Greg's Weight Loss Blog

Today’s post has nothing to do with weight loss, cardio exercising or strength training. I just wanted to say that as of today I am a proud American citizen. I have been living in the US for the past 13 years and I finally became a US citizen. The process was fairly easy; once you live long enough in the US as a permanent resident (green card holder) you are eligible for naturalization and becoming a citizen. All you have to do is prove good moral character and a dedication to the state and fork over $700 for the application fee. And after 4 short months of waiting you get to take the citizenship test.

The test is very simple and very easy. They verify that you are indeed who you say you are, they ask you to verify every statement you have provided on your application such as you are not a member of the communist party and you’re not running a prostitution ring. Then there is a civics test on which they ask you to answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly regarding the history and political system of the United States from a pool of 100 questions. Once you pass that they check that you can read and write English. I think my 5 year old son could pass that part of the test. I had to read “What do we pay to the government?” and I had to write “We pay taxes”. That was it.

After this super hard interview and civics test all you have to do is partake in the Naturalization Ceremony which includes taking the Oath Of Allegiance, sing the Star Spangled Banner and say the Pledge Of Allegiance. Then wait for them to hand you your official naturalization certificate that states that you are a citizen of the United States of America.

Today I did all  this and I am proud to report I am finally a United States citizen.

Since I spent most of my day at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services building in Irving, TX I didn’t have time to do my tempo run until late tonight. I went and ran 45 minutes 20 of which was a good tempo run at an average pace of 8:49 min/mile. I don’t mind running in the dark but I hate dogs barking at me as I pass their fence. It was a pretty good run and I felt good afterward. There is something wrong with my left knee though, I think it’ s a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) sprain as I have all the symptoms for it which includes pain on the inner side of my knee. I think mine’s not even a first degree sprain as it does not hurt when I get up from a chair which is one of the symptoms of a first degree sprain. It is mildly tender to touch and it is mildly tender when running or walking.

This particular knee I have always had problems with, ever since I was involved in a motorcycle accident when I was 16. My leg got caught between my motorcycle and the trunk of a car. I think I have probably suffered a second degree sprain then and it’s acting up now that I have started putting more pressure on it. I think it just needs to adapt and get stronger to sustain my running. Last week the outside of my knee hurt which is an indication of hamstring tendinitis but that has passed since then.