Iron Celiac

Swim season over, back to workouts

2011-06-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to having some time to work out. The knee is feeling better, so I'm going to do a track workout tomorrow. Did a bike workout tonight (inside) and put out 144 watts over 40 minutes. Now if I can just find out what I used to do...

Houston Marathon in 5:29:05

2011-01-31T19:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while for a couple of reasons. First - I've been busy at a new job. Second - I really didn't feel like there was anything overly exciting to report. Third - (and I think this is the real reason) I just didn't feel as if my training and my times represented anything anyone would want to read about.

One of the reasons I run the Houston Marathon every year is that I have a streak of consecutive finishes. Ever since my ACL tear and subsequent replacement last year, it's been doubtful I would keep the streak alive. I didn't really feel like I wanted the world to have a front seat to a long rehab followed by a huge disappointment (well - a huge disappointment for me).

Over the season as I built my workout time up and my pace per mile down, my stride changed every week, sometimes twice a week or even run to run. Sometimes I could feel the knee shift, or my hip or my quad. I had hope, but every workout was its own challenge. This year I emptied the buckets of injury-avoidance knowledge and put it all into practice, because one (more) injury would mean the end of the marathon hopes this year.

Although continually improving over the training season, my times were awful. Some days were really awful - the kind that just suck the life out of you. Two examples happened in the last month alone. I went out to run and I did not make it past my neighbor's driveway. The cold and stride mechanics combined to make it painfully clear I was not going to run that night. I also had a marathon barometer run - a 21 miler. I had a great 12 mile run that day followed by nine miles of misery, walking and self doubt. That "run" came in at 5:30 - and Houston has a six hour cutoff. I knew that wasn't my best possible effort, but what knee and stride were going to show up on race day?

About two weeks before race day I had a true answer to prayer. My ten mile run came in at two hours flat. "Marathon math" is not an exact science, but the pace calculators put me finishing the marathon in 5:36. It was the first endurance run since February of last year that had me projecting a finish faster than six hours.

All that work, effort and massage led me to the start line - where it was a balmy 68 degrees with rain. Of course, this was unlike nearly all the distance runs I had done this year for training. I stuck to a plan of running comfortably for as long as possible and then just finishing - similar to my "fly and die" strategies of previous years. I didn't wear a watch because I didn't want to drive myself crazy analyzing my times. I was very evenly paced to a 2:30 half marathon when it occurred to me that I needed a salt tab. These can be rough on me - in the worst case I need about an hour of slowing down to make them work for me. I decided that with 3:30 to go I had enough of a cushion and would be thankful later. Sure enough, miles 14 through 18 were pretty rough and dark. I concentrated on walking fast and running for short stretches. All those training "run/walks" really came in handy as my body was used to cycling back and forth between running and walking. Starting about mile 20, I started passing people back as I felt better.

The last 5 miles of the Houston marathon are slightly downhill. One of the crazy things I found out about my stride is that I can really let it fly downhill, so I used that every time there was a downhill grade. More passing... At that point, I was still being pretty conservative because I know that cramps can come for you any time. I was pretty happy because I was pretty sure I was going to finish. I saw a runner bundled up in mylar on the roadside - she looked done and was just over a mile and half from the finish.

With a half mile to go, I felt like I could relax. One of my concerns throughout the race was that the race officials would detect lightning and close the course. With most of the faster runners in, they could close the course and not reopen it. My thinking at that point was that they would probably have all runners proceed to the shelter of the convention center, which would mean an official finish for me. I saw a friend who finished a couple of hours earlier.

As I rounded the last corner with about 200 yards to go, I saw the race clock reading 5:31. Throwing my conservatism and concern about cramps to the wind, I finished as fast as I could. Sure enough, my chip time was 5:29:05.

The only food items that were 100% certain gluten free at the post race party were the bananas and the chocolate milk. I might want to do something about that next year...

Knee improving - wish it were faster

2010-10-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tried to run today for the first time in a while and just didn't have it. Maybe tomorrow. It feels like my stride is shifting again as my leg muscles up.

Celiac Race had 130 entrants

2010-10-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

This year's Celiac Awareness 5k Run/Walk in Houston had 130 entrants. The numbers keep improving. See you all next year!

Training going fine. Celiac Run soon...

2010-08-23T06:22:00.001-07:00

This morning I was up early and went for a 55 minute walk/run. My knee walks fine now, and I can run on it a bit. I still have a 'hitch in my giddy-yup' as they say, but it irons out more and more as I work on it.

A week ago I was in Wisconsin for a family reunion. I was able to hold the bronze medal one of my relatives won in Beijing. That was inspiring, and it helped me through my 2 1/2 hour workout (mostly walking) there. The cooler weather didn't hurt either.

The Celiac Awareness Run/Walk is coming up soon, soon, soon. I'm looking forward to spreading the word.

UFC athlete benefits from Celiac diagnosis

2010-07-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

I never, ever tire of seeing stories where an athlete is diagnosed with Celiac, and their training program immediately improves.

Here's a story of an athlete from the UFC. (There are some inaccuracies about Celiac in the article). I wish Dennis Hallman the best of luck. (And get your kids tested, Dennis!)

Three Sport Day

2010-07-03T12:36:00.001-07:00

The doctor cleared me to run (just on the treadmill) yesterday! I made it a goal to run today. Pretty funny. Day started at the pool, because my son wanted to go swimming. After we came back and had lunch, I cleared out the garage, dug out the treadmill, and plugged it in.

I honestly didn't know how it was going to go. I "ran" one mile in 19:10. I thought my knee was pretty tired at that point, so I stopped. Long way to go.

Then I realized I could make it a three sport day, so I went upstairs and rode a bit.

It feels so good to be back in the swing of things. It's been so long.

Lows and Highs - Independence Day for Celiacs...

2010-07-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

With marathon training season upon us in Houston, this Celiac was feeling a little down as I tried to schedule my July 20 appointment for post operation review. Every time I had, the scheduling screen did not show up, leading to delays while the clinic staff consulted with the tech support, etc. I told them that not running was absolutely killing me (see my post on the Ironman).

Finally, the answer was that the doctor was going on vacation, until the 29th. Three hours of "Oh no..." and then - "If you can come in tommorrow, he'll see you." Sweet - please pray I get cleared for at least jogging.

In other big developments - The rumor is that Jason's Deli will roll out gluten free bread system wide! This weekend! I'm so excited - the only thing is that you have to ask for the special prep area. Happy July 4th.

Not signing up for Ironman, Texas (yet)

2010-06-30T08:45:00.001-07:00

It's absolutely killing me to not sign up for this race. I was actually on the registration page with credit card in hand, when my brain kicked in and said, "It's less than a year away and you haven't run step one since February, and your doc won't let you run for another three weeks." I just couldn't do it.

Maybe the race won't close (ha ha).

Knee exercises for physical therapy

2010-05-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

This list is what I have been doing 3 times a week (not everything every time). If you have knee issues, there's probably an exercise in here for you.

All of these exercises should be done fluidly and reasonably slowly, in control.

Prone TKE
T-Band Stand TKE
Standing Hamstring Curl
Leg Press
Heel-Toe walk
Single leg balance
LAQ
Ball bridge
Ball hamstring curl
NMES SAQ (isometrically sqeeze quad)
NMES SLR (isometrically squeeze quad while raising leg straight)
NMES Quad Set (put something under knee and isometrically squeeze quad while raising leg straight)
Stool scoots
Sideways-hip abduct
Mini Squats
Step up – forward and lateral
Standing calf – raise single leg
Lunges
Elliptical machine forward and back
Bike machine

…and don’t hold your breath while you do them…

Other things I have found helpful:

Epsom salt bath at night
Ice, ice and more ice
Anti-inflammatories
Carbonated apple juice to combat nausea
Early bedtime and lots of sleep

I found a lot of these exercises (but not all) explained at

http://www.athensorthopedicclinic.com/docs/Basic_Knee_Exercises.pdf

Progress and measurement

2010-05-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was good news and new news for my recovery. I actually spiked out a 140 rpm on the recumbent bicycle they have at the PT place. That's faster than I have ever spun a crankshaft. The new news was that they measured my quads and calves. I've lost an inch and a half of muscle around my right quad, which they say extrapolates to about 25 weeks before my legs 'even out' -- almost 6 months.

It is a very humbling experience.

I think I'm wired to always be looking at the area that needs improvement. Friends who see me occasionally say that I'm doing much better, that I'm moving around better and that I look "normal." Those are nice comments to have, because they remind me of the progress I am making.

Probiotics good for Celiac

2010-05-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Back in March 2009, I posted about probiotics being a good idea for traveling Celiacs. Now comes Science Daily reporting a study in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology explained in more common terms by Dr. Michelle Sullivan. She recommends a daily probiotic. There doesn't seem to be much downside except the expense, and the upside could be pretty dramatic.

Almost Straight...

2010-04-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

It's been exactly a month since the surgery and my knee is almost back to being able to be straight. That's important, because if my knee can be straight, it can lock and support my weight through the skeleton instead of using my weak muscles.

The trend is generally very good. Tiredness is no longer a general concept. There's upper body (rare), lower body (more frequent), hurt leg (pretty frequent) and supporting muscles (very frequent). Bicycling seems to help a lot

The surgeon cleared me Friday to be in the pool (yay) and do aquajogging (yay, but he did give me a funny look on that question). I have just six little cuts/holes around my knee, and all the steri-strips are off now. The worst thing on Friday was that he reiterated the four months to jogging on the street/trails. That would have me waiting to be on the road until July 25.

