Silly meat eaters...

It just astounds me that people still think being vegetarian means that you have to be starving all the time and are never satisfied with what you're eating. I'd say I eat more flavorful, filling meals than most people who do consume animals. Just because I've cut that part of my diet out doesn't mean I'm not replacing that protein with other foods. It also doesn't mean I'm unhealthy. Do some reading people! Educate yourselves!

I had someone today ask me, "don't you just want a Big Mac? something that actually fills you up??" Uhm..last time I checked, I am full after every meal, I enjoy every meal, and I always eat when hungry. The nice thing about a healthy diet is that you don't have to worry so much about "overeating". When I'm eating, say, strawberries, who cares if I eat 5 or 15? I don't have to limit myself. The same goes with almost everything else I consume. My body has now regulated itself to my dietary needs, and it tells me when to eat but also when to stop eating. It's a pretty cool thing. I really don't have to track my intake anymore because my body does it FOR me. Just another perk of being healthy!

On to running: I know I haven't written much about it and that's simply because my official training hasn't begun. Right now, I'm merely assimilating myself and my body back to a running lifestyle. Being off for 2 1/2 months means it takes some time to adjust - running is a lot harder on your joints than a lot of exercise. My hips are definitely telling me they are unhappy with me after this weekend's session. Fortunately, my distance and stamina have maintained themselves so I'm not starting from scratch. It's still tough though. I'm more sore than I'm used to as well.

Anyway, I ran 3.5 in 35:12 on Saturday. Perfect running weather, which helped. But that's a full minute faster than my normal pace - not sure whether to credit that to just being excited to run or Insanity helping me. Either way, I'll take it. My hip really started shooting pains around 2.75 but I pushed through to complete my run. Mentally I could have gone farther, but there's no point overdoing it. I have months and months of training ahead of me :)

I made out my training calendar this weekend too. I could never find a schedule I liked from any magazines/forums so I kind of made my own. I loosely based it off of a program I found in an issue of Runners World, but stretched it to 16 weeks of training for a more gradual climb in mileage. Pretty excited for all my new gear and to get started.

On a side note, I ran with my knife for the first time Saturday, to test out both it's staying in place power and the comfort of it hanging on the inside of my pants from my waistband. It didn't budge! Some might say it's a little extreme to run with a knife, but 1) the pepper spray is uncomfortable to carry, 2) I feel much more protected with the knife, and 3) since I don't carry my cell phone, I find it necessary.

Pretty cute lil guy eh? I think I'll be more focused on my running now than watching for sketchy hoodrats.

That's about all I've got for today. Go run fools! ;)