So it's Lent again

I know this because everyone at the office had ash on their faces yesterday. 
(I also know how to read a calendar.)

I may have made a somewhat regrettable comment on Facebook on Shrove Tuesday that pancakes are not supper food.  It was a 'devil's advocate' move on my part - I thought it would stir up a heated debate between the lovers and the haters, but really, I just got an earful from the lovers!  I could care less about pancakes.  To me, I'll eat them, but they're not a satisfying food.  And I don't find the ensuing sugar crash from the syrup all that pleasant.  But it did keep my facebook wall busy for a few hours!

It seems to me that Shrove Tuesday has become an excuse to eat an unhealthy dinner.  I really doubt that anyone actually follows through with the whole fasting and the not using lard/fat/butter/etc for the next 40 days, so there's really no other reason to indulge in a dinner full of empty calories.  Personally, if I had a choice about which unhealthy food to eat as my 'last' meal before lent, it would probably be chocolate bars on ice cream with a good dose of chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries.  The calories and sugar content would be about equal to a cup of maple syrup, and it'd be way tastier!  But for some reason, pancakes seem to be socially acceptable for dinner, while ice cream and chocolate bars are not.  Go figure.  It doesn't really matter anyway because just the thought of eating that much simple sugar/carbs as an entire meal pretty much makes me want to vomit.

End of 'pancakes are bad supper food' rant.


So, you might be wondering what I'm going to attempt (and ultimately fail at) for Lent this year.  Well, I've been inspired by a number of friends who used to be couch potatoes, who can now run 5km+.  I've also been watching that CBC show 'Village on a Diet', which mostly makes me feel incredibly lazy (in a warm fuzzy feel good way).  Plus, I've got a $700 coat rack in my front room that I should be making use of!  Guess where this is heading...

Last night, I went for a run with 'Robert'.  And I plan to continue running with Robert until I, too, can run that 5km.  It might take a little longer than the 40 days of lent, but if if the 'guilt' of lent keeps me motivated, then so be it!

Day one of running with Robert took about half an hour, and my treadmill told me I went 1.7miles (2.7km).