In 280 B.C.E., Chares of Lindos designed and built a statue to the patron god of Rhodes, Helios. The statue was called Colossus of Rhodes and stood 108 feet tall at the mouth of the harbor. It was made of stone and iron and covered with sheets of bronze. It took 12 years to build. It is thought that Chares committed suicide before the completion of the Colossus because he had found a design flaw. The statue failed at the knees during an earthquake after it had stood only fifty-six years. (Despite this fact, it is still known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.) For hundreds of years afterward, the ruins of the statue were a popular tourist destination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes
This statue is popularly depicted as straddling the harbor. I think I understand how he would have felt, had he been made of flesh. I'm not sure if it was yesterday's yoga or the bit of new gym weight magic I performed yesterday. But, did you know I have hamstrings? I sure know it. Boy howdy do I know it!
Food wise: Intake 3045 calories!!! (corn meal and flour sneaked up on me in the corn bread I made to go with my uber lean mixed bean chili! Zowie!) Output: 2614 calories (house cleaning is awesome for burning things up! Who knew?)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Day 6: The beauty of Pork
Spring of 2009 found us traveling through the mountains on our way to Taroko Gorge, a national park in Taiwan. We drove with our friends, Matt, April and Baby George for hours along massive highways that soon narrowed into tiny 2 lane windy roads that ran through villages clinging to hillsides. We passed adventure cyclists working their way up the ever increasing grade to the park.
Midday we took a rest stop at a scenic overlook. Unfolding ourselves out of our little rental car, we took a walk along a wooden bridge overlooking the gorge. We were greeted by a couple of huge malamutes that seemed to herd us toward a little (in a very authentic sense of the term) farmer's market. A farm family had piled up their fruits and vegetables on tables in a rustic stall: apples, small pumpkins, greens, fresh bamboo shoots and many other beautiful things Martha Stewart would have envied. Every fence and pillar surrounding the place was carefully covered with cabbage leaves set to dry and later to be turned into a fermented cabbage relish. On one table was a tiny barbecue with a small host of sausages. Those Chinese sausages burst when we bit into them with a distinct flavor I will never forget.
Our trek continued on up that hill. The cyclists we had seen earlier were overcome with elevation, and pushed their bikes up the hill. Just after we crested the summit and began our decent into the gorge, we stopped to take photos. As we stood watching, a deep impenetrable fog rolled up the sides of the gorge. It was amazingly beautiful to watch, but Matt had to continued to drive into that treacherous darkness. Hours later, and in complete darkness we made it to our motel.
The Leader Motel in Taroko Gorge is one of the only places in Taiwan still run by the aboriginal people. It was a truly magical place, set against soaring granite cliffs. Each room is cabin style with the raised bed platform with a tufted mattress laid with crisp cotton sheets. We attended the cultural song and dance and had dinner of wild boar bacon fried rice--amazing! April had the vegetarian plate. The veg plate was a beautiful array of exotic grilled mushrooms and fancifully prepared vegetables. (See pictures of the gorge in my facebook album: Taiwan. Or go to http://wikitravel.org/en/Taroko_Gorge)
Tonight we found similar flavors in a dish at our favorite local Chinese restaurant in Irvine (S.W. Seafood on Walnut and Jeffery). Chinese sausage and bacon with peeled broccoli. If you go, get that and the fish fillet with special house sauce--yum!
I've become an eating machine! That usually happens when I begin a new exercise regime. I am staying away from sweets (mostly), too many calories and they don't satiate! I learned today that I can eat a lean protein and be totally fine--I feel so much more sated than by snacking on fruit, though I am a fruit-bat). This calorie counting program on my phone has made me very aware of food value and calorie budgeting!
Food wise: Intake 2429. Burned up 1119 calories at the gym. Rain is a beautiful thing! Am I turning into a Cali girl made of sugar, instead of a Washington girl made of moss? At any rate, I packed my swim suit and put on some sweats and became part of the gym crowd today. At least temporarily. Josh at 24 hour fitness was kind enough to float me a guest pass. We shall see how well it works into my work schedule. Starting next week, I will be a working woman, again. Sigh...
