Pean’s Adventures in the Big City

I’m pretty sure just the name ”Coles” is translation enough. 

Nichole Burks (soon-to-be MD) has touched down in my world.  Celebrations will be many, and clothing worn will be few. Lips shall be red, nails shall be polished, heels shall be high, and through it all, my skin shall remain remarkably pale.  Nothing like a reunion of this magnitude to set you right again (right being the opposite of non-stop running/working—in other words, not boring). 

go, team, go!

Have an excellent weekend.

-Pean

Though I’m not sure of her abilities in that department (the whole canoe thing being an uncertainty), I am confident of her abilities on the track.  Cheers to K this weekend, may she run her 3K swift and graceful as always.  Fingers crossed and big love. 

Sincerely,

Your anti-nationals team captain.  :)

P.S. I’ll get back to you on the canoe thing—once I locate a Canadian (I can think of one who frequents my path in particular haha, and no it’s not K so minds out of the gutter please)

A five mile run in this…

Makes you feel like this…

Pean. Defeated.

That’s right, the weather kicked my A%s…

-Pean!

Even the smallest hand can infinitely inspire, and point you in the right direction…toward a life you were meant to lead, yet unaware of at the time.

Happy Birthday, Hazen.

Here’s to Marilyn and the Ferrari/Maserati of Long Island family….HAHA.  I felt the need to mark this occasion, as well as the day I decided to take yet another leap—only from a higher cliff this time.

I’ll let you know if the net appears….

This was something I would expect to hear before a particularly hard run, or a race maybe, but not during what I like to call a “fake-out” run.  Normally, my “fake-outs” are fun, I go at an easy pace (b/c it’s usually a day i’m not feeling particularly energized) for as long as I feel comfortable, or before my extremities start to freeze.  It’s important to note that I’m a huge proponent of the ”fake-out,” seeing as it’s fairly non-committal where distance is concerned, and has the tendency to turn into a longer run on most occasions.  Now, I can freely admit when I’ve made mistakes, and I can definitely tell you that yesterday I made a huge mistake with Mueslix at brunch.  In general, I harbor no animosity toward this as a breakfast food; however, attempting to run too quickly after ingesting Mueslix has changed my attitude toward it in this respect.  ANYWAY (I am skilled at digression), I’m running along, minding my own business, thinking about what life would have been like as a professional ice skater (I’ve never been a skater before, could be fun?), thinking a few other “deep” thoughts, and racing the horse carriages (best thing to race b/c they’re slow, and then after you beat them you realize that anyone running a 12:00 min./mile pace could do so with their eyes closed), when suddenly all I could focus on was using the restroom—immediately. 

I arrive at the boathouse potties in a nano, and frantically scoot into a staul.  Now, normally I am not drawstring-challenged when it comes to any of my running clothes, and I usually buy my stuff a size bigger b/c of shrinkage in the laundry, but this drawstring was unlike anything I’ve encountered before.  I worked fruitlessly for 5 minutes (an eternity), trying to untie the drawstring on my new spandex pants (anyone who knows me well, knows I prefer to run in anything but spandex, lobster costume included), when I snapped and just pulled them over my hips.  It was at this moment that the fate of my run was sealed.  I heard a loud “POP,” and I looked down as I watched the now-broken pants slowly fall to the ground.  Well, you know what comes next, so I’ll skip through it—when I went to pull them back up the pants did not seem to be so eager to cooperate.  My eyes widened in horror, as I realized that I was going to risk indecent exposure/arrest just to get out of the park in a timely manner. After I convinced myself that it wasn’t a big deal and nothing ”bad” would happen, I ran out of the bathroom and darted straight up cat hill, and I have to say I felt so good (impending embarassment is always good for hill work/faster running in general)!!  That’s right, I felt so good, too good.  As I reached the summit of the hill an old man (”old” being a generous description, mind you) says, “HEY! I CAN SEE YOUR BARE BOTTOM…..AND YOUR UNDERWEAR!”  Yes, you read that correctly, he could indeed see both.  What?  I enjoy skimpy undies like any normal girl in NY does—some ladies prefer them b/c it feels sexy, and I wear them to avoid inappropriate lines under my clothing.  Apparently, I couldn’t feel what was transpiring b/c it was so cold out–I was numb from the waist down, and this only reaffirmed my passion for winter running (it’s just fantastic).  In the end, I apologized profusely and explained my situation, but the old man could only manage to say, “Run like hell, then.” 

And I did, run like hell, all the way back to 97th street.  Well, I stopped at CVS before I got home, and yes a few poindexters from Mt. Sinai Med School stared, as I tirelessly attempted to hold my pants up, but I needed popcorn–and well after an 80 something yr. old man checks out your “features”, I don’t think your day could go much further south from there.

Nightmares of course followed, starring my pants, courtesy of Nike.

The Deadly Pants

That’s all. I figured everyone would….well…not be suprised. 

later!

Pean

I was recently catching up with the lovely Miss KJB about medicine, running, and life in general, when she introduced me to what she refers to as “super food.” Quinoa (KEEN-wah) is a Peruvian seed, and is often employed as a grain in cooking.  However, compared to regular, old, boring grains, these petite seeds possess a protein content superior to its counterparts.  Quinoa contains all the essential amino acids, more specifically, it is high in lysine.  Lysine plays a particularly important role in tissue growth and repair (runners: when your muscles need a little “pick-me-up”).  Quinoa is also full of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, and for the pale/borderline anemic population like myself, it has a high iron content.  Porphyrin rings? Bring it.

