Day 223 - 155.0 --- 5 miles

I did it! 5 miles in 57:44

It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I was exhausted and sore last night (thank God for Advil), but feel great this morning. Planning on a short run this afternoon, probably 3-3.5 miles.

Our city is in the midst of it's annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. Legend has it that it's the second largest street fair in the U.S., behind Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are rides, talent shows, and almost 130 food booths. The big seller is Brain Sandwiches--yep, pig brains deep fried and put on a bun. Personally, I've never had one. But Alton Brown (who I adore and have a major crush on) enjoyed a few bites at a West Side tavern when he went through Evansville on his first "Feasting on Asphalt" tour in July 2006.

What I usually eat at the Fall Fest is a corn dog, some funnel cake, a stromboli, and blackberry cobbler with ice cream. I've tried the deep-fried Twinkies and deep-fried Snickers, and they are as disgusting as they sound--warming the cream in a Twinkie totally screws up the taste. It's a lot of food in a short period of time, and usually everyone leaves the Fest feeling stuffed and sick. Sounds fun, right?

Our daughter's preschool's food booth has the weird foods and Icky Lickies every year--bugs embedded in suckers, crickets in a block of chocolate, and such things as Alligator Jerky and other exotic meat dishes. You get a button/badge that says "I ate a bug" when you buy one of the bug candies. Last year, they had scorpion pops and sold out in the first two days (over 1,000 suckers at $3 a pop); they were restocked by the end of day 3 and sold out again by the time the festival was over.

It's a great time for family and kids and the charities who run the food booths depend on the Fall Fest for a big chunk of their fundraising each year. It's not unheard of for groups to raise $20,000 in a week.

So. Will we or won't we go this year? Yesterday, Husband and I were talking and said we wouldn't go; we aren't eating that junk now and the kids wouldn't miss it. Well, our daughter's Kindergarten teacher talked about the Fall Fest in class yesterday, and Sophie told my husband last night that says she wants to go. Tonight's the only night we have available this week, and I think we're gonna bite the bullet and just go.

There is so much temptation.... the sights and smells of food will be inescapable. And I'll want a taste, but not a whole serving, of my favorites. I'll probably let myself have a little of a lot, and tell myself I'm helping raise money for charity and not wasting food as I throw the majority of my favorite foods in the trash.

This lifestyle I'm living isn't about deprivation, and I want to have fun but not go nuts. I think it's important, too, to let my kids see I can eat a little junk food and not always say no to all the "good stuff."

At least, that sure sounds like a good excuse to indulge a bit, eh?