Midday we took a rest stop at a scenic overlook. Unfolding ourselves out of our little rental car, we took a walk along a wooden bridge overlooking the gorge. We were greeted by a couple of huge malamutes that seemed to herd us toward a little (in a very authentic sense of the term) farmer's market. A farm family had piled up their fruits and vegetables on tables in a rustic stall: apples, small pumpkins, greens, fresh bamboo shoots and many other beautiful things Martha Stewart would have envied. Every fence and pillar surrounding the place was carefully covered with cabbage leaves set to dry and later to be turned into a fermented cabbage relish. On one table was a tiny barbecue with a small host of sausages. Those Chinese sausages burst when we bit into them with a distinct flavor I will never forget.
Our trek continued on up that hill. The cyclists we had seen earlier were overcome with elevation, and pushed their bikes up the hill. Just after we crested the summit and began our decent into the gorge, we stopped to take photos. As we stood watching, a deep impenetrable fog rolled up the sides of the gorge. It was amazingly beautiful to watch, but Matt had to continued to drive into that treacherous darkness. Hours later, and in complete darkness we made it to our motel.
The Leader Motel in Taroko Gorge is one of the only places in Taiwan still run by the aboriginal people. It was a truly magical place, set against soaring granite cliffs. Each room is cabin style with the raised bed platform with a tufted mattress laid with crisp cotton sheets. We attended the cultural song and dance and had dinner of wild boar bacon fried rice--amazing! April had the vegetarian plate. The veg plate was a beautiful array of exotic grilled mushrooms and fancifully prepared vegetables. (See pictures of the gorge in my facebook album: Taiwan. Or go to http://wikitravel.org/en/Taroko_Gorge)
Tonight we found similar flavors in a dish at our favorite local Chinese restaurant in Irvine (S.W. Seafood on Walnut and Jeffery). Chinese sausage and bacon with peeled broccoli. If you go, get that and the fish fillet with special house sauce--yum!
I've become an eating machine! That usually happens when I begin a new exercise regime. I am staying away from sweets (mostly), too many calories and they don't satiate! I learned today that I can eat a lean protein and be totally fine--I feel so much more sated than by snacking on fruit, though I am a fruit-bat). This calorie counting program on my phone has made me very aware of food value and calorie budgeting!
Food wise: Intake 2429. Burned up 1119 calories at the gym. Rain is a beautiful thing! Am I turning into a Cali girl made of sugar, instead of a Washington girl made of moss? At any rate, I packed my swim suit and put on some sweats and became part of the gym crowd today. At least temporarily. Josh at 24 hour fitness was kind enough to float me a guest pass. We shall see how well it works into my work schedule. Starting next week, I will be a working woman, again. Sigh...
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Day 5: Rain
I grew up in Washington State, where rain doesn't make the news. Waking up today and seeing the overcast sky made me nostalgic for evergreens hills dotted with brilliantly colored broad leaf trees and mist rising from rivers. This morning, we ran through golden fields on a dirt track and startled coyotes. They ran ahead on the trail and quickly disappeared into the brush.
In the past several month, I have found myself more in tune with the natural world than perhaps any other time in my life. Coyote, birds, skunks, whales, dolphins, sea lions. Who knew there would be so much of the natural world around this huge metropolis.
I spend a whole lot of time on my own these days. I think it's time to start peopling my world again.
Food wise: Calories in 2871. Calories out 561 on a 45 minute run/walk. I wonder how many calories I burned thinking about going swimming in the rain?
I made an awesome easy dinner: Stir fried chicken, with zucchini and onions with brown short grain rice topped with roasted almonds.
In the past several month, I have found myself more in tune with the natural world than perhaps any other time in my life. Coyote, birds, skunks, whales, dolphins, sea lions. Who knew there would be so much of the natural world around this huge metropolis.
I spend a whole lot of time on my own these days. I think it's time to start peopling my world again.
Food wise: Calories in 2871. Calories out 561 on a 45 minute run/walk. I wonder how many calories I burned thinking about going swimming in the rain?
