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.

Met a Celiac on a 21 miler today

What are the odds of that?

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

Adjusted to the heat

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.

California = Triathlon Mecca

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.

First run in weeks

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

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)

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

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

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...

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.

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!

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...

GIG conference ROCKS!

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.

Motivation, anyone?

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!

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.

Exactly one year ago...

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.

Rest Day + Great Nova

Yesterday I went out with my kids to shake things loose, so today's a day to relax. I watched a great NOVA on PBS (we recorded it) about a team of out of shape people who trained 40 weeks for the Boston Marathon. They had all kinds of health problems and emotional issues and really struggled and achieved. It's well worth watching, although I must admit I winced pretty hard when they talked about stress fractures.

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?

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.

Good Day/Bad Day

Training for an Iron-distance triathlon results in having to make trade-offs. I think one of those happened this weekend. I'm in the middle of the toughest part of the training cycle. I ran a 10k Friday (in the heat), a 20K Saturday (in the humidity), and then tried to be up for a 5 hour bike ride on Sunday. It didn't happen. I pretty much quit at 2 1/2 hours. I could have 'gutted it out' - but I was already enervated. Sometimes you just have to know your body and know when to pack it in. Better luck next week, eh?

I signed up for the sleep-in option on the Austin Celiac Awareness Race - Got Guts 5k. It's the first time I've slept in for a race (on purpose...). It made me remember the one time I woke up half an hour before the gun for a marathon. I ended up running a bit more than just 26.2 that year, and my chip was probably the last one over the start mat.