Bullfeces

I love the name for this post. I also love the card game by a (ahem!) similar name.

Okay, first of all, the reason I chose this name (other than the obvious — that’s it’s a great eye catcher) is that someone asked if I was really going to run a 5K in two weeks or if I just said that I would because… um, because it sounded good? I’m not sure how to end that.

In answer: yes, I am. I really did get paid to write a post about a race, but that post prompted me to get back into exercising myself. In fact, I joined a friendly competition with Big Slice, with a $50 gift card hanging in the balance. I think it is for most pounds lost this month, or possibly most inches. Either way, the race is on.

My personal goal is to reach 160 pounds by the end of the month. I weighed in yesterday at 166.8 pounds, so I need to hold steady at two pounds per week to make my goal.

I have been doing a “slow carb” diet, which basically means I concentrate on eating A LOT of vegetables, some lean meats/cheeses, and avoid anything made with refined flour or sugar. It works for me if I follow it, and it also makes me feel a lot better emotionally. The downside is that it is really hard to find hidden sugar — there is sugar in bacon, for example, and in spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salsa — you name it and it has added sugar, practically. So have to rely on “hippy bread” and travel to Trader Joe’s or Wild Oats to find some items. Good thing I am not a diabetic — no wonder it is such a nightmare.

Yesterday I got about 45 minutes of biking in and the day before I biked 25 minutes. I biked with the kids in the trailer, and let me tell you that pulling 60+ pounds behind you really makes you feel the burn. As a plus, Maya fell asleep on the way home after dropping Ben off at preschool, and had a nice nap. It was a boon for us all; I got an hour and 10 minutes of my 5 hours of exercise this week, we didn’t use greenhouse gases and Maya got a nap. Just another way to show that health is a family thing.

As for the 5K, I am racing with John Bingham, aka “The Penguin,” who is known for his column No Need for Speed in Runner’s World. I love his motto: “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” I wish I had said that myself.

I am racing to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. While I don’t usually race to raise money (I just race to race), Paul Horton, one of my best friends, died of lymphoma when I was in my early 20s, so I am glad to raise money for this cause. You can see my fundraising page here, and thank you to all who donate or have done so in the past (don’t get too crazy — I have another major donation request coming up pretty soon).

There is a lot more going on but of course I still can’t really talk about it. In fact, there have been several stressful things happening and not being able to talk about them publicly is the main reason I haven’t posted for such a long time.

However, slowly things are ironing themselves out and I am looking forward to another racing season. I want to try adventure racing in the fall so we’ll see what comes! And, as John Bingham always says: “Waddle on, Friends.” Or, as the late great Paul Horton liked to say: “This, too, shall pass.” (although my favorite Hortonism was “the feces hit the ventilator”)