I made an awesome easy dinner: Stir fried chicken, with zucchini and onions with brown short grain rice topped with roasted almonds.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Day Four: Weigh in
From January through April, 1998 I lived in Arctic Russia as a conversational English instructor. Before I left, I was sick on the warnings of others. I'd been told on numerous occasions and by several people to be careful of everything I could possibly eat, because it would make me really sick. Oh, and don't drink the water.
The first night I arrived, the family I stayed with had a huge banquet, both to celebrate my arrival and as a birthday party for Tatiana Ivanevna, my "host-sister." All things Russian arrayed the table before me. Fatty layered gelatin with a layer of shredded meat, beet and pea salads pink with mayonnaise, garlicky shredded carrots with raisins, relish plates of mini toasts and caviar, and the prize: delicately sliced reindeer tongue. Every square inch of table was covered with carefully prepared and beautifully presented dishes. Between the warnings of friend and a horrible case of nauseated jet-lag, the meal was wasted on me.
For two solid weeks, I couldn't eat anything. I was certain anything I put in my body was going to poison me. I drank water boiled and placed by the window where the -50 degree weather outside infiltrated even that thick paned glass. It was such a small pitcher, and hot drinks have never had the same power to quench. My skinny jeans got baggy. At around 160 pounds, I was a walking skeleton. I was faint, hungry and cold!
One day the dam broke. I was so thirsty, I stuck my head under the faucet and drank and drank and drank. Tatiana Ivanevna walked in, saw me and just laughed, as only Russians can laugh. It was such good water, sweet and cold! It wasn't just the water either. Reindeer sausages, soups, that crazy black bread I've been looking for ever since, butter, beets, potatoes, cabbage, a whole chicken skin stuffed with its own meat and other savory fillings and baked (an unnerving dish for the uninitiated with it's uncanny resemblance of a headless, baked baby). In the post office down the street, a woman sold piroghi filled with meat, potato, or an almost burned cabbage. The borscht, cheese, the sweet white bread, the black current jam, peach tea sweetened with condensed milk... Three months later, at the end of my stay another feast lay before me. This one wasn't wasted.
Today I ran more of my 2 miles than I would have though possible, this early on. Rest days are great for allowing all that good glycogen to build up in your muscles and allow you to feel strong. I think I was also propelled by this morning's weigh in. 224.5 pounds. That is a 5.5 pound loss from when I weighed myself a week and a half ago. It's really fast, but I'll take it, even if it's just dehydration!
My bike ride was fun, too. It was a great day for ducks, cool and wet. After 25.1 miles, I was coated with grit and road grease. Yuck! But wet and cold are circumstances, misery is a choice. I had a great ride.
I rode back to JE's work and he paid the guys who do the custom detailing to pressure wash my bike. (Why were they out washing cars in the rain?) He took an early lunch and we went to Pho Ba Co in Irvine. Good pho, so warming.
I picked up the triathletes bible today. Gotta admit, I'm freaked out about this. That pep talk I gave myself yesterday? Tonight it feels like bunk. But I will prevail, I usually do.
The first night I arrived, the family I stayed with had a huge banquet, both to celebrate my arrival and as a birthday party for Tatiana Ivanevna, my "host-sister." All things Russian arrayed the table before me. Fatty layered gelatin with a layer of shredded meat, beet and pea salads pink with mayonnaise, garlicky shredded carrots with raisins, relish plates of mini toasts and caviar, and the prize: delicately sliced reindeer tongue. Every square inch of table was covered with carefully prepared and beautifully presented dishes. Between the warnings of friend and a horrible case of nauseated jet-lag, the meal was wasted on me.
For two solid weeks, I couldn't eat anything. I was certain anything I put in my body was going to poison me. I drank water boiled and placed by the window where the -50 degree weather outside infiltrated even that thick paned glass. It was such a small pitcher, and hot drinks have never had the same power to quench. My skinny jeans got baggy. At around 160 pounds, I was a walking skeleton. I was faint, hungry and cold!
