The Perfect Pre-Run Snack

     Page Sixty-Eight.
     I used to run for exercise. I ran a fair amount from the mid-90's until the mid-2000's. I probably averaged twenty-thirty miles a week with my typical run being four or five miles in length. In December of 2002, I decided that I wanted to try to run twelve miles in one shot. I'd never run that distance, and I just wanted to see if I could.
     I spent all week psyching myself up for it with Saturday afternoon being the time of destiny. I had my route planned (the route, unfortunately, included some yucky hills, which are virtually impossible to avoid in my hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, but too bad). I didn't run on Thursday or Friday to conserve my energy and I got lots of sleep on Friday night.
     What I hadn't planned on was the weather. I woke up to a mild, first winter snow on Saturday. Funny that I should have been surprised by snow in Cleveland in December but I was. I didn't let it stop me though; I decided to run anyhow.
     Now what does one eat just prior to attempting to run twelve miles? I had some leftover pepperoni pizza in the fridge, so I ate that along with drinking a cup of coffee. My roommate at the time was a very young vegan engineer student who found me and my spare bedroom on Case Western Reserve University's off campus housing bureau. (Case is a few blocks away from me.) He thought I was crazy for eating pepperoni pizza and coffee just prior to attempting a twelve mile run, but I didn't care. I ate it and off I started.
     My route was actually a very large circle around my neighborhood. The circle was four miles long and I simply did it three times, so I was really never too far from home. I had some good music on my Walkman and I just ran. Forrest Gump had nothing on me.
     The snow wasn't bad, actually, and in fact, was rather refreshing. I wasn't happy about the hills but they didn't deter me. The pizza stayed where it was supposed to and the caffeine in the coffee kept me going. All in all, it could've been much worse. By the time I completed the major hill for the third time, and was only two miles from finishing, I actually contemplated adding an extra couple of miles. I had that much energy reserved. But I opted not to and proceeded home.
     When I got home, I took my shower and was watching TV before my roommate emerged from his bedroom. He was very shocked that I'd completed my task while fortified with such trash as pepperoni pizza. But he admitted defeat. Vegans don't really know everything.
     That was the longest run I'd ever do. I eventually switched to long walks and I enjoy my four or five mile walks nowadays. Occasionally I still run though and I insist that they're best after a few slices of pepperoni pizza.