Diverse Health Stores, Rocky IV, and Canadian Holidays

Since I've started this little venture, the most frequent question I've been asked (other than "are you crazy" and "won't your nipples bleed") is "what kind of changes are you making to your diet"? So far, all I've really done is try to eat healthier. I'll have maybe a meal or two a week that wouldn't be considered healthy, but the rest is whole grains, salads, veggies, fruits, lean protein and depressing bowls of Kashi (I love Fruit Loops...sorry Toucan Sam, we'll meet again down the road. FYI, I actually own this T-Shirt, don't judge).
The only big change I've made so far, is my first ever trip to the Vitamin Shoppe (most European name you'll see in Union, NJ). Apparently I had forgotten how out there these stores are. When you walk in, if you look to the right, you'll see a wall of protein and aisles of products that seem to be named after car parts (apparently they get you ripped). However if you turn to the left, the car part names yield to the names of leaves and green things I've never heard of. It's basically like the store is geared towards people who either wear their shirts too tight, or those who don't want to wear shirts or shoes at all. The most interesting products were 'body system cleansers' (if you don't know what that is, google it). They all claim to be 'fast-acting' and 'gentle', however if there's anything I know about that process, those to are diametric opposites. Anyway, when all was said and done, I walked about with a supply of multi-vitamins, green tea extract, fish oil pills(all of which I actually think make me feel pretty good), and a bonus card (what can I say, the atmosphere intrigued me).

Training this week had been fantastic. Since I have a mini-vacation the next few days, I really pushed it Sunday-Wednesday with no ill effects. I was able to log a pain free 18 total miles, and two hard lifting days. What was interesting however, was I was set for a 5 mile Wednesday run, however at the 5 mile mark, the famous song from the Rocky IV training sequence came on. Now I don't know about you, but if Rocky can run up a mountain, beat up a Russian, grow a beard in 8 days and end the Cold War, I can leg out another mile. So...Wednesday became a full 10K.

For this long weekend, I will celebrate the 4th of July by hanging out with some great friends in Ottawa, celebrating Canada Day. I've always heard its a great time, and I'm quite excited about my four day weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some fireworks on my 8 hour ride home Sunday.

That's all until Tuesday,

Matt
twitter.com/mstendardi