Monthly Archives: April 2012

Food Sensitivities

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I’m very glad the sun is starting to rise halfway through my run in the mornings. It makes running in the wee hours of the day a lot more enjoyable.

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The past two mornings I have been feeling really good—good energy levels and able to maintain a faster pace overall. I think the slightly warmer temperatures (mid-30s vs. the mid-20s) and the dry roads really help with my pace.

I covered 8 miles this morning and completed my run in 1:09, which is a 8:36 minutes/mile. This is about one minute faster than my average pace in the dead of winter, so that makes me very happy. I figure the faster I can train, the faster I can run the marathon!

I’m just hoping this week of 65 miles isn’t too hard on my body. (Rosy red cheeks from the cool air in the morning.)

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Lunch

I don’t share all of the food I eat, but I do like to highlight really good recipes I’ve tried.

I know my lunch looks incredibly gross, but it was incredibly delicious! Ashley’s Not Dal Saag was definitely a winner. The recipe was basically lentils, spinach, and a lot of spices, and I think the spices really made the difference.

I almost always have half of a sweet potato with my lunch. I will baske 2-3 sweet potatoes over the weekend, refrigerate them, and pack them in my lunch each day. I actually eat them cold, which may sound gross, but I love them this way.

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Food Sensitivities

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned I had some blood work done in order to get tested for food sensitivities.

Initially I went in with the hope of helping my bloated stomach that causes some discomfort in the afternoon and evening hours. (I also have bad gas that doesn’t seem normal.) Plus, I simply wanted to see if I was sensitive to any particular foods.

Well, I finally got the results back, and I was quite surprised by what the lab tests concluded.

I had the following tests done:

- white blood count (good!)

- sodium/potassium/chloride/etc. (good!)

- calcium (good!)

- iron (very bad!)

- vitamin D (good—it must have been all that Hawaiian sun!)

- vitamin B12 (good!)

- thyroid (needs some help)

- food sensitivities (not too sensitive to most foods, except one)

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One of the big problem areas was my level of iron/ferritin; I am definitely anemic! I actually suspected this back in college when I had breathing problems, but I did not know my iron levels were still too low. And to think I have probably been functioning at this level for several years!

I am supposed to be between 50-60 ng/mL, but I was at 12 ng/mL!

I will now be taking a strong dosage of iron to help get this back up to where it should be.

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The one food that I was severely sensitive to was cow’s milk.

The nurse practitioner laid out the following categories:

less than 10 mcg/mL – trace of sensitivity

10-20 – mild sensitivity

20-30 – moderate sensitivity

30+ – severe sensitivity

I was at 69.2 mcg/mL for cow’s milk!

Here are some of the other foods that I have a trace of sensitivity to:

cacao (chocolate): 7.8

beef: 5.6

wheat: 4.8

egg whites: 4.8

peanuts: 4.4

rice: 3.9

garlic: 3.2

tomato: 3.0

pork: 2.8

orange: 2.5

soybean: 2.2

 

The following foods did not affect me:

- codfish

- corn

- peas

- potatoes

- shrimp

- tuna

- walnuts

- yeast

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Since I am was severly sensitive to cow’s milk, I am going to abstain from eating any dairy for the next 6 weeks to see if I notice any difference.

In addition, I am now taking these supplements:

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- iron complex

- multi-vitamin (I’ve always taken this.)

- fish oil (highly recommended for overall health)

- probiotic (50 Billion)

- Nature-throid (for my thyroid which was a little out of whack)

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I’ll be sure to give an update in a couple of weeks on how things are going. I’m excited for what these changes will do for my health; I hope they are all positive!

Shoe Review: Brooks Glycerin 8

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I’ve run in a lot of different brands of shoes, but I’ve never run in Brooks before.

I have to admit, I was a little worried I wouldn’t like them, but they are definitely one of the best pair of shoes I’ve run in.

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I bought the Brooks Glycerin 8 because they fit really well and they were slightly discounted since the 9s were out.

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My feet are odd in that I have wide feet plus a narrow heel, which makes finding running shoes a bit of a challenge.

With my wide forefoot, it is critical I find a pair of shoes has a mesh toe box area along the sides.

The narrow heel means I have a hard time finding a shoe that will not slip off my heel, but these fit like a glove.

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I have really enjoyed running in these and they have held up very well. I have about 400 miles on them so far and they still feel cushiony and well supported. (I usually wear my shoes until 500+ miles because I am a cheapskate.)

I honestly don’t have any legitimate complaints about them. The only thing would be the cosmetic design: they aren’t the cutest pair of shoes I’ve ever owned, but I’ll get over it.

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This was my 5th winter in Alaska and up until this winter, I have never put studs in my shoes to provide more traction when running on snow and ice.

I have used my YakTraxs previous winters, but I wore them on a 11-miler this winter and got two black toe nails from them. Since them, I’ve been giving them the silent treatment and ignoring them. Plus, all the hard-core runners up here give you the “stink eye” for wearing the YakTraxs, so I became a “real” runner and got some studs in my shoes.

