That "vegan" runner...remember?

Quick post tonight...can't spend 30 minutes or more writing up a post tonight.

During my 6 miler a couple hours ago I thought about the last time I talked about anything vegan on the blog....it's been quite a while! Well everybody...I do have some vegan updates for you all:

Update #1 : I had the most incredible tempeh-potato dish ever a couple of weeks ago. Val and I decided to hit up Philly last Sunday (yes, when we go to hip, cool cities we do so on the weekend...during the afternoon) and knew we were in for a treat. 

We visited two vegan joints: Pure Sweets & Co. and Vegan Commissary. 

  

At Pure Sweets & Co, we found the decor to be beautiful, but the prices to be outrageous. We paid (yep...still bought some food) just over $20 for a 10 ounce bottle of freshly squeezed juice and two small cookies. Val and I have had better and bigger cookies for half the price we paid so needless to say--although I'll still say it--we won't be heading back there anytime soon.

 Please visit!

Vegan Commissary was just fantastic. Val got a breakfast sandwich/burrito (can't remember which) and I got the Veggs Damien which used a vegg egg and vegg yolk in the dish. This was my and Val's first experience with Vegg and I very much enjoyed the egg-substitute.

 

Something interesting about the place...no menus!

 You have to look up the menu on your phone or use the large chalkboard menu as a reference. And yes, I took this picture off of Google images. Thank you unknown photographer!

Okay that's all for now. Get out to Philly and grab some vegan grub! 

Our Philly vegan experiences so far include:

• HipCityVeg (vegan meets fast food...and falls in love)
• Vedge (fine dining)
• Vegan Commissary (didn't mention this earlier, but we went for brunch. Our favorite!)
• Pure Sweets & Co. 

Happy Running..and eating!

Philly M here I come!

Trying to get back into the swing of things with this here blog.

Have you heard of Badwater 135? It's the famous (or infamous) 135 mile ultramarathon held in Death Valley in July. It's sort of been on my bucket list...was never really sure if it would ever be realistic for me to pursue it as training for the race would just be all-consuming. Temps soar past 110 degrees! It' just nuts...and that's the very reason Badwater as it has previously been held has been banned due to the serious risks to participants. Ahh well..bet my dad would be glad to hear this news!

Philly Marathon training is off to a great start! Had an amazing 3 hour run on Saturday morning and managed 21 miles. I think the incredible vibes of Rutgers campus on opening day of the football season definitely added to my energy levels. I had a feeling that I was going to really feel it in my legs the next day and I wasn't wrong.

My legs were as tight as can be yesterday morning, but I knew I had to stick to the plan...so of course I modified it a bit and took off a mile and a half. Ran the best 8.5 miles I've ever run. No need to get into the nitty gritty, but I was quite pleased!

But I have nothing to be as pleased with than Jaden  Click on the link to read about this little guy's accomplishment!
 

Also! Christina the Athletarian got back to me about an interview and is open to me asking her questions. So I will finally be reaching out to her regarding these questions shortly! Check out her blog!

That's all for tonight! Have to get some planning done.

Happy Running!

The struggle is real!

So there's this phrase that is very...very...popular among the teachers in my school: The struggle is real.

Typically it's said about the students comprehension of new material or lack of organizational skills, but every so often the phrase is expressed and directed at the speaker in a more poking-fun kind of way.

But for me...the struggle has been absolutely real in a not-poking-fun, totally serious kind of way. I'm talking about a late nights, early risings, barely running, overeating kind of struggle. 

There was a time, a couple years ago, when 9:30 was late for Val and I. Fortunately for her, she still has the luxury of getting to bed around that time and oh, how I envy her for that. Now when I see 11:00pm on my phone or computer screen I tell myself one more hour...and then I wake up 5 hours later to do it all over again. 

And what's making it even more tough is that I'm not running the same kind of distance I was even 2 weeks ago. I was getting in at least 60 miles a week for a good while and now I'm lucky if I get in 30-35. It's been a slight drag on my morale, but I'm happy I can at least get some runs in during the week. 

What will help, and already has started to do so, is my being newly registered for the 2014 Philly Marathon in November! The Philadelphia Marathon was my introduction into endurance running and I'm thrilled to returning to the event this year. I've been struggling to get long, slower runs in for the past several weeks, but have had no problem at all getting in 10-15 milers in at much faster paces than I was previously. I took that as a sign and am running with it...all the way to Philly in November! And the motivation is real! I finally got in a 3 hour (21 miles) run which has been impossible for me to achieve before today; every time I went out for a long run I turned it into something faster and an hour less at least. 

So yes....the struggle has been real and it will probably not ease up any time soon. But at least I have running. Which is good because I don't think as many people would read this blog if it was called "Me and this Teaching Thing"...

So here's to everyone who said your first few months of your first year make you want to _______________ (use your imagination to fill in the blank). You were right. But again...at least I have my running.

Happy RUnning everybody! (The RU is on purpose as my run today took place on Rutgers campus. It was great to be back there!)