Run With Promise

It was a beautiful day to run. Cool in the morning with the hint of rain in the air that never delivered. It warmed up nicley and 20 miles on what I was afraid was going to be heavy legs flew by nicely. We never know what the day will bring - running or otherwise. Each day is filled with moments of promise that add up towards a lifetime. Here's a secrect - promises such as these don't need to be kept but only made aware of - from the instant of awareness a promise is met with the choice of which course we may wish to persue. There is only the promise of life and that's eternal.
Run with promise my friends.

Eric

Heavy Price

What a difference a meal makes - all week I have eater fairly close to the 80/10/10 ideal and have felt light, energetic, strong and fast. I had a great meal at Great Sage (vegan resurant) and feel heavy,sluggish, weak and slow. Plant based alone isn't enough, vegan isn't enough - we have to be mindul of what we put in our bodies. Food ladened with oil, soduim and fats still take a heavy toll on the body - even though they're plant derived. Fruit, greens and nuts and seeds (in small quanities)give one an entierely different feeling after a meal and for hours and days afterwards. I know I will pay a price for my meal tonight and it will be with the performance of my run tomorrow. It was worth it for the company - but besides that - I'll stick with my fruit and greens.

Peace,
Eric

Watch for These Moments

It seems that nothing expresses inner freedom so well as running. Inner calm, the true stillness of our being allowed to breathe outward into motion. It is the Ying and Ynag of Taoism expressed in such a beautiful way. It's not often when it all flows together and we have a run like that - but when we do - it's magic.
Watch for these moments.
They happen.

Peace,
Eric

More on Dietary Plan

Right now I feel like I have my diet dialed in (for now) - the bulk of calories coming from fruit, yes breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the dinner portion being followed by a large green salad with mixed grilled vegeatables, hemp seeds (or flax or chia) with a small handful of nuts thrown in. Not 100% raw and I'll allow myself some room for the ocasional cooked grain, legumes or something similair. As mentioned in another post I'll still continue to dine out at on vegan fare - not often, but enough to be sociable. The grilled vegetables and seasoning are mainly filler (nutrional filler) and taste - it makes the salad "meal like". The nuts and hemp provide essential fats, a few more calories and extra protein. I seem to do a bit better strength wise with a little extra fat ad protein but I do want to keep them as close to 10% of my total calorie intake as possible. Remember fruit contains protein and greens have fat so you really can get by on very little overt fat and protein. My goal is to maximize recovery from running and lifting (and frequent racing) maintain strength while gaining speed and endurance and optimize leanness while keeping a fair amount of muscle. No small order.
We'll see how the plan works.

Thanks for reading!

Eric

Shadows and Reality

I have always been intrigued by shadows - to catch a glimpse of passing wings dark against the ground, I know there is flight above. There's magic in the creation that comes from dark and light and yet has no substance to believe in. Plato's allegory of the cave demonstrates this well - not only are we spelled bound by ilussions but imprisoned by the shadows we mistake as the world. Yet to the master of light, one who knows that it is his own inner fire that cast shadows- he playes freely in all worlds and steps between at his own choosing. The shadow exist because of light - yet light...light is who we are. That's reality.

My Diet and a Few Small Changes

I'm making a few (minor) dietary changes (again) - eating out yesterday made me realize that I have allowed a bit more food that doesn't really serve me well into my diet. Don't get me wrong, I don't eat out often I for me it's more social than for the actual food. I'm fortunate that there is a great vegan resturant nearby and I will keep these social events in place. I enjoy them and the company and it is seldom enough that I can justify the splurge (I term I sorta dislike as it implies I'm not enjoying my everyday diet - I do)But I also feel that my diet can use a few modifications, such as - fruit is breakfast and lunch and I intend to make it dinner as well for at least serval days during the week. My daily greens will be larger and the center piece for dinner, with a lots of lightly sauteed (in water or veggie broth of course) vegetables and herbs providing variety. This is a pretty big salad (I eat a big one now but this will be even larger) and I don't expect to be hungry after but if I am I will follow up with a baked (well, micro-baked) sweet potato. Protein and fat needs will be met with a handful of almonds or walnuts (as usual) along with a table sppon or so of hemp seeds, chia seeds or flax seeds. I've been enjoying hemp seeds quite a bit recently and it provides a substanstial amount of protein (11 grams per 3 table spoons) Once or twice a week I will still have some whole grains and legumes of some sort as I feel they do provide a unique role in the health care of the body and, well, I make a pretty good black bean burger. So there you have it (if you were at all interested) so here was my diet today, which up until dinner was pretty standard -
Breakfast - smoothie with 6 bananas, 5 dates and about 100 calories wrth of mangoes. About 1000 calories
Lunch - another smoothie with 8 bananas, , 5 dates, 100 calories with of mangoes. A little over 1200 calories.
Snack - Golden Delicious apple. Maybe 60 calories
Dinner - 10 bananas, large mixed green salad, with (lightly) sauteed green and red peppers, onion, asparagus, a hint of garlic and seasoning (no salt) along with hemp seeds and a small handful of almonds. I followed this with a sweet potato. Maybe 1500 calories there.
I'll burn that off pretty quickly tomorrow so we'll see if that was enough fruit for the day. Remember that todays food is tomorrows fuel. So choose wisely today!

Thanks for reading,
Eric

On Eating Out

For the most part I tend to gravitate towards real food - plants (a few) grains, with very little prcocess vegan fare. Eventually I'll commit a fully raw vegan diet as I feel over all hte best when my diet consist of this. Howver these days I do make the occasional exccpetion with more refined, higher processed vegan food - rarely and usually for special times of celebration (and sometimes just to go out is a celebration). Today was one of thoses days and I went to Great Sage resturant with my wife. Great Sage is totally vegan so you never have to ask about the orgin of any food item on the menue. That's a nice change of pace from years of eating out and having to give people (and recieve it in return) the third degree about how your food is being prepared. Howver just because it's vegan doesn't make it healthy. There are always healthy(er) options on a vegan menue but I think even the best options may not be ideal. Most have more fat then we need, more sodium and less nutrional value. As an athlete I'm at my optimal when I eat "clean" and I can definitely feel the ifference with even a slight variance in my diet.
But still it's nice to have this vegan option and a gathering of people who share your iddeals. So celebrate - but keep it to those special times.

Peace,
Eric