Can’t get enough basil in my life

Although I’ve been packing it in.

Lunch was a pesto sandwich with turkey, spinach, and tomato on Ezekiel  toast.  I also had the last of the peas and basil, with a Pink Lady to round out the meal.

Yes, that a pesto sandwich with turkey.  I don’t know who made up the rule that meat has to be the defining point of the sandwich.  The pesto was the best part, so to me, it’s a pesto sandwich.

This was one of the best sandwiches I have had in a very long while.  But who am I kidding here?  I could put pesto on my finger, lick it off, and I would call it the best finger I had tasted in a while.  This may or may not have actually happened.  Who can say?  If a pesto gets licked off a finger at lunch and no one is in my office to see it, did it really happen?

I forgot to mention this in my morning post, but I got up super duper early this morning to workout.  I took the night off last night to do some necessary blog reading and relax.  I have evening plans tonight, so this morning was my only chance.  4:30 am came way too soon and I even turned my alarm off thinking, “No way I’m running this morning.”  But I’m very aware that when I do this, I often don’t fall back to sleep, but instead lay there feeling guilty and thinking about the day that lies ahead.  So…I drug myself out of bed and headed downstairs to the condo gym.  I ran 3.22 miles in 30 minutes, then spent another 15 minutes doing one set each of leg and arm strength training moves with heavy (10-15 lb.) weights.  Okay, heavy for me anyway.  It was soo good to get that out of the way.

Running Safety: Someone tweeted a really interesting article that caught my eye today from Runners World.   The article is about the hostility between motorists and runners and vice versa (read article here).  The author of the post wrote a call for a truce between the two parties.  The truce basically stated that both parties will respect the rights of others and follow the rules of the road.  He also writes on behalf of motorists that they will keep in mind that their vehicle can potentially “kill or maim human beings”.  He makes excellent points and approaches the matter fairly unbiasedly as a runner.  I signed the truce by commenting on the article.  If you click on the link above, you can sign it too.

As someone who has been “bumped into” by a car (as a pedestrian, not a runner) and who has been almost hit by motorists not paying attention countless times, I’m glad  the issue was brought up and I hope more motorists get a chance to read the article.  Maybe Runners World should forward it to Car and Driver.  🙂  Sometimes it’s scary to be a runner when motorists don’t remember that they could potentially kill you just by being inattentive.

As a runner and a driver, I’m no where near perfect.  It’s easy to zone out in both roles.  But if you are a runner, here are some things you can do to make yourself safer and easier to see.

-Wear bright clothes Black is chic,  but potentially deadly.
– Run on the sidewalk whenever possible.  I usually only run on the road in quiet neighborhoods or when the sidewalk is closed and I keep as close to the side as possible. If you have to run on the road, run facing traffic.
Pay attention because not all motorists will.  Just because you have the right away doesn’t mean the motorist realizes that.  You’d rather be alive than right, right?
If you run at night, get a blinking light and do not wear headphones so you can pay attention with all of your senses.

Other good running safety tips for women (not because we’re weaker but because we’re vulnerable to creeps who think we are):
-Tell someone your running route and about what time you’ll be back
– Take your phone with you. I’m so guilty of not doing this, even though I should.
If possible, do not run the same route at the same time on the same days of the week.  Patterns in your running can make you more susceptible to creeps who are looking for an easy target.
If you must run at night, run with a friend and run in a well-lit area that is prone to having a lot of people close by.

Happy running!