One day the dam broke. I was so thirsty, I stuck my head under the faucet and drank and drank and drank. Tatiana Ivanevna walked in, saw me and just laughed, as only Russians can laugh. It was such good water, sweet and cold! It wasn't just the water either. Reindeer sausages, soups, that crazy black bread I've been looking for ever since, butter, beets, potatoes, cabbage, a whole chicken skin stuffed with its own meat and other savory fillings and baked (an unnerving dish for the uninitiated with it's uncanny resemblance of a headless, baked baby). In the post office down the street, a woman sold piroghi filled with meat, potato, or an almost burned cabbage. The borscht, cheese, the sweet white bread, the black current jam, peach tea sweetened with condensed milk... Three months later, at the end of my stay another feast lay before me. This one wasn't wasted.
Today I ran more of my 2 miles than I would have though possible, this early on. Rest days are great for allowing all that good glycogen to build up in your muscles and allow you to feel strong. I think I was also propelled by this morning's weigh in. 224.5 pounds. That is a 5.5 pound loss from when I weighed myself a week and a half ago. It's really fast, but I'll take it, even if it's just dehydration!
My bike ride was fun, too. It was a great day for ducks, cool and wet. After 25.1 miles, I was coated with grit and road grease. Yuck! But wet and cold are circumstances, misery is a choice. I had a great ride.
I rode back to JE's work and he paid the guys who do the custom detailing to pressure wash my bike. (Why were they out washing cars in the rain?) He took an early lunch and we went to Pho Ba Co in Irvine. Good pho, so warming.
I picked up the triathletes bible today. Gotta admit, I'm freaked out about this. That pep talk I gave myself yesterday? Tonight it feels like bunk. But I will prevail, I usually do.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Rest day
The LA Triathlon was today. A new acquaintance and inspiration ran in it. I wonder how he did. He runs the race season, and then when his body is built up, he runs as Ironman. The guy has adult kids. Yah, that's how I want to move into my middle age.
In high school, I couldn't run a mile. The first few days of basketball season, the coach practically begged me to join the team. I did! For about 2 weeks. I quit because I hated running, and was never bothered by the coach again. Height really isn't everything in the game, I think I was way too clumsy.
Last night JE and I went up the coast to visit a friend. He wasn't home, so we went down to the Kettle for their famous bread pudding. As I was washing my hands in the bathroom, a tween walked in, saw me, and closing the door leaned against it and openly gawked. "Whoa! You must be really tall!" Most bathroom counters hit me mid thigh, so I practically have to rest my forehead on the mirror to wash my hands. "I am." I said, straightening up. "How tall?" she said. "Six foot three," I said reaching for a paper towel. "WHOA!!! You must be really good at basketball!" Her eyes had gone quite buggy. "Not me, but I ride my bike a lot." "That's so cool! I rode 28 miles on a dirt track once!" she said with a huge proud smile. I asked where she had been on her bike and told her about my bike trip down the coast. The term "Bold as brass" comes to mind. She was great.
Balance
San Onofre State Beach has an abundance of rocks. I love to go there. While most of the beach is sand, there are pockets of smooth, round stones of varying size and shape. Some are thin flat shingles of slate, others are sparking granite. Some of my favorites are white quartz globes. I am a rock stacker, a balancer of stones.
I thought a lot about balance today, and how these three pillars of a triathlon are each so demanding of time, attention, rhythm. When I stack rocks, I can feel the click of balance that allows me to draw my hand away, and the thing stands on it's own.
My body. My mind. My spirit. Each demanding time and attention, balance and rhythm. Today I rested my body (thank you, Heart and lungs. Thank you, legs and arms, neck, feet, organs, eyes, ears mouth and nose!). Today was about spirit.
I spent the bulk of the day at home, engrossed in pajama church. Twice a year my church broadcasts it's General Conference to the world via internet. We watched from this very computer. There is often an unspoken theme with the talks given. Today's was about keeping the commandments. Simple, elegant and to the point.
