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.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Gluten Free Cake available at Starbucks
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.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
My new running plan...
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.
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.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Ironman Lottery results
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:
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
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Managed care insurers now have an economic reason to diagnose Celiac Disease
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?"
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?"
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Our family in a field of Bluebonnets
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?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
5k in 22:50 - Post Celiac diagnosis PR!
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.
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.
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