Saturday, February 8, 2014

Feet and Vegan Blues and Waterfall Bliss



Penasquitos Waterfall
More PQ preserve
I spend a lot of time thinking about running.  In fact, I may think about it almost as much as I actually do it.  I plan my next run.  I plan my next race.  I plot out for weeks in advance what days I will run and what kind of runs I will do on those days.  I spend hours reading about running.  I nurse injuries. I read blogs about running.  If I didn't have running in my life I would have a lot of free time.  Of course, I would then fill it up with something else to obsess about.  Gardening anyone? 

Max, just because he is so darn cute
I also focus a lot of time and effort on veganism and health in general.  I think about everything I eat and really try to live by the mantra, you are what you eat.  I'm not perfect in my diet and I know by my readings that there are a lot of people who eat better than I.  For instance, people who only eat raw fruits and veggies.  In fact, I just ate a handful of pretzels.  I would find it hard to never eat processed food.  I like tortillas!  However, I find it easy to skip the truly crappy food.  McDonalds or Burger King have not seen the light of my eyes in over 20 years.  But then again, a diet Pepsi on a rare occasion can really hit the spot.  And I know it is horrible for you.  But once again I ain't perfect.

Super bowl day was hard for me though.  Not just because it was a horrible game.  Who cares about that anyway?  And yes, the halftime show was good.  It was hard because of the food served.  And it was at my house!  We had a lot of chicken.  Chicken wings.  Not even organic or cage free because I couldn't find any.  And that depressed me.  I hate to complain because really my life is awesome and there are people with such larger problems.  But, it is hard being a vegan.  It is hard being in the minority.  I just wish everyone was a vegan.  The world would be such a better place.  For me, for the animals, for the environment, for every one's health.  Oh well.  I can dream.
Love this thing

Back to running.  So as I mentioned in my last post I am now seriously contemplating and planning on a marathon in the next year.  After such a great experience at the Carlsbad Half Marathon I decided I was ready to go for the full in May.  However, since then a few things have come up.  One,  I poured over the details of different races in May and June and could not come up with one that fit the bill for what I want.  The things important to me are crowd support, no super big hills, no heat, and nice terrain/views.  Second, a few little nagging injuries are coming up making me think I need to stick to my original plan of the full Marathon in 2015 right after I turn 50 (!).  The physical issue I am dealing most with right now is a mild case of plantar fasciitis.  My heels hurt, especially at night.  So, I am doing a number of things to help with this like icing the bottom of my feet (not very fun when the house is already 60 or so degrees), rolling my feet and stretching my calves.  The one thing that would really cure my feet I am not doing and that would be to take a week or two off from running.  But that is too painful.  I have cut back a little on the length of my runs and also have avoided hard surfaces more consistently.  So, with this new foot issue and not finding the ideal race I have decided that I will spend the next 11 1/2 months really getting in the best possible physical shape so hopefully that 26 miles next January at the Carlsbad Full Marathon will be the best it can be for my first marathon experience.
My new medal hanger in my office

There are other things that I want to write about.  I have been thinking about body self image issues and how we are all hurt so much by our negative thoughts.   I have been reading and listening to pod casts about nutrition, specifically the book Eat to Live.  A colleague at work lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks after reading Eat to Live.  He was telling me how great he feels being mostly vegetarian. (He was raised on a farm in middle America so this is a big switch for him).  And I want to answer the question a friend posed to me in a letter, "What does running do for you that you like it so much?"  But this post has gone on long enough so I will save these topics for later.  One last thing though.  A few days ago I went for a run right after it had rained all night.  I ran out on the Penasquitos Preserve trail.  The air was clean and crisp after the rain.  The stream was flowing way more than normal and the "falls" were big for Southern California anyway.  I was one of only a few runners out there.  I felt such bliss to be alive and to have the opportunity to experience these moments.  When I finished the run a woman was getting ready to take her bike out for a ride on the same trail.  She asked how it was and I told her how great it was.  I felt my positive energy flow to her too.  It was sweet, that's all.  Maybe I just answered that question from my friend though of course there is still more to say.

3 comments:

  1. I love how you write, Anne. It's like you are sitting right next to me talking.

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    1. The entry above was me, your cousin Kathleen. (I didn't know they wouldn't put my name!)

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    2. Thanks Kathleen. The comment section on the blog has a poor user interface. It's annoying. But I appreciate your praise. I like to write.

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