I recognize that once a week isn't good enough for any of these activities. The triathlon I entered has swimming as the last event. I have a vision which I play in my head of my last lap, hopping out of the pool, I find my Honey, who hugs my sopping wet body and hands me a water bottle and a bouquet of flowers. There are others there too, friends who have come to support me. Unless I finish each event, running, cycling and swimming, this won't happen. If I focus only on one event, this won't happen. Unless I rehearse each event, increase my capacity for each event, this won't happen. I want this to happen! As well as a hoedown later that night, or at least dinner out with friends. I want that. I will make it happen. I will finish this race. It's the same thing I want at the end of my life. I have a vision of what that will be like, too. I want that, more than anything (all in it's due time, of course! Not in a hurry!)
Food wise: 2203 calories. 234 expended on a walk with my lover.
My little sis makes some of the world's best sauteed greens. Here is her recipe:
Saute in 1 Tbl olive oil until translucent:
half a medium onion diced
several cloves of garlic smashed
a pinch of crushed chili
(You can also add a minced slice of bacon or a bit of ham if you prefer)
Add and simmer until reduced to half:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Add, stir and cover:
1/2 package Trader Joe's Southern Greens
Salt and pepper.
Stir occasionally. Make sure it has enough liquid. Serve on it's own or over polenta
In high school, I couldn't run a mile. The first few days of basketball season, the coach practically begged me to join the team. I did! For about 2 weeks. I quit because I hated running, and was never bothered by the coach again. Height really isn't everything in the game, I think I was way too clumsy.
Last night JE and I went up the coast to visit a friend. He wasn't home, so we went down to the Kettle for their famous bread pudding. As I was washing my hands in the bathroom, a tween walked in, saw me, and closing the door leaned against it and openly gawked. "Whoa! You must be really tall!" Most bathroom counters hit me mid thigh, so I practically have to rest my forehead on the mirror to wash my hands. "I am." I said, straightening up. "How tall?" she said. "Six foot three," I said reaching for a paper towel. "WHOA!!! You must be really good at basketball!" Her eyes had gone quite buggy. "Not me, but I ride my bike a lot." "That's so cool! I rode 28 miles on a dirt track once!" she said with a huge proud smile. I asked where she had been on her bike and told her about my bike trip down the coast. The term "Bold as brass" comes to mind. She was great.
Balance
San Onofre State Beach has an abundance of rocks. I love to go there. While most of the beach is sand, there are pockets of smooth, round stones of varying size and shape. Some are thin flat shingles of slate, others are sparking granite. Some of my favorites are white quartz globes. I am a rock stacker, a balancer of stones.
I thought a lot about balance today, and how these three pillars of a triathlon are each so demanding of time, attention, rhythm. When I stack rocks, I can feel the click of balance that allows me to draw my hand away, and the thing stands on it's own.
My body. My mind. My spirit. Each demanding time and attention, balance and rhythm. Today I rested my body (thank you, Heart and lungs. Thank you, legs and arms, neck, feet, organs, eyes, ears mouth and nose!). Today was about spirit.
I spent the bulk of the day at home, engrossed in pajama church. Twice a year my church broadcasts it's General Conference to the world via internet. We watched from this very computer. There is often an unspoken theme with the talks given. Today's was about keeping the commandments. Simple, elegant and to the point.
I recognize that once a week isn't good enough for any of these activities. The triathlon I entered has swimming as the last event. I have a vision which I play in my head of my last lap, hopping out of the pool, I find my Honey, who hugs my sopping wet body and hands me a water bottle and a bouquet of flowers. There are others there too, friends who have come to support me. Unless I finish each event, running, cycling and swimming, this won't happen. If I focus only on one event, this won't happen. Unless I rehearse each event, increase my capacity for each event, this won't happen. I want this to happen! As well as a hoedown later that night, or at least dinner out with friends. I want that. I will make it happen. I will finish this race. It's the same thing I want at the end of my life. I have a vision of what that will be like, too. I want that, more than anything (all in it's due time, of course! Not in a hurry!)
Food wise: 2203 calories. 234 expended on a walk with my lover.
