The Great Train Run - Barbados 2012

As we huddled in a chilly* parking lot at predawn waiting for a band of lit up aliens to come forth through the cane field, it was time to go over the checklist one more time...

Flashlight. Check.

Extra batteries. Check.

Water bottle tightened. Check.

Sunglasses for when the sun actually rises. Check.

Fear of breaking an ankle in a remote sugar cane field. Double Check.

On the third Sunday of each year hundreds of hikers (and a handful of runners!)  get together and trek 26 miles across the island of Barbados along the old train track.  The train ran for 30 years hauling sugar and people from the capital of Bridgetown all the way to the remote and jagged east coast and the tiny town of Belleplaine.  For this run, the "train" of humans makes the "stops" of the old railway station, picking up new hikers or runners and meeting their support cars with food, water, etc.

Things I Love! Greens+ Berry Burst

Ah, the B12 debate!  I've written about B12 in a previous post so no need to rehash the whole enchilada but put simply... B12 is essential to our brain function and is most available in animal meat.  Actually,   B12 is found in the dirt that used to be on our vegetables before we bleached and sanitized them to death.  Now the animals eat dirt (in a perfect world!) and then we eat the B12 from their muscle tissue and organs.  

Of course,  I think there is a better way!  How about taking a supplement?  Genius!

Because I don't eat lettuce (see my very first post!) and I'm just getting my vegetable legs beneath me, I've been looking into the world of liquid greens to supplement my diet - especially B12.  I started with Vega Smoothie Infusion and LOVED it.  The only real downside is that I am an infrequent smoothie maker.  The blender, ice, almond milk, fresh juice and/or frozen berries, yadda yadda... the next thing I know, I haven't made a smoothie in two weeks.

Chocolate Shock

Salty or Sweet?  I've always been the saltiest.  I've spent years shocking my chocoholic girlfriends by saving that if chocolate were removed from the face of the earth, I wouldn't even notice.  Toss me a bag of BBQ Lays - I'll be just fine, thank you.   That all changed over the past two weeks.

One evening I wanted something sweet (odd) and noticed that I had half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in my fridge.  I enjoyed a few, shut the fridge and went to bed.

Next night, had a few more "little chips" than the night before. 

Next night, looked forward to the chips and finished the bag.  Cool.  They're gone.  Those little suckers are surprisingly good. 

Two days later at the store, I found myself in the chocolate aisle.  I bought a bag of Hersey's Dark Chocolate with Almonds.  They were individually wrapped -  Halloween Style.  I thought one per night would be nice if I wanted it. 

The bag was gone in four days.  I confessed to Rachel on our run.  She's a chocolate girl so she understood completely.  I told her I would feel better just not buying it for a week. 

Not four hours later, I was at the store carousing in the chocolate aisle and picked out a mint chocolate bar with 18 small squares.  I thought it would be perfect for after dinner... one or two squares. 

The whole bar was gone in 36 hours.  What the hell happened?

Rock-A-Bye-Baby

As my schedule begins to burst at the seams, I've been researching the importance of sleep. I've noticed that we tend to associate sleep with laziness or speak about our sleep (when we actually get it!) apologetically...

"I can't believe I slept in!"
"I wasted the whole morning in bed!"
"I went to bed so early. I am so lame!"

Or, we wear our lack of sleep like a badge of honor...

"I'm working so hard. I didn't even sleep last night!" (read: No matter how hard YOU work, I work harder!)
"I was up until 2 a.m. working on my presentation." (read: My sacrifice knows no boundaries!)
"I was out until 3 a.m. last night" (read: I'm even a more committed partier than you!)

We seem to view sleeping as a weakness so it's no big surprise that sleep is the first thing sacrificed when life gets crazy.