Get in my belly

While perusing the LetsRun.com message boards the other day, I stumbled upon an entry that piqued my interest.

Normally, I would hesitate to copy and paste directly from the forum, as the standards of English grammar and punctuation on this particular site tend toward the abysmal. But reading the crap—er, well-informed, valuable insight—consistently found on LetsRun is somewhat entertaining, especially if you can’t afford cable.

The comment in question, however, was refreshingly intelligible:

"I like to read some blogs of higher-level runners, including some females. One thing that strikes me about the female bloggers is how often some of them post pictures of their food. I’m sure it’s just me, but I wonder if some of them have eating issues."

My initial reaction was that the idea of eating food sort of runs contrary to the idea of eating disorders, so Mr. Stir-the-chili-pot really didn’t have much of an argument. My second reaction was that in my meticulous research of the running blogosphere, I had obviously missed this apparently pervasive trend.

I am a female, and I consider myself a higher-level has-been runner, so clearly I should be sharing my dietary choices with the entire online world. I immediately started compiling photo documentation of my daily menu. Here are some of this week’s highlights:

Taco pizza and Corona: a Mexican match made in Heaven. Muy sabroso.

Fritos and bean dip: a classic combination. (Notice the "All Natural" stamp on the bean dip. That means it counts as health food, right?)

Chocolate donut and milk: another timeless twosome.

OK, so it’s not the organic tofu stir-fry or egg white veggie omelette you would expect to find in the blog of a true elite runner. But the optimist in me likes to believe that there is nutritional value in any food, be it fruit salad or Fruit Loops.

Further analysis of my food photo diary led to the discovery of a previously unrecognized trend in my personal culinary preferences: I like eating things in pairs. There’s something very balanced and harmonious about a donut and a glass of milk. And who could deny that Fritos are the undeniable Yin to bean dip’s Yang?

So if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to IHOP. I hear they’re running a special on chicken and waffles.