Mountain Masochist Overeater

Have you ever looked up the term "masochist"? Now that I've heard the definition I think the word may be used inappropriately, but in the case of my shoes...I like it! If we skip the "sexual" version of the definition, it reads something like this:

"a person who is gratified by pain, degradation, etc., that is self-imposed or imposed by others."

Yup, that's the definition of a trail runner. This all comes about because of my new shoes bear the name "Mountain Masochist".  Thanks to a guest pass at the Columbia Store I got these babies at employee pricing...which I am now disappointed to find isn't as cheap as Amazon. Bummer.

Unfortunately, since I'm traveling to San Diego, I can't add a photo of me running in them because I'm surrounded by concrete. However, after a few trail runs in Victoria, BC this past week I can attest that so far, they're awesome. Super grippy thanks to the "Gryptonite" and much lighter and more flexible than the Asics I was running in before. While I loved my Asics, the fact that they were A) super stiff and not conducive to road/trail combos and B) $20 at a thrift store and thus already pretty worn, it was time to retire them. This weekend these bad mamma jammas will get a full trail test back home in Bend.

As for the second part of this post, I decided to take a gander at my calorie intake for the day, and perhaps a travel day isn't the best day to start, but holy crap! I'm overeating...or I did today anyway. Given that my running is just now ramping up, 2,500 calories feels like a LOT too much.

On non-super-long-run days I think making the following changes is probably smart:

• No bagels.
• No cream cheese.
• Only drink half a green machine (the entire bottle clocks in at 270!).
• Eat a better, more filling breakfast (I know this rule, but somehow tend to forget it when traveling).
• Only eat Kind bars in an emergency (healthy, but also a whopping 190 cals!).

Now I do know that calorie counting as a runner isn't always necessary, but it seems I've fallen into the age old trap of "Hey I eat healthy, so I can eat as much of it as I want!" which is not the case when it comes to super rich, dense foods.

I digress.

Speaking of food, this recipe for Orzo is KILLER! Simple and delicious with grilled chicken. My advice is to add a couple shakes of red pepper flakes, and use a couple diced Roma tomatoes if that's all you've got. I used dried Thyme and skipped the lemon zest and pine nuts as well and it was still really great.

A shout out to my running buddy Little Goat: thank you so much for putting effort into my training plan. While I haven't been able to follow it to the tee given my injury recovery I'm really loving having a new fresh plan to follow. Muah!