“Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos,” the prophet Don Kardong once said.

I think about that a lot. With all the running advice in the world — high mileage, low mileage, intensity, best time of day, mayo on pizza, cross-training vs. rest, how many days a week, singles vs. doubles, galloway vs. daniels vs. pfitzinger vs. higdon — Mr. Kardong was able to sum up the key to running, and life, in nine words. Pie sold separately.

I always held this philosophy of running to be an unquestionable fact. But lately I look around. My running sucks. I continue to get slower despite working harder. And the nation is worse. Twitter is a daily torture filled with new revelations, another set of heroes shattered, the rants of a crazy man who could lead to our demise before I am able to attend my pricey series of $35 races. The world is falling apart as we watch in real time. Darkness and chaos prevail. Could he have been wrong?

But then I remember the OTHER key to running: Adaptation ot training to changing circumstances. Sometimes it just takes an adjustment to the formula.

All we need is more ice cream. Lots and lots and lots more ice cream. It’s on like Donkey Kardong. Sorry. I hope there’s a loophole for the Medium Chocolate Frosty.

Thanks for the scoop, Mr. Kardong. I wish Bloomsday wasn’t so far away.