Friday, March 29, 2013

Injured

I've taken the last week off because I strained a rib muscle coughing so badly I got an X-ray to make sure I hadn't broken a rib.  Unfortunately, this was the week I was supposed to start training for the SF Half Marathon.  I am going to re-start training this weekend and see how it goes but I may skip that race and plan for a trail Half in July. It hurts to breathe deeply and when I twist my torso but I am hoping that I can keep my bouncing to a minimal while running and be able to continue my training without prolonging whatever I've pulled in my rib cage.


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Temporarily grain-free

I'm doing South Beach-ish style eating right now to lose the 12 pounds or so I gained over the holidays and also because I'm gluten intolerant and shouldn't be eating lovely, delicious breads and other gluten-filled things, anyway.  I say South Beach-ish because in the 4 days since I've started, I've broken down and eating half a milk chocolate bar and have had 2 iced lattes from Peet's.  So I haven't stuck to the no-sugar part.  However, I have not had any grains and have been eating a lot of good protein and vegetables.

I don't buy fully into the restriction of "healthy" fats in the South Beach diet... I have no problem with full-fat cheeses and dairy or olive oil and even some butter.  I also prefer limited real sugar rather than fake sugar-free sweeteners.  One thing the South Beach diet does get right is LOTS of vegetables and eating low-glycemic foods in general.  So, I have been having vegetables with breakfast. As snacks. As sides. It's a much better way of eating than what I have been doing the past few months at least, which involved a lot of convenience food full of gluten.

Example of what I'm eating lately-
Breakfast: Asparagus and goat cheese omelette
Lunch: Baked cod and roasted cauliflower
Dinner: Chicken fajitas with onion and bell peppers
Snacks: Pistachios, celery with peanut butter (no salt, no sugar, just nuts peanut butter)

I feel pretty good physically eating this way and while I won't be grain-free for more than a couple of weeks, I will add back in whole gluten-free grains and fruit eventually, it is helping me to break habits of excessive sugar intake and promote eating more vegetables.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Barefoot in a Port-a-potty / 10k Race Report

I ran the Go Green St. Patrick's Day 10k in Los Gatos, California yesterday.

It was a slightly chilly  morning and my feet felt a little numb as I walked up the road to the packet pickup area. I picked up my race number and shirt and walked around to warm up my feet.  The line for the bathrooms was long, so I jogged up the hill adjacent to the starting line and looked for... a bush of some kind.  I didn't find any that were suitably secluded so I jogged back down the hill and waited in line.  I considered getting my flip-flops out of my car to enter the Port-a-Potty but reasoned that: 1) I didn't have enough time to go back to my car and 2) Really, is a Port-a-Potty floor that had just been placed there that morning that much potentially hazardous than the sidewalks and streets I have run on before? Probably not. So yes... I was barefoot in a Port-a-Potty.

Anyway, on to the race. I lined up and waited for the race to start. There was a sea of green shirts, tutus, hats, and even a guy wearing the Irish flag as a cape. We started off slightly crowded but that was completely a non-issue by the 1/2 mile mark. We were running on the paved roads of Vasona Lake Park and soon were on the surrounding streets, which were relatively smooth and not a problem at all for my soles.  A few people commented amongst themselves at my bare feet but no one came up to ask me about it. The first four miles were mostly a gently downhill and the last 2.2 were a slight uphill. Not a tough course from a hill standpoint, which is probably why I was able to pull a personal best time of 56:54.  I was elated to find that out after crossing the line with a time of 1:07:15, not realizing that the clock was from the start of the Half that was running the same day and had started 10 minutes before the 10k.

A woman taking the timing chip ankle straps at the finish line asked if my feet were Ok. I gave her an enthusiastic "Yep!" and picked up my awesome medal and headed home.

I don't have any race pictures to share because I look like I am having a serious, possibly heart-attack inducing time and not a fun time, which it was.


Sunday, March 3, 2013

Weekly Mileage Ending 3/3

2/26- 3.03 miles
2/27- 3.15 miles
3/2- 3.08 miles
3/3- 8.3 miles

Total: 17.56 miles