So I’ve been vegetarian for 4 months now and I am working myself towards vegan. I don’t think I will ever be 100% vegan, I can’t see myself reading through ingredient lists and getting rid of anything that has milk in it, but I am lactose intolerant, so going from vegetarian to vegan isn’t that big of a deal. But I will miss eggs. I will say that I feel good. I feel really good about what I have done and I feel healthy and skinny and happy that I am no longer eating beings that I would totally have as pets. But at the same time when I stop and think I get overwhelmingly sad. I am sad that it took me 31 long years to make this leap. I am sad that I live in a world that is so content to look the other way and I wonder how I looked the other way for so long. It’s like all of a sudden I am completely raw to animal suffering. I want to help them all and know that I can’t. But I am happy to do my small part. I am helping to stop the suffering of at least a few animals in my life time and lessening my load on the environment. I wish I could convince everyone to make the same decision. Going vegetarian is not as difficult as you may think. Harper is a vegetarian at home, but I haven’t asked her school to stop giving her meat yet. I may in the future. I don’t believe you need meat to be healthy by any means and she gets a multivitamin and lots of calcium from all the yogurt and cheese she gorges on daily. So, I think when she moves classrooms I will make the switch for her. I think that Harper will be happy to pass up meat when she learns where it really comes from. I am lucky that my husband is not a picky eater and has been totally cool with no longer having meat at dinner. I did buy him chicken last week at the grocery and it is still sitting in our fridge, lol. I will make him cook it though, I don’t want those birds to have died to just be thrown away! How about you, what stops you from making the leap?

My running is going pretty well. I did run a 10 mile race in extreme humidity this past weekend and almost quit. It was my worst race ever and took me almost as long as a half marathon. I dry heaved on the side of the road at one point and hit the portapotty twice. It was brutal. I have 14 miles on tap for this weekend, I look forward to some nice long fall runs. I signed up for the Huntington WV marathon, it is Nov 7. I haven’t been on my bike or in the pool since my last tri in late July! Bad Monica. For now I am content to just run. I am also going to start trying to get yoga in 2-3 times a week.