I think it was some time in the early fall of 2011 I decided I was going to trade in my years of experience as a medical practice administrator,  leave my comfort zone and return to college as a fullt-time student to earn the registered dietitian credentials.  After all that I had been through emotionally after Tim’s diagnosis and treatment earlier in the year, I knew that I needed a fresh start in my life to do something that was fulfilling and stimulating to my mind, body, spirit and soul.  I have to thank Tim for being so adamant about me not taking another administrator job for the sake of having a “job” and earning a paycheck.  If I didn’t have that time to heal and rejuvinate, I probably would be miserable doing the same old same old.

I had no idea where to begin when I embarked this journey, so I called the director of the nutrition program at Syracuse University to gather the data to see if this desire and dream of mine was even a possibility.  I remember thinking to myself before punching in her telephone number that since I had already earned a BS and a MBA, that I would probably need approximately one semester max filled with a few nutrition / science related courses to start the master’s program at SU.  Wrong I was with a capital W!!!

My jaw was practically dragging on the ground after my initial conversation with the director of the master’s program.   I learned that I was way off base with my initial calculations of the preliminary coursework I needed before I could even think about filling out an online application to SU. Not only was I told I needed to take a gozillion science and nutrition related classes that were not appearing anywhere on my current transcripts; but, I needed to take the GRE- no exceptions, ifs, ands, or buts about that.  I’m telling you that GRE was almost a deal breaker for me and if you could surmise from my last post, I sucked it up and took it bitching, screaming and complaining the whole way.

I was overwhelmed with questions and decisions to make and never thought that this dream would ever become reality because  it was going to take much longer than I ever imagined and that three letter word- GRE.  Of course, the cost benefit equation popped up several times in my mind which was equally important if not more important in the overall decision process.  Tim and I have both worked full-time since we got together and were accustomed to a two paycheck family and I never in a million years thought that we could survive on one paycheck.  I guess I was wrong.  As the saying goes, you can do anything you want to if you put your mind to it.

Once I got over the initial shock of how long  and expensive this new career educational process would take, I formulated an action plan outlining the  pre and co requisite coursework I needed so I could get from point A to point RD in somewhat of a reasonable timeframe.  Believe me, I begged and groveled with many of the colleges I spoke to about my desire to “getter done faster” and they kept telling me, “no you can’t do that”.  Entering the field of dietetics is very systematic and sequenced so that you can’t run before you can walk and you must follow all of the rules before you proceed.  Trust me, I devised several compelling and convincing ideas to expedite the process but for some reason nobody wanted to entertain those creative suggestions.  It basically was the schools way or the highway and I made the decision to follow the schools outline.

My journey started here:

Semester 1- Spring 2012 

Anatomy & Physiology I w/ lab

General Biology w/ lab

Nutrition in Health

Elementary Algebra I – don’t laugh- the college made me take it – too many years had passed since I took a math class and the registrar’s office was never going to allow me to enroll in required chemistry class without Algebra1 and Trigonomety. Secretly, I was ok with this because it was going to be a nice refresher for that horrific GRE.

Semester 2- Summer from hell 2012

Anatomy & Physiology II w/ lab

Semester 3- Fall 2012

Quantity Food Preparation & Service

Applied Food Sanitation

Intermediate Algebra w/ Trigonometry- there it is again.

Health Field- (nutrition course)

Medical Terminology

Semester 4- Spring 2013

Chemistry I w/ lab

Food Service Management

Food Selection Preparation & Service w/ lab

Photography- obviously not needed but why not, right.

GRE- not a course, just a test and by now you probably are on to me – this was the only thing in the process I procrastinated on until the last possible moment and deadline.

Semester 5- Summer 2013 – TBD if it is another summer from hell

Chemistry II w/ lab

Fall 2013-Spring 2015 – Syracuse University here I come for graduate studies in Nutrition.  

Post Spring 2015 – Dietetic Internship – and I have definitely peeked at Oh, the places I could go to satisfy this requirement.   Napa Valley, CA, NYC, and I’m hoping something in Hawaii will make it to my top 5 choices.

