Hunger
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| Pretty sure I resemble Prefontaine, just with longer shorts and not nearly as good of mustache. |
With the early demise of ski season and the relatively nice weather (not excatly the eighty-degree weather of a few weeks ago, but not bad either) I have been eager to get outside and begin spending some time on the bike. Unlike past seasons though, I have been devoting a portion of my normal bike time to hitting the trails and pavement with feet instead of tires. With the possibility of not having easy access to my bike for a few weeks over the summer, and in an attempt to avoid the normal mid-season burnout that normally occurs with the bike, spending a few hours a week running has made a great deal of sense.
In fact, not only have I tolerated running…I have even grown to enjoy it. Much like cycling, there is something very calming/zen-like about settling into a pace and finding a zone as the activity’s rhythm carries you mindlessly through. I have enjoyed it so much that it has led me to recently purchase some new running shoes, shorts, and a watch to help the training along. EMS customers take note: there is no better way to build stoke than with new gear (shameless plug, I know). Not only are you are excited to get outside and use your new toys, but since you just spent some hard earned money on those new toys, you feel obligated to use them.
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| I am pretty stoked on my new La Sportiva Wildcat’s; also I am pretty sure they are making me faster. |
An additional surprise to actually enjoying running has been how hungry running makes me. It is scary how much I have been eating lately, even scarier if you knew how I was already eating. I am no stranger to an active lifestyle or to endurance sports, but something about running has thrown my metabolism into overdrive. Not only has running made me hungrier, it has seemingly given me an insatiable hunger. I have begun to wonder if I have been in fact doing enough running to offset the additional calorie consumption that running has driven me to. A girl at work brought a tub of pretzel rods into work this week, and I have eaten over half of it in the last three days.
Another example of my new found hunger occured the other night after getting ready for bed (showered, teeth brushed, alarm set, lights turned off). As I was laying in bed waiting to be overcome with slumber, it hit me. I was hungry. In fact, more than hungry – I was famished. I was so hungry I couldn’t think straight, and certainly couldn’t imagaine being able to make it until morning without eating. So I got out of bed and ate some chips and salsa. The unfortunate thing is that this was not a freak occurrence; two days later, following a five mile run, I found myself getting out of bed to gorge on some Edy’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. This has been mildly frustrating for a couple reasons.
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| My inspiration |
One reason is that it is probably not great to being eating such copious amounts of food right before bed. Also, it is incredibly frustrating to succumb to hunger pangs immediately following brushing your teeth, making the initial brushing null and void. Additionally, there is nothing worse than being settled in for sleep and being disturbed…not just to eat, but then also repeat the all the tasks you had previously accomplished. Lastly, Ashley is probably beginning to think she is living with a crazy person. The first thing I do when coming into the house is begin my quest for food (sometimes food is beer). Our grocceries have seemingly begun to contain more grazing food than real food, and now I have been having late night eating binges.
I hope this craving for food settles down after a few weeks of running, if not I could be on the fast track to the worlds heaviest runner.
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| Pretty sure this is what I look like after a late night snack fest |
