Animal Instinct

That run was exhausting! 1 mile to the track, 3 miles of added speed laps, 1 extra lap plain ol' jogging to make sure that I ran for at least 30 mins, then 1 mile back home. Instead of running for endurance, I was trying to add some speed by running one straight leg of the quarter mile just about as fast as I could run. Run, that is; not sprint. Lap 10 I let myself just run at my normal pace, I was so tired, telling myself that I could have a little rest as long as I pushed myself on the last two laps. After each mile I took a short pause for a swallow or two of water.

I was definitely working harder than usual. Normally my breathing is just barely elevated--this evening I was panting during and after each fast-paced straight leg. I employed a technique I've used since the first time I ran for exercise, way back in high school. Visualizing animals running, and pretending to be one. Tonight I invoked horses, cheetahs, ostriches, and, naturally, dinosaurs.

There was an interesting comment to a recent posting on Marion Nestle's blog, Food Politics. "It has always mystified me that many of the same people who don’t want to pay $3 or $4 for eggs that are produced under much better (but still fairly large concentrations) conditions are fine with $4 coffee or $3 to rent a movie and other such elective spending." It's so true: a person has no problem going out for a $9 omelette for breakfast, but would balk at spending $4 (instead of around $1.50 - $2.00, which is what eggs are going for in my area) for a dozen eggs. Certainly conditions in the egg industry are appalling across the board--of course, I'm thinking more about the chickens than possible diseases present in the eggs. I'm now expanding my imaginary dream house to include a chicken coop.