First: I wrote my first solo piece for Running Shorts today!  It's a review of Born to Run, a little more in depth than what I've written about the book on this blog.  Please, take a look and let me know what you think.  And if you haven't yet, check out my co-contributor Megan's first article, on surviving the treadmill.

Second: There's a giveaway at the end of this post!  Skip down to it if you're just here for the freebies.

Running my way out of a rut

As for the personal stuff that only belongs here, not on Running Shorts, I've been in a little bit of a funk recently.  Not depressed or anything like that, but just not quite myself.  Kind of unmotivated, with school, with cooking, with day-to-day activities.

The biggest sign that something's not quite right, other than the elapsed time since my last haircut, is that I've been sleeping in more.  I don't have to be into school until mid-morning at the earliest, but I always get up with Erin at six to make a smoothie for us.  I do this primarily so that she doesn't think I'm a lazy sack of s, sawing logs in bed while she's off helping kids (she's a pediatric occupational therapist) to support our lavish townhouse lifestyle.

The trouble is, I find myself going back to sleep more and more after she leaves.  Sometimes for two hours, sometimes for four.  Before you say "must be nice," realize that it's not nice.  And it's not me.  When things are right, I have so many things I want to do that I can't wait to get out of bed in the morning.  But recently, I can't wait to get back in.

Believe it or not, I think this is related to qualifying for Boston about a month ago.  So much of my focus was on that goal, and now that I've achieved it, I can't help feeling a little bit directionless.  I have so much to look forward to and work toward with the baby, my Ph.D., and hopefully a 50-mile run.  But none of those things is urgent enough to occupy my mind the way the upcoming marathon and the chance to achieve the goal I'd been chasing for so long did.

The one thing that's giving me more energy than it ever has is running.  Since I've started trail running with this group of ultra-runners (ironically called RUT — RASAC Ultra Team), running has been more enjoyable than ever for me.  When I'm not running, getting back out on the trail is all I can think about.  For the first time in my life, it's not about the training process, it's about the running.   And for the first time, I feel worthy of the label "runner."

So I have a plan to get myself out of this rut.  I'm going to run every day in November, usually early in the morning.  I'm going to try to average seven miles per day, or about 50 per week.  This might not seem like a big deal to you, but for me it is.  I've never run more than five days a week for any period of time, and never consistently run this many miles.  More significantly, I've never wanted to run this much before.

Don't worry; I'll be smart about it.  If I see that I can't handle it, I'll stop.  Being injured and not able to run at all would be the worst thing right now.  But I think that done carefully, this just might be the jolt that I need.

Amazing Grass Giveaway

Great news, readers — another giveaway!  After seeing the response to the Vega Sport giveaway on my blog two weeks ago, I got another one in the works right away.  And here it is: Amazing Grass is giving away one of their products to a lucky No Meat Athlete reader!  You can win your choice of a 17-oz container of Green Superfood (any flavor; lots of people like chocolate) or wheatgrass, or a 15-serving container of Amazing Meal.

If you're not familiar with Amazing Grass' stuff by now (how could you not be, if you read blogs?), here's the deal.  Green Superfood is a greens powder you can add to smoothies to get the antioxidant equivalent of seven servings of fruits and vegetables, plus some probiotics and digestive enzymes.  It's all-natural and organic, and 100% vegan.  Amazing Meal has some greens in it too, but it's a smoothie in itself, since it has some plant-based protein and carbohydrates in it.  And it's both organic and raw.

I tried both of these products a while back and really liked how they tasted.  If you've tried other greens powders before, chances are you've noticed some of them aren't exactly palate-pleasers.  But Green Superfood is definitely the best I've tasted.  I don't know that I'd mix it straight with water, but in a smoothie it's barely noticeable and not at all unpleasant.  And Amazing Meal is delicious as well.  See my initial review of Amazing Grass products from the early days of my blog for more.

Ok, so just like with the Vega Sport contest, nothing more than a comment is required to enter.  No tweeting or linking back needed, just a simple comment.  I know I like entering contests like that, so that's why I do it this way.  For a little extra random-number karma, check out my Running Shorts post.  Beyond that, it's in the hands of the goddess Fortuna and a roll of the bones.

Get those comments in; I'll choose a (random) winner on Friday and announce it over the weekend.  Good luck!

Last thing: if you already use Amazing Grass or are looking to try it, there's another benny of being an NMA reader.  Order from their website and use the coupon code "nomeat" at checkout to save 15% off your entire order!

Related posts:

1. Amazing Grass and Banana Tempura Sushi
2. Eating on the Road
3. A Sub-20 5K!
4. The plan in action
5. SIGVARIS Athletic Recovery sock giveaway!