Lost in Translation

I know I have to tread lightly here, because I'm aware I'll be on thin ice, and I'm clutching a heavy heart...but many (both) of you are probably aware of how my post(oh hell, and pre)-marathon running has been plagued by constant ITBS knee problems. It's been a steep slope to try and work my way up to recovery, and I hear on a day like today back in P.A., it's a slope that's even lightly coated with snow flurries. That's some wackiness in our weather systems, for sure!

Recently, I've been trying to redefine my training schedule to accomodate this reoccurring injury, in the hopes to transcend its limitations, only to be met with continuous failure time and again. There's one aspect of my life with the potential for change that I've been kicking around, even with a bum leg, which is something I didn't want to really have to redefine, because I felt it might betray something deep within me by even considering it, but today is the day that I finally made the decision that it is, in fact, my diet that is essentially lacking, and I need to experiment with new healthy options. Now I'm not saying I'm going to go out and start guzzling down gallons of milk, cracking open raw eggs, or go gnawing through greasy chicken bones at the corner KFC (because I haven't seen any here in Japan yet), but at least while I'm in Japan, I am going to keep my protein levels up for long distance runs by ingesting fish: I will become a pesco-vegan. Fish is far too abundant a source of nutrition in Japan to outright ignore.

I'm already sure some will question the very nature of keeping this blog title Vegan Marathon Runner, and while I do feel like I've failed in some way here, I remain confident that I can keep the title mainly because: 1) I was VEGAN at the time of my marathon (and through the entire course of training for it) 2) my co-author, Vincent, still remains purely vegan. I've been wary to discuss this with too many people, but I hold to the decision, and look forward to providing you all with a fresh perspective on running, one that will now, slightly diverge from the original intentions of this blog. When I return to the States, at some point in my foreseeable future, I do see myself returning to a full vegan diet. But for now, the timing and placement of everything in my life is pointing in a different direction. Especially considering that it's April Fools' Day...