Earthmovers and Sandcastles

Well, it only makes logical sense. You can’t go eating like you’re training for a marathon when you’re not actually training for a marathon. (And even if you were training for a marathon, chocolate cookies would probably not serve well as a primary nutrition source.) I went to put on my black pants for our cantata performance today and had that fact driven home. I might have been able to wear them, but not standing on a stage in front of an audience. I wore a skirt, and I skipped most of the wassail and cookies set out to celebrate the day. (Most, I say. I’m not a complete rock.) Tonight’s dinner will be a very yummy salad, bracketed by slices of cinnamon-roasted butternut squash – all quite tasty and filling, and way lower on the added sugar and junk I’ve been letting slide a little too frequently lately. I don’t think I’ve gained more than a pound or two since Marine Corps, but I feel “puffier” than I like. Bring on the veggies! Hand over the whole grains!

I also went on an impromptu long run this afternoon, for several reasons. One, the aforementioned puffiness. (That wasn’t a big reason, though, since I’d have been cross-training at the gym anyway if I hadn’t run.) Two, I somehow ended up with five runs of nearly the same length this week, and my legs felt like they needed something a bit longer to feel sufficiently worked. Third, it’s Christmas week; Gabe is off school, Sam starts his break on Wednesday, and we leave on vacation a few days later. Running is going to be hard to fit into the schedule over the coming days, and I wanted to make sure I did what I could to maintain as much of my base as possible. It was a very nice run, and I’d have gone longer, but it was starting to get a bit darker, and I was wearing all black and navy. Not a good combination, especially with a few icy patches left on some roads and sidewalks.

The cantata went well today. It’s hard when all the emotionally strong moments get sprung on you for the first time while performing, so you have to hold back tears while being watched by everybody. They had a young couple with their small baby dress as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and come down the aisle during one of our songs; the scene was powerful enough that several of us were sniffling. The elderly woman who narrated the cantata did a fantastic job stirring everyone’s emotions, too; I later learned that she’s been performing with the local theater guild for decades. And the truly unfair part that had me trying not to sob during the performance wasn’t even part of the production! They had the doors open at the back of the church, and we could see out into the narthex, beyond which a large creche was situated, and while we were singing, I saw Gabe’s Sunday School class solemnly parade out to the manger to place boxed gifts in front of the manger. Augh!

In the face of all that, a little peanut butter cookie seems entirely warranted. A small one, you know. Protein consumption is a virtue?

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