i was feeling especially perky today, and ran almost 8 miles in the gym while watching chinese women attempt to play billiards on espn. i stopped mostly because i was beginning to feel something unusual, a feeling like hunger but not, sort of a...depletion, i guess, but with none of the unpleasantness or stomach-growling of real hunger. it was sort of primal, what hunger must have felt like in the days when when our ancestors went chasing after quadrupeds with big knobby clubs. the brother and i were discussing the other day whether animals feel hunger in the same way that we humans do, and i'm (still) inclined to think that the answer is no, that what we think of phenomenologically as "hunger" is mostly anticipation of the hedonic value of our modern, over-enriched diet, whereas what animals feel is more this other thing, a simple drive to go and find food.

anyway, i showered and ate a muffin and felt extremely satisfied and warm and a little bit sleepy. i think i should try and do one long distance run a week. i've tended to psych myself out before attempting anything more than 5 miles, but really, i don't find it that bad at all once i'm actually running, especially on warmer days when i get to go along the schuylkill or wherever and not stare at the damn distance counter on the treadmill all the time. perhaps i'll even invest in gel packs.