Vegetables

Tonight, Marty and I went on a date. I needed to drop a car off at the garage to get a few things fixed. So, while the kids watched the Madagascar Christmas special, Marty drove a car and I drove a car into town. After dropping off one car, we proceeded to enhance our date by going to Cub to find dark chocolate. We ended up adding a few things to our cart: red cabbage, yellow pepper, celery, honeycrisp apples, and cilantro.

Vegetables.

After reading Born to Run, we've been eating vegetables for breakfast. Yes, for breakfast. There are a number of things, enhancements, to our lives that have come from the ultra running world such as wool, salt pills, night running, eating while running, eating lots while running, eating lots after running, eating Pillsbury Toaster Strudels before a run, eating Pillsbury Toaster Strudels while running, running in trail shoes on trails, on pavement, on carpet, in the house, and sometimes to the office, Bodyshield and, as of tonight, fighting.

So, it was only natural that we would try vegetables for breakfast.
It's been very...interesting.

During the first week:
I felt light and energetic all day. No need for caffeine. Not even hungry for lunch.

Second week:
Still feel light and energetic. I think about the taste of cabbage all day long. My intestines are clean. I'm hungry by 11am, but don;t feel like eating anything heavy. Marty says she's lost 5 lbs.

Third week:
I'm now eating a little cereal to supplement the vegetables. Still feel very healthy. Still think about cabbage a lot. I'm hungry by lunch but still don't feel like eating much.

Beyond the Headlamp

Why run late, late at night:

• few, to no, distractions
• no need to impress anyone - there is no one to impress
   on a trail at 2am in the morning.
• adventure lurks just beyond the headlamp beam
• an opportunity to practice running tired without
   having had to run for 8 hours
• time to think...

Thinking while running:
It is easy to tell people that I enjoy long runs because I'm able to think things through to a resolution. That sounds so noble. During this last run, I realized that this is not really what happens. Instead, thoughts rush upon me, knock me down; I get up, and then I go at it from another angle, only to have other thoughts rush in. Sometimes they strangle, other times they taunt. It's as if the jarring of each foot strike loosens thoughts and gives them courage for a full frontal attack. I end up thinking about something from all different perspectives, desires, outcomes, and longed-for outcomes. However, there is rarely resolution.

I would love to say that all this undirected thinking helps by clearing my mind to be less burdened during non-running times. Evidently, not this time. Maybe the next run will help?! Hope springs eternal.

So do thoughts.

This is what I ran through early Saturday morning; just add fog, mist, trees, and rocks.

I ran trails at William O'Brien State Park from 1am to 4am. It was glorious and terrifying. When the headlamp was off, I could see nothing. When it was on, I could make out the trail from the forest only because there were no trees on the trail, and the trail tended to have less foliage. The fog dispersed the headlamp light almost before it left the tip of my nose. Thus, the trail that I could see was always just the trail 5 feet in front of the next foot strike.

Because,
• when I get done playing soccer on Friday nights,
   I can't sleep anyway;
• last week, there was a full moon that just
   couldn't be wasted;
• I get itchy if I haven't run recently;
• if I run at night, I'm not running during time I
   could be with the family
• I need to get more experience and improve my
   night-running (I've got my eyes set on
   two runs that require it: Arrowhead, yes Arrowhead,
   and Leadville);
• running at night is almost beyond describing
   (I'll give it an amateur attempt in another blog)