Amber's Apology

Back in the day when the Via Running Club was running mob deep, Amber and I sat across from each other at work. She witnessed my hair falling out as I attempted to train for the Portland Marathon and plan my wedding. It was a great time, actually. Too bad I didn't realize it at that point.

Anyway, one day Amber mentioned that she had made her own soda the night before. I jumped on that like a wolf on a dead carcass. "Are you a hippy?!! You're such a hippy!?" I exclaimed with joy. And truth be told, she is a hippy. But a nice smart hippy who runs and writes really well. She, of course, thought I was nuts because really, to make your own soda, you add flavoring to sparkling water.

They way I reacted you'd thought she was using disposable menstrual rags. NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT, of course. But you catch my drift.

So, here it is. I am sorry I called you a dirty hippy for making your own soda. Because, behold....



Those are alfalfa sprouts that I GREW my own damn self on my kitchen counter. And a cup of them found their way into my green smoothie (along with a pear, an apple, bee pollen, agave nectar, flax seeds and a ton of spinach). Contrary to popular belief (and when I say popular belief, I mean my own belief), sprouts are nutritious! Who knew?

And then, I made tabouli, taboulli, taboulleh, or however you spell it.


Things are weird around here, folks. Very strange.

Today's morning weigh in went great for us. Amy didn't enter the house because Oliver had the stomach flu yesterday. Michael lost 1.2 and I lost 2.1!!! I'm now 145.1. Only 35 pounds to go.

I ran three times this week and felt great. That's it from hippy central.

Take a Listen to Your Spirit, It's Crying Out Loud

The original title of this post was going to be "I Nutted Up!"

(For those of you new to the phrase "nut up," it means to "suck it up." I learned last year that men use this phrase a lot during sporting events. You can also replace "nut" with "sack." And there's your lesson for today.)

But, because I'm turning into a dirty hippy (I'm growing my own sprouts, people), I decided to go with a line from Fleetwood Mac--very quickly becoming my favorite music to run to. I really feel like this process of losing weight and getting back to running feels soulful or spiritual. God, I'm grossing myself out with this new age shit. Lord.

Anyhoo! Today's run was awesome. Mostly because I didn't want to go. I fought with myself for about 20 minutes about going. First, it's very windy and cold. Wind chill is probably making it about 37 degrees or so. Then, the inevitable dilemma about where to run. Then, I let something else make the decision for me. I got on the scale. That's always a great motivator.

So, the weigh in on Saturday was a pretty big disappointment. I only lost .6 according to Amy's scale. But my scale showed a lower weight. Michael and I were both pissed because we've been killing it during the week. Going under calories and exercising. Well, when Amy left (she lost 2.2 BTW. Bitch!) we put two 5lb bags of sugar on my scale. And it registered 10 pounds. So on my little weight keeping tool, I went with my lower weight. I'll keep Amy's weight for the competition. But to date I've lost 10.2 pounds.

So today I logged four miles. Felt pretty good. I stopped and walked a few times, but always started running within 45 seconds to a minute. The other great thing about today was the flying snot rocket.

Since I wipe Oliver's snotty nose with my hand, arm, wrist, shirt, hem or anything that's available, (I mean why don't I just lick it off like a mother tiger? It has the same effect--me getting sick) I too have a snotty nose. So when you're running into the wind, you can really let those suckers fly. A LOT. Pretty sweet.

And that's it from here. Right now, 3.5 hours from the run, I'm feeling tired. But happy it's over.

p.s. Cat Stevens' song that didn't jive with my mood--Father and Son. First lyrics I hear as I'm sucking wind: "It's not time for a change. Just relax, take it easy." Thanks Cat. You suck.