Celiac Race had 130 entrants

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...

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

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

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...

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)

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

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