Sunday evening recap

Well, I tried to initiate a post yesterday, but my app seems to have not liked it. The words I attempted to string together are MIA. It's not a big deal, considering I didn't even know what to post. *Chuckle* I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of verbage, sitting in a bar named "The Playwright", in the historical downtown Greenville area, after completing 5.6 miles of satisfying running. It was truly a memorable atternoon, giggling and contemplating life's conundrums with my best friend, aka my boyfriend, after our requisite fitness adventures. He is a good sport and slows to my speed; I'm an 11 min/mile, he's an 8 min/mile.  He is my partner through and through, and I can't thank the universe enough for guiding our paths toward one another.
Today is Sunday. We slept late, and then I made banana pancakes with two 'nanners that were almost too ripe to eat. I felt very frugal as I mashed them, thinking "Most people would toss these. But *I* have breakfast for the next 4 days." I then danced a self-congratulatory shimmy. Hey, only-children like me have our ways of surviving. Don't judge!

Then I drug my guy to the local middle school track to perform some sprints. I am definitely taking a yoga day tomorrow, because my legs and back feel like they are big tight BLOCKS that need some serious slow and luxurious stretching. I'm telling you, yoga is the perfect counterpart to distance running. I live for my 90 minutes of meditation, my "physical church".

I was really involved in hot yoga over the cold months.  Now that the weather is starting to encourage outside workouts, I can't imagine spending an hour in a 95° room, in the dim, meditative lighting. I want yoga in a bright, comfortable, BREATHABLE environment. I will be trying Greenville Yoga tomorrow. I'll post afterward.  It seems to be a very affordable, down to Earth studio.

I am now just digesting our dinner...I made an Indian stew of eggplant, cauliflower, pepper, onion, basil, and garlic over basmati rice. I am oh-so-stuffed...I'm gonna chill on da couch. :)

Peace, Love, and Garam Masala burps!

Healthy, revitalizing weekend....

As the title of my blog implies...I'm a vegan runner and yoga enthusiast.  I'm also...a lush.  LOL!  I love wine, and I really enjoy a long afternoon lunch with good conversation and a yummy pinot or malbec, depending on the season.  Unfortunately, this renders the rest of my day useless, as all I want to do upon arriving home is lounge on the couch and snuggle my dog.

I read a lot, as well, and a while back I came across a website called No Meat Athlete.  They have a lot of pertinent information for someone like me, and in one of the podcasts they talked about the OYNB challenge: One Year No Beer.  This is another website community that helps people go an extended period of time without alcohol, making it fun and encouraging a healthy lifestyle with a lot of enlightening support.

I'm not saying I'd want to go an entire YEAR without a glass of wine; that prospect seems sort of bleak.  But since I'm planning to run a marathon in October, it seems natural that I would clean up my social habits to enhance my performance.  It has been so many years since I've taken a long break from alcohol, I'm curious as to what would happen to my body, my psychology, my relationships, my actions, MY SLEEP, and my life experience in general.

Obviously, this is a daunting idea, but I have no doubt that I would benefit amazingly from just quitting the juice for a while.  The habit to uncork a bottle after a tough day at work is so ingrained it's hard to imagine what I would do instead.  I'd have to replace that habit with a more productive one, like oh, I don't know, RUNNING?  Yoga?  Reading a book and not having to reread the chapter because I don't remember what I read through my wine-induced mental haze?

Perhaps I'll start with a little practice!  Maybe not drinking until after 6pm?  Or I should challenge myself to a social night out as designated driver.  Maybe just take one day at a time without my old friend, the wine glass.  However I do it, I should begin this weekend. I truly need a revitalizing and restful couple of days to regroup and be productive.

And with that, I think I will start with giving myself the gift of a good old fashioned nap....

Peace, Love, and Zzzzzzz's!!