I've really eased off the Tylenol - none so far today in fact.

My body has put on a few pounds, which I anticipated because of my solution to the nausea, but now would like to see melt away. Of course, nothing "melts away" - so it's diet and exercise for me. I really miss exercising outdoors. I was built to move, and this approach lacks camaraderie and actual moving through space. Maybe that yearning will ease up when I start swimming again.

Mass Celiac Screening Cost Effective

2010-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Screening young adults for Celiac is cost effective, says an Israeli study. It would be an excellent use of CDC money to do the same analysis for the US, especially since it appears it takes longer here to get a diagnosis (11 years?) than in Israel (6 years).

M Resort doing great job with Celiac diet

2010-04-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Celiac diet is always a concern when traveling. I've been at the M Resort in Las Vegas for a conference, and they are doing a great job taking care of my meal needs. Usually, I give a report on the athletic facilities and so on. I can say that the ice machine always seems to be full enough for me to take the provided shoe bag and make really big ice packs for my knee. Usually, I don't like to be close to the ice machine or elevators, but this trip I made an exception. It's worked out pretty well.

Still moving slow

2010-04-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

It's been about 10 days, and my knee is doing very well, in my opinion. Most of the swelling has gone, and I have been walking on it for nearly a week now and I've been off prescription painkillers for a week. It is not back to "pre-operation" mobility or strength yet.

It can turn revolutions on the bicycle stand now, but the right toe needs to be pointed down for it to work.

I have ups and downs. Usually lying down for a half hour will revive me. I'm sleeping about an hour past the tail end of my meds. When I'm awake, I started "feeling it" about two hours before the end, but now it's closer to an hour/forty-five minutes.

Still having issues with nausea. Coke and peanut M&Ms help, but those are not long-term solutions.

I have a business trip and have ordered a wheelchair. I just can't see myself walking through an airport yet.

Out of Surgery today, still a bit groggy

2010-03-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it doesn't appear that being a Celiac affects surgery for an ACL much, but I did find out quite a bit about the medical process. Every step of the way, I've told every medical professional and coordinator about my vitamins/supplements and that I was a Celiac. (. I wore my Awareness run t-shirt more than once). It must have been at least 10-15 people. Low and behold, I'm being prepped for surgery, I am doing one last review and Celiac is not in my surgery records! We fixed that.

Probably all well and good as things went fine, but what if they had to transfer me to a hospital?

Anyway, at least my anesthesiologist had a sense of humor and said, "I promise I won't feed you bread while you're asleep."

I wanted to publicly thank all those who prayed for me and had me in your thoughts. Given the amount of damage my surgeon saw in my MRIs that first week, I am doing much better than average. Please keep it up, maybe these nerve blockers will wear off and I will be able to feel my leg again soon!

Another two weeks of wait and see

2010-03-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

I went to the orthopedist today. The swelling, while much better, is not to a point where it makes sense to operate yet. Of course, one big question was about whether being a Celiac affects this at all. Celiac doesn't seem to bear much on the issue, as there isn't much to worry about from a donor tendon in the way of rejection for the autoimmune side. On the medication side, I will need to talk to the anesthesiologist, but again, no expected issues there. I was really glad for my wife's moral support and for writing my questions down.

I did leave the surgeon with the first few pages of the Celiac medical package from our local support group, which he scanned with some interest.

He did authorize me to again try to gently cycle on my computrainer, so I may try some of that again this weekend to see how it goes. He suggested mucking with the seat height to give some gentle encouragement to the knee flexibility. At first I thought it would mess up my setup, but upon reflection I think the move would be for the greater good.

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments as I work through this.

I tore my ACL

2010-02-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, no posts for a while usually means things are going really well, or really poorly. This time around it is really poorly.

I was out playing "driveway tennis" with my son when my foot caught up in the tree roots at the back of the driveway. Man, did that hurt. I have never wanted to get away from a body part so badly. Thing is, the part (and the pain) comes with you.

Well, an xray and MRI told me what I already knew from the popping noise. I've spent the last two weeks trying to keep up at work (not so successful), and manage the swelling (not so successful).

When you lose a functional knee and are in constant pain, it is amazing how your focus changes to getting out of pain and figuring out how to do really basic things like putting on a sock and personal hygiene. It's really nice to have two young, homeschooled kids to run around and carry things for me.

Never mind that moving around on crutches is a workout all by itself. I haven't done a proper "workout" since the fateful day. Saturday I said to myself, "It's been two weeks, get on that bicycle and stop feeling sorry for yourself." So I pumped up the tires, laboriously pulled on my cycling shoes, clipped in left foot, gingerly swung my right leg over and clipped in. Success!

Then I tried pedaling. Of course my left foot worked just fine, but my right knee didn't want to bend. So I tried backwards, then forwards. Each time my knee bent a hair more and with heavy exhalations I managed a full rotation. After about 20 I was done. Or so I thought. I couldn't clip out! Laughing at myself, I had to call one of my kids up to loosen my foot strap so I could slide my foot out and escape. Maybe next time I'll bring a crowbar...

Anway, I have some truly spectacular pictures of the swelling and bruising, which I may post at some point. I'll keep intermittent posts on how the rehab progresses.

Foodmakers, beware your labeling...

2010-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

Now that someone has been arrested for making people sick after knowingly providing gluten-containing food to celiacs while labeling it, "gluten-free," I wonder how far this line of logic would go..

Let's say you make cereal or flour. You test it, and it comes back at 20 ppm or 200 ppm. Then you slap a "gluten free" label on it in, because that is a definition somewhere. So far so good, right?

But then you have some Celiacs get sick from eating the product. Which law would "win"-- the law that defines what you can call gluten free or the law that says you can't sell products that make people ill? Could someone follow the definition and still end up arrested?

Celiacs involve AG in NC suit against "GF" breadmaker.

2010-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

Well, this time gluten-free/celiac legal action has come to the United States, in the form of a company that sold "gluten-free" bread at the North Carolina State Fair. This blog reported in November 2009 that this a good trend for Celiacs in the long-term.

The facts are unclear. The company says the bread was gluten free when they sold it. The consumers say it was contaminated when they bought it. The state AG has asked a judge to shut the business down.

The message is clear to manufacturers, however. Label something gluten-free when it is not, and you put your entire business at risk.

UPDATE: The gluten-free statement was allegedly fraudulent and the business owner was arrested.

21st consecutive Houston Marathon 5:16

2010-01-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

Short news: I was physically ready to run a 4:15 or so, but it just wasn't my day. This year, I am happy to have made the marathon program for running 20 consecutive Houston Marathons.

Race Recap:
I'd been having trouble staying hydrated all week. Felt great at the start (maybe a bit warm?). I started feeling "weird" at mile 9. I stopped to put some more vaseline on my feet at mile 10 (I had some hotspots, but I was still bang on pace after accounting for stops and visits), and then absolutely spectacularly exploded at mile 11, with nausea, lightheadedness (which just got worse and worse until mile 19) and minor stiffness. I attribute the mess to a combination of electrolyte imbalance and lack of water/something I ate the night before (not gluten)/or a bug I picked up. It was absolutely the fastest "collapse" I had ever experienced in any long race. (Usually, I just see the misery coming for about a 10K or so...) I had medical cut off my pace band as irrelevant just past the half marathon. I ran/walked until mile 17 and then walked until mile 22, when everything suddenly lifted. I ran in the rest of the way, just walking up the hills on Allen Parkway. I probably passed 100 people in the last mile alone. I file this one in the "just not my day" category. (I was already planning my next marathon at mile 16 of this one...) and I may have to do another marathon somewhere else this year just for time and just because.

Couldn't get to sleep the night after... Sore but fine this morning. Handling stairs with relative ease compared to other years. At the end of the day, I'm glad I traded time for a sure finish, and I'm definitely wearing my 20 year veteran shirt every day ;-). Is three days in a row too much?

Houston Celiac Awareness 5K Run/Walk

2010-01-04T07:32:00.000-08:00

I braved the cold and the lines this morning to get the park for the Houston Celiac Awareness 5k Run/Walk today. It will be October 9, 2010. See you there.

Resolution Run 5K in 24:23

2010-01-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

My wife spotted a midnight 5k on the news that had fireworks, so of course I had to go run in it. Never mind that my legs were not recovered from the 21 miler and I have a marathon coming up. Did I mention fireworks?

A front came through right before 2010 and made its appearance by slightly chilling temps to 52 degrees and then boosting a 25 mph wind out of the North. It was a dark and stormy night... Seriously.

The run was brisk and cold, and I pushed very hard at the end. (Ask me about a funny story there sometime...)

Anyway, the result was 24:23 - not my best time, but there was some speculation that the course was measured to the curb and not to the middle of the road -- some GPS watches had us running 5.5k - a full 10% farther.

Weirdly, there were some really fast runners in the crowd. I eventually figured out they were running to set a time. So I guess that for a few hours at least, I had one of the top ten fastest times in my age group for the state of Texas in 2010. Well - it was good Christmas present while it lasted.

Met a Celiac on a 21 miler today

2009-12-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

What are the odds of that?

That's the longest run before the Houston Marathon. Kinda glad its over.

Top Five Impacts on Celiac Awareness

2009-12-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

This blog is about increasing awareness for Celiac, so I thought I would name my top five in what I consider to be most important for raising Celiac diagnosis rates and Celiac awareness generally in the last 10 years.

