Bad News for Whales

It is one of those mornings that I am finding it hard to be positive.  The big breaking news day before yesterday was that the Japanese whalers managed to bag 333 minke whales, some 200 of them being females and 90% of those being pregnant.  All of this in the name of research to understand the species, allegedly.  Because obviously the way to help preserve a species is to kill multiple pregnant females?!!  These are scientists?

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/24/japan-confirms-whales-killed-during-scientific-expedition-to-antarctica

This creates such sadness.  Human beings are killing one another with technologies never seen before.  The internet breeds hatred and it festers.  Human beings kill other species- for food, for fun, for economic gain, for a great hunting photo for social media, for the feeling of power.  Whales are hunted and killed in a battle in which they have little chance to escape what is coming.  The meat, laden with the toxins our excess has created, is sold for food when we could easily feed the world with plants.  Baby whales are never born.  Nearly 200 baby whales never born into the ocean.  I ask the Japanese government, 'How exactly does this help us to understand the species?'

People condemn groups like Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for being too aggressive.  Too extreme.  But no one is doing anything about this!  No government is willing to give up resources or, dare I say, some of their navy to conquer this.  There is no benefit in it for a country.  The ocean is so vast, it would take so many ships to really stop it.  And I am positive that a large population of Japan feels the same way I do, they must.  But they are not allowed to voice those feelings without fear of being targeted.  There are so many countries where environmentalists live in real fear because there is such hatred for them.  Some are targeted and killed for their beliefs.

So, as I sit here disgusted with the human race, I do find a gratitude for being in a land that I can sit and write this blog, post it, and not worry about losing my job or having death threats made.  I can write my blog for the very small population who might read it and I can write it with honesty.

I hope you will follow me as I train for the Old Port 1/2 Marathon to raise awareness for animals like these minke whales.  Help me to educate, help me on beach cleans this spring and summer, help me to spread the word on social media and maybe we can, bit by bit, foster a contagious passion for the creatures that cannot help themselves.  Maybe someday we can create a world that will prosecute these horrors rather than allow them in the name of scientific research.

Setting An Intention

I've been thinking a lot, as I enter another season of training for a race, about intention.  What is my intention for doing this?  I come back to the intention of getting stronger and faster, the intention of seeing what I am made of, and the main intention for this race- to raise money and awareness for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society- the international organization who seeks to protect the oceans and the creatures that live there.

I am blessed to live right alongside Portland Harbor where the beauty of nature is apparent in every single run I go on.  I try to capture at lease a moment of it on each run through my instagram account, @veghed77.  I try to really appreciate each and every run.  And through a new regimen of meditation and yoga, I plan on making each run even more important and significant in my training.

I have had a mantra for a while now.  Mantra, you say?  Has she gone hippie?  Well, maybe.  But I have also always believed in the power in words and in self-talk.  I went to college for English and considered myself a poet for many years (still do, I suppose).  During each run, I stop for a moment by the small beach I run by.  I say to myself:
'Strong in Mind.  Strong in Body.  Strong in Spirit.'

I want these parts of my self to be balanced.  I want to be aware of where I fall short.  The mind and body have often been connected to my ego.  People notice if I am smart.  They notice my body.  I have always tended towards making these the important two.  I am trying to separate all of it from ego.  I am also realizing that I definitely notice when others are strong in spirit.  They are people I want to spend more time with and people that make me feel inspired to do more.

How do I strengthen my spirit?  My spirit is directly connected with nature and animals.  It always has been.  As a child I was endlessly outside.  I rescued birds and mice the neighborhood cats had grown tired of playing with.  Sadly, this was often an unsuccessful nursing attempt and it ended with my broken heart.  My cat was my best friend.  I loved to visit the cows at my cousin's dairy farm and no longer wanted burgers when I made that connection as a young girl.  My happiness was linked with all of this in a way I didn't realize until years later.  I bring all of this understanding with me as I begin a meditation and yoga routine that is a new venture for me. 

Meditation is hard.  It is sitting still.  It is doing nothing.  This is contrary to the life I have lived thus far, feeling a need to multitask and complete things and check of lists and be able to look back on the day and evaluate it by what got done. 

Yoga is hard.  It hurts in a still way that running does not.  It is challenging but not a challenge to be completed as running is.  My lack of flexibility is quite amusing but it does not hurt my ego because I know this is something that I am not striving to be 'good' at but it is something that connects all three of my mantra points- mind, body, and spirit.  I am not in a list of finishers, ranked by percentile.  I am just myself and whatever I take onto the mat emotionally.

