My Night as a Vegan

As I get older, I find that the more people I meet the more unique experiences I have. Sometimes, they’re experiences I never thought I’d even consider. Like last week when my roommate—who is vegan—convinced me to go to her favorite vegan restaurant: The Chicago Diner.

The diner, whose slogan in “Meat free since ’83,” serves all vegan meals off a menu that resembles that of a regular (non-vegan) restaurant.

We started off with an appetizer of Buffalo wings with vegan ranch dressing. The “wings” looked like boneless spare ribs, but the spicy sauce made them taste very much like Buffalo wings you’d get anywhere else. Minus the taste of chicken… I’m not that easy to fool.

For my entrée, I ordered the Radical Reuben… with dairy cheese (they have dairy or vegan cheeze… cheese is where I draw the line especially when given the option and the other is spelled with a ‘z’). My sandwich, served on marble rye, was made of corned beef seitan, grilled onions, peppers, sauerkraut and vegan Thousand Island dressing. I have no idea what seitan is, but it kind of looked like those homemade Steak ‘Em strips my mom used to make when we were kids (except it looked like the slices of meat before they were cooked). The sandwich was delicious and there were so many flavors that I probably never would have known it was vegan if I was served it out of this context.

For dessert, we split a vegan milkshake. It was awesome. It tasted the exact same as a regular milkshake (or frappe as we call them in New England). And you know me, when it comes to dessert, I need the real thing.

I left way too full and satisfied, two feelings I never would have ever previously associated with eating vegan. While I enjoyed this experience, it didn’t convince me to abandon hamburgers. Eating vegan seems very difficult and I love food too much to give any of it up. But I was glad for this new experience--and for my roommate who showed me a different side of life. 

Running on Empty

I forgot how hard it is to train for a half marathon. Yesterday marked two months until the half marathon Erin and I are running in Newport, RI and I find myself questioning whether or not I can do this.

Two weeks ago I switched over to full training mode and started following a 12-week plan I found online. I tried to keep up with the nearly daily workouts, capped by a five-mile long run that weekend. Well, as has happened before, I wore myself out and ended up getting sick (the jury is still out as to whether it was allergies or an actual bug).

This happened last year when I started training as well. Last fall, I was much sicker and missed more than two weeks. This time I missed all week and a long run. It’s very discouraging to get psyched up and start rolling along only to be halted by illness or injury.

With two months to go, I’ve lost a precious week and will once again miss this weekend’s long run because I will be home for my sister's baby shower. I am going to try to squeeze my long run in during the week, but six miles is hard to “squeeze” in after working a full day (if you’re a runner, you know what I mean). Training for a half is a big enough hill to climb, but now I have to try to make up for lost time… all while being mindful of how hard I am pushing myself to make sure I don’t wear myself down to nothing again!

So, the million dollar question is, while training plans look great on paper, what happens when life gets in the way? I guess I’ll find out. If anyone has any tips, please feel free to let me know!

NYR Mileage Update:  206.3 miles to go until I reach my goal of running 500 miles in 2012!