#1. The phenomenal growth of diagnosed celiacs - a self-feeding loop
#2. Celiac Consensus Meeting @ NIH - moved many doubters away from complacency
#3. Elisabeth Hasselback story and book - mass appeal
#4. Establishment of National Foundation for Celiac Awareness - first organization specifically focused on awareness to the exclusion of other activities
#5. Heidi Collins named NFCA spokesperson, cuts Public Service Announcement - brought star power and attention to the cause.

Blog post inspired by the survey at Savvy Celiac.

Gluten-Free lawsuit was just a matter of time...

2009-11-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Over the long term, there was a very good development for the Celiac community. A maker of gluten free mixes sued their supplier when they tested the supposedly gluten-free flour and found 60+ ppm gluten in it, prompting a recall.

The good news is that the gluten-free business is big enough now that real money and reputations are at stake. With this lawsuit, manufacturers also have real choices to make.

Do I process gluten-free goods in their own dedicated facilities?
Do I exit the gluten-free market?
Can I effectively mitigate risks if I choose the middle path?

Just so you know, manufacturers -- Celiacs, given the choice between two products, are going to choose the ones made in facilities that do not process gluten as well.

Annual Goal Setting today

2009-10-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

Usually toward the end of the year, I tend to get a bit contemplative and evaluate my life. The idea is that I just want to make sure my Christian values are lined up with what I am doing on a day to day basis, and that I am doing the things I love.

This year has been quite odd in that the mood struck me much earlier than the usual Christmastime/New Years. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the new job(s). Or it might be that we just came off our family vacations (Disneyworld!). Or that my training is ahead of schedule and I am doing the mileage now that I would normally be doing in December. Or perhaps it is because we successfully completed another Celiac Awareness Run/Walk a few weeks ago.

Whatever the reasons, it is a very good exercise to be clear about what one wants to do and what one does not want to do. I have found it especially useful to have priorities about those "to-do's." The biggest differences between this year and those prior are the sharpness of focus and priorities. I also have fewer specific goals and more goals focused around process. This year, I hope to think (and analyze) less and do more.

Cedric Benson, QB move up depth chart after diagnosis

2009-09-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

These kinds of stories never get old to me. Athletes suffer from Celiac disease, find out, and then improve once they start the gluten-free diet.

Here's a story that features Cedric Benson and his Celiac challenges prior to his current Pro Bowl caliber season with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Here's another great story about a celiac quarterback who moved up the depth chart and started against Alabama.

Revisited Soccer Last weekend

2009-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school and college, I really loved the sport of soccer. I haven't played hard for a long time, until last week. Our church put together a festival for the Hispanic festival and I signed up. Fun.

Of course, the next day, I found muscles that I hadn't used in a long time. Still fun.

Yesterday, I made sure I took my first opportunity to get a flu shot -- not the swine flu one, just the seasonal one. It always knocks me back a step, but I figure it is good insurance against something worse, especially around race time. I was feeling a little bummed lately that I've been pretty distracted and my training has suffered, but my wife pointed out that I am well ahead of schedules from previous years, when I haven't been nearly as serious. That made me feel better.

Celiacs - check your freezer

2009-08-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

I just saw this voluntary recall of Van's Pancakes. I keep telling my wife that just because it says wheat free on the box doesn't mean it is really gluten free. Now I can say that just because it says gluten-free on the box, it doesn't mean that it actually gluten-free, either.

Bruise count

2009-08-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Training is going really well for me right now, but I've had some of those "out of training" accidents. I was moving the woodpile (for the third time!) to get it away from the house. The exterminator recommended it because a woodpile basically invites termites. So I trenched around the house and moved the woodpile. One of the pieces hit my foot and caused a big ole bruise on my foot/ankle. It doesn't hurt (much) and I can run on it, but it could have been worse.

That makes about three bruises (new and/or healing), plus the ones I haven't found yet.

Why bring this up? Well, training for big long distance events is different than shorter ones. With shorter ones, you get injured and say, "Oh well," you rehab, and you do an event a few weeks later after you heal. Big long distance events are riskier. They usually involve a lot of training time and some travel expense. If you miss one of these events due to a freak injury, you may have to wait a month or even a year to try again. "Moving the woodpile" should be added to the list of "don't do this right before a marathon/big tri."

Reading around the web, now this Celiac has a reason to avoid remodeling projects, too - possible gluten in the drywall! Thanks for sharing that one.

Adjusted to the heat

2009-07-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

My body has finally adjusted to the heat. It's still blasted hot to go running here in Houston, but at least the sun plays less of a role. This morning I did four miles with some hill work in the middle. Although my shirt and shorts were soaked through by the time I got home, at least it was a reasonable round trip.

I have a small swimming success to note. Yesterday at the pool, I did a push off and went nearly the length of the (25M) pool, underwater using a dolphin kick. I was on my side and noted that I was passing people. It's definitely faster than swimming on the surface. There is so much about swimming that is completely counterintuitive. I don't do every push off that well, but I figure if it happened once, it could happen again.

Feeling better in 2 weeks

2009-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a heartwarming story for the karate enthusiasts in your life. It's about a celiac athlete who has a black belt. She went on the gluten free diet and felt better in 2 weeks. It's typical of athletes who have been diagnosed properly.

Humana won't take Celiacs in Texas

2009-07-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

My wife was trying to price health care packages for our family. Humana had a big ad on the television, so she called and told them as part of the quote process that they would not cover Celiacs. The Humana representative admitted that "Celiac can be controlled through diet." but went on further to say that Humana did not cover Celiacs because "Humana can't monitor compliance with the diet."

This argument uses flawed logic. Using the same logic, they should not cover anyone who takes medication, either. Blood tests suffice. A little underwriting sanity appears to have gone missing at Humana.

Brilliant Celiac video from Mayo

2009-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a great Celiac video from Mayo explaining the results of the Celiac study they published. He discusses the findings very clinically and very understandably.

At the end, he broaches the idea that one implication is that perhaps we should screen for Celiac in the general population, like we do for high blood pressure or cholesterol. I'm very much on board with that idea. It may happen on its own, anyway, because life insurers will start testing for the antibodies if they can.

Celiac 4x more prevalent in current Army recruits

2009-07-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

I spotted this very interesting celiac article on Web MD. For some, currently unknown, reason, celiac disease antibodies were four times more present in current army recruits than those of the 1950s. This would imply that environmental triggers are to blame, which would imply we can figure out a way to decrease incidence of the disease, even in those cases where people were genetically predisposed.

It reminds me of the studies that showed the optimal time to introduce gluten to infant's diet. I wonder if the Mayo Clinic has checked for changes in that?

The other, more disturbing, finding, was that undiagnosed Celiacs of that era were four times more likely to die than the population at large. If that were to hold true to today's numbers... (Four million undiagnosed Celiacs four times more likely to die...). It is scary to think about and just confirms that it has never been more urgent to raise awareness.

California = Triathlon Mecca

2009-07-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

I recently traveled to California. The first night that I was in Carlsbad, I realized why this area has so many triathletes. I took a run down to the beach. The weather was about 70 degrees with moderate humidity, and it stayed that way at night for the next two weeks. Unbelievable! I was about a half mile from the beach, and every day there were people enjoying the sun and surf. By the middle of the stay, I enjoyed trying to learn to surf. (I did more falling than surfing, but I think I have the basics down). And then I did an open water swim with the San Diego Tri Club -- fun fun.

About Tuesday of the second week, I realized I had been going hard every day for over a week, so I took two days off. It was so nice there. Then I came back to Houston, where it was over 100 degrees every day. Let's just say that over the last week or so my body has told me in no uncertain terms it would rather be where the temperature doesn't top 85. The schedule is out the window. I still need to adjust to the heat, but I'm doing longer and longer stints outdoors. Maybe I can try to get back on schedule this week.

Started Marathon Training today...

2009-06-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

I recovered so well from the 5k on Saturday that I decided to start my marathon training early. I was going back over my training log and realized that I wanted to drop some serious time off of my marathon this year. If I use the pace calculator, my 5k times would translate to a very good improvement, so I've figured that the best way to go the distance would be to start the program and then take "backup" weeks if the training became to hard on me. It will leave me with about 4 or five times where I can take a break from the schedule if need be, but still be ready in January.

5k in 22:06 - Another post-diagnosis PR

2009-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran in the local Heights 5k. It wasn't even in my calendar for a race, but I added it at the last minute because a friend invited me down there. I didn't do much in the way of a taper - I only swam yesterday (including a time trial 100 freestyle in 1:14) and did not run, and I altered the Thursday workout. I was especially pleased that I took 44 seconds off my best time in years. Houston is starting to get hot and humid.

Two months ago, I ran a 22:50, but this race was bigger with a competitive masters division, and I came in 40th or so in my age group today. So it just goes to show you. You can run much faster, and winning just depends on who shows up that day. I think its far better to have the attitude to improve against your own times than to tie success to place.

And a little fun, there was a camera crew doing "indie movie stuff" there, so maybe I'll be in a feature film someday.

Swam downhill on National Running Day

2009-06-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was National running day, but it made more sense to focus most of my workout efforts on swimming. The workout was bike to the Y, short run on the treadmill (just to say I did), go to masters swimming, and then bike home.

We were working on breast stroke technique yesterday. I like to use breaststroke in triathlons sometimes, because you can get a really good view in an open water swim if conditions are rough or sighting is difficult. I thought I was pretty good at that stroke, but during the drills, the coach came up to me and said, "Michael, you are very flat in the water, which is good, but I want you to try something. On your entry, really push your shoulders into the water, like 8-12 inches under. It's not permanent, but I want you to try."

I'd been getting across in 7 strokes or so, and as soon as a tried it, I dropped to 5. Huge.

