Rescued on a Long Run

I had such a nice relaxing weekend.  I spent all of my Saturday morning reading and lounging.  I eventually got my butt up and cleaned house (while listening to an audio book).  Could I be a bigger nerd?  Later in the day, Angela and I went out for some dinner and watched a movie with some popcorn. I call that: the perfect Saturday.


Sunday was long-run day – with 16 on the books. Unfortunately, I was solo because Ang was at a weekend-long yoga training. Sometimes I enjoy long runs by myself, so I was thinking positively. I headed out at 11:20 or so. Big mistake. It’s summer. Summer means HOT. Sun. I live 20 minutes from Mexico, literally. The sun is deceivingly hot. I ran from home to Ocean Beach and made my way up to Sunset Cliffs. By the time I hit 10 miles, I was out of water and thirsty as ever. I was starting to feel weak and tired. My 2 pieces of toast weren’t doing much for me anymore.

First stop, Ocean Beach

Unfortunately, there weren’t any water fountains or stores to buy water. It was hard to run for more than 3 minutes at a time. I was constantly walking. Eventually I spotted a tiny, run down gas station that looked entirely out of place in this beach town. It belonged in Idaho somewhere next to a cornfield. I bought a bottle of water and some Mike ‘n Ikes. When you’re desperate for calories, anything sounds good. Sadly, I spilled most of my water before I even had the chance to drink it! Butter fingers.

Next stop, Sunset Cliffs, watching Cliff Divers. 

I was tempted to jump in myself.

I chilled out for a few minutes and began to run again. Every so often I stopped and walked. I felt weaker and more fatigued the farther I went. Thank goodness I had lunch plans with my friend Sarah, who began texting me. I should’ve been home by then and was still in Ocean Beach – about 5 miles from home. She so lovingly offered to rescue me but I tried to be tough. By mile 12 I was practically begging her to pick me up.

There she was at mile 13.6 with a vegan blueberry muffin in hand and a huge bottle of H20. That is love right there! She took me straight to Tender Greens for some replenishment where I had a fantastic sandwich filled with veggies and a salad of arugula and cherry tomatoes. It hit the spot.

I recouped at home before embarking on yet another eating extravaganza at our friends’ home. We enjoyed some stuffed peppers with homemade polenta and some vegan chocolate cake. I may have eaten my weight in guacamole and helped myself to a second piece of cake. Don’t judge me.

Today, I still feel groggy and tired. Even slightly nauseous. Can heat have this long of an effect on you?

Have you made the mistake of running too late on a summer day?

I’ve made this mistake before, last summer.  It can get ugly very quickly.  Like the time Ang started retching from dehydration.  Dry heaving is never fun for the heaver… or the observer.

Running for a Reason

As all of you know, I am gearing up to run my second marathon, this time in Chicago.  I am extremely excited about this, not because of the race itself, but because of the funds I am hoping to raise for such an important population: San Diego’s abused, neglected and abandoned children.

Each month, in San Diego alone, an estimated 150 children are removed from their homes-- some with only the pajamas they were wearing at the time.  Sadly, only about 60% of these children will be reunited with their parents.  The rest will join the other 6,000+ children in San Diego County's foster care system, being moved around from place to place, often without ever finding a forever home.  We cannot ignore these children who have been forgotten by the vast majority of our community.

I have already covered the distance once before, now I want to run for a reason.  Running 26.2 miles is painful and sometimes grueling but it pales in comparison to the everyday life of a foster child.  At the end of my race, I have a home to return to and a bed of my own to rest in.  Not everyone is so lucky.

All funds will go to Voices for Children, a non-profit 501(c)3 that is dedicated to serving San Diego's foster children.  This is also where I work so I see on a daily basis the amazing work that is done and how crucial it is.  I would greatly appreciate any donation, big or small!  It would mean the world to me and to the kids who desperately need our help.

Thank you so much to all of my readers and anyone willing to help!
Happy running!
 

To Donate, CLICK HERE!

 

To learn more about Voices for Children, CLICK HERE!

A Weekend Overflowing with PRIDE

It is the Monday after a weekend full of Gay PRIDE festivities, hence a sad one.  I saw more rainbows and glitter this weekend than I will for the rest of the year.  Costumes, boobies, dance music and body paint galore!  I miss it already.  Over 360 more days until next year’s revelry. Boo.