It’s happening! I am starting graduate school in the fall at Syracuse University and I couldn’t be happier! Time flies when you are having fun.  Going back to school as a full-time student has been both a  blast and eye opener! I have really enjoyed the courses and stimulating my brain again.  I have even met some wonderful young minds throughout the process that keep me young and on my toes.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t think that I would have ever survived this curriculum the first undergraduate time around. Probably would have changed majors after the first semester.    You need some serious discipline and solid studying habits if you want to succeed in nutrition or any related science field.  It seems that A&P and Chemistry are the filtering out courses for those individuals that choose happy hours over study hours.   Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Well hello there,

I know it’s been a long time since I posted anything on Fittitude Freedom.  My erratic full-time school schedule, new job, and everyday responsibilities consumed so much of my free time, I had to send Fittitude Freedom on an uninterrupted cyber vacation. I am happy to say that it’s almost over and it feels good.   Only one more final exam on the agenda for tomorrow and I will be officially D-O-N-E!  Let’s party!

Here’s a few photos of what I have been up to.  I plan to elaborate on the details of most of these photos in future posts to share the fun and not so much fun I had along the way.  It’s almost all good.

Introducing….

A line cook or as the French call this position in the kitchen “The Grillardin” in the Classical Brigade System… Don’t you think the french version of sweating over a hot grill and  flipping burger position sound so much more glamorous?

Flipping Burgers & Grilling Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

A Front of the House Restaurant Manager

Me w/ the kitchen manager

A waitress

A photographer

A chemistry student

Avogadro’s number

A rainbow of colors

And last but not least…. The world’s biggest GRE loather

 At the end of the day semester, all the craziness was worth it and most of it was fun.   My schedule was all over the place so much that I had to have daily calendar alerts to notify me where I needed to be and what time I needed to be there.  In fact, I had to create Tim his own schedule so he had some idea of my whereabouts.  Just about everyday he would say “good luck on your test sweetie” because he had no idea if I were coming or going and he wanted to cover all bases.

There you have it, the highlights of my life and why FF has been incognito for a while.

Have a wonderful day!

Where’s Kathleen? The question Tim asks just about everyday lately.  Sometimes, I have to reference my calendar to ensure I am where I need to be on the right day at the right time. Have you ever felt like that?

You have probably figured out by now that I must be busy or something since I haven’t posted a peep in long time.  My silence does not mean that I don’t wont to say anything, it just means that I am having a hard time finding a chunk of time to write a blog post.  And I am not going to throw pictures of my food diary with one line captions out there just to say I posted something.  I would rather not post anything than to publish that kind of fluff.

It seems like that in the blink of an eye, I went from having chunks of free time to a jammed packed schedule with little or no time to blog.

Here’s the scoop about what I have been up to.  Three weeks ago I started a brand new half-time job and full-time college school schedule all in the same week.   I was really psyched to land this job because it is in dietetics (the reason I am back to school as a full-time student) and I will be working with an experienced Registered Dietitian.  The job I am doing is a job that I have no prior work experience, so I needed to be trained from square one.  I’m finally feeling acclimated to what my primary responsibilities are so now I can take a deep breath.

On the school side of things, I am at school 2 full days and 3 nights.  I know, crazy.  It was the only solution I could come up with to accommodate the job I wanted and the classes that I needed /wanted to take.  Seriously, most of my courses are necessary because they are the final pre requisite undergrad classes I needed before I can move on to the Master’s program.

Digital photography is my own doing.  I’ll be honest, I started to hem haw about dropping it to free up one evening.  In fact, my intention on the first night of class was to make a decision on whether or not the class was a go based on the workload and amount of out of class time commitment.  In the end, I didn’t drop it….photography is going to be fun and I am learning how to use the crème de la crème of photo editing software, Adobe’s Photoshop.  And who cares about the grade, right?

Our assignments so far have been fun and have forced me see things and think about the camera in a whole new light.  With light, of course, being the operative word.  Another bonus is that Tim and I are spending time together with these assignments so it’s a win win.  Soon, I will share some of the pics and you can tell me what you think.