My little sis makes some of the world's best sauteed greens. Here is her recipe:
Saute in 1 Tbl olive oil until translucent:
half a medium onion diced
several cloves of garlic smashed
a pinch of crushed chili
(You can also add a minced slice of bacon or a bit of ham if you prefer)
Add and simmer until reduced to half:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Add, stir and cover:
1/2 package Trader Joe's Southern Greens
Salt and pepper.
Stir occasionally. Make sure it has enough liquid. Serve on it's own or over polenta
Day Two: Swimming
In the summer, Mom and Dad would drop my sisters and I off at the local pool. We swam for hours, play mermaid tea party in the deep end, have dolphin races where we couldn't separate our feet the distance of the pool, and lie flat on the bottom and watch people swim over. My favorite way to move through water has always been close to the bottom stealth swimming. I could travel so quick that way, which I am sure was a huge frustration to swim instructors trying to make sure their 9 year old instructies didn't disappear and drown (where'd she go?!?). I love the solitude and peace underwater, with hardly a sound but the tiny clink of my earrings swiveling on their hooks. And when the sun is out, I love swimming through the reflected rainbows.
The community where I live has several pools, three of which my condo overlooks. I waited a while after my run for the rowdy (rather be in Glamis) all male party to vacate the area, then headed over. I was solo in the big pool. A family with 3 girls played in the shallow kiddie pool nearby.
I've been reading about swimming, visualizing myself moving through water with perfect body rolls and outstretched arms,legs kicking powerfully at that invisible soccer ball--6 kicks to one stroke. One article described how to lay on the water and stretch my arms above my head, swing one arm around to take a stroke not moving the other arm until the one in motion taps the other. Laying on the water was fine, no problems there. However, making my arm stay in wait for the other to finish it's revolution was like trying to move my pinkie without my ring finger! I am a born windmill! I just can't seem to coordinate the lower half, my kicking is sporadic, at best.
I now understand what Josh and Ethan meant when they said, "If you feel like you're drowning, just roll over and do the back stroke." Running has gotten easier because of the perfect rhythm in my breath and heart, my built in stereo. But swimming is a whole new animal! Eventually I will get the rhythm of it and find my breath at the moment I need it, but today, this first real day of swimming, it was overwhelming. I kept finding myself rolling over to back stroke, breathing really hard. I don't think I've encountered an activity more wholly physically demanding. At one point I had just rolled onto my back and was finishing a lap when I noticed an osprey flying high over head. Osprey aren't natural gliders, they flutter flap occasionally to keep their place in the sky.
A day without chocolate, can it be? Yup, I think so! Smokes!
We made empanadas. I tried a traditional recipe and then tried to make it a bit healthier by adding whole wheat flour and pumpkin and removing some of the butter. Not quite a complete failure, but definitely not a recipe for sharing, yet!
Total calories: 2374 Expenditure of calories in exercise (according to mynetdiary.com which I think is really high in their estimates) 1095 calories.
The community where I live has several pools, three of which my condo overlooks. I waited a while after my run for the rowdy (rather be in Glamis) all male party to vacate the area, then headed over. I was solo in the big pool. A family with 3 girls played in the shallow kiddie pool nearby.
I've been reading about swimming, visualizing myself moving through water with perfect body rolls and outstretched arms,legs kicking powerfully at that invisible soccer ball--6 kicks to one stroke. One article described how to lay on the water and stretch my arms above my head, swing one arm around to take a stroke not moving the other arm until the one in motion taps the other. Laying on the water was fine, no problems there. However, making my arm stay in wait for the other to finish it's revolution was like trying to move my pinkie without my ring finger! I am a born windmill! I just can't seem to coordinate the lower half, my kicking is sporadic, at best.
I now understand what Josh and Ethan meant when they said, "If you feel like you're drowning, just roll over and do the back stroke." Running has gotten easier because of the perfect rhythm in my breath and heart, my built in stereo. But swimming is a whole new animal! Eventually I will get the rhythm of it and find my breath at the moment I need it, but today, this first real day of swimming, it was overwhelming. I kept finding myself rolling over to back stroke, breathing really hard. I don't think I've encountered an activity more wholly physically demanding. At one point I had just rolled onto my back and was finishing a lap when I noticed an osprey flying high over head. Osprey aren't natural gliders, they flutter flap occasionally to keep their place in the sky.