There are two ways to get faster in swimming - technique and yards. Technique is more fun.

Now if I could just get a tight flip turn...

Not every Starbucks...

2009-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of starting a business and had the opportunity to fly through DFW on a trip. I know the DFW airport pretty well, including knowing that there are three Starbucks in the main terminals. I thought-- Aha -- Lunch!

Alas, my hopes were dashed. It turns out that there are "degrees" of Starbuck-ness, and these outlets did not carry the new GF cake. Be warned and carry food appropriately.

Gluten Free Cake available at Starbucks

2009-05-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

I had occasion to go into Starbucks today, so naturally I had to try the Gluten Free cake in the individual wrapper. It was good - 290 calories good. But it was small for the price, I thought. It's a great, widely available option for Celiacs.

My new running plan...

2009-05-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ever since the last marathon, I've been in the pool more, but I've just been throwing together the runs here and there. I have been searching around for a new training plan and was thinking that I was going to do a "self coached" plan. But last week I stumbled across a really good book on running, called "Brain Training for Runners, by Matt Fitzgerald. ISBN 978-0-451-22232-9. And I've been doing some reading...

Despite the title, the core thesis of the book is not about "mental training," but how the brain interacts with the muscular, cardiovascular, nervous and other systems to determine racing, pacing and training effects.

The book is thick, but that's because it is half training plans -- from 5k's to the Marathon. I think that is just fine, because the front half is packed with running theory and studies. What I liked most was the studies he cited that effectively challenged some of my longer-held assumptions (example: lactic acid balance in muscles returns to normal in about an hour after a workout - who knew? Despite no change in my acid balance, I'm still going for a sports massage ). There were parts when I laughed because I knew from experience what he was saying was accurate. Interestingly, he ditches the heart rate monitor as a training tool in favor of pace-based approaches.

One weakness for Texas triathletes is that his section on heat and hydration was not terribly nuanced. As the book barely points out, heat is the one condition where mixed signals between the brain and body can have truly drastic consequences. Heat can kill. In my opinion, the section could have been stronger (and should have been) and included more variations in running speeds outside elite runners.

All that said, I learned a lot and I'm fired up. I started my 10K running program Sunday and will switch over to the marathon program in about 12 weeks.

Ironman Lottery results

2009-04-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

April 15 is the day that the Ironman race in Kona releases the lottery results, which makes it a "fork in the road" day for my calendar. This year, they showed the results on the Florida 70.3 show, but I was driving back from visiting my sister in DC and wasn't watching. We did get to drive near a Saab with an IM sticker and a tri-bike on top for a while.

My wife was talking to her friend on the trip. Her friend's husband is a bit of a jokester (and a friend) and he told me to go "cry in my gluten-free beer" because I hadn't been selected for Kona. I was annoyed, because I knew that the results wouldn't be online for a couple of days, so how could he know? And he said that he was watching the Florida show. Knowing his viewing habits, there really must have been nothing else on or he was yanking my chain. I told him there was no way he watched it, and he told me I was in denial.

It turns out he did watch, and I was in denial. I've been doing the lottery for years and have not been selected. Bit of a bummer.

There are basically three ways to get into the Kona Ironman race:

Be fast
Be lucky << my default option
Be rich

One of the the things that surprised me this year was my level of annoyance. It went beyond the usual annoyance at being at the wrong end of a joke, and for the first time there was a bit of disappointment. Upon reflection, it had nothing to do with my friend (who simply spoke truth, right?), but was about a change in my attitude. I'm not sure when it happened, but I'm pretty sure I "wanted it more" this year. I think it indicates to me that maybe I need to really sharpen the focus of my strategy on the other two options as well.

Managed care insurers now have an economic reason to diagnose Celiac Disease

2009-04-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

One of the barriers to awareness and diagnosis of Celiac disease has been the lack of enthusiasm on the part of health insurers. Now things have changed, and it is about time.

The Journal of Insurance Medicine has published a Celiac economic study by the Celiac Disease Center in Columbia that shows a decreasing cost after diagnosis.

"Researchers led by Dr. Peter Green, a professor of clinical medicine, said their study of a large managed-care database revealed cost reductions after diagnosis of celiac disease were attributable to decreasing trends in utilization of office visits, laboratory tests, diagnostic imaging and endoscopy procedures. "

This study is years overdue (see this two year old post including insurers), and it finally gives managed care insurers an economic reason to make sure all Celiac disease sufferers in their populations are diagnosed.

As a next step, I hope to see data-driven suggestions from these insurers soon. For example, it would be cheap and effective for them to send an email to segments of their population saying something like, "You have chronic iron-deficiency anemia. The differential diagnosis for that condition includes Celiac disease. Have you discussed it with your doctor?"

Our family in a field of Bluebonnets

2009-03-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Springtime is already here in Texas and the wildflowers are beautiful this year.

Many of the country roads have some outstanding blues and oranges courtesy of the wildflowers. The fields make for great viewing from a bicycle seat, and they last a few weeks.

Here's what we did Saturday after the race. Great post-race recovery, don't you think?

5k in 22:50 - Post Celiac diagnosis PR!

2009-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

When I divide up my running times, I have two buckets divided by Celiac. There are my pre-diagnosis times and then my post-diagnosis times. Today I ran in a 5k, set a post-diagnosis PR of 22:50 (7:22 pace), and won my age group!

And I didn't taper all that much, either. The only change I did was an easy 30 minutes on the Nordic Trak on Thursday (It was raining, and I still did a hard swim on Friday.) We hadn't decided if we were doing the race as a family until last night.

Houston is in the middle of a cold snap, and it was 45 degrees this morning when we pulled out at 7am. That's very early for us. One of the challenges for this race was that they kept moving the start times around to accommodate the family walk and logistics, so staying warm while minimally dressed presented a challenge. What worked was taking my wind stopper mitts and hat to the start line and tucking them in to my waistband right before the start.

I ran hard, but I tried to focus on keeping my own pace, and I did. I went through the first mile in 7:20, and then eased of a hair for the second mile. A group of three passed me, but one of them came back to me at 2 1/2. Running down the last quarter was tough, but someone shouted out my name for encouragement and that helped. It was nice to run a small enough race to where I could count the people in front of me.

Now this afternoon, it's my wife's pick. We're off to the Texas Hill Country in search of the blue bonnets. If you're from up north, it's like going to the country to see the fall colors, except it's flowers in the spring.

IBS sufferers should be tested for Celiac disease

2009-03-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

More news outlets are starting to pick up the concept that Celiac might be the actual cause of many undiagnosed symptoms. I saw this article on Google alerts the other day, repeating the story that IBS sufferers should be tested for Celiac disease.

Here's the guidelines if you don't want to go hunting for them.

IBS patients with diarrhea or a mixture of diarrhea and constipation should be screened with blood tests for celiac disease, a condition in which one cannot tolerate the gluten protein found in wheat and other grains.

Of course, this blog brought this health tip out nearly two years ago. While the GI docs seem to be getting the message out, it would be great if some of the others, like Dermatology and those involved with neurological disorders, could get on board.

A little insurance for Celiacs on the road?

2009-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

I saw a recent posting on a Celiac site about a study from Finland. It said that:

"Bifidobacterium lactis inhibited the gliadin-induced increase dose-dependently in epithelial permeability, and, at higher concentrations totally eliminated the gliadin-induced reduction in transepithelial resistance."

OK - all fancy words that basically say that a probiotic kept gluten from getting through gut cells (in a petri dish).

Now, I think that's really hopeful news and here's how I'm going to use it. First, a petri dish is not a controlled human study. I am not going off the gluten-free diet to give it a try, and I think anybody would be nuts to do so. But from time to time, a restaurant will do that for me without my knowledge. We've all been there and done that, right? So I think that I'll just start taking a probiotic with B. lactis in it during times when I'm at higher risk (like on the road for a race or eating out a lot, for example).

I've had some pretty good luck using probiotics after a course of antibiotics and never had a bad reaction, so this seems to me to be a pretty good and relatively inexpensive way to keep ahead of the cross-contamination issue. Peaking correctly for a race or event is hard enough as it is, and this approach might just be some reasonable insurance on the diet side.

Should ear drops for swimmer's ear be gluten-free?

2009-03-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting for awhile, because after I started swimming again, my increased efforts resulted in a truly nasty bout of swimmer's ear. Very painful - very annoying - very tiring. So I was back out of the pool for a couple of weeks. Here's what I learned:

I should have been using earplugs to keep out the water
I should have used a half vinegar/half rubbing alcohol solution and dropped that in my ears before and after the workout. Evidently, the vinegar is the correct PH while the alcohol kills the infections before they get started.
q-tips can irritate your ear canal, so don't go there
Antibiotic ear drops were, bizarrely, very hard to acquire, resulting in an extra day of totally unnecessary pain
I really didn't care if my ear drops were gluten free or not (but should I?)

That extra day of pain reminds me of the (thankfully infrequent) times when I am absolutely miserable and am asking a pharmacist if the medication is gluten-free or not. You'd think that this information would be readily available, but it isn't, and it's especially aggravating on the weekends when the manufacturer is closed.

It makes me wonder when the pharmaceutical industry is going to wake up on this topic -- probably not until people start reporting adverse reactions...

Anyway, I'm thrilled to be back in the water today.

Swimming more lately

2009-02-22T21:51:00.000-08:00

I've started hitting the pool a lot more lately. I've joined up with a masters swim program and am trying to make it to the workouts more frequently than I did in the past. The noon workouts used to be pretty inconvenient for my schedule, but are less so now. I've already learned a few tricks to lower my stroke count, and I'm building water endurance. Win win.

