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I was feeling drained this morning, so I just strolled around in the forest, got the dog out, and got some vitamin D and some tunes.  I've used headphones for ultras and for a few ice runs (miss you, frozen Rideau Canal), but I've never used them for regular runs or walks.  I guess yesterday eroded took a big fat steaming dump on my social mindfulness. 

So why exactly am I feeling like the victim of an Urban Dictionary entry, even though this has been an easy week?  I'm not injured, I'm just wiped.

I think the recent road hills have sapped more out of me than I'd expected.  I've actually been sleeping fine, and my diet has been good, plus recently improved: I found out a week ago that my regular "safe" meal while dining out is cooked with beer!  No wonder I've been having iffy guts for the past...year (?).   Not that I eat out even once a week, but I was getting re-glutened every few weeks (worse still, I couldn't even taste the beer--holy crap, do I ever miss real beer!).  I had no idea because sometimes reactions are delayed.   Anyway, I checked the big hills on www.findhills.com: one of them is just over 4% for 3/4 of a mile, and the other is just over 5% for 1/2 of a mile.  This doesn't sound so bad after all.  Guess I got to get stronger.

Maybe I'm smashing too many red blood cells on the roads in general.  HOWEVER, it seems that firm insoles actually diminish this, as opposed to soft insoles: Firm insoles effectively reduce hemolysis in runners during long distance running - a comparative study.  And my insoles are about as firm as they get, I think...2-3 year old minimalist shoes aren't squishy at all.  Yeah, I should get new shoes sometime but I've gone so far with these ones that I have to keep the dream alive.  And they're still babies anyway: the trail shoes I still sometimes use for short runs were bought while I was living near Baltimore (2007-8)--they predate this blog!  HOLABIRD SPORTS HOLLA!!!!!

However, I can't seem to get enough potassium in my diet.  Maybe that's my problem.