Barring any calamities

Today I'm looking at a 6 mile run, possibly in Memorial Park, possibly closer to home.  I'm not sure yet.  And that's if the weather and circumstance holds so that I can even pull it off.  I've discovered that if I head to the house first, the likelihood that I'll actually leave to go run is diminished.  On the other hand, when I do leave to go run, the likelihood that the run will be longer is greater than if I run before heading to the house.  It's as if I'll cut a run short in order to get home to the fam and tend to the homestead.  Alternatively, if I skip the run and head directly to tending to the homestead, if there's still energy (and will) after the chores are done, I'll bound out the front door and run for an extra few miles.  Of course, that is only if there's still energy and will (and daylight) to do so.  It's a very curious balancing act.

And speaking of balancing acts, lunch is a tricky thing to figure out.  Like I've already said, it's amazing how quickly the switches have been flipped once I started running again.  I ran the first mile back from hiatus on the 2nd, and the appetite cravings immediately changed gears.  The burger I choked down on Monday was a reluctant compromise with time, and I paid for it.  Since then I've wanted nothing to do with burgers, or much red meat at all.  I craved, and I mean CRAVED, a bean burrito yesterday--fuel food.  Today, I want only a chicken salad.  Yea, that's right, chicken salad.  That's the only thing I can think of right now.

Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.Chicken salad.

Sigh.

The other balancing act that's a real challenge is the technology versus naturalism struggle.  With everything today, there's a gadget.  There's the music player, there's the "fuel belt", there's the specially formulated water product, there's the specially formulated carbo product, there's the specially formulated energy gel, there's the specially formulated shoes, there's the specially formulated socks...  pretty much anything and everything you could imagine you needed or wanted in order to make running easier and more expensive, there's a gadget for that.  It makes you wonder how our ancestors ever managed to find, hunt, chase, and kill a beast.  Occasionally I'll plug in the music player, but the less I carry, the better I feel.  Can a person run a 2:00 half marathon, in today's relatively comfortable society, without energy gels, fuel bars, or specially designed "gear"?  I'm not sure, but I'm determined to find out.