The Hard Part

So I feel like I'm just starting to hit the hard part of training. It's where you've just realized that you've locked yourself in, there's no escaping, and progress is going to be a matter of feet, not miles.

Ordinarily, I suppose this is the part where you go for a morning run, and as you watch the sun rise, you begin weeping uncontrollably because others can only vicariously experience your self-actualization and not bear witness to the evolved species you've become.

But it's early for me yet.

So I bundled up -- a fine, -10 morning -- and took the kids to the bus stop around 6:30 a.m. Followed the bus to my running spot and slogged through the 5K in about 28 minutes, give or take a few. Drove to the gym, which was blessedly empty, and pedaled 13.2 miles in about 65 minutes while reading a gardening book. I should read really light stuff, like magazines or trashy paperbacks, when on the gym bike or elliptical. Just can't retain stuff.

Took a shower using the gym's endless supply of hot water and was back home by 9:30 a.m. About 750 calories, slightly more than enough for a Zesty Chicken Border Bowl from Taco Bell.

I should probably stop whining. The hard part doesn't start until you've got a sinus headache or sore Achilles or some such. But it's so much more fun to whine.

Plugged away at work all day. Lot of very slow stuff, not much headway. As we'd say in Texas, "spent most of the day bustin' big rocks into little rocks." I also got a little diverted by the outrage du jour:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/washington/08polar.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1173372628-7WNbJhpW++1bZz5mt5/UEQ

Put me in a bit of a tailspin on three fronts. First off, I want to rent "Idiocracy," about an average man who's frozen in time for 500 years and wakes up to find the country is full of idiots. I think it's kind of like "Bob Roberts." You know it's satire. I know it's satire. Everyone who watches it knows it's satire. But it still scares the crap out of us, and any laughter is very nervous and forced.

Second, I've been thinking a lot about community sustainable agriculture. There are a few CSAs around here; you pay anywhere between $200 and $400 per season and get a few boxes of whatever's grown locally. Cool.

Finally, I was reading the Times review of all NY barbecue joints from yesterday's paper. It was, to put it mildly, annoying. When I lived there in the late 1990s, a bunch of former Texans at work used to go to a place in Midtown that made us realize how ex-heroin junkies get their fixes. We even called it "The Methadone Clinic," because it was clearly synthetic but kept you from seeing spiders on the walls for at least a month. It was also ersatz enough to require a month to get the "man, that was some nasty barbecue" taste from your mouth.

Now, comes to the Times to tell us that there are about 10 perfectly serviceable barbecue joints around the city. And I kid you not: I was traveling a lot back then, and my administrative assistant knew to route me through a Texas airport (Austin or Houston, mostly) when possible so I could get a barbecue fix.

Anyway, I was reading the article and salivating. A bad sign.

Speaking of diet:

Pre-run breakfast: 1/2 mini bagel with 1 tbsp peanut butter
Breakfast: Maple oatmeal
Banana
Lunch: Tuna salad with salsa
2 c carrots
Afternoon snack: 2 c dried apples
crackers, 3oz cheddar
Dinner: One-pot pasta
Green beans/new potatoes in mustard vinaigrette (the last of it)

The dinner is a nice little recipe I've stolen from Runner's World:
1/2 box Barilla Plus penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups frozen stir-fry vegetables (broccoli, sugar snap peas, soybeans, red pepper, onion, water chestnuts)
8 ounces cooked dark- and white-meat chicken
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook the pasta per package instructions and drain in a colander. In the same pot, heat oil and sautee garlic and veggies four to six minutes on medium-high heat. Add chicken and heat through. Return pasta to pot, toss with cheese, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Serves four

Calories: 491
Protein: 33 g
Carbs: 54 g
Fat: 17 g

It ain't barbecue. I hope to inspire my wife to bake bread again soon. Her bread is wonderful. Went to Whole Foods about two weeks ago (it's a haul, but I love their produce) and picked up some bulk grains: amaranth, wheat berries and spelt. The boys love homemade bread. They're fiends. She'll bake six loaves, and half will be gone in a couple of hours.

Fiends, I tell you, fiends.