I’ve been vegan for a little over 3 weeks now. I thought the hard thing would be not being able to eat cheese, yogurt and drink milk. Fortunately, that hasn’t been the hard part, in part because there is a vegan substitute to all of those. But also, there is something much harder which has bothered me so much more.
You see, the thing is, some of my friends, as much as I love and support them, aren’t willing to support me. They keep asking me when I’m “going to be done with this vegan bullshit”. They make it seem as though I am somehow forcing them to do it as well. The ironic thing is, the more they say stuff like that, the more determined I get to not give into a temptations. This is something I believe in strongly and it’s honestly hurtful knowing some of my friends aren’t even supportive.
I am so proud of what I am doing. How can it be that hard to not make rude and offensive comments?
20 Mile Run Recap
This run represented the last long run of marathon training. After 11:30am on Sunday morning, taper officially began. 20 miles were planned and 20 miles had to get on the books. I mean this run was paramount, my ability to finish 20 consecutive miles would mean that there was some chance that I could most likely finish 26.2 consecutively.
In my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this run would be a great one. I was dreading it the entire time. I was going to run with the L street club, no races or anything for this. It would be tough mentally and physically, so it would be a true challenge, similar to the Chicago experience.
There I was at 7:30 ready to set off. I had with me 2 Gu’s, endurolyte tablets and anything I would need on my 20 mile journey. A friend from the Waltham Trail Runners and I knew he would keep pace with me, at least until the halfway point.
The first couple of miles were great, I was a bit stiff but I managed to warm up by mile 3 (the first water stop). There I met 3 girls who were running Chicago and one who was keeping the same pace as me. She ran the rest of the way with me and really helped me at the end, for that I am grateful she was truly an amazing girl and we share many stories along the way.
I ran from water stop to water stop and was keeping constant pace. By the half marathon mark I looked at my watch and ended up running that in 2:12 (5 minutes faster than all my previous times, whoah) I think I tried my best to hold it back a bit from there on out. I only stopped at the water breaks (7 total) and made sure to go to the bathroom at mile 11 (only potty around). My time might be a little optimistic for marathon day since I did have breaks and did stop my Garmin during those, but all my running was at a great pace, which has me excited for the prospect of a 4:45 marathon time. My eating and hydrating schedule were keeping me well. Water at all the stops, Endurolytes every hours, a Gu at mile 7, banana at 16. I was doing ok. The soreness in my hamstrings and glutes, kicked in at mile 15, so I knew finished would hurt, but I pushed on. The training run was supposed to be 22 miles and I was intent to trying for it, but when I reached 20, after pushing through the last two miles I decided to call it quits and leave it at 20. Good idea in my opinion, I dont think im quite there for 22. After I enjoyed a great meal at the L Street Running Club annual BBQ and had a great time. I am so marathon ready
Let the taper begin!
