I recently ran a race - the Army 10 Miler in Washington D.C. It was a fantastic race. I wasn't necessarily trained for this race but since I had signed up for it and it was very hard to get into and had filled up, I thought I would head up and do it. I had an extremely awesome time doing the race. I got to see Honey Bunny and Little honey bunny three times along the route. The weather was great, it was a very gently rolling hill race (mostly flat), great and plenty of water stops, lots of runners around me - which is significant since I am in the back, and tons of inspiration to draw from - like the teams of army soldiers who had no or just one leg and they were completing the race. So, I figured that I would just not put any pressure on myself and try my best to enjoy the race. I thought that this would be my last race, even though I had signed up for two half marathons in the Fall, I really needed to take a break from what seemed like my worst training season ever. Two half marathons in record slow times were not inspiring me to work harder. It seemed as if I just needed to take some time to work on other things, like losing weight and gaining strength. So I just wanted to kick back and see how much of the race I could run. I was very proud to say that I ran 99% of the race - the hardest part was from mile 8 1/2 to 9. It was over a very boring uphill bridge and it was really, really warm at this point and we were very exposed to the elements so at that point, it got a little discouraging but overall, I was pretty happy with how much I had run of that race. I spent the better part of the week basking in my post race glory and thought that for me - the time was pretty good. Until I looked up my results for the Charlottesville 10 miler which I ran in March at what I thought was my highest weight ever. I actually completed that race 5 minutes faster than this race. And that race had at least 5 giant hills. I couldn't believe it. I was stunned and spent a good part of the day moping and undoing my glory bask because I actually ended a training season heavier and slower than I started. What the FUCK????? What a giant disappointment! After this and of course the news earlier in the month that I needed blood pressure medication, do I still try to turn my life around? No of course not. I take a stab at it here and there...eat a fruit, a veggie, run a little. But do I count calories? No. Do I go totally vegan? No. Do I follow the Furman plan? Nope. Do I stop eating crap and drinking tons of wine? Not even a little. So what is a girl to do? Give up? Seriously, do I just give up on nickel and diming this thing to death? I've always wanted to do something radical. Like becoming a hard core vegan or a yogi or a meditating, brushing, juicing, raw foodie, purist. Honey Bunny and I were at dinner last night where I was enjoying a nice ribeye sandwich with blue cheese aioli and he paid me one of the nicest compliments ever. He said, one of the things that he totally loves about me is that I am really open to most things. While some people are scared of what they see as the alternative, and thinking outside of the box is very intimidating - to me, there is no other way of life. I like to think of myself as someone that can do this. So why do I hesitate so much? Not so much because it's hard. And make no mistake, it is hard. Not many restaurants serve vegan food and let's face it - all that cheese and yogurt and sour cream and lump crabmeat and london
I am looking for the support. I will start with my own self awareness and my own self confidence and when that wanes, I will look to Honey Bunny most immediately because he is definitely a huge source of support. After that goes, I will look to a few famous people like Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Brazier and Kris Carr for some quick inspiring thoughts. I want to shake up this little bit of suburbia that I am living in - look out...here comes the vegan!!!!
I recently ran a race - the Army 10 Miler in Washington D.C. It was a fantastic race. I wasn't necessarily trained for this race but since I had signed up for it and it was very hard to get into and had filled up, I thought I would head up and do it. I had an extremely awesome time doing the race. I got to see Honey Bunny and Little honey bunny three times along the route. The weather was great, it was a very gently rolling hill race (mostly flat), great and plenty of water stops, lots of runners around me - which is significant since I am in the back, and tons of inspiration to draw from - like the teams of army soldiers who had no or just one leg and they were completing the race. So, I figured that I would just not put any pressure on myself and try my best to enjoy the race. I thought that this would be my last race, even though I had signed up for two half marathons in the Fall, I really needed to take a break from what seemed like my worst training season ever. Two half marathons in record slow times were not inspiring me to work harder. It seemed as if I just needed to take some time to work on other things, like losing weight and gaining strength. So I just wanted to kick back and see how much of the race I could run. I was very proud to say that I ran 99% of the race - the hardest part was from mile 8 1/2 to 9. It was over a very boring uphill bridge and it was really, really warm at this point and we were very exposed to the elements so at that point, it got a little discouraging but overall, I was pretty happy with how much I had run of that race. I spent the better part of the week basking in my post race glory and thought that for me - the time was pretty good. Until I looked up my results for the Charlottesville 10 miler which I ran in March at what I thought was my highest weight ever. I actually completed that race 5 minutes faster than this race. And that race had at least 5 giant hills. I couldn't believe it. I was stunned and spent a good part of the day moping and undoing my glory bask because I actually ended a training season heavier and slower than I started. What the FUCK????? What a giant disappointment! After this and of course the news earlier in the month that I needed blood pressure medication, do I still try to turn my life around? No of course not. I take a stab at it here and there...eat a fruit, a veggie, run a little. But do I count calories? No. Do I go totally vegan? No. Do I follow the Furman plan? Nope. Do I stop eating crap and drinking tons of wine? Not even a little. So what is a girl to do? Give up? Seriously, do I just give up on nickel and diming this thing to death? I've always wanted to do something radical. Like becoming a hard core vegan or a yogi or a meditating, brushing, juicing, raw foodie, purist. Honey Bunny and I were at dinner last night where I was enjoying a nice ribeye sandwich with blue cheese aioli and he paid me one of the nicest compliments ever. He said, one of the things that he totally loves about me is that I am really open to most things. While some people are scared of what they see as the alternative, and thinking outside of the box is very intimidating - to me, there is no other way of life. I like to think of myself as someone that can do this. So why do I hesitate so much? Not so much because it's hard. And make no mistake, it is hard. Not many restaurants serve vegan food and let's face it - all that cheese and yogurt and sour cream and lump crabmeat and london
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