What Makes Wednesday Wonderful?

Hi All,

Today, as I read the fantastic blog and watched some YouTube videos by Jennifer, I realized several things.  Choosing to defer my first marathon experience, although painful, is the right choice.  Holding out for a good experience is the best.  Below is a picture of me, currently, relaxed, tired, and typing up this post.

Tuesday Evening - relaxed and tired am I!

A photo posted by Runningwithallergies (@runningwithallergies) on Oct 27, 2015 at 3:15pm

I am thankful that Wednesday bring the middle of the week and that come Thursday evening, my Mom will be here.  No - I do not have as much done as I hoped, but I also know she will understand.  As the 2 month anniversary of the big news quickly approaches, I am thinking of what to say in terms what I have learned (good, bad, in between).

All told, I am thankful for the support of those who read this and for my family.

Happy Wednesday, All!

PDT

Tough Weekend and Calorie Counting

After spending most of the weekend dressed warmly, wrapped in blankets, not having much interest in food, and waiting to hear the status of switching races; I have decided to defer my full marathon entry until next year.  It is right the decision, but it is not an easy one to accept.  Also - until December, I will be running only when I feel comfortable, excited, and ready to do so at my own pace and for the distance I determine.  I am still looking forward to seeing my family and spending some time away from work.

It never occurred to me, when I started altering my diet drastically to minimize allergies, that it would impact my caloric intake.  As I became progressively more exhausted, dependent on caffeine, and disappointed with how long it took me to recover from running; I finally wised up and left a message with my Primary Care Doctor.  It took a second call, a week later, to highlight the real issues - lack of energy, not matching allergy test results, what's the deal?

As of this evening, I started tracking my calorie intake.  Most people do this to lose weight and I am doing it to try and regain my energy.  According to a moderately active person, 2200 calories is the normal amount to consume in a day.  By 3 pm this afternoon, I had consumed around 500 calories.  By this evening, I ended up approximately 1300 calories short of the targeted amount.

If you have suggestions, given my allergies, of ways I can boost the caloric intake painlessly, I am all ears!  In the meantime, I will be having lots of eggs, salad, veggies, fruit, rice, and trying out cheese to keep determining what will be useful.

Happy Monday, All!

November 14th: Bring on the 4th Half Marathon!!

Hi All,

Today I reached a final decision, which I have been debating to one degree or another for that the past month-and-a-half.  Change is hard.  It is hard physically, emotionally, and mentally.  You can learn to adapt your behaviors to minimize the effect change brings, but it still impacts you greatly.

The food issues continue and for the past 2-3 weeks I have been exhausted and unable to get a solid night's sleep.  When you are training, sleep become crucial to recovery and to maintain a normal lifestyle.  Trying to run 5 miles on inadequate food and sleep is awful, but I did it two weeks ago.  I will not be repeating the experience.  Right now, the doctor's are not quite sure what is happening in terms of me and the food.  I have been given the ok to reintroduce new foods every four days, but the acid reflux has been bad enough that I had to coax myself into eating anything.  TicTacs do an amazing job, but I was not willing to pay loads of money for them and the acid reflux medicine was making it worse - read the Hilarity of Sunday post to get an understanding.  The TicTacs arrived last night and I had a ton of them.  I slept soundly and finally almost feel normal this morning for the first time since Monday.  If I can keep on this feeling normal routine, then I will consider adding in other foods and resume running.  Another thing to consider is whether or not allergies are really the core issue.  Is it, for instance, a digestive issue instead?    I don't know, but I can tell you that not having solid answers is enough to make me a bit insane.

While volunteering for a race in April 2009 and serving at a water station early in the race (mile 2 or 3), I kept hearing really heavy breathing.  At this stage of the race, heavy breathing is not a good sign at all.  It means either you went out faster than you should have (easy to do) or you are not properly trained.  Regardless of the reason behind it, this had a huge impact on my approach to racing.  If I am not trained, then I do not race.  Given that and the food issues, I will be delaying my first full marathon yet again and I am no longer keeping track of how many times I have done this.  Productive thinking is the key and I am battling enough other issues that I do not need to further complicate the situation.