The parade was fabulous, as always.  It is my favorite part of Pride, every single year.  The gays wait all year for this and FINALLY, like the explosion that comes after opening a shaken soda can, it begins… with a slew of lesbians on motorcycles, nonetheless.  Everyone is feeling festive and free!  Clothing is shed and everyone seems to be wearing the bare minimum (and sometimes that means pasties and nothing more).  Everyone is smiling incessantly and dancing to whatever noise is in the air. It’s fabulous!

 

We watched the parade with some of our favorite men in the universe and witnessed LGBT men and women serving in the military march for the first time!  It was moving to see them smiling and walking proudly down the street.  We enjoyed some post-parade cocktails afterward and proceeded to dance the afternoon away (had to get that cardio in).  We had the privilege of seeing the uber raunchy Margaret Cho do stand-up.  She may or may not have mentioned shaving her pubic hair into the shape of parenthesis because it makes her look taller. She is a good one to have on our team.

Sunday began with the World Cup, of course.  Ang and I watched the game streaming live on the internet, since we don’t have a TV, while drinking our Starbucks Ventis.  Alcohol sounded like the least appetizing beverage at that point.  I find the U.S. women’s team so inspiring and so much fun to watch!  I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen (and Abby’s biceps).  While heartbreaking to see our ladies lose, it was heartwarming at the same time to see the Japanese women take home the world cup.  They definitely deserved it and I am incredibly happy for them.  Abby Wambach played her heart out and it was obvious she wanted this win more than anything, along with the rest of the team. I hope all of the ladies feel proud of how well they played because they worked it!

The U.S. women’s team will serve as my inspiration for many months to come and throughout the rest of my Chicago training.

WHO is your current fitness inspiration?

For me, Abby Wambach's head.  And her arms. And her everything.

Childhood Dreams vs. Reality

As a child we are often asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”  As a five year old I wanted to be a part-time ballerina and a part-time teacher.  My aunt is my witness.  I wanted to somehow balance my love for dance with my respect for teaching.  Not a terrible idea, except I never took a single Ballet class and although I entered college as an education major, that quickly changed to Community Health.  The closest I get to my childhood dream is wearing ballet flats to work on occasion.

I work for a terrific organization but I spend 40 hours each week in a cubicle.  I jokingly call it my cage.  At five years old I never would have imagined myself spending most of my days in a 5’x7’ space drinking coffee out of a ceramic travel mug while writing and editing reports and correspondence.  I certainly never answered the common childhood question with “I want to work in Development doing things like grant research, editing, event coordination and website operations!”   Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for my job and it’s not a horrible gig.  I work with an incredibly talented and intelligent team and what we do is very important.  In my own way, I am contributing to society (by trying to get wealthy people to give us their money so we can serve abused and neglected kids). 

While this is all fine and dandy, what about passion?  Aren’t we supposed to pursue our passions in life? Shouldn’t I be out there dispelling myths about HIV and AIDS and arming women in African nations with knowledge and tools to save their lives and the lives of their future children?  That’s MY passion as an adult. How do we live a satisfied life if we aren’t currently in a field that fuels that passion?  How do we continue to be inspired when we spend most hours of the week in a cubicle working on rather tedious tasks?

These are the questions I struggle with on a daily basis, especially lately.  This is what I have come up with:

Passion is a beautiful thing.  I think I have enough passion for 2 people (so if you need some, just ask).  At times it is overwhelming.  I can get down in the dumps about the fact that I am not in South Africa right now working in some remote village saving lives or I can see my little job as a major piece to a larger puzzle.  Editing grant requests and updating a website may not be the most glamorous job known to (wo)man, but it’s part of something larger.  What I do here has a ripple effect on the foster system.  My contribution may be small, but with the help of everyone else in this organization we are making a huge impact on the foster system.

It’s easy to get down on myself because I am not working in my field of study but that is alright.  It’s not all about me.  I am still positively impacting my community, just in a different way.  In the end, we are only as happy as we allow ourselves to be.  I need to start seeing the value in what I do and not beat myself up because I am not where my five-year-old self wanted me to be.  I also wanted to live on a farm in rural Minnesota but I am okay with that plan falling through.  I am learning to be happy with where I am at and proud of what I do.  I am not necessarily complacent, just accepting and appreciative of my situation.