20th Houston Marathon - 5:15

2009-01-26T20:00:00.001-08:00

Well - let me start by saying that this year's highlight was that a local radio station called and interviewed me about running and celiac. I managed the 20 second plug about celiac being an underdiagnosed condition that people should look into. They also asked me about my 20 year streak and the problems I've run into - training in a cast, breaking a rib one year and so on... Hopefully, they'll send the tape, but it's been a week since the marathon and I'm starting to have doubts.

I was fit and ready, but I think I psyched myself out on this one and went out too fast. I just could not slow down for the first 14 miles, and then I cratered and the next four miles were a misery of walking. Then the nausea lifted and I held pace into the convention center. People tell me that it is unusual to "come back" after a bad spell, and I have to say I'd agree.

I think I've "noted" a few things:

Must - Lose - Weight -- My Wii Fit even mocked me this morning by telling me my ideal weight for my height was less than my college weight when I was not absorbing food.
Must - Follow - Pace - Band -- I was wearing it - just didn't follow it.
Must - Not - Drink - Endurance - Didn't train with it, so why did I go stupid on race day?
Must - Do - More - Base - Miles - I've become a master of the "just finish" and this year it really irritated me

The best part is that I finished my 20th consecutive Houston marathon, making me the youngest (I think) double-veteran. I can't wait to order the shirt!

20th Houston Marathon - 5:15

2009-01-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

I think I psyched myself out on this one

Does Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO have Celiac?

2009-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

I saw a post on the Motley Fool site about Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs has lost a lot of weight recently. He is CEO of a major company, and Apple doesn't have much in the way of a succession plan, so even the Wall Street Journal is interested in his health.

It is not a stretch from a numbers perspective. One has to figure that there are probably four to seven CEOs of Fortune 500 companies having to work with the issue, whether it is known by them or not. (It may be that the effects of being an undiagnosed Celiac keeps people from the top job).

There were two things that I thought were interesting about the article. One was the "oblique" reference to Celiac. By "oblique" I mean that Celiac was mentioned, but it wasn't the focus of the article. It was mentioned as an aside, and I think that is a great development for Celiac awareness. The second item of was and continues to be Steve's struggle to maintain his medical privacy in the face of legitimate investor concerns. Can anyone imagine how difficult a situation it would be where you didn't feel comfortable telling your co-workers you have Celiac? Personally, I made the decision a long time ago to tell everybody. But what is good for me and what is good for Steve Jobs are two different things. Sometimes it is hard to be a celebrity.

Wednesday Update. A Time magazine posting mentioned Celiac as a possible cause.

Creating tie-ins to expand awareness

2008-12-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a great article on Alek Komarnitsky’s Christmas lights that increased awareness for Celiac. The thing that I really like is that Christmas lights don't have anything to do with food or medical or support groups. It opens up a whole new avenue for awareness by tying in the awareness message to a topic with broader appeal.

The Christmas season also brings up Christmas cards. Because Celiac is genetic, and many people on Christmas card lists are related, I think that Celiac news should make the list. It doesn't have to be too obvious, but saying things like, "We visited this vacation spot because of the great gluten-free options" can signal to family members that they might want to look into Celiac, too.

Awareness in N. Texas/Newsweek

2008-12-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

It's always great to see awareness activities make it into the media. Here's a good article about James McConnell, 11, who was interviewed by Newsweek. I think it shows a good example of how national exposure can result in a knock-on awareness activity locally.

Celiac screening should be considered for IBS sufferers

2008-12-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

The medical world changes oh too slowly for those who are suffering from Celiac, but it does change. The American College of Gastroenterology has released new guidelines for IBS sufferers, part of which includes ruling out Celiac disease. Of course, readers of this blog would have known that in April 2007, but it's nice to see the docs catching up.

The relevant guidelines are quoted here:

    --  IBS patients with diarrhea or a mixture of diarrhea and constipation
       should be screened with blood tests for celiac disease, a condition in
       which one cannot tolerate the gluten protein found in wheat and other
       grains.

GF Search Engine - needs work

2008-12-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

I heard about a new Gluten free search engine here. I appreciate the effort, but the site needs work. For starters, the site is not just a search engine, it also has a store, which sends a mixed message about the impartiality of the results. Parts of the site do not work with the Firefox browser. Finally, after I entered "awareness" as a search term, the first ad served by Google was NOT for gluten-free products.

It's pretty apparent that the site is simply using a slightly customized Google search. Anyone using Google themselves can likely replicate the results from the search engine. The value in the search engine would be in creating a "search first" list for the celiac-specific and GF specific sites. It's not clear that the results delivered by the search are any better than plain Google results as yet.

The site could be made better by getting rid of the Google served ads, removing the store and making all parts work with all browsers.

25K in 2:26:11

2008-11-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say I was pretty pleased with how my Houston Masters 25K run over the weekend turned out. I think I learned a little bit about my Celiac body during race conditions. I actually pushed this one to race speeds (for the distance), carried water in my 32 oz. water bottle so I could drink when I wanted, and gutted out the last three miles, running.

True story - I think 15.5 miles is farther than I've run consecutively in a long time (if you don't count me stopping for a few seconds to refill my water bottle at mile 11). If you'll recall, my 13.1 mile time trial ended in disaster a few weeks ago. I was determined not to repeat the under- hydration mistake. But I've also made the over-hydration mistake as well.

I carpooled to the start with some of my Katy Fit running club. I set up well - even got a pre-race massage -- and only took about 30 seconds to cross the start line. I started with a cramp in my side, one of those annoying little things - not enough to make you care but enough to make you notice. It stuck with me the whole way. By mile 12 or so, I had taken two electrolytes and had drunk enough to "slosh" -- that is, my stomach wasn't keeping up with the fluid I was putting in... It's an odd thought, because I think I drank about 48 oz. I'd eaten half an Access bar.

The last few miles were interesting. I had to talk myself into keeping running, but I knew I was slowing down a bit and starting to hurt. I struggled up the last hill about half a mile from the finish when two of my (much) faster friends said "Hi" as they blasted by me on a cool down run.

Now, that annoyed me a bit (they looked pretty fresh for all that distance), but it also lifted my spirits and I found I could keep pace, albeit about 25 yards back. So that pickup became my "kick" to the finish line. I did not feel great when I finished, but after a few moments, the nausea passed and I felt pretty good. I got a post-race massage and went home. I would have gone out to Denny's for something afterward, but I just didn't have the energy to explain gluten this time. Afterwards, I wondered if using Celiac as an excuse to skip a social meal was a good or bad thing.

So - what could I do better for next time? My next scheme will be to try electrolytes tabs and bananas -- It's pretty likely I'm not getting enough carbs. Gatorade seems to be unreliable because of the different strengths it is mixed on the course, and my body does not like "gu-ish" things. Maybe Shot Blox?

Then there's the post-race food problem. Everything looks good. I've noticed from using my Wii fit that I overeat after a hard workout or race, so I need to be really health conscious afterwards. So better preparation (stocking the cupboard with good food and not soda) would be smart.

Anyway - good day, good run.

Awesome celiac/run day.

2008-10-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

I had a good chat today with one of my friends in the Celiac Awareness business. We talked about various strategies and tactics to get doctors more likely to diagnose Celiac. It was a great call.

For my run, it wasn't an auspicious start - I barely had the energy to get out the door and mostly walked to the track. Somewhere, I learned it was a good strategy to just get out the door, and then just try to walk, then jog, then run, then do the workout. That worked today, despite a late start and an initially tired start. I was supposed to run 2 miles twice at 8:34 pace, but it seemed easy. My last mile was probably around 7:50, and I finished not breathing hard. Now if I just ice my legs and get to sleep, the day will have ended up pretty good.

Time trial meltdown

2008-10-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

Just a tip - don't do a half marathon time trial the day after a flu shot. Let's not mention that stupidity ever again...

Flu shot - tip for better running

2008-10-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

I got my flu shot today. It's one key tactic I have that helps me get to the marathon start line every year. It's been a long time ago now, but I read somewhere that in Canada, they recommend that immune compromised people should get a shot. They also recommend that Celiacs get a shot.

There must be something to it, because at work, I get them for free and my employer has surely run the numbers. So the strategy is to feel a little crummy now, with the idea that if the flu is going around in January, it will miss or "lightly hit" me, and I will still be able to race. (I suppose I will also have to work that week, but it's a good trade-off.)

I think the better part of the deal is I can be slightly less paranoid in the days leading up to the race. I know runners who won't shake hands the last week before a race. They should get a life. The time to not shake hands is after the marathon. That's when you're the most worn down and likely to get sick.

Old school/New school

2008-10-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing for a half marathon on Friday, but I got reacquainted with the Nordic Trak today. I had a "honey do list" sort of day, and by the time it was time to run, it was too late to go out to the Y or even hit the pavement (tornado warning/thunderstorms passing through). I keep a Nordic Trak from the early nineties around to do low impact workouts. I haven't been on it seriously in years, but tonight was the right night. That's the old school workout.

The new school workout is that I got a Wii Fit for my birthday. I love it, especially those balance games I am absolutely terrible at. The yoga has been a regular feature for about a month now and I've started adding in the strength workouts. I'm making progress.

Finished 5K in 24:21

2008-10-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

I did the Komen Race for the Cure 5K over the weekend. Wow, was it crowded -- Some 30K people, they said. I was in the competitive race, and I finished before some of the noncompetitive 5k participants crossed the start line. Anyway - I ran it evenly but not too hard, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. The weather has really improved around Houston, with lower temperatures and humidity. It's the best time of year to be in Houston.

