Are Fishes Animals?

As a devout reader of this blog, you are no doubt aware that I gave vegetarianism the old college try. The month of May was to encompass my animal free days. The short version: I did it. The long version: being a veg can be a pain in the butt (in a good way, mostly).

During this one month I have never thought about food as deeply. I read every label, considered every ingredient, looked over every shelf at Walmart (yes I shop at Walmart). It was a great challenge to find foods that were truly vegetarian. Some soups, for example, are in fact not. Vegetable soup, one might think, should fall in this category. But upon reading the back label, it's clearly made with either chicken broth or beef broth or emu broth or something otherwise from 4 legs.

But the most challenging part was lunch. For those who may not know, I work on a college campus. As part of my employment, I'm given a meal plan - a wonderful and generous perk. I've been going to the student cafeteria for about 13 years (17 if you count my student days). Often I would arrive for lunch, walking up and back examining the day's offerings. The ever-present salad bar was always an option. But I don't do rabbit food (doesn't make much sense, does it?). So I would often settle for a cheese sandwich with various accoutrements like beets, egg, onions and the like. I can't say they were great meals; but it made me realize just how challenging this can be.

I think what I missed most was protein. I have a friend who's a veg and I'd ask him how I could get more. "PB&J works" he'd reply. I'm sure it does. But I couldn't picture myself having PB&J 3 times a day. Although looking back it's clear that this became my go-to meal. Aside from this, I tried to eat eggs, cheese and some nuts from time to time. Truthfully, though, I think I really missed the boat on the protein. My running weakened a bit; and I'm still wondering if this lacking contributed to my poor marathon showing (see the BONK blog).

Enter FISHES! And shellfish. And all other things sea-dwelling. I liked not eating cow or chicken or pig or whatever. I feel good philosophically and physically. But two things became apparent to me. First, I really like sea critters. Can't fudge that one. And yes I live in a pretty land-locked area. But I can still get some frozen goods that are decent. Second, I really need protein. I feel strongly that nuts and eggs and whatever just isn't cutting it. Yes, I could do a shake or a protein bar or something. But in response to that I'd say take a look at my first point.

Therefore and thusly, I'm am now officially a "pescetarian." Seriously? Yup that's the label. Basically means someone who eats fish type stuff. Who knew there was an actual label out there? I sometimes envision the various "arians" (vegetarians, vegans, pescetarians etc) getting into turf wars over who's the most righteous.

Anyway, I'm not in to all that. But I do feel really good about this. So I'm going to give it a while. How long? Well that's hard to say. But long enough so I can really figure it out. I'm not going to lie either - sometimes walking by that grill gets the old chops watering with the smell of cow. Maybe I'll go back some day; for now, though, I'm swimming with the fishes.

See you on the pavement.

BONK!

I've never bonked before. Sure I've hit the proverbial wall (some would say bonking and hitting the wall are one and the same), but I've always managed to get through it. On May 31st that all changed.

For those of you who may not know, bonking is a term that broadly describes any number of bad things that runners (among other folks) can experience. Often the bonk is related to one's nutrition, hydration, electrolyte balance, muscle fatigue and on and on. More on this subject, check out wikipedia's entry for bonking.

So I bonked. And there was no doubt about it. It was during my fifth marathon; this one a local affair, first time being held. It was nice, but really small. Although I like the more intimate events this one was downright lonely - at least for those going beyond the half marathon distance.

The first 13.1 miles went by quite nicely. Sure it was hot and humid; yes I was sweating a lot. I drank a bit, but in retrospect certainly not anywhere near what I should've. See I train without fluids or food. Part of it is practical - I don't like to carry packs and of course the teeny-tiny pocket stitched in the running shorts could maybe hold starburst at best. The other part is my stomach. I'm not going to further bore you, but I've not conquered the eating/drinking/running thing yet. One bite of the wrong food during a run and I'm done. It's like my kryptonite. For these reasons, I almost never eat or drink when I train. Clearly, this was the wrong strategy for this race.

After the first half, which I finished in 2hrs 7mins, I felt quite good. Looking back, I know I could've finished in 1hr 50+ minutes on the half if that was my end goal. But it was not and so I was pacing myself the best I knew how. Around mile 11 I picked up 2 first timers and ran with them til about mile 19. I usually prefer to run alone, but today I was enjoying the company. Conversation was easy and light.

Probably around mile 14 or so was when I first understood how much I was sweating. My shorts - they of the wicking variety - where drenched. So much so that drops were coming off. Head was drenched; shirt too. Normally this isn't that big of an issue. But the fundamental problem here is that I didn't replace anything. By mile 14 I had consumed maybe 2 cups of water, a sip of gatorade and about half a granola bar. Being the idiot that I can sometimes be, I continued in this vein til about mile 19 (minimal drinking and no food). It was then - as I crossed the bridge over the Susquehanna river - that my newly acquired running buddies began to pull away. Or, more accurately, that I began to fall behind. It wasn't my legs - they felt fairly fresh. But I just hit the wall with my energy level. And then the wall fell on top of me. And then I think some elephants or other similarly large animals did the happy dance on top of the wall, with me under it. Suffice it to say, that I never got through it, leaving the final 7 miles the longest of my lackluster running career.

I began searching out water and food as best I could; aid stations had fluid and some sickeningly sweet gatorade which my stomach can't handle. I had some gummi bears. Some kind gentleman seemed to be pacing myself and a few others in his Camry and would stop from time to time. From him I procured a couple bottles of water and a banana. Still nothing raised my energy level. I had been reduced to plodding. Looking back, I think it was probably too late.

And then the cramps happened. Not the kind where you run through it, try to shrug it off. Nope, these were the kind that will lock up the legs in a second and put you on the ground because your muscles refuse to work. They were in my calves specifically - both of them. The cramping forced me to reduce my stride length to a shuffle; attempting a longer stride would instantly bring pain, seizure of my calves and several near falls. I ran with these for probably the last 5 miles. Quite frankly, it sucked.

I crossed the finish line around 4hrs 50mins. Most everybody was packing up; I looked at the results later and found there were only 2 or 3 people behind me. I laid down, grateful to be off my feet. My calf muscles were quivery and spazzing - something they continued to do for 3 hours after I finished. I saw my running buddies from earlier - the first timers. They made it, I'm happy to say.

It seems clear to me, after doing some research and posting to an ultra list group, that I really screwed up my nutrition. Not enough fluids, not enough salt/electrolytes. Not enough calories. I basically allowed myself to get too depleted; and then I couldn't bring it back.

Although this event wasn't all that fun, I still have an affinity for the marathon. I'm glad I still covered the miles that day, difficult as it was; and I plan to do more (thinking Steamtown this fall). I don't really have some grand, life-altering piece of insight to share. But I did learn a lot about what I can and can't do. This event may have gotten the best of me, but I'll be back for more.

See you on the pavement.