. Karl, a character flaw of mine is that I don't really stay in touch with people, but I really appreciate your friendship and I do think about you often.

With that said, here's what I've been up to! The biggest news over the past month is that I completed my second Half-Marathon in New Orleans. I blew it out of the PARK!

Photo recap:







For some reason I don't feel bad about being boastful when it comes to my race times :) Maggie and I kicked ass, ya'll!!! I shaved 12 minutes off of my December Half and we ran a negative split! Negative split= our second 6.6 miles was faster than our first half!! Look at that mile time 7:54 per mile for 13.1 miles.. What what!! Top 12 % of people... Too much?? Honestly, I worked very had at training, which included becoming a pescatarian (I don't eat meat, except for fish), so I was very dedicated and it's always nice to see the results of your actions. Below are some pics of the weekend :) What a wonderful memories :)














I decided to do something different this race. As I've mentioned before, running is my worship and whenever I compete, all my emotions are amplified. So in efforts to keep myself focused I dedicated each mile to someone important to me.

Mile 1: Maggie.
Mile 2: Beauman.
Mile 3: Jenny
Mile 4: Woman with the cancer free sign & my sister-in-law, Emily.
Mile 5: Erin.
Mile 6: Lauren.
Mile 7: My brothers.
Mile 8 My mom.
Mile 9: Ian.
Mile 10: My Dad.
Mile 11 My Grandparents.
Mile 12: Vanessa.
Mile 13: Me.
Mile 13.1: All of my lovely friends & family


While I ran each mile I focused only on sending good vibes and prayers towards that person. Mile 4 was very special because it was unplanned. The race was benefiting the cancer society, so when I saw a woman holding up a sign that read "6 years cancer free", I started crying. This is what the race was about... Which made me think of Emily and how strong she has been over the years...

Overall, I loved this race. I love my family and friends and I love my life. Never did I think I would run a half marathon, and now I've run 2 within 4 months!!! If you put your heart into something, you will reap positive results. :)

Cheers,
Garrett Paul

Mom, I didn't mean to be this way.

As I was standing in the essential oils aisle at Whole foods, searching for patchouli oil, the thought entered my mind, "I didn't mean to be this way, it just... happened". To further accentuate my feeling, I started explaining to my mother the benefits of living a vegetarian lifestyle. I thought to myself, "what happened to me"? Here's what happened, life...

I am taking a stab at a pescetarian lifestyle, which let me disclaim: is not a vegetarian style (apparently veggies get all hot and bothered if a pescetarian parades around like a vegetarian. I know right, you think veggies hate animal cruelty; read some blogs about their thoughts on pescetarian's.) But, for me, it's a start. Basically, one of the major differences between a vegetarian and a pescetarian, is that pescetarians eat fish. I'm on week 2 and it hasn't been that difficult. I'm sort of in the detox phase, where my body is adjusting to the change. But overall, I feel great. I don't feel sluggish after my meals and my energy levels have seemed to increase (for the most part).

So, what got me to this point? The answer is simple: progression. I never thought I would become a 26 year old, pescetarian, social worker who wants to legalize gay marriage and implement universal healthcare; but there it is.

After I noticed that Whole Food's was out of patchouli oil, I looked at my mom and said, "mom, I didn't meant to be this way, I just kinda turned into this person, and if you look back in 1o years and I only bike and recycle everything that crosses my path.. I'm sorry". Do you think my mom cared? Not at all... Life's funny that way. People either grow with you or apart from you. I'm thankful that most of the people in my life will grow with me. Not to long ago, I told my best friend, Jenny, I was going on a date. I was in one of those 'I can't put a full sentence together' moods, so in response to her question, "where did you meet", she didn't understand my reply. But it didn't matter! She said, "yeah, I didn't get that.. but I support it".

It's good to have those people who oppose their friends, of course, but it should all be out of support. One could describe me in a lot of ways: male, loving, friend, brother, son, funny, white, gay, runner, tall, driven, etc. etc. But most importantly: I'm me, and I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for the people who loved me. So I'm a pescentarian, because I want to be, not because I'm a poser, and that follows suit with every aspect of my life. If I really think about it, it's very empowering. I allow my likes and dislikes to communicate with each other, while I take the backseat. Social workers have a technique called the strength's prospective, which is when, the social worker, guides the client into self discovery, which 1) allows the client to feel empowered about aiding in their personal recovery, 2) teaches the client coping skills for the next time a problem arises, and most importantly, 3) takes the work off of the social worker.

I basically, without knowing it, conducted the strength's prospective on myself. Score!

Cheers, to being who you are and being smart about getting there.

Garrett Paul