That Girl Runs

Apparently someone thinks I am gorgeous! Or more to the point, a gorgeous blogger!

Lindsay, the gorgeous girl who chases Kenyans posted her MeMe the other day and basically send a shout out to all her loyal readers to follow her lead. Since she follows Kenyans who am I to resist? That’s right, if you know me at all you will remember that I am a total sucker for MeMes. Lots of people hate them with a vengeance. I am not one of those people. In Lindsay fashion I will try to come up with six things you might not know about me. Yet:

• my parents were step siblings! Now before you get all bent out of shape by this and try looking for the extra appendages I might have grown as a result of this rather extra ordinary union, let me assure you that there was no mixing of the same genetic code involved in my creation! Let me explain: my grandparents knew each other as children but as adults they both married different spouses and lost contact with each other. My father’s mother passed away when he was 10 and my mothers father died when she was 14, leaving both of my grandparents widowed. While in their early 20s my parents met through mutual friends and started dating and eventually got married. Through their marriage my grandparents met again and romantic sparks started to fly. So much so that they also got married. To make things even more cozy, they all lived in the same house, the house I eventually grew up in with a set of parents upstairs and a set of grandparents downstairs. As a young child I thought that this family dynamic was totally normal: the grandpa is always the father of the dad and grandma is the mother of the mom. No wonder I often got strange looks…

• I hate (I know this is a strong word but I cannot express this in any other way) eating during the day! Forget water boarding for torturing me, instead force me to eat a big breakfast or lunch. I literally feel poisoned all day. I can go for coffee or tea in the morning and even enjoy hanging out at Starbucks nursing a soy latte, but don’t ever take me to that place that’s famous for their breakfast specials. The same holds true for lunch. I truly enjoy having a banana with (pea)nut butter every.single.day. and don’t need to deviate. You will however always find me enjoying a rather large dinner. For some reason I have no problem feeling full at night but during the day I will be absolutely miserable with a full belly. This approach has worked for me for decades, thank you very much, so save yourself effort and breath trying to convince me to change my habits.*

• I once fell in love with a married man! And no, I am not ready to elaborate publicly. Let’s just say that it was the most painful experience of my life.

• Even though I can eat peanut butter by the spoon full I despise peanuts. I even eat crunchy peanut butter, although I prefer the all natural, salty, smooth kind, but hand me a bag of peanuts and I will hand it right back to you. I don’t have an explanation for this weirdness either.

• My biggest regret in life is not having chosen the health care field for my profession and it is the one thing I would do over if I had the chance. But… there is still time so stay tuned!

• Although I love the desert and the incredible heat in the summer I will always miss living near a body of water and actually prefer humidity to dry heat. As David and I are making plans for our future this longing plays a big role. Unfortunately living near the water in California means cold, foggy summers, so we will either have to move east (I am dreaming of Caribbean breezes) or to a lake (I am envisioning water sports in the summer and lots of skiing in the winter).

* the exception to this weird approach to eating happens during marathon training. The only time I will force myself to eat before and after a long run.

Today’s Running Tip: A Jump Start!

If you are having trouble eating solid food after a long run try a smoothie. Combine 1 cup low fat flavored (soy) yoghurt, 1/4 cup (soy) milk, 1/2 cup of frozen fruit (not berries), 1/2 packet of plain instant oatmeal, 3/4 cups of frozen berries and 2 tbsp of dried coconut. Blend until smooth.