Cookin' and Readin', Breakin' the Sched

Over the past couple of days, I've ditched my curfew, allowed my facebook status to remain the same for over three days, and swept the floor every night. By ditching these seemingly mundane activities that seem to be a regular part of my schedule, I have been able to go back to my roots and do things that I've always tremendously enjoyed but have done too little of: baking and reading.

Of course, growing up, the bulk of my young years revolved around anything that didn't have to do with TV. Seeing that we only had four channels, it was much more entertaining to run around the woods with my best friends Sarah and Willa, play baseball with brothers (using the trees as bases in my backyard), or, on those wintry mix days, to have a tea party, read, or bake. In turn, I figured out some pretty crafty ways on how to have a blast without all the technical garb.

Yearning for those feelings of accomplishment knowing that I did something that required the use of my own creative skills (as opposed to becoming a vegetable in front of the TV or Facebook), I decided to bake. I was also feeling completely stressed out, and so for these reasons I decided that baking a cake would do the trick. Even though I knew I would barely eat said cake, I was making it, darn it. John and I trekked over to Target to pick up supplies on Thursday night...and only three hours later, I had a cake!

I made a triple layer chocolate cake (courtesy of Emily's Grandmother (in-law) which included the very cumbersome task of hand grating three bars of Lindt Chocolate Bars and chopping up 1 cup of pecans for the frosting. After smoothing the last of the frosting to hide the cake entirely, I felt accomplished. I felt like I had used all of this negative stressful energy and transferred it directly into the cake.

Typically running does this for us, but I don't run all the time, and I didn't feel like running even more than I already had in the morning. Really, it was a way for me to do exactly the opposite of what I have been doing with my free time - which I would consider be nothing because my facebook surfing has gone too far. Since I keep thinking I am getting dumber the further I get from my college graduation, I feel these urges to stimulate my mind - and baking definitely does that, especially if it is a new recipe (and the Chocolate Cake was).

Funny - too - because several people mentioned to me that I was so motherly since I love to bake cakes for people and bring them slices on their birthdays (Billy). I think it also has to do with the fact that I own two aprons and most definitely wear them when I am concocting some sort of new dish. Regardless, my reputation among the running circle has now moved from crazy ginger girl to aspiring Julia Child. Okay, Okay. I won't go THAT far, but they are probably wondering if I'm addicting to the Food Network.

That was the cooking expedition.

The next thing I did was read "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon in less than three nights. On Tuesday night, I stayed up until 11:30pm to read a book. Was this a bad idea? Probably, considering I had just finished a semi-tiring workout at 730pm, was racing four days later in a (predicted) winter storm, and that the stated time was two hours past my normal bedtime hour. Combined with the fact that I woke up this morning at 538am to meet the Dowd group at 6am, that tallies up five reasons why it was a bad idea to finish my new favorite novel.

...Ah - but it was so worth it. I almost escaped in the fantasy of the book, forgetting my own realities and trashing them out of the window. Curfew? Rubbish! A race on Saturday? This book is more important! The race on Saturday will go great, because Julian Carax made me believe so in "The Shadow of the Wind."

but I digress....

Coming back to the roots does take a little effort, but some disruption to the typical schedule is always good, and, in fact, beautiful. Now I just need to do it more often so that cooking and reading are mere replacements for my Facebook addiction.

Ta Ta for now

Vegetarianism and Running

One year ago my dad sent me a Vegetarian Times article on Scott Jurek. The article highlights the benefits of being an elite athlete with a vegan diet and how such a diet has attributed to his successes as an ultrarunner. His on-the-run diet consists of bean burritos or homemade bread slices with hummus spread instead of the artificially sweetened energy gels. Outside of runs, Scott focuses on eating as many fruits and vegetables as possible.

With this natural vegetable protein, his body absorbs enough protein to sustain his energy levels and then some. At the time, I read the article and almost forgot about it because I thought that it would be too much effort, not to mention money, to mimick Scott's eating habits.

One year later, Scott Jurek showed up in my life again.

Garrett (boyfriend) was given a Men's Health article about the Tarahumara people in Mexico and how Scott Jurek went down to run with them back in 2006. This article covered how this ancient tribe living in the divets of canyon walls have mastered the art of long distance running, minus the injuries and minus the well-cushioned-hundred-dolla-a-pair shoes. Somehow an ultra race of 50 miles was set up to put up America's best - Scott Jurek - up against the Tarahumara, who run more miles in a day than some people drive in a day, since the age of five.

I felt like the article was meant for me because the Tarahumara live on mostly vegetables and the land, and also run. Now I was beginning to be inspired. I wanted more. I wanted to know more about Scott Jurek, what compelled him to go down to the Copper Canyon, risk getting shot by drug cartels, and then run on trails that, with one misstep, could propel a person off the cliff.

Of course, boyfriend came through again. He found out that there was actually a book on the Tarahumara and the race that Scott Jurek came down for. Boyfriend Garrett figured I would be enamored with the book immediately. I was a little perturbed that in the Mens Health article they didn't actually notify readers of this fact, but all is well. I found "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall (same author of the MH article) on amazon.com for $14.58 and it arrived the next day.

I'm not going to summarize the book for you (go buy it for yourself!), but I'm going to recount what it has inspired in me.

Scott Jurek is my hero. Not only for his vegan diet or his running, but for his character and peace of heart.

As course record holder of practically all of the major ultrarunning races, Scott Jurek clearly has a gift for long distance running. However, in my mind, Scott's most enlightening characteristic is his simplicity, humble nature, and compassion for seemingly all people. After trekking across levines and switchbacking up mountains to win 100-mile races, instead of returning back to his hotel room to bask in a steamy jacuzzi, he stays vigil at the finish line (McDougall 125).

There were only a couple of chapters in this book but about him, but one thing was clear to me: he cares compassionately for all people and truly does treat them all with the respect and consideration that they deserve. After he was beaten by one of the Tarahumara, Scott bowed to the winner. I believe that this immense and genuine compassion for people, food, and life in general translates over to his success in running. I beleive that Scott truly runs for love.

Sigh. I want to go to Seattle and shake Scott's hand. Then I want to discuss the advantages of being a vegan while chomping on one of his black bean burritos. After that, I want to watch him run an ultra race, win, and then cheer on all the others who may be hours behind him.

Until then, I'll try to carry over my compassion for running into my compassion for other people. This book made me reflect upon how I treat others and how I should definitely be showing more compassion for everyone that I am lucky enough to have in my life.

Despite the selfish nature of this sports, maybe long distance running can make me a better person.