Be careful what you wish for...

Back in an earlier posting, I'd mentioned that you don't want to feel too fresh going into race, because you peak early. Well - I'm three days out, and I still feel sluggish. Some of the workouts have been brilliant, but overall I still feel tired, so it's pretty good. I just want to keep remembering Mark Allen, who started out the Nice triathlon feeling bad, but then rallied for a come from behind victory.

Speaking of coming from behind, that's how work went today. I think someone's bugged my office so they know when I'm planning vacation. Of course, today of all days I had about four/five hours of work dropped on me at the last minute. It's all done, but I still have other work that needs to be finished...

Anyway - it's probably time to start sending out emails to my friends who want to know I'm doing on Saturday. One possible wrinkle -- one computer model has remnants of a tropical storm going through OKC Saturday/Sunday.

Newsweek story

Newsweek put out a great article about Celiac. You can read about it here. I'm sure glad that some of the major media outlets pick the story up occasionally. The Celiac community is still too small, though. The stories seem so familiar to me because the names are all repeats, but I guess that's a good thing. Advertisers will tell you - repetition works.

I had another blasted hot and humid workout today. Eleven days to go before the big race. At this point, I'm looking forward to the vacation.

Flying? Pack your own food

What happened to the workouts?
I spent this week on a business trip touring some of the major airline hubs (one flight delayed, the other canceled). I can say this with certainty. If you want to find a gluten free meal at an airport, it's most likely going to be in your carry on baggage. First, there's nothing on the plane. I flew American going out and their new snack menu is "all gluten." Skull and crossbones for them. Second, the terminals are only slightly better and you have to hunt. I managed a bunless burger and fries (separate fryer!) at a pub. At the Atlanta airport I went to the Chik fil a, hoping to pick up a salad. They were "too small for salads" (or fresh lemonade), so I ended up with waffle fries and a Coke (hey - It was Atlanta after all). Delta's in flight offered peanuts with an acceptable mix of eatable dextrins.

What to pack?
I had stopped by the grocery store to pick up provisions, and I'm glad I did. I took along about 6 packages of tuna/salmon, assorted nuts and 5 GF Larabars. (Cereal in the suitcase) My usual policy is to "forage" as best I can and then dip into my backpack for the rest. Some trips I don't even touch the food I bring with me, but this time around I ate about half my fish and bars. Other good airline trip food includes apples and applesauce in those little packages.

GREAT workout

I knew taking off some time from work would help with my times, but I was shocked this morning. The schedule had a 45 min run with 10 min fast. Rather than run in the afternoon heat, which has been my habit to get used to the heat, I decided to run in the morning. On the way out, I did 8 minute pace and on the way back, 7 and even sub 7 pace! Since this was at the same HR I was doing 12 minute pace just a few weeks ago, I'll have to say I was beyond thrilled. So thank God for keeping me injury free and on schedule.

So contributory reasons were probably the shorter run, lower temperatures, the taper and running in the morning instead of later in the day. Wouldn't it be great if I just broke through a plateau with three weeks to go?

I'm thinking that maybe a "straight swim" of over 1.2 miles would be useful. And a massage. Who would have thought I would spend more on massages than race entry fees?

Tapering -- Finally!

Well - you can't swim when there's lightning out, and you can't taper without a race. I'm just over three weeks out from my iron-distance race and my body is finally overcoming the training load. Now it's just three weeks of easier workouts as I heal up going into the Redman. I'd say that things have gone pretty well so far. Lots of training, not so much injury and sickness, good recovery. When you're dog-tired, it's hard to see the end.

I took a half day off from work today and I'll do the same tomorrow so I can ease into the Labor day weekend on a good schedule. Just a four hour ride and a two hour run. I'm going to have to do it all indoors I think because the weather is going to be rainy again.

I hope I'm still feeling sluggish up until the day of the race - that way I won't feel like I want to burn anything extra or do anything truly stupid. "The hay is in the barn," as they say.


I better not eat dumb, either. Mental note...

Elite Athlete surges after diagnosis

I saw this article on Pubmed about a college volleyball player who was diagnosed with Celiac her sophomore year. Several things interested me about her case.

1. She had a low hemocrit count on her complete blood count (CBC) before she was diagnosed. Me too.
2. She fell asleep at all times after intense workouts before she was diagnosed. Me too.
3. She lost about 20 pounds on her way to a diagnosis - and the medical team thought she had an eating disorder. That didn't happen to me, but it really irks me that medical teams go to anorexia and bulimia right away. Celiac is pretty common, too.
4. They thought it might be cancer. Me too.
5. She rebounded and surpassed her original fitness level after diagnosis and going on a gluten free diet. Me too.

What I'm thinking may be useful here from a medical perspective is the low hemocrit count and the sleeping thing. In athletes (and others?) the hemocrit may presage (or present with) the illness. This is critically important, because doctors will order a CBC for just about anything, but not a Celiac panel. As far as the sleeping goes - I recall the moment I realized I was really improving was the Saturday I did my 15 miler followed by activities with the kids all day, followed by a date with my wife (concert). As I was sitting in the chair at 10:30 pm, I realized I hadn't needed a nap that day. In the past, 15 miles had meant at least a two hour nap.

So my (not a doctor) advice for you is that if you need sleep after your workouts and have a low hemocrit count, get tested for Celiac. Any medical researchers want to pick this up?

Doctor with little clue

Oh wow. I couldn't get over an article I saw in Running Times about Celiac. The Celiac runner had put on 10 pounds, and it was obvious that the doctor answering the question almost totally missed the boat. Doctors need to get away from "go see a nutritionist." It's just Celiac shorthand for, "My medical education is woefully incomplete." (In fairness, it seems that the magazine is doing better with their recent articles, so maybe they are learning...)

My answer:
There's two issues here - the weight gain and the carbohydrate intolerance.

First, I have heard a lot of stories from people who gain weight after diagnosis. I call it healthy weight, because your body is healing and finding out about all those nutrients it has been missing and packing them away in various places. Of course, to doctors, all weight gain is baaad, even though their studies are based more on BMI than on body fat %. So take that advice with a grain of salt (mine, too). But those 10 pounds require some thought. Here are some broad outlines:

• Calorie, portion sizes and food habits need to be relearned as the small intestine heals in the newly diagnosed. Since your body is absorbing more, it can get by on less.
• You may notice an improvement in recovery times, but there may be some issues with the added weight slowing down your times. This balancing act will be something you need to manage.
• Your body may go through some remarkable changes (like being a teenager all over again). Expect it and adjust your training schedule.
  

Second - how do we fix the carbohydrate issue?

• Newly diagnosed Celiacs tend to screw up adhering to the diet (by accident), so look for gluten in the carbs you are eating.
  
• If the carbs are gluten-free, it may be something else, like soy. That reaction may have been muted when your autoimmune system was beaten down, but now is rearing its head.
  
• Try some safe carbs one at a time. I have a protocol I use. Eat it once at home with no workout to see what happens. Then eat it before/during a short workout. Then eat it in the last hour of a long work out. Then eat it to start a workout.
• Not everybody likes gels. Even the GF ones make me sick. For my carb replacement, I like Shot Blox, among others, depending on workout length.
  
• Electrolyte imbalances can make you sick, too.