Oh - and I spent about 5 hours around the outside of the house, cleaning up debris, cutting back damaged limbs and so on. I'm glad I did. The city debris crew have been working my street all morning - and mine is in a dump truck now.

New Autoimmune Awareness/Research Bill

2008-10-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

HR 7078 was filed yesterday with some interesting provisions, and Celiac is one of the conditions listed. As someone who worked hard to put something like this into the Texas Republican Platform, it gladdens me to see the bill introduced. I like some provisions and disagree with others. I hope it generates some good discussion.

First run in weeks

2008-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today I went out for the first run in weeks. Planned vacation, then a hiatus for hurricane Ike has truly eaten into my training time. It felt good to get out again.

Sleep deficit

2008-08-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Summer Olympics are over and it's time to get back on a regular sleep schedule. Training has been nice and boring, which is exactly how I like it. No injuries, no problems, just steady progress. I felt very good for a nine-miler on Saturday.

Amy's 26th (Flanagan gets Bronze)

2008-08-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Amy Begley-Yoder ran 26th in 32:38.28, a little over 2 minutes behind teammate Shane Flanagan, who appears to have set an American record of 30:22.22 in the process. It wasn't Amy's best time, but I think she probably ran the race she wanted to, so good for her. Based on what she said about her pre-race strategy and abilities relative to the field (I haven't seen the race yet), she probably had to put out 102% for too long to stay with the top group and then cracked.

I hope NBC shows some of it now that there's a US medal winner. Amy's bib number was 3140, I think. An interesting note for the future is that Shane's first Olympic appearance resulted in a 22nd place finish, so I wonder what the future holds for Amy?

I nominate Amy for fastest Celiac on the planet - I'm proud of you!

Go Amy! Women's Olympic 10K final starts in 15 minutes

2008-08-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

NBC Olympics has Amy Begley-Yoder starting the 10K in lane 3. Amy had to find her own cook in Beijing. GO AMY!

Runners live longer and have fewer injuries

2008-08-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

I always suspected the findings from this study.

Selected study findings:
Runners were half as likely to die over 19 years.
Runners had fewer injuries of all kinds, including those to their knees.

I've always said that running keeps me young, now I know it's true...

Elite Weightlifter with Celiac

2008-08-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Boston Globe reported a story about a weightlifting athlete with Celiac. I had a couple of thoughts about this interesting article. She keeps three meals prepared at all times. That really surprised me as an potentially effective way to keep thoughts about hunger at bay.

Another was that her parents pushed her into weightlifting at the age of 12, to help with her swimming. I don't recommend that. I think the chances that kids can overdo it and wreck some part of their body for good is just too high.

Finally, she mentioned that on a road trip she bought bottled water and gained a small amount of weight because there was too much sodium in it. Weightlifters hate extra weight because of their weight classes. That's a real "thinker," because sodium can be pretty useful preventing cramps - but weight can be a problem for athletes such as myself. I guess perhaps we just file this under "interesting, potentially useful."

100% Gluten Free Restaurant

2008-07-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

It's a small world when I can review what I believe to be the first wholly GF restaurant in Texas.
Delicious n fit. We were in town for a swim meet and just had to go there. It's at 930 W. Parker #420, Plano, Texas 75075.

I ordered the first chicken fried steak I've had in years. (It was good, not great.) The mashed potatoes with gravy and corn were excellent. We also got the last piece of strawberry cake tonight, which brought back some memories. My kids were more enthusiastic, saying things like "this is heaven." I'd definitely go back, but if you have a large party, make sure you call ahead.

Mayo Clinic Highlights Celiac Disease

2008-07-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

I noted this article today. This one was interesting in that, coming from the Mayo Clinic as an authoritative source, it will likely get lots of media play and quoted widely.

Race last weekend

2008-07-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I did the Jeff and Brede's triathlon last weekend. It was short (for me) 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike and 3 mile run. I was pleased with the results - 116 out of 400 and right in the middle of my age group.

I wasn't pleased with the safety, though. Just after the mount line for the bicycle, I pushed off to get going and looked up to see A CAR coming toward me in my lane (it was in the LEFT lane, and it had whipped around the corner on the wrong side of the street). That was a bit of a surprise, to say the least. I jammed on brakes full and unclipped -- not exactly an auspicious start. The other safety concern was all the athletes who rode their bikes back to their cars WITHOUT HELMETS. That is an automatic DQ and with good reason - but the USAT official was long gone. Some of those people were podium material and ought to know better. If the officials won't enforce it (and stay until the transition area is empty) - USAT shouldn't have the rule. Who is USAT kidding? I have NEVER seen this rule enforced, but I've seen plenty of helmet-less idiots both before and after races.

Treadmill workout(s)

2008-06-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

People ask me where the heck I come up with time to train. For starters, we should all be exercising more. What are we supposed to be doing in the way of daily exercise? An hour? Who gets that and is gainfully employed with two kids, I want to know.

I went to my son's swim meet on Saturday. On a lark, I brought along my running kit. I'm glad I did, because I went inside the Y and ran my workout (10 miles, easy) on the treadmill there. For those of you unfamiliar with "swim meet timing," let me just say you get there very early, the kids hop in the pool real quick to "warm up" and then sit around for an hour or so for things to get going. You actually just watch your child for perhaps 15 minutes over the five hours you are there.

It's just dead time - unless your wife hangs out waiting and calls you when it's his turn. So, I just put my cell phone on the treadmill and waited for her to call. I'd jog out (thanks honey!), watch the race, and then keep going. It was like free time.

2 mile time trial - 14:04

2008-06-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

I did my TT over lunch -- 2 miles in 14:04. It might have been short.

Lost 2 lbs water - did I mention I've been weighing myself to determine my rate of sweat loss?
96 degrees
49% humidity

I'm pretty encouraged - I didn't run negative splits, but the second half effort was much harder. I did go through 1 mile in 6:52 and 1.5 miles in 10:27. The 10:27 is significant, because even if the path is short, I went through the same 6 loops in 10:48 before I started "Beat the Heat." -- so on the same course I've improved perhaps 15 secs/mile (and this run was definitely hotter).

Oh - now this is interesting. I just pulled out my post-Celiac-diagnosis PR/goal list. And right under the 2 miles is a 14:20 I ran in May of 2006. I think that was a treadmill run, so I'm not sure it's a fair compare. Still, I'm running near my best times - whoo hoo!

Gene-Testing measure becomes law

2008-06-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so this is a post on something that happened a while back, but remember, Oprah preempted it. There's been a fairly steady march of legislation that prohibits discrimination on a variety of fronts (racism, etc). One of those fronts, and perhaps the newest one, happens to be genetic testing. The latest version of the law prohibits employers and insurance companies from discrimination when a genetic test reveals susceptibility to a costly disease. It passed overwhelmingly.

This whole area leads to some interesting personal behaviors. Some people I've talked to pay cash and use fake names when they do genetic testing, and others don't do it at all (although honestly that's mostly because of the expense). Also, there's the question that genetic testing for Celiacs is more about ruling the condition out right now than confirming the diagnosis. While the law was likely targeted at conditions that are super-costly, it applies to everyone.

I'm unclear on whether this law will help or hurt the cause of awareness, but on balance, I think it will help. While most people don't like discussing medical conditions, this legislation likely makes it less personally costly to do so. One thing that would help awareness would be a lawsuit brought by a Celiac under this statute, but I honestly don't wish that on either the employer or the employed -- there's better ways to raise awareness. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.

101 degrees...

2008-06-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

I've been doing steady workouts with my Kenyan Way running group. Last night - I was thinking that I'd run a little hard on Saturday and would run with the evening group instead of the morning group. Now I know why 1) more people show up for the morning workout and 2) why the program is called "Beat the Heat". As part of my pre and post weighing, I look at the ambient temperature. Imagine my surprise when it registered 101 degrees Fahrenheit! Oh my! Well - I was sore and stiff, but I warmed up pretty quickly as you can imagine. We ran 25 minutes of hills, did the always difficult core workout and then called it a day. It had cooled down to 96 degrees. I lost 2.8 pounds of water over the space of a sixty minute workout - and I'd had 16 oz during!

Happily drinking Gatorade now and looking forward to an off day tomorrow...

GIG conference ROCKS!

2008-06-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

The GIG conference was held this past weekend in Dallas. I went up Friday night after work for the Saturday session and drove home Saturday, but the long drive, expense, time away from my family, $4 gas and short sleep was all worth it.

The day started at 5:15, when my wake up call came for my 10 mile long distance run. Unlike other conferences, my running buddy was a fellow race director and we talked as only two GF long-distance runners can. Most of it was about the distance, training plans, etc. But a lot of it was about how we were going to meet our respective "next challenges" and in some part, how Celiac plays a role in that. So the miles "flew by" (Literally - she's fast, so I'd agreed to run harder than normal, and my legs are still somewhat sore). But it was an awesome run - and slightly less humid than Houston.

And then there was check-in and breakfast. Food vendors were all around with various dishes on offer, and there was the regular buffet line. I went for a corn tortilla, bacon, and eggs, but I stopped cold after the scrambled eggs. I went into what I call "cross contamination mode" as an entire tower of various breads sat next to the eggs. I told myself, "It's all gluten-free." It took saying it about three times, but I finally started to believe it. And that's when the security settled in - that calm feeling you have when you are "safe." It drives into your core and you say, "this day, I'm not worrying about food, period." A few weeks back, I talked about the "desperate hunger" of a diagnosis and the uncertainty around food. This conference was the antidote - where the food world revolved around me (like it used to, pre-diagnosis).