I have begun meditating just before running.  I am embarking on a whole new adventure with a plan to set an intention before each meditation and run.  These daily intentions will be mostly connected to something in nature or an animal or species but may often be a member of the human species that needs some good thoughts.  In this way, I can experience each run in a deeper way that will be satisfying even if my legs aren't feeling so strong.  I will share these intentions on this blog.

Please contact me if you have an intention you would like me to run with!  Follow me on Instagram @veghed77 to see photos of these runs.  Help me to be Strong in Mind. Strong in Body.  Strong in Spirit.  Join me on my journey to raise money and awareness for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 

The Dumb Things People Say

I was reading an article online about the dumb things people say to runners when they aren't runners themselves.  It was amusing and spot-on.  I started thinking about what people say in general, to undermine any population they are not part of.  Some of it is ignorance.  Some of it is because they somehow feel threatened by change.  I think people have a desire, deep down, to do good in the world and when they see someone else setting an example, they feel guilt for not doing more.  Rather than change, they try to justify their lifestyle by negativity.  I have chosen my top favorites of dumb things people say in 3 categories with commentary:

Dumb things People Say to Runners
-It isn't good for your knees-
Anyone I have known with bad knees has been a couch potato with extra pounds.  Running can shed extra pounds and is weight bearing activity, which is actually good for the bones.  I have seen 80 year old ladies running races.  Their knees seem fine.  You know what will give you bad knees:  squatting improperly with inappropriate weight. 
-You don't have the build of a runner
Someone actually said this to me.  And I actually didn't punch him in the face!  Yes, professional runners often have a similar build that is low in body fat.  This is because they dedicate their lives to the sport.  Any sort of body can run.  I am short and stout, therefore I can endure.  Any body can run and what impresses me most are people who aren't deterred by the stereotype!   Take Mirna Valerio for instance: http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/ultra
Never tell someone they don't have the build to run.  It is rude and false.   
-Running is boring
Running is not boring.  It is hard.  I don't think of challenging things as boring.  It can be meditative.  It can be mind opening.  Some of my best ideas have come while running.  You can run alone or with friends.  You can run trails or roads or mountains.  You can see a lot of beautiful scenery and discover new towns while you travel.  You can run races or race yourself.  And don't tell runners it is boring because obviously they don't think so.  I think sitting on the couch is boring.  

Dumb things People Say to Vegans
-Animals were put on earth for us to eat
Oh, were they?  And who told you that, God?  If you talk to God, maybe you should do more good than you are doing!  Oh, you don't talk to God?  Did the animals tell you?  They said, I really want you to raise me in misery, kill me prematurely, and consume me so that your chances of many diseases become greater?  Ok, cool then.
-How do you get your protein?
I get me protein my blending up 5 blocks of tofu a a tub of peanut butter a day and knocking it back.  Seriously?  Have you heard of veggies and grains?  News flash- they have protein http://www.theholykale.com/plant-based-protein-chart/
-I was vegan but my health suffered/ I had to listen to my body
This one really chaps my ass.  If you eat a CLEAN, plant-based diet you will be healthier.  If you eat fries and tofu dogs, you will not be healthier.  A diet of any sort takes planning and common sense.  Let me say that again- COMMON SENSE!
-A vegan diet is too expensive
Do a little comparison shopping.  Veggies, bulk grains, beans and legumes.  Then go price out the cheeses, the meats, the fish.  Which is cheaper?  Hmmmm....  And, by the way, cholesterol meds cost quite a bit and so do heart attacks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/eat-vegan-cheap_b_840191.html 
-I only eat humanely raised meat
  I only eat unicorn meat.  Unicorn meat?  But that doesn't exist?!  Exactly!

Dumb things People Say about Conservation
-I am one person.  I can't make a difference.
Imagine all of the horror in the world that would have continued if we all adopt this attitude.  Genocide, slavery, burning of witches.  There are a million things one person can do to make an environmental difference.  One of the biggest impacts being a vegan diet (see above).  Reuse shit.  Don't use unnecessary plastic.  Walk or ride a bike.  Volunteer.  Compost.  Recycle.  
-Science will fix the mess we are in
This 'let someone else figure it out' method is a really cowardly method of living.  What if science can't figure it out?  Why not free up those brilliant minds for solving other problems, like cancer and how to feed the starving babies of the world and how to end war.  
-Climate change is not real
(Warning: profanity to follow) Just shut the fuck up and take your head out of your asshole! 
-There are plenty of fish in the sea 
It is so untrue it makes my heart ache to think about.  Yes, the ocean is vast.  Yes, we don't have to look at most of it so it is easier to ignore it.  Sylvia Earle, a brilliant steward for the oceans, has watched species literally disappear in her lifetime.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/mar/12/fishing-extinction
http://www.outsideonline.com/1835751/sylvia-earle-mistress-deep-surveys-her-perch