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.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Mayo Clinic Highlights Celiac Disease
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.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Race last weekend
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.
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.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Treadmill workout(s)
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
2 mile time trial - 14:04
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!
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!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Gene-Testing measure becomes law
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.
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...
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...
Happily drinking Gatorade now and looking forward to an off day tomorrow...
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