The Vegan and the Marathon

Vegan-noun
a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet.

I have bounced back and fourth between eating vegetarian and carnivorous foodstuffs for many years. I first started engaging in vegnik culture when I stopped eating meat during my freshman year in college. I operated under the modes operande that eating meat was then, morally offensive, and me being such a morally straight individual, would rather pull cuticles from my nail bed instead of eating meat. This was a lie. I just did not want to get fat like all the other freshman at Creighton.

To the other day, I still classified myself as pragmatically vegetarian. Definition - to abstain from meat unless doing so would inconvenience a host/parent/sister/friend/dining companion during a meal.

Until something fatefully interesting happened...

In the world of dentistry one scope of practice that I have is the root canal treatment. Yes. I do root canals. That is part of what I do. I enjoy them. I am good at them. It is one facet of dentistry that actually alleviates pain.

My professor Dr. Burrows also does these procedures. The difference is that he is a specialist, has had additional schooling, and his skill is far superior to my own. He has done RCT(root canal treatment) on humans, non-humanoid bipeds, tigers, cows, etc.

The interesting part. It may sound silly, but he(we) were asked to do a RCT on a Bengal tiger at the zoo. Apparently, the tiger had fractured an incisor and was in need of this treatment. So we went, we did the RCT; case solved.

On would think nothing of this experience, however, it prompted some thinking, some rationalization, and in the final analysis, I decide that like this large feline, life is too short to go around abusing our bodies(or teeth) consuming meat and subsequently the GRBH/grilling free radicals/etc. Hence vegan ism.

I went to cosco, bought large tubs of peanut/almond/soy/nutella/hummus/etc and started my life as a vegan. I feel great, and hopefully, the state time trial reflects my recent mood inflection wit a good result.

Marathon–noun
1. a foot race over a course measuring 26 mi. 385 yd. (42 km 195 m).
2. any long-distance race.
3. any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration or requiring exceptional endurance: a dance marathon; a sales marathon.

I used to engage in this sport. Then I found out that this foot-race injures ones body. Ergo, stopped and biked instead.

I was riding on the trail, when I happen upon a male, early twenties, face framed with the entanglement of ipod cords. Egad, Jake Dendinger. I stopped to enquire what he was doing. Training for a marathon. He and all my friends from undergrad, the same friends that scorned me for Marathon, are now soon to have their marathon virginity taken away from Grandma(marathon).

Crazy that they are now addicted to running and love the sport. Best of luck. When you decide that you need to start biking, call me.