I have a purpose.  We all do.  It might not be what we imagined, but life never is.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Is it what you are currently doing?

My New Beach Toy & Inspiration

I may have mentioned a time or two that I’ve been in a running rut.  While I was marathon-obsessed at the time of Chicago registration, I wasn’t quite as gung ho when the training began.  I decided I would play it by ear.  If I hated the training I would drop out and sell my bib.  Why do something if it doesn’t make me happy?

Allowing myself the freedom to choose whether or not I would run Chicago has actually made me WANT to run Chicago.  Getting back into long runs has been slow-going but after yesterday I feel ready and able to do this.

My New Toy!

I picked up Angela from work yesterday in my new jeep.  The day prior I bought the most fitting SoCal vehicle, perfectly equipped for a surfboard and the beach.  When Ang hopped in the Jeep she was still reeling from The U.S. Women's win against Brazil.  She gave me a play by play of the game and her excitement had me all pumped up.  Female athletes are so inspiring, especially this group of women.  They are are so incredibly fit and (after watching the highlights) it was clear that they gave their everything out on the field.  It was amazing and Ang's energy was contagious. 

Inspiration.

We cruised over to Swami’s Beach and met up with Theresa, one bad ass woman of 40 (that looks 30) with a rocking body.  She is also running Chicago and she served as my fit-body inspiration as I ran behind her.  We set off for 14 miles in the hot sun and we managed it just fine.  Toward the end our pace definitely slowed but we all felt fine afterward.  We rushed into the ocean and gave ourselves a nice little ice bath.  My calves thanked me today.

Surf Sign by Swami's Beach

Days like yesterday make me so grateful to be living in San Diego.  I can’t imagine living without a coastline of beaches at my fingertips and mild weather year round.  I am wimpy in extreme heat and miserable in the cold.  I have found my paradise here.  The laid back attitude and peacefulness is greater than I ever imagined AND I can take my top off any month of the year.  My Jeep top that is.

I am now in the market for a surfboard-- The perfect cross training tool. :)

Since Going Vegan...

VegOnline.org recently gave me one of their Vegetarian Website Awards for excellence in vegetarian information.  While I was pleased to be contacted by them, it also brought on some guilt for my lack of veg-related posts as of late.  I previously posted a Meatless Monday entry every week.  As I got heavy into marathon training I chose to eliminate those posts.  I had so many people tell me how much they enjoyed and appreciated the recipes and information provided on Mondays, yet I couldn’t “find the time” to post.  But, that’s what this blog is all about.  My goal is to share with my readers the wonders of a plant-based diet including the physical, mental and emotional benefits.  I also like to demonstrate what a profound impact it has on our planet and the lives of other animals.  I am personally thriving as a vegan athletic woman and I want others to feel encouraged, rather than afraid, to go plant-based.

I came up with a list of some of the greatest changes I have experienced since going vegan over a year ago:

*Increased energy.  I was anemic back in 2008 and I had to take iron supplements.  Now, I only occasionally take a supplement and my iron stores are right where they should be.  If anyone tells you that you need to eat steak or other red meat to get enough iron, do not believe them.

*Improved digestion.  Prior to eating a plant-based diet I dealt with constipation on a regular basis.  Anyone who has been constipated knows this is not fun.  Once I took dairy out of the equation my issues were resolved and now things run smoothly, as they should.

*Weight loss.  I switched to a plant-based diet with no intentions or hopes of losing weight.  Within a month or so I noticed my pants were looser and people started to make comments about me looking thinner than usual.  It was true!  I lost about 7 lbs.  On my frame that is a pretty significant amount.  When I thought about it further it made perfect sense!  How could I not lose weight when I was no longer eating fatty foods like cheese, butter and creamy sauces & dressings?  Plant based foods are naturally lower in calories than animal based foods.

*Increased consciousness.  Going vegan opened my eyes to the cruelties and injustices all around me.  I began to overflow with compassion toward animals which spilled over into increased compassion for others and even myself.  I began to love and respect myself a bit more.  I was finally living in accordance with my values and nothing feels better than that.  Going vegan was my way of stepping into consciousness.

Thank you, VegOnline for the compliment and I vow to do my absolute best in spreading awareness and information about all things plant-based and natural. Check out their website for recipes, information on sustainability, where to shop, nutritional content of plant-based foods and so much more!  Also, check out my Go Veg tab for more vegetarian resources.