Food=Miles

Larabars. 

Under the Larabars, Honey Stingers. 

Under the Honey Stingers, Gu in Vanilla, Triberry, and Jet Blackberry. 

I think I have enough to get through the monster six week stretch of super marathon training in October/November.  

I'm not sure that I am ready for all the mileage that this box suggests.  I'm really quite tired.  I've been training fairly nonstop since Jan. 10.  I think I took only one week off after my marathon in May.  I still have like 9.5 weeks to go.  Typing 9.5 weeks makes it seem surmountable; I know that it is, but I am just so very tired.  I think I need to take an extra rest day soon.  

The fact that I will end up consuming all that disgusts me and impresses me simultaneously. 

In fact, It doesn't feel sane to choose to train for and run a marathon.  People are always impressed by the actual marathon. The marathon is a piece of cake compared with the 18 weeks of training.  

Did I mention I'm tired of training?  

Hunger

It seems that I am hungry all of the time.

That sentence appears to be an example of hyperbole, and I suppose technically it is.  But the exaggeration is ever so slight.

I hit a weekly mileage personal record (Yes.  I count personal records whenever I can.) this week.  I'm going to hit a monthly mileage personal record this month.  And I've already hit the yearly mileage personal record.

I'm trying to count calories, not to lose weight, but rather to prevent weight gain.  So far, I am maintaining my weight, but I attribute this to my desire to think through the food.

I heard someone use the phrase "think through the drink."  I believe this is an AA thing.  I'm not an overeater. I'm not anonymous.  I don't have food issues, but I have an appetite that is totally out of control.    I have to think through the food I eat.  Sometimes it means pausing to make sure that the hunger is still there twenty minutes later when I believe that I want/need more food.

I burned about 1500 calories this morning.

I've consumed 1720 calories so far for breakfast and lunch. That is a ridiculous amount of food, right?  That is more food than I should have for an entire day if I didn't exercise  And I'm still hungry.  Because I'm netting only 220 calories for the day so far.

I wonder what will happen after my marathon in December.  I'm going to gain so much weight.  Holiday food, no marathon training, bad eating habits developed from marathon training.

I'm screwed.

Milestone (Emphasis on Mile)

Last year I ran 753 miles and change.  That was an improvement upon 2009's mileage which was 704 and change.

Today is September 17, 2011.  My year-to-date mileage after this morning seven mile run is 755 and change.

There are still over 100 days remaining in the year.

I'm in such a good mood.

This is why I should scrapbook.

I am so sad that the teacher didn't have the strength of will to put down the specifics. According to The Boy, he received this note because during math instruction he was told to make his > and < signs into alligators. 

He complied. 

Then drew the alligator defecating and proclaiming through a talk bubble, "I'm hungry!" 

And because of a teacher who is too polite, I don't have this memory to pull out of a box in ten or twenty years. Boo!

Now Featuring Poetry!

A non-running related post.

Sort of.

I do a different sort of running at work.  I am constantly craving and constantly chasing ways to instruct better.

I'm tired of the same tired writing assignment which are easily faked and terribly predictable.  I'm lucky to belong to a network of writing teachers who love to share their best practices with one another.  This summer during the UC Merced Writing Project, I was fortunate to meet an elementary school teacher who presented her best practice on free verse poetry.

So in an effort to challenge myself and mis estudiantes, we will be writing poems that are crafted in order to help teach others a particular rhetorical or literary concept.

• I wrote an example for zeugma below.  
• I've never thought so much about zeugma before. 
• I understand zeugma in a new way. 

I hope that my students will find that this way of writing to learn is powerful and memorable.

Please comment if you felt you learned what zeugma is from my poem.  Please comment and make this blogger feel like there is someone out there.

Zeugma

O! Efficient multi-tasking zeugma,

You don’t waste words.

One verb bonds to two different nouns.

One word governing two.

Zeugma lets one word show its

figurative and its literal

sides.

Zeugma allows a newspaper

            flying through the air

to break window panes

            and the morning’s peace. 

Zeugma reveals the multiple

            meanings of certain words

because you can blow

your nose,

a fuse,

            and three circuit breakers. 

Zeugma reveals

the corners of words.

Instruction shines

through those bonded words.

For a woman can arrive in a taxi

            and in a flaming rage.

Taxi and emotions are both

            vehicular,

            transporting,

            and vessels.

Zeugma can also pull back

symbolism.

When the woman throws

            her ring

                        and

                                    her security

into the river.

We know that the ring is more

than a ring.  

Crash

I had to run 11 miles this morning. It felt a lot harder than it should have.

I have narrowed it down to a few problems:

1. Not drinking enough water during the day.
2. Not eating enough to fuel my runs during the week. And not eating the right stuff.
3. Running my long run too damned fast.

Since I am back at work, I am reluctant to drink water the way that I should because I can't just go to the bathroom any time I want.

I need to eat more calories--running shouldn't feel this labored--especially a mere 11.

I have no idea how to slow down.

Last time I trained for a marathon, I noticed a pattern. I would have a tough long run and then the next week went smoothly. I wonder if I am falling into that pattern again. If so, next weekend should go smoothly.

Four weeks down; fourteen weeks to go!

"Good for you!"

Someone I know asked me how far I ran this morning. Considering the fact that I left my house a little before 5 am for a run, I was shocked that anyone saw me. I asked him if he had seen me; he said no. I guess he was just hypothesizing.

I told him that I ran 5.5 miles. He seems shocked, impressed, and maybe a little jealous.

And he said, "Good for you!" I wish that I could figure out a way to convey the tone of voice. He was kind--not malicious--not sarcastic. Maybe just a little enthusiastic.

And maybe--to my ears--a little condescending. Those three words were like tiny little pats on the top of my head.

How cute! You ran 5.5 miles. Isn't that darling? Can you do a cartwheel? Does your mom leave you home alone?

Do men hear this? I doubt it. I will not move into a feminist tirade. I'm taking another route here.

I am a little saddened that running a mere 5.5 miles is so applauded. Why is running such a short distance seen as amazing? Why do people believe that they can't do it? So many excuses.

I'm not fast, but I chase improvement.

I've been to many races. Runners come in all shapes and sizes and carry their own motivation.

I believe that with few exception most everyone can run, but that most chose not to. By ascribing some sort of Herculean effort to a five mile run, people err.

Five miles isn't hard. I should have run more today. Running the five miles was SO MUCH easier than getting out of bed at 4:30 am. That is what takes the Herculean effort.

Good for me!