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These studs are simply screws from the hardware store inserted in the bottom of my shoes.

I really wanted to install the screws myself, but I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I let the experts at Skinny Raven do it for me.

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Love the Brooks slogan on the bottom of the shoes.

Yes, I do believe running is in my DNA.

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Right now I am switching between these Brooks and a pair of Saucony Hurricane 14s, and I’m really loving the Saucony Hurricans as well. I think they may be my favorite pair of shoes I’ve ever run in!

Weekend Update

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Saturday morning I reached a new PDR (personal distance record) on the treadmill: 13.1 miles!!

Who am I?

I used to refer to this thing as the “dreadmill!” (I still think it is quite boring and monotonous, but it does have its benefits.)

But when you set your mind to something, it is amazing what you can do!

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My marathon training plan called for a half-marathon race today, but I’m pretty sure I would have had to travel to Washington or Oregon to find a half-marathon race this time of the year. So, I decided to put on my run my own race.

With the temperatures still being on the cool side and the roads covered in snow/ice, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep the pace I wanted to, so I considered running it on the treadmill. I threw the idea out to my sister but told her I didn’t know how I would survive since I get bored doing 6 miles on the treadmill; there was no way I could do 13.1! She said, “well, if that guy from Duluth can run for 16+ hours on the treadmill, you can do less than 2 hours on the treadmill.” She is pretty good at putting me in my place and challenging me! So that was that, challenge accepted!

All week I was mentally preparing myself for running 13.1 miles on the treadmill, but I didn’t expect to wake up to clear, sunny skies Saturday morning. However, once I get something in my head, it is hard for me to change, so despite the balmy weather, I was going to run 13.1 miles on the treadmill. Plus, how cool would it be for me to say I ran that far on the treadmill? (I realize a lot of other people have run much further.)

And surprisingly, I was actually excited to run 13.1 miles that morning!

And it wasn’t that bad either—except the last 3 miles. Those were a bit rough. I was constantly looking down at the clock on the treadmill. I ended up finishing in 1:42.

I actually completed 17 miles Saturday morning: I ran 2 miles to the gym, then 13.1 on the treadmill, and finished up with a 2 mile cool-down run back home.

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After a long run, my routine has become:

- light stretching (It is almost too painful to do a lot of stretching.)

- eat breakfast #2/lunch (My food choices usually end up being breakfast items, so I call it breakfast #2 even though it was after noon before I ate.)

- ice bath (I swear by ice baths! Yes, they are painful, but I’ll put up with the pain for a couple minutes for the benefits of a faster recovery.)

- take a shower and get ready (Actually, this time I took a shower first and then did an ice bath—otherwise the hot shower seemed like it would make my ice bath counterproductive.)

After completing all of those things, Craig and I decided to head to Acai Alaska for an afternoon treat since I bought their Groupon the other day.

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We ended up sharing one of their signature acai bowls. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was filled with mixed berries, coconut, mango, and chocolate.

We had no problem finishing it.

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Afterward, we went to REI where Craig bought equipment to put cross bars on top of his Subaru so that he can now buy bike racks/rails to install on the roof.

That evening we watched the movie I Don’t Know How She Does It.

It was a good movie but is definitely a chick-flick. (Craig did not get into it.) I thought it was cute and funny, plus I could relate to the main character’s never-ending list of things to do and trying to be perfect at everything.

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(Source)

Sunday morning I headed to Anchorage Yoga for their Warm Flow class. This is one of their “karma” classes and only costs $7 ($5 if you buy a package of 10), which is a steal of a deal since most other classes cost $14 for an hour-long class.

I try to go to this class as often as it fits my schedule. I really like the class and the instructor, plus doing yoga is a great way to start my day.

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After yoga, I ran to get a few things at the grocery store that I forgot to pick up for our meals for the week. I also washed my car since it was extremely dirty. This is the time of the year when I’m never quite sure if it is safe to wash my car or not, but I was tired of it looking so dirty.

When I got back home, I put my running shoes on and headed out for my run for the day: 6 miles on dry pavement. . . .oh, it has been far too long! It is amazing how much faster my pace is when I have good traction.

I also wore my compression socks on my run. I usually wear my compression socks after a hard run—either a track workout or a long run—but I rarely wear them when running. I’m not sure how much I like wearing them while running, and I’m not sure if they help either. But I figured it couldn’t hurt.

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After I got back from running, I was starving, so I quickly whipped up my new favorite open-faced sandwich.

sourdough bread (toasted) + avocado + egg + cheese

I’m sure I got this idea from someone’s blog, but it is SO good! And easy too!

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Well, our snow is slowly melting away. We’ve made quite a bit of progress in the last 10 days, but there’s still a decent amount out there.

I’m just hoping it is gone by May??

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Last year at this time, there wasn’t any snow left!

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Well, once again the weekend has flown by. I’m hoping this week will fly by as well. Only 24 more days of school. Not that I’m counting or anything. I had a bad day on Friday, so the sooner this is over, the sooner my stress will go away!

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Question

What was your highlight from the weekend?