For all those who have expressed support, weighed in on the decision, and yet allowed me to make the call; thank you - I am at peace with the decision and I can move forward with it.  On November 14th, I will probably not set any records (personal), but I can run with the confidence that I am trained and ready to fly for this distance.  Some day I truly hope to run a full marathon, but I want to be confident, rested, and ready rather than checking of a box on a list of "to dos."

Happy Saturday, all!

Wednesday Wonderings...

Hi All!

Frozen yoghurt by Stoney Brook Farms and a Strawberry Gelato do not irritate me!  Parmesan and Brie cheeses, by contrast, irritate my acid reflux quickly and I get a stuffy nose.  I reported back to the allergist today and I am hoping she will have some ideas for me.

Energy wise - it is still low.  Granted, I am not getting enough sleep, but work and non-work stuff make relaxing enough to sleep well a challenge.  I am compensating some by taking naps, but I getting up and out for a run is a tough thing.  I managed a morning run on Monday - loved it!  Now to do some more this week.

Two weeks from Friday, I will get my Vitamin D levels tested yet again.   Am I excited?  Not really - I have enjoyed getting blood drawn.  If I can move it up a week or two, I will, but I am not planning on it.  Someone suggested, since I can tolerate different kinds of dairy depending on the enzymes used to create it, that perhaps I have a digestive issue.  Intriguing thought, eh?  It's also nice to know that I can butter, provided it is not processed and does not contain any of the bad ingredients.

3 weeks from Friday I am scheduled to run my first marathon and last week leading into this week have not gone well training wise.  Do I run it anyway, settle for walking when necessary, and just be thrilled to have completed my first marathon?  Or do I switch to the half and race it, since I know that I can do that distance?  Tempos and long intervals between 8-10 miles are not an issue, but I bonk on the long runs.  Yeah - I am concerned and I am not sure how to solve it.  I opened the question up to the Runners Connect groups and I am hoping for ideas.

That's it for today!

The Squash Boats - Idea taken from Tina Muir!

Bummer..the automatic publishing feature on this does not work!  I did not get in my scheduled workout before work, but I did get in a run (hurrah) and it felt so good after a five day break.

A few weeks ago, I noticed, when hunting around for ideas involving Spaghetti Squash, the notion of Boats (half a Spaghetti Squash) stuffed with veggies on Tina Muir's website.  With my parents visiting and my Mom being a fellow squash fan, I decided to give it a try and have done variations of the theme in the past couple of weeks.  Below is the version I chose most recently.

Spaghetti Squash boats make for great meals. Thanks to @tinamuir88 for the idea and I have my Meatless Monday contribution. 

A photo posted by Runningwithallergies (@runningwithallergies) on Oct 18, 2015 at 2:41pm PDT

Ingredients:

Spaghetti Squash
Filling - anything from butter, scallions, goat cheese, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, green beans, etc. can be used!

Instructions:

1)Preheat the oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit while microwaving your squash of choice for approximately 3-5 minutes.  Note - This idea, which works great, comes from Healthy Regards Hayley's Blog.  If you don't read it yet, check it out today!

2)Remove the squash, cut it in half, and place it face down on a baking sheet.  A stone might also work.  Note:  Some recommend rubbing the insides with olive oil.  I have done it both ways and either work.

3)Cook the squash for 30-40 minutes or until the inside is tender.

4)While the squash is cooling, finish up the preparations for the filling.  Depending on how much time I have or for whom I am making the other half, I might get fancy or stick with spaghetti sauce, a few veggies, and some cheese.  (Yep, I can have dairy, but I am doing the balancing act of how much and what kinds are ok to prevent an acid reflux attach.)

Happy Monday, All!

The Hillarity that was Sunday Night.

