One thing that occurred to me was that I'm surprised it took me 19 years to become a vegetarian. As a child I loved animals. In my mind I was Pocahontas, and I fancied myself some of sort animal whisperer. I was always playing out in the forests, climbing trees, and I'm pretty sure I was convinced a family of rabbits living under the hedge in our front yards were my personal animal friends. I could never eat ribs, because the bones in them freaked me out. I used to go to the St. Lawrence every weekend with my dad and I have distinct memories of closing my eyes when we passed the butchers because I could not stand to look at the various meats in the displays. And the giant refrigerator with the glass wall, so you could see the carcasses hanging inside? Well that made me nauseous.
I was reminded of all of this when I went to the St. Lawrence market with my dad the weekend before Christmas. This was the first time I had been probably around a year. Once again, when we stopped at the butcher's (my dad needed his steak) I actually gagged looking at the meats in the display. First time that had ever happened.
I also never ate tons of meat. Yes, I loved hamburgers and bacon and the ususal meats that all kids tend to love, but I was never (even during my adolescence) a fan of steak, pot roast, ribs (never ate them in my life) or any of those other decadent meats that adults seem to view as some kind of holy experience.
Bottom line: it just makes me laugh. Given my childhood, I'm not surprised I ended up a vegan. I am surprised it took me that long to transition into vegetarianism.
The second reflection is that I'm also not surprised that I'm an English Major :)
I was a total bookworm (and still am!). I also learned to read very quickly and had a very high reading level at a young age. I think I was reading at a grade 3 level when I was in senior kindergarden, and in grade one I read all of those old Nancy Drew books from the 50s and 60s with ease (although they did scare me so much I had to put them away in a box until I was 8). I asked for books every year for Christmas and I have ever since. My closet has always been overflowing with books, I never seem to have enough room. I have always been able to read fairly quickly, and English has been my favourite subject in school for years.
Its just makes me chuckle that anyone who knew me as a child is probably not surprised that I'm on the path I'm on.
Now, the only surprising thing (at least to me) is the running. I ran a bit in elementary school, but that was like 2km cross country runs, and 200m dashes in track and field. I was never good at running and I never really enjoyed it. I always looked at my mom and thought she was bat shit crazy (no offense mom :) ). Even when I started running 5ks, running anything more than 5k was crazy, and anything over 10k? That was unimaginable! Its just so crazy looking back, as I'm about to start training for my second marathon, that running my first half only a year ago, was this amazing accomplishment for me. I never would have guessed in my wildest dreams, that one day I would finish a marathon, and finish strong. I may have run it slow, but I ran strong. I feel like I can't call myself a Marathon Runner yet, because lots of people do a marathon- the key is for most people, their first marathon is also their last marathon. After this running season though, I think I can officially declare myself a badass runner :)
I may not be fastest, but I'm definitely determined. Speed is something I would like to improve on this year, even if my race times are only slightly faster than the last time I ran the distance, that will be counted as a success. :)
My reflection is over for today. I've got some more vegan things I want to share, so hopefully I'll get to that within the next week. And I'll keep you posted as my training starts for my next marathon.
Wish Me Luck!
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