Carb footprint

Since Thanksgiving at least three times a week I drag my long-waisted, big-footed body on to a road or trail for a run.  My joints might ache or the ibuprofen regimen may be fully functional.  It might be brilliant winter drought sunshine or bone chilling winter drought tule fog.  It might be in Golden Gate Park or the Russian River levee in Cloverdale.  Aches, weather, and location may vary, but the point is, I do it.

When I started running, I wondered to myself, "Does it ever stop hurting?"  For six or seven weeks that question remained.  Short runs or longer runs, it hurt every time. My hamstrings, glutes, and calves always felt on the verge of cramp or muscle spasm.  My ankles, knees, and hip joints always felt on the verge of surgical replacement.  My feet lived under the threat of heel blisters and the occasional cracked and bloody toe nail.  Sometime in late January, the pain changed.  Each run starts out a little stiff and slow, but ten minutes into it I start to feel better.  Twenty minutes in, the slow motion jog opens up and my stride lengthens.  As long as the hills are minimal or angling in my favor, I start to feel like I could run forever, or at least the ten miles to the First Street bridge and back.

The amazing thing about my running is that it kills my appetite.  I don't walk in the door after a run feeling ravenous.  In fact I don't feel like eating much at all.

Until the next morning around 10:30am.

I used to enjoy a scone with my coffee and make it to a late lunch without a problem.  I still enjoy my morning scone, croissant, or bowl of granola but it doesn't hold me to lunch.  By 9:30am I feel peckish.  By 10:00am I feel hungry.  And by 10:30am I feel desperate.

For carbs.

And the faster they can be accessed, the better.

Some of these carbs require barely any preparation: Matzoh eaten dry (just bought a box at Costco that could feed a kibbutz); a bowl of cereal, Cheerios mixed with Raisin Bran and Granola (and then another bowl); cold leftover pasta (I can't be bothered to heat it).

And then there are some that take minute or two: Quinoa cooked on the stove, finished with a bit of butter, milk and cinnamon;  Tortillas quickly heated in the microwave with melted butter (just one, then two, then what the hell there are only three more left in the package....);  a sweet potato peeled, cubed, and quickly fried in olive oil with a bit of manchego melted on top.

Fortunately, this diet and exercise routine seems to be working for me.  I've lost close to 30 pounds on the Doctor Tod method.  It's easy.  And it works.  Just quit your job, run more than twenty miles a week, and gorge yourself on Israeli couscous or Girl Scout cookies every morning at 10:30.