A day without chocolate, can it be? Yup, I think so! Smokes!
We made empanadas. I tried a traditional recipe and then tried to make it a bit healthier by adding whole wheat flour and pumpkin and removing some of the butter. Not quite a complete failure, but definitely not a recipe for sharing, yet!
Total calories: 2374 Expenditure of calories in exercise (according to mynetdiary.com which I think is really high in their estimates) 1095 calories.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Official Day One: Running
My sister told me about a crazy bicycle race that lasted a number of days. There was one guy who repeatedly won. It seems that after so many hours of riding, the riders started to hallucinate. The victor's hallucinations were of monsters chasing him down the road. His teammates encouraged this delusion screaming things like, "They're right behind you! Go, go, go!!!" This is the kind of thing I think about as I run.
I awoke this morning at 6 sharp. No alarm needed. I woke JE and asked if he wanted to run with me. He didn't, but did it anyway. He's nice like that.
We ran and walked for 2 miles, walking a block and running a block. All other times in my life I have tried to run, I tired so easily. This morning though, I had a purpose, a vision, and a goal. I think something clicked in my brain. It wasn't that running was easy, still hard, but I found my reason. My hips relaxed, my shoulders loosened, and I found rhythm in my breath. I was thinking of monsters and Ganesha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha), Lord of Beginnings, Remover of Obstacles, and shot a prayer up to my God in thanks for this insight and analogy.
I drove with JE to work and took off down the road on my big red bicycle. It is a POJ with a mixed bag of great components. Half a mile down the road the pavement polka-dotted with huge splats of rain. Awesome! I rode a bit faster to try to escape the edge of the cloud that was nearly behind me. A mile down the road had already seen huge dumping of rain. Puddles everywhere! Nice day to ride in white bike shorts--not only did I have a huge dark stripe up my rump, but they were see-through as well! JE texted wanting to know if I wanted a ride. Nope, I owned it. I wore my long wool jersey! On the way back to the car there was no evidence of rain, except my reverse Pepe la Pew stripe.
Food wise: Sum total of calories, according to my entries into mynetdiary.com is: 3108 intake with a loss of 2009 calories from my exercise. I need to figure out what to eat in a pinch. Planning is essential to success here. I may need to make some "Larabar" type treats and keep them stashed in the treat drawer--on top of the chocolate!
I awoke this morning at 6 sharp. No alarm needed. I woke JE and asked if he wanted to run with me. He didn't, but did it anyway. He's nice like that.
We ran and walked for 2 miles, walking a block and running a block. All other times in my life I have tried to run, I tired so easily. This morning though, I had a purpose, a vision, and a goal. I think something clicked in my brain. It wasn't that running was easy, still hard, but I found my reason. My hips relaxed, my shoulders loosened, and I found rhythm in my breath. I was thinking of monsters and Ganesha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha), Lord of Beginnings, Remover of Obstacles, and shot a prayer up to my God in thanks for this insight and analogy.
I drove with JE to work and took off down the road on my big red bicycle. It is a POJ with a mixed bag of great components. Half a mile down the road the pavement polka-dotted with huge splats of rain. Awesome! I rode a bit faster to try to escape the edge of the cloud that was nearly behind me. A mile down the road had already seen huge dumping of rain. Puddles everywhere! Nice day to ride in white bike shorts--not only did I have a huge dark stripe up my rump, but they were see-through as well! JE texted wanting to know if I wanted a ride. Nope, I owned it. I wore my long wool jersey! On the way back to the car there was no evidence of rain, except my reverse Pepe la Pew stripe.
Food wise: Sum total of calories, according to my entries into mynetdiary.com is: 3108 intake with a loss of 2009 calories from my exercise. I need to figure out what to eat in a pinch. Planning is essential to success here. I may need to make some "Larabar" type treats and keep them stashed in the treat drawer--on top of the chocolate!
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