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Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon September 28, 2008
Many months ago I signed up to run the Scotiabank half marathon in Toronto. I had the best intentions to train properly, but as the day neared, I had only ran once in the last month! Mental strength and proper nutrition saved me.
The first 10 K were the easiest. I crossed this point after an hour and two minutes, and I felt great. At the 12 K flags I saw my friend in the crowd, which gave me a pick-me-up for a few kms. Sometimes I listened to music, while other times I listened to Yuri’s coaching tracks. It was nice to have him with me, encouraging me the whole way. Whenever I needed some motivation, I tuned into him. Most of the time I was present. I was enjoying the run, and the pace. I spent most of the race just being happy.
When I reached 16 K, my mental battles began. Just a little break, I thought, just for a minute. But I delayed the walking, and continued to run. Over and over, I kept thinking “you can quit anytime, so why not quit at the end.” I remembered the saying from one of Yuri’s recordings, and it really helped me through.
The last 500m were the absolute worst. I had nearly convinced myself to quit when I remembered I had 20 K under my belt without walking, so I pushed on, saying over and over: “you can quit at the end. You’ve made it so far. Keep going!” I think the biggest problem here was that we started and ended in the same place, so I knew exactly how far I had to run. Although 500m isn’t far, when it’s at the end of a half marathon, it’s like China far! Finally I crossed the finish line. My legs were done, and I was smiling. I collected my medal and joined my friends once again. My time was 2:11:28.5 – not bad for not training.
We ran at the same time as the full marathoners, so there were people were ending at the same time as me, only they had run twice as far! Some people just collapsed into the paramedic tent, completely exhausted, and their bodies frail. I can’t imagine how they must have felt, considering I ran the half and couldn’t even walk. It’s like someone took a bat to my entire body, giving special attention to my knees and ankles!
Would I do it again? Maybe. Now that I have a base time, it would be nice to see where training could get me. It would be fun to see how well I could do fuelled by wheatgrass and green juices!
Would I ever run a full marathon? Never. Just seeing the marathoners looking close to death is enough to tell me that it’s really not necessary to put your body through that much stress. It’s quite ridiculous actually! But then I remember the saying “if it hurts, don’t do it again.” So this very well may be my last half marathon!
www.helpsaveslivestcst.com/broilerchickens.htm
Did you know that chickens (and other birds) are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958 in the United States? That means that millions of birds are slaughtered every hour after a life stripped of all natural “chicken-y” habits. If they were cats or dogs, it would be a different story…unless we ate them too that is.
I couldn’t help but think of the Holocaust when I was reading about the lives that chickens endure. I say endure, because they sure aren’t having any fun. Can’t think of anything worse than enduring the Holocaust? I can – life on a factory farm. Don’t believe me? Click here to watch Live Fast, Die Young: The Life of a Broiler Chicken.
These chickens are bred to grow at rates that leave their legs broken due to the massive weight of their breasts. The constant stench of ammonia that arises from their shit (which isn’t cleaned up until the whole lot has been slaughtered) burns the chickens’ skin, and will actually kill the entire flock if the fans stop working in the building!
Add to this the poor quality feed that includes arsenic, antibiotics, hormones, additives, and GM soy. After a horrific death – you’ve got some unhealthy chickens on your plate.
Chicken, anyone? Not for me, thanks.
Jaxxie, our little munchkin/monster.
I love research. There is so much to learn, and not nearly enough time to learn everything. That’s why I love blogs, because there are so many random blogposts about millions of different topics. I am happy that you stumbled onto mine. Enjoy!
I’ve been doing some reading lately about meat and here are some things I would like to share with you about why leaving meat out of your diet may be a good move!
1. No need to worry about the recent Maple Leaf listeria outbreak. I wouldn’t have eaten their products if you had paid me!
2. When the UK was dealing with mad cow disease, the US and Canada responded with the mentality that “it can’t happen here,” so they didn’t even ban the feeding of meat and bone meal to cattle until 1997…a practice that NEVER should have been started in the first place since cattle are vegetarian!!! Ignorance is not bliss, ignorance can kill people.
3. “All Natural” does not mean organic, and sometimes even “organic” does not mean organic! (As told to me by a friend who worked closely with organic beef.) If you eat meat, you had better know its origins.
4. Through one of many loopholes, meat is allowed to go into the food supply before test results come back, resulting in most contaminated meat being consumed long before the recall is issued….Maple Leaf and listeria being the most recent example. Although, it makes sense to me that people likely die from contaminated meat more often than we are aware. Recalls are voluntary, and no one tests for bacteria as a cause of death. I wonder how many “Died of natural causes” should actually be “Died from eating poorly controlled food handling due to selfish capitalistic ignorance.”
5. As recently as 2005, only 2/10 of cows being slottered in the US were tested for BSE (mad cow disease).
6. My new favourite quote: “Meat and bone meal from pigs and chickens (which, as far as we know, do not get [their version of mad cow disease] can still be fed to cattle as can blood (to calves) and chicken wastes and feathers, and the remains of visibly sick “downer” animals are still allowed to be few to chickens, pigs, farmed fish, and your favourite pets.” (quote from What to Eat by Marion Nestle)
7. The USDA blocked private companies from doing their own private testing for BSE because it would imply that untested meat was unsafe.
8. Beef lobbying groups backed Bush in the last US presidential election because his office had blocked a proposal to close loopholes in the current practices of meat handling and safety. But then, who hasn’t sold their soul to get into office?
9. Hormones, antibiotics, BSE, heart disease, colon and rectal cancers, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer (although, I don’t have to worry about this one – indirectly, however, yes), kidney problems, trans-fats, carcinogens, denatured proteins, allergic reactions to undigested proteins, etc.
10. Fluffy bunnies and baby piglets. How could you eat them, really?
I hope you learned something new, and I hope I’ve made you think a little too!