There was a "buzz" here, too. You wouldn't hear talk of poor business prospects here. Vendors all had smiles and talked about going from success to success in a market growing at 30% a year. Lots of individuals were taking on lots of initiatives -- new races, new newsletters, new research, new findings. There was more opportunity than people, and you could feel that in the air.

The MBA in me also noticed that people were wearing fewer hats as things have become big enough to specialize and divide responsibilities into what people are 'good at." People were in their element, researchers, nutritionists, vendors and participants didn't have to be all things to all people. There's a part of me that wonders if that will be a conference effect, or if people will carry that home, thinking, "THAT part of the community need is something I don't have to do anymore..."

I went to a few sessions. None were boring, so I may blog about them in the future. Time for bed now.

Oprah goes gluten free?

2008-06-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

I was telling my sister how I was going to do a blog on some important legislation that passed recently, when she told me that Oprah is going gluten free. Say what? Well, after some research it turns out that she's just doing it as part of her 21 day cleanse, but there's a big part of me that really doesn't care if she's in it for the short term. Oprah is a monster-juggernaut commercial phenomenon - just look at what she did for the books in her book club. She's done some recent stories on links to autism and Celiac as well.

And for roughly 1% of the Americans that do the cleanse, there will be one Celiac that will probably note a remarkable difference and perhaps seek help. Go Oprah!

Need better data on inactive ingredients

2008-05-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

People who know me know that I am trying to lose weight and get faster this year. Well - I can definitely tell you one way NOT to do that. I had a stomach bug that basically took me out for a week (I managed maybe 16 hours of on and off working over the entire week...)

I worked some of those hours on Tuesday. By Wednesday it was clear I was headed for worse trouble, so I made an appointment for Thursday morning. Having been without solid food for days at this point, I literally dragged myself to the doctor's office, which wore me out. (My wife was running our children around to their various functions.) The doctor looked me over and said I looked 'very bad' -gastritis. She ordered up a slew of tests to be on the safe side. I drove to the lab and revived in their waiting room somewhat.

I decided to go over to the local pharmacy and try to fill my Carafate prescription. I told the pharmacist I was a Celiac and asked her if the Carafate had any gluten. She was holding a bottle in her hand, but she didn't know and said she would need to call the manufacturer - could I wait or come back? At that point, I was wondering if I could drive home. I called my wife, and she offered to check and pick it up. So I drove straight home and went to the futon, where I lay for about four hours in misery, too tired to move. Meanwhile, my wife came home, we found out it was gluten free, and finally got the prescription -- about five hours later and honestly the best we could do, given our circumstances. I finally had my first dose around 6.

The point is - for Celiacs - the "inactive ingredients" may or may not be. If there was better information, I wouldn't have had to suffer for those five hours. Has anyone else out there suffered a similar lag between prescription and acquisition? What coping approaches to you use?

Vacation was good

2008-05-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

After those big events, it's nice to take some time off to recover. I went up to Ohio to visit with family and didn't do much exercising - just the odd run or round of golf. It was really nice to recover and relax. Now if I could just get a vacation from my vacation...

MS150 recap

2008-05-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

Okay - I know the ride was almost a month ago, but there have been some intervening activities you will find out about as I go.

My MS150 ride this year was good, but it beat me up a little more than last year - I think there were two reasons. One, was that there was an unusual headwind blowing about 20 mph for nearly the whole course. The other was that I didn't do nearly as many rides during the week this year as last year, so I ended up with just a little less stamina than I had the last time around.

But, unlike last time, I was well-prepared in the food department and I packed appropriately for the weather (which was cold at night and in the morning).

The thing that probably concerned me the most was the number of cyclists who met the pavement unintentionally. I saw 6 or 7 cyclists on the road - and believe me, it wasn't intentional. I think maybe the MS150 is just too big for it's own good, or the people just are trained enough to be safe out there.

LaGrange was good. I got out a bit to see the rest of the fairgrounds and the town this year. I slept really well Saturday night in my 25 degree rated sleeping bag.

I can say I was truly annoyed by the music selection on Saturday morning (I could see a college fight song or two -- but OVER and OVER and OVER?). It was as if they had only two CDs.

I set a new personal speed record of 41 mph going downhill on the hill right before the State Park. I had to brake for someone on the way down (which I must say irritated me, but I'd rather be safe than sorry).

Of course, the best bit of the ride again was the State Park. I shifted early and didn't drop my chain, although I did misgear an early hill and had to clip out. The rest of it was just joyous, as I tried to maintain my speed through the hills, with some success.

After the ride was over, I was ready to do another one - but I was set to go on vacation.

Wondrous Bike Ride

2008-03-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had one of those runs that makes you feel glad that you are alive. Yesterday, I had one of those bike rides. The weather was perfect - the weather was just a little cold, foggy and overcast, but the roads were mostly dry and not slick. No wind.

I joined forces with some people from my team and we started out easy with the large group. As the ride strung out, someone went by and I hopped on his wheel. Two others hopped on as well and we cruised until we hit the first turn a few miles down. The pack broke up a bit and the road narrowed, but we still made good time and were able to reform. As we descended a long hill, some challenges presented themselves - wooden bridges and road debris, but we skirted those and I suddenly found myself drafting off my teammate, making very good time. I took a turn and we pulled into the back of another paceline. I was content to sit there, but my teammate pulled out and I went with him. I had noticed by now that I was pretty much the fastest one out there going downhill (my weight was good for something). On stretches that were mostly downhill, I would take a pull. We jumped out again, and he pulled, then I pulled and we skipped the first rest stop. My heart rate was really sky high at this point, but I gamely jumped on the wheel to keep the draft going uphill. We saw another paceline and I thought "refuge." So I took the front for a strong pull, then he did (with me struggling) and we finally pulled in the back. I was nearly cooked, 16 miles in, but I thought I might be able to recover. And I did, for a bit. The paceline held together pretty well for another 10 miles or so, but when we turned, I had a bit of crosswind and knew I was in trouble. I finally cracked a mile short of the 2nd aid station, where everyone stopped. At this point, my teammate and I pulled out our maps and said, "Wow - we've covered a serious amount of pavement." It was just 3 1/2 miles to the turn for the longest route. Time off the bike always restores me, so we hopped on pretty quickly and fell into a pattern of "sharing duties." I'd go hard on stretches that were mostly downhill, he'd drag me up sections that were mostly uphill and give some rest on the downhills, too.

Long story short, we traded off that way through the rest of the ride, well matched and flying. Toward the end, I was hurting a lot and standing up on some uphill sections to keep pace, but we pulled into the parking lot with a 19.7 mph average. It was by no means a "long ride" (more like 3 1/2 hours of intervals for me), but it was an immensely satisfying ride with just two weeks to go to the MS150.

Workouts working

2008-03-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've had some pretty good workouts lately. I'm feeling faster, but I'm not really checking my times.

I had two strong Saturday long rides on my bicycle in preparation for the MS150.
I did several tempo workouts, and the night before last even played soccer afterward in a little neighborhood pick up game. I miss soccer.

On the celiac front - I asked if there was a "gluten-free" option for a carbo-loading dinner for the training series. I know there isn't, but it makes me feel better for asking.

I'm losing weight, but oh so slowly. The other day, I weighed in at 4.8 pounds under my starting weight. Then my wife said, "You still have your keys in your pocket?" Well - yes - that's how I weigh in. I guess life is different for people with purses. (I didn't tell her I was also carrying my cell phone and wallet.)

Work and home have been busy.

4 miles fast

2008-03-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Nice, crisp 4 mile run today. GIG newsletter came, too.

I think my offseason is over

2008-03-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've really been itching to get back on a regular workout scheme. Last night, I was free on a Wednesday for the first time in a long time. I was bored, so I created a running workout schedule. I guess I'll be starting that up with some more biking.

My GIG Celiac Conference note came in the mail today, too.

Won my age group!

2008-03-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

I didn't peak for it and I didn't plan it, and I can't remember my time, but I won my age group at a fun run this weekend! We just came back from a cub scout campout and I realized I had enough time to make it over to the high school for the run. So I did. This year, I made it with enough time to chat and warm up. My big strategy was to line up behind the cross country team and run an even pace. The first part went well. Aside for some jostling at the too-narrow start, the cross country team dusted me so fast that there was a good amount of room to run. The second part was more confusing... The mile splits they called out were 7 min, 15:23 and then I finished in 23:22 (I think), for an overall 7:30 pace. Something wasn't quite right on the mile splits. But never mind - I knew I'd done well given my 31 mile bike ride up by Lake Livingston.

The kids wanted to come, too, so they came later with my wife. The weather was rainy in spurts, so they decided to start the kids race early. I didn't have my cell phone, so I had to run back to the truck, only to run to my wife caught in traffic, to turn around to run to the registration table and then to run to the mile start. (Did I mention the earlier 5K?) Then the kids said, "Dad - will you run with us?" "Um, sure"

Wouldn't you know it that both of them outran the pack for first place in boys and girls? It was a small race, but that was sure fun. And the best part wasn't the winning, it was that we all did our best and we did it as a family.

Basketball player improves on GF Diet

2008-02-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

I read a story that was remarkable. An Indiana high school basketball player improved rapidly (increase in 20 point games, double digit rebounds, etc) after being discovered having Celiac and changing her diet. But the improvement in her performance isn't as remarkable to me as how quickly she was diagnosed. Kudos out there to everyone working on Celiac Awareness! Someone really helped her with a quick diagnosis leading to a subsequent recovery and impressive stats. Good luck at State!