Other than that, I have been running sporadically.  Sporadically only because it was my decision not to lace up and head outside. I don’t know what happened to me but if it is really cold,  snowy, windy, icy, and just plain nasty, I take a complete rest day.  There was one week not too long ago that I ran only one day.  I admit it, I have turned into a wimp!!  After falling on the black ice last year and being sidelined for a year, I’m not going to chance it.  I also decided that running is not the most enjoyable thing to do when the wind chill factor is below zero and the winter wind is whipping at your face.  Even with my jason mask, the wild wind still finds a way to seep through the neoprene crevices.

I am still planning on signing up for the Tipperary Hill’s Shamrock run for only fun this year and I am still on the fence about a spring half marathon.  I have to wait and see how my life settles down.

One day at a time, right!

Do you have any races in the near future you are training for? Are you ready or not to toe the starting line? Share, share in the comments.

I can’t believe that the 2013 Utica Boilermaker 15k & 5k races are closed.  Registration opened for the 15k race on Saturday, January 12th at 12:01am and was to full capacity with 14,000 registered runners by Monday, January 14th some time around 8pm.  I think the 5K had its 4,500 runners by Tuesday.

I have run this race approximately 20 times and never thought that the day would come that I would have to worry about getting in.  Boy, I was wrong and I am so glad that Tim insisted we register on opening day.  Last year, the race sold out some time in March which I thought was record pace for sell out but c’mon now I have to mark my calendar every year with a reminder to sit by laptop with fast fingers to ensure a spot. Oh well, that seems to be the trend with road races and triathlons.

I am happy for the city of Utica and the organizers of this race because IMO it is one of the best 15K’s in the country.  Boilermaker is near and dear to my heart and is one of my favorite races of all time.  This is the race where I PR’d in the 15K and received an age group award which is probably my favorite award of all time.   In case you were wondering, my former last name was Iacuone and this is my finishing time and place in 1994.  I was 29 years old when I ran this race back in 1994 and if a miracle happened and I ran this same pace this year, it would place me in approximately the same overall standings (450-550th overall).  I would have to kick up my running pace a couple hundred of notches again to see those mile pace numbers is the 6′s and I don’t foresee that happening.    A girl can only dream!

1994 Utica Boilermaker 15k

Utica, NY

July 10, 1994

536 Kathleen M. Iacuone Syracuse        NY

8/182:F25-29 F#  47 1:03:32  6:49

Besides the awesome fans lining the entire 9.3 miles cheering all the runner’s on with festive music blasting, where else can you find a race that puts on the most amazing post race party serving kegs of beer at 9am on a Sunday?  Anywhere? Anywhere? Bueller?

Last years Boilermaker race was a joke for me and I had no business running or should I say walking most of it.  I did finish and paid the price for my idiotic decision to run this race by not being able to run for 3+ months after.  BIG mistake!

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks back that I am happy to be running consistently again.  I am consciously restricting myself from too much too soon and too fast mentality.  Therefore, I have no race expectations for myself besides finishing.  I will tell you that I am running/jogging or walking the Boilermaker, duh! and the 4 mile Tipperary Hill Shamrock – Run -duh because I’m Irish and haven’t missed one of those races since inception.  I have contemplated a half marathon late March but will not make any decision until closer to race day.

Part of me wants redemption in the finishing time category for both the Boilermaker & Tipp Hill races because of my disappointment with both of them last year.  I am not sure if I posted anything on this blog after the Tipperary Hill race; but this is the race when I first experienced the inability to run or walk another step at mile two of the race (literally- my legs did not move for minutes). I managed to finish but my time was nothing to write home about.

I decided that I will make up my mind of what my body will do come race day.  I’m definitely not going to jinx myself by proclaiming any lofty time goals to the world. If I feel great and just run, I will be happy.   I just have to accept the fact that I may not post times like I used to and certain runner’s that I used to place in front of will run right by me.   More on that topic in another post – can you tell that I’m still coping with the finishing time issue.. but every day it gets better.

Making strides is where it’s at for me now.  Can’t say if my mentality will change in the next couple of months on the racing forefront but we’ll have to wait and see.

Please let me know if you are running Boilermaker this year?  Did you make the final cut? What about your thoughts on all these good races selling out like there’s no tomorrow.. love it or hate it?  Love to know your thoughts.