Caveats: these cute little seeds are in the saponin family, meaning they are coated with a bitter substance to ensure their survival against predation in the wild. In other words, they kick off a nasty taste up in your biznass if you don’t wash them properly. The good news is, if you buy them at the right stores, i.e. the ones who sell pre-packaged/washed quinoa, all you really need to do is quickly rinse them off and cook away.  There are dozens of recipes on the internet, more intriguiging than anything I’m writing here now, so check it out, yo.

_______________________________________________________

To recap…if you eat some of this:

You’ll be able to run as fast as this:

Or this….(equally fast as our good friend above, and twice as lethal):

Enjoy the weekend, and get outside! 

peace,

pean

p.s. quote of the week:

“It’d be more hot if he was bringing back a group of vampires to the house, than a team of squash players. Squash should be eaten, or avoided, not pursued as some sort of fake-out sport, Hogwarts style.” - Vee

….it’s true, I have made no New Years resolutions once again.  I think since I am always in an active state of “reinventing” myself (similar to Madonna, sans the cone-shaped leather bras/whips and chains), and trying to decide what I can offer to our tiny world in the vast expanse of what is called the universe, it’s almost pointless in taking it one step further.  I think resolutions should be reserved for those whom personal reflection is an infrequent occurrence, and while I am slightly (only slightly) jealous of these individuals—they appear to live life carefree, concerned only with the present—I take comfort in the fact that I tend to reflect on a regular basis. For example, I gave serious contemplation to the following:

1.   I recently decided that I’m going to pay more attention to my adventurous side, i.e. when a friend needs you to help him run 135 miles through Death Valley, you think to yourself, “What the f%$k is he thinking? Will I have to buy 12 pairs of asics b/c they all melt on the road, too?  Should I have him committed? Will I have to ride a bike? Will the tires melt? Worse, does he expect me to run a leg of it, and if so, does that mean I have to sit in a sauna as ‘training’ as well?  FInally, should I just go and make the best of it, even though the idea scares me shitless?”  The answer here, friends, is a definitive “Yes.”  Just say “yes” to your crazy friends—support them in all of their ridiculous, yet incredible endeavors, for there is a reason they are in your life and there is certainly a common thread that brought you together in the first place. 

2. I’m going to spend more time out west, and give serious consideration to actually relocating there for a few years—can’t be bad for training, plus Katrina will be there by then to dominate the altitude of course :)  

3. I decided to cut all (well only eat foods w/ 3% or less) saturated fat and refined sugar from my diet—that’s right, candy has to go, and the annual revenue at Dylan’s Candy Bar will be $22,000 less this year b/c of it. 

Note: this does not include Hot Tamales

4. I am filling any free time I have around med school applications and running, with extra volunteer work.  I realized that just raising money for a charity is a convenient, yet passive form of “involvement.”  For it isn’t until you get “in there” with those who need assistance, that you feel as if you’ve made a dent in this world, however big or small (afterall, a small dent is still a dent nonetheless) it may be.  It’s fulfilling to reflect upon a day, a week, or a year and feel like you’ve actually made a difference, or at the very least tried to.  Afterall, the unexamined life is not worth living, is it not?  Well some say “yes” and some say “wtf, no way!”  That’s all I’m going to say on this topic. 

5.  I am going to surround myself with people whose goals and aspirations align with my own—whether it be running, working, or trying to save the world one person at a time.  I will not waste my time on shallow or phony individuals, whose best quality is their superficiality.  I find that initially they appear to be something of value, but truly lack any substance when put to the test, or when you probe the depths of their personality only to realize that you settled.  I noticed that women my age, myself included, have a penchant for attracting men of this nature, and then we are stuck trying to figure out how to free oursleves of the situation.  Let me tell you, it can get ugly, sometimes you even have to pull the “emotional trainwreck” act to deliberately scare them off.  That’s no fun for anyone involved, especially when Oscars aren’t going around for best performance at a break-up.  I am going to be the more wary of this going forward, that and dating anyone who has another woman in their life they secretly salivate/wet their pants over at just the mention of her name. Gross!

That’s all for now.  If it doesn’t make sense, I’m not sure what to tell you.  Sammy told me that I needed to update, and let me address this by reiterating that I already was experiencing blogger burnout the first day.  This is pretty good for me! I thought I’d only update once a year or something, so keep your panties tight, Sammy.  Pean is a big girl with a job, and countless miles to rack up each week in this death row weather (does anyone else feel like their legs weigh about 100 lbs. each when they’re out for a run?  No? Mine do.  Makes for some “fast” workouts, let me tell you).  Finally, an update from Winnipeg: Dont move there. You’ll be cross country skiing instead of cross country running (my poor k! for the greater good though, remember that when you’re a medical professional helping others!!)

One more thing:

Watch this deranged video. Now, I am rather open-minded towards other cultures, but this is so ridiculous…and weird:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cl-h-S-IH0

Remember this video when you’re running through Central Park in the cold and then have to sit in an ambulance for frostbite of the hands (yes, that would be me on New Years Eve…thank god my man was there haha!), while countless idiots in costume run by….

Happy 2009!

Love, Micro Pean