Sunday - for the fourth day in a row - I took it easy and had no acid reflux, until after rehearsing a presentation.  Yeah - eating that Panera Tomato soup was not the best decision, but I am feeling good now!

Tomorrow, I am presenting with two faculty members and we met this evening to rehearse.  It went well and much of the content is similar to a presentation we did in April.  Then, I got this brilliant idea, to remove the window Air Conditioning unit and the hilarity starts.

Putting it in this summer was not a problem.  So - removing it at 8:30 pm should not be an issue - hah - I pushed it out through the window.   Then, because this was not enough, I subsequently knocked over three indoor plants and spilled potting soil on knitted garments, a chair, the floor, two pieces of furniture, and well whatever else was around.  Meanwhile, while picking up the window AC, I missed up one of the skirting things.  Granted - the design is poor and I did not intend for this to happen.  I am thinking super glue and a mailing tape combination might work.  This one side will never be the same.  Thank goodness for a small window, eh?

After all that, I decided to have some frozen yoghurt.  Believe it or not, it helped with the acid reflux.  Maybe I just needed a break?  Who knows - it tasted good and I learned my lesson.  Do not push it, when it comes to removing things from windows at night, when you are borderline exhausted but trying to be in denial about it.  In retrospect, I am reacting to the acid reflux medication.  This is not an excuse, but it does help to explain my ability to knock over things.

Happy Sunday evening, all!

2 days of no running: I miss it & The Friday Five

Today I will start with the not fun news.  Starting last Wednesday through this morning, I have been dealing with various levels of Acid Reflux.  It is not fun and I am pretty sure the dairy I was told to back into my diet is the cause.  Oddly enough, some dairy is ok and others set me off immediately!  Tuesday's run was horrible, but I did it after not eating much all day.  Was this smart?  No - I had zero appetite and everything I ate seemed to make it worse.  It makes for a lousy combination.  Depending on how I feel, a run tonight would be grand.  I am considering my options, health wise, and I might be seeing a specialist, since the additional allergy testing really did not provide much help.

Time for some lighthearted fun, which I am taking from www.jenchoosesjoy.com, with the Friday 5!

1)  Family - I am so thankful to have supportive parents and siblings.  Life would be much more challenging without them!

2)  Work - I have a job with benefits.  Aspects of it might drive me insane, but having been self-employed and then having insufficient hours to pay the bills combined make me appreciate the pay check just a bit more.

3)  Weekend - it is the weekend and what a long week it has been!  I am volunteering at a trail half marathon tomorrow and, if I can get my act together, I will do a 12 mile run beforehand or potentially on Sunday morning.  I am hoping for tomorrow.

4)  Running shoes - the Brooks Adrenaline appear to fit my foot, unlike the Glycerin, and I am enjoying breaking them in a bit.

5)  Races - recently, I have not enjoyed racing.  Going in untapered, not adequately trained, feeling overwhelmed, etc. - I am determined to enjoy my next race, even if it means stepping back to the Half Marathon.  I am still debating that.  Nov. 14th is the day.  Will I push through the fear as I advised a fellow Runners Connect Teammate?  Or will I let it conquer me?

The latest…16 mile run did not go as planned.

Hi All,

The past 9 days have been nutty, literally.  I had visitors, who were a blast, and then meetings combined with reacting to a workout in hot temperatures and a migraine made it a most fun week.  Today - sadly - I cut my long run of 16 at just over 5 miles after two quick breaks for water.

Am I disappointed?  A bit - yes - but I got those miles in despite the high temperatures.  I will be just fine when the high is 60, thank you, with a low of high 30s-40s.

Last Thursday, I met with the allergist after eliminating tons from my diet.  She then asked for me to reintroduce dairy, beyond goat cheese and eggs, but get rid of all gluten on top of the other allergies.  So - yes - this definitely played a role in my preparation for today.  The training the rest of the week went well and I managed two naps, go me!

I will be starting a recipe this week, but it will go up late tomorrow or Tuesday.

Margaret