Ruth managed to get the two days after July 4th off from work. That gave us time to go to Crane’s Beach in Ipswich this morning. We stayed at the beach until the incoming tide trapped us against the dunes, unable to escape the greenhead flies.
When we left the beach, we stopped off for large plates of the famous Ipswich fried clams, along with shrimp, scallops, onion rings, french fries, and vegetables – well, cole slaw anyhow. Woodman’s is more famous, but I prefer the less oily fried food at Farnham’s. Unfortunately Farnham’s doesn’t have an ice cream stand like Woodman’s, so we had to stop in West Medford on the way home to complete our well-rounded vacation meal.
Most of my meal was probably still sitting in my stomach while I jogged from home to Casey’s for a comfortable 32:50-ish loop around the 4 mile course. Nothing too strenuous. I wanted to keep my meal down and get my legs ready for a long run on Saturday. Post-run pizza topped off a day of fine dining.
Tomorrow, we’re going to Cirque du Soleil. I’m sure circus food will be the perfect carbo-loading meal for my Saturday run.
I just finished Scott Jurek’s book. He’s a strict vegan who believes that his particular diet is an essential part of his success. Jurek is clearly an “eat to run” kind of guy, someone who plans their diet based on how it affects their running. I’m more of a “run to eat” kind of guy. I’ve improved my diet since I began running, but I still justify eating tasty, tasty salty, fatty, and greasy foods by telling myself I’ll just run off the extra calories later. Besides, I like to eat, but I don’t like to prepare food. Jurek spends an inordinate amount of time growing or shopping for just the right organic food and preparing his healthy, carefully balanced vegan meals. I’m perfectly happy going to a restaurant and leaving the details to someone else.
I think of myself as someone who will try almost anything to be a better runner. I try to keep my weight down, and I have been known to graze on kale or stuff a burrito with tofu, but giving up bacon, ice cream, coffee, and fried clams is just too high a price to pay. Going vegan is not going to turn me into Scott Jurek.
(7.8 mi. run; 149#)