VladWind: Food & Running

My UK friends seemed really puzzled with our eating habits so I have to share these two gems with you. One of the partners from Manchester (Jules) came along to my ITPRO group and brought his very charming girlfriend that had this question for me: “How does your health system cope with obesity?” – I am not sure if Katie and I laughed out loud at Lucy or if we just kind of looked at each other.. health system? No, no, we have insurance here when things break. The second question: “On our way here we saw a 24 hour pancake.. who needs a pancake 24 hours a day?” God the British are cute! But since Vladville has a worldwide audience let me share two of the delicacies from the south which is where I live.

The first one is the hamdog.  It is a hot dog wrapped in a meat paddy and deep fried. It is then placed on a giant hot dog bun and topped with caramelized onions, cheddar, chilli and finished off with a nice fried egg. It comes with two fistfulls of fries and perhaps a diet coke. No, not a joke, this monster is real. Click on the picture to the right to enlarge it and watch it glisten.

The second one is now world famous luther burger. This sandwich was actually made live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the process is simply brilliant. Instead of buns they use two (or one sliced) Krispy Kreme doughnuts. If you’ve ever handled a doughnut you know it can get messy, not to mention when you slam the rest of the stuff on it. Just what does Mulligans put on the doughnut? You’ve guessed it, a double bacon cheeseburger. None of those pesky vegetables or grass getting in a way of things, just good ol’ eating. Big thanks to Texas Burger Guy for the pictures.

Anyhow, its August 1st and I’m getting back to my marathon training. I’ve obviously learned absolutely nothing from last years marathon but I also didn’t die which only means I owe it to myself to go back and kick some ass. I have roughly four months to get back in shape and my goal for this year is to hit that wall at about 22 miles, not 18 like I did this year. I’m running Orlando (Walt Disney World), Tampa (Gasparella), Miami (South Beach) and the usual breakdown of local 12K/half marathon things.

P.S. For all my Americans.. I did send Jules and Lucy to the 24 hour Krispy Kreme so they can watch the whole doughtnut making process and enjoy our culture to the fullest. I am not sure if they made it when the “Hot Doughnut” sign was on so they could watch people that can barely fit through the double doors get their dozen doughnuts served to them with a straw (don’t want to crush the hot doughnut by picking it up with your hand); If you can appreciate big numbers check out the KK Nutritional Chart. Poor Jules. As for Lucy, she lived through my presentation and is getting a degree in theology, so KK probably was not the thing that ruined that night