Finished 6 week program last night

2008-02-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Last night, I finished a 6 week training program that was on Wednesday nights. It was put on by the local bicycle shop and was a good core workout, a little spin work and followed by a quick run through the park. The weather was nice and cool, making the run one of the most enjoyable I've had in a long time -- nothing like my 54 mile bike, 2 mile run brick workout on Saturday.

One of the things I didn't elaborate on in the last posting that maybe I should have is this concept of being "solid." After I was diagnosed and starting feeling better, I started feeling more solid. It showed up in funny ways. I would accidentally break things, like tree branches or furniture, that I bumped into or kicked (where before they had always won, and I ended up hopping around with a bruise).

Last night, as I was out running, I saw a new picture of what this "solid" feeling was like -- and it involved less weight and more core strength. I know it's pretty vague, but I thought I'd share because I think its a good result.

Starving to Death

2008-02-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of conversations this week that took me right back to where I was five years ago -- the week of my diagnosis with Celiac.

The first conversation was at Weight Watchers. I signed up for the core plan and was going through the whole spiel with the instructor. She was pointing to a continuum of hunger and saying "you need to stop eating before you are stuffed and not get so hungry that you get desperate."

In a flash - I remembered back to that desperate hunger when I came home for the first time and realized whole swaths of the pantry were off limits. I recall being determined I was never going to put that poison gluten back into my system. Hunger is powerful and I remember being confused and at a loss, hour after hour, meal after meal, about what was next and safe. I remember filling those gaps with marshmallows, nuts and coke -- just buying myself time so I could think straight until I could plan the next meal. The experience drained me then and just going back there drained me again. I was surprised at how powerful the effect of that memory on me was. After all - it was nearly five years ago.

Since then, over time I "got healthy" - but my weight drifted up. I think I have a lot of positive emotion associated with that weight gain. To me - the gain has coincided with my improvements in health. So the extra pounds represented being more muscular, healthier, recovering quicker, even a "safety margin" of fat in case I needed it.

Which brings me to my second conversation. I was talking to a person from my cycling class about Celiac. I told him how, pre-diagnosis, I would drink four cokes with my Beligan waffle w/ ice cream dinner, go for a run, then go out with my girlfriend for Texas pecan fudge pie a la mode and not gain weight. He asked me how that was possible, and I explained that my intestines were so destroyed by my autoimmune reaction to gluten that the food just passed through without being absorbed. Even though I was eating, I was literally starving to death.

And when I said that -- starving to death -- I received one of those lightning-flashes of clarity. It struck me that my self-preservation instinct really drove some powerful thoughts and emotions for me around food. It's absolutely silly to think that someone with my means could starve in an country with such ready access to food, but in that twisty, emotional world, not everything makes sense and not everything is logical. These feelings around food, driven by my self-preservation instinct, are some of the strongest emotions I cope with. At (blessedly infrequent) times they've made me snap, be less of a person than I should be and driven me to tears. I realized that it's taken me five years to get the emotional space to want to do something about it.

When I finished an Ironman, half Ironman and marathon in the space of four months, it exploded any idea or emotion I had in my mind that Celiac could hold me back physically any more. With nothing left to prove physically, I've been thinking that the next step in my training is to finally drop the weight. Based on the conversations this past week, I've found that this next step in my journey may be much more about my emotions and mindset than anything else.

Two days a week

2008-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm working out two days a week with a little stretching here and there - Wednesdays with the tri team at Bicycle World and Fitness and Saturdays with the training series. I'll just see how that goes. I've felt like adding some more cycling in-between, so I'm sure that's a good indicator that I'm getting over my workout burnout.

I've decided I'm going to start losing weight, too. I'm not sure how yet (or how much of that I want on my blog).

Set Celiac Awareness Race Date - Swam yesterday

2008-02-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

On the Celiac Awareness front - I reserved Bear Creek for October 25 for the Celiac Awareness Run, so I can start that whole ball rolling again... On a separate note, I was reading an article in a GIG newsletter. The doctor was saying that he encourages his fully healed, asymptomatic patients to think of themselves as "Celiacs, but not having Celiac disease." I think that encapsulates things nicely, so I'll start using that convention going forward.

I must be starting to get the hang of the whole "off season" thing. Last weekend I drove SAG for the bicycle training series I'm taking, and yesterday I swam, which felt pretty good, too. I haven't run in weeks - After a steady diet of workouts for about a year and a half. I'd forgotten how much fun taking some time off can be.

I haven't decided when to start back up with 3 times a week, but I guess my body will let me know when I can't stand not running anymore.

Been sick - workouts on hold

2008-01-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times. "Know your body and cut back when you are tired." Well, I've been sick for four days, two bad and two blah. As is my usual custom, I usually can my workouts on days like that, but now I'm thinking about some extended time off with limited workouts. I'll keep you posted (or not).

From an awareness standpoint, one thing that concerns me is people who are trying to find celiac but misspell it - you know, words like:

seeliac
seeliack
seleac
sealiac
sealiack
ceeleac
ceeliac

I think search engines might pick up and correct come of these, but not all. Any thoughts?

Motivation, anyone?

2008-01-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well - after the marathon, I usually go through a quick period of "post marathon blues" where it just seems a little harder to get up in the morning, get motivated, etc. Every year, I seem to think I'm going to plan my workouts for after the marathon, and every year, it seems I don't.

This year was a little bit better because my kids are so active now I really can't go into a shell for a week or two - they have too much stuff planned. So I think that's good.

Plus - the MS 150 training rides have started. I joined a local team and the ConocoPhillips training series. I promptly made my first dumb mistake in the ride. No - not that we rolled when it was about 40 degrees out - but that I thought the ride would take two hours when it really took three. I ate just one banana at the pit stop and then couldn't figure why my legs were so tired for the last bit. Live and learn.

Nineteen Houstons!

2008-01-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

I wasn't real hopeful for a good time this year with all the "catch as catch can" training I'd done over the last two months. Those of you who know me know I skipped lots of workouts for illness and work. I went into the expo and pulled pacer tags for 5 hours, 5:15 and 5:30, figuring that I would do my typical "fly and die" and gut out a finish around 5:30. My plan was to run 10:45s until I couldn't, then run as much as I could on the way in, taking off my pace tags as my estimated finish time matched the later times.

But something happened on race day and I'm not sure what. Maybe it was the good weather, maybe it was the race atmosphere, but I just ran well within myself and started popping off 10 minute miles. Over and over and over. Before I knew it, I had covered 16 miles at that pace. Then I ran two 10:45s. Then I switched over to a four/one run/walk ratio. I cruised across in 4:54:15, ecstatic.

Did I learn anything? My body seems to react to something different every year now. This year, I think it reacted to not having enough mileage trained at marathon goal pace. I think I need to:

lose weight
put in more speed work (to not only get faster, but to also have more chance to run an even pace for the whole distance. The farthest I've made it without walking is probably 22 miles - a nut I would love to crack. I think at this slow end, I'm really "in between" my running gears.)
put in more base mileage

So I think maybe the FIRST running program (see earlier posts) might really work for me. If I can keep those 10 minute miles through 26 miles instead of just 16, I can knock half an hour off my time.
I've also already signed up for number 20.

My treadmill exploded!

2008-01-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Remember last year how lightning struck nearby and a few things stopped working, including my treadmill? It was like losing an old friend, so I called the local treadmill repair shop for an appointment. The nice lady on the other end politely asked if the treadmill was plugged in and turned on. "I tried that already." I said as I quickly plugged the treadmill back in and bent down on my knees to flip the switch in the back. When I did, the treadmill belt shot forward about 4 feet, landing me flat on my stomach and shooting me back off the treadmill into my scale and some other stuff piled there. I politely told the lady good-bye and told her it looked like it was running.

My family, hearing a yelp and some crashing, had shown up at this point. I proudly announced that my treadmill was working. I put the kill switch back in and (on the sides of the treadmill this time), flipped the reset switch.

The fireworks started. Literally -- sparks were shooting out from the area under the foot guard about a foot from my face. I asked my wife to unplug it (she says I yelled) and get the fire extinguisher. Smoke was coming out between the belt and foot guard, but it stopped. The house smelled of ozone for a good five hours after that.

I called the nice lady at the the treadmill repair place back and made an appointment. It's a good thing it's taper time for the marathon.

Is it Christmastime already?

2007-12-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

With all the training I've been doing this year, the year just literally "flew" by. Tonight, I took the opportunity to go for a run. As is typical - at first the kids didn't want to go, then one did and then the other. We took the baby jogger, and even though one was on a scooter, that didn't last long. He ended up in the jogger with the scooter, too.

All this made for an interesting interval workout, where I was pushing a pretty heavy double baby jogger. I thought we were done with that...

Long run on Saturday planned - it's supposed to be 21 miles, but I'll just have to see how it goes. My training has been pretty random since the Redman.

Exactly one year ago...

2007-12-10T18:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a year since I've started blogging about celiac and training. So much has happened, but something special happened that I found out about yesterday at church. Exactly one year to the day after I had a discussion about my celiac situation with another runner, I found out she was diagnosed with celiac.

It's a moment that gives me mixed emotions. I'm empathetic as I remember the loss and relief I felt from my diagnosis and the hard times that immediately followed as my diet shifted. But I also remember the joy crossing the finish line at the Redman -- something only made possible by my improved health as a result of my diagnosis.

And it's my joy and the coming joy of those who start their own journeys to better health through a diagnosis that keeps me writing.