Um...was I blogging...

Watching movies, shopping, and eating lots of Turkey [munch munch), homemade cranberry sauce [munch munch], and spectacular peppery, orange zesty, pecan goodness [munch munch munch]. I will return to blogging the Thursday after January 4th and report my results from the half marathon (unless I get the hankering for a good blog before then). Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Another Running Milestone...Or Two

I’m coming up on the last few weeks before my first, ever half marathon on January 2, 2010. I’ve been keeping hydrated with my Nathan waist pack and Fruit Punch Gatorade (the only Gatorade version at Wal-Mart that doesn’t have the “unknown” vegetable oil ingredient) and I’ve been saving my corn days for Saturdays when I do my long runs. This past Saturday I reached another milestone; I ran 12 miles for the first time. Yeah!! I surprised myself too by keeping it at a pretty steady 10:30 or so pace. I’m obviously cheating a bit on my time because I’m stopping my stopwatch whenever I get a quick drink from my waist pack (which I will rectify on my next long run on Saturday 19).

Obviously I’m incredibly slow in comparison to most everyone training for halfs in the Road Lizards club, Kevin, and many small children, but I’m quite excited. In comparison to my first *ever* mile about two and a half years ago, where I ran somewhere around a 16 or 17 minute pace (I appreciate your calf pain, Kevin, my loving husband, as you shuffled next to me), I’m quick as grease lightin’ now!!! For those of you who don’t know, Kevin got me hooked on running in order to help me get off of my 9-10 year Claritin D usage, which was giving me horrible headaches and more health problems than allergies by themselves. My resting heart rate was somewhere around 90-100 bpm on the medication, where now I’m right around 47. Whahooo!
Anyway, this past weekend’s run was not just unique because of distance and time, but also because of another element in my run. Let me start from the beginning of my long story…

Kevin and I bought an extraordinarily hyper Siberian Husky, Kaiya, this fall in the hopes of training her to become a running partner. While she’s been too young for really long runs (Kaiya is coming up on 4 months), we’ve been chasing her around the back yard, taking her to training classes at Petsmart, and walking/running around the block. About three weeks ago, we found a red bald spot on Kaiya’s front paw and took her to the vet. “Ring worm,” the doctor concluded. It’s a fungus, actually, and not a worm that gets under a layer or two of skin and will cause hair loss and skin irritation. Even humans are susceptible. On mature mammals with healthy immune systems, it’s suppose to go away by itself, but vets suggest medical treatments for young puppies and cats. We’re not sure where she picked it up, but let’s just say that two sulfur baths (with a cone head) and the application of sulfur-like ointment twice a day every day for three weeks later, Kaiya’s spots look to be healing up. She’s still missing some hair though…hopefully that will come back in time.

Now comes the downright interesting part. On Thursday last week, I noticed a little itch (just a slight irritation mind you) on one of the toes of my right foot. I largely ignored this considering Kevin and I have both experienced our hypochondriac moments as we’ve been treating Kaiya: “Kevin look at that, it’s itching, is it red…?” or “Katherine my hands are flaking, what do you think....” However, Friday the itching turned to a burning, and the area enlarged to all the toes on both feet. So, I calmly did some quick research online as I rubbed my feet into my socks under my desk at work, and it looks as if ring worm is related to athlete’s foot.

Yeah me! I’M AN ATHLETE!!!!!

This past Saturday, I not only ran my first 12, but also had my first (and hopefully last) bought of athlete’s foot. On Friday, Kevin and I perused the foot care aisle at Wal-mart and picked up a value-sized tube of anti-fungal loveliness. On the tube, in delicate print, it says that the cream should be applied twice a day for a month. During that time, several web sites recommend that I don’t wear non-breathable shoes or go barefoot, but instead wear breathable socks as much as possible. Hee hee. Fungus feet me!

Below is a quote that I found when I was researching home remedies for athlete’s foot. The ah…let’s say delivery of the information could have been changed to increase the persuasiveness. The following is not for the faint of heart.

“I know this will sound nuts [b]ut it really work[s]... urinate on your feet where the affected areas are let it soak there for a minute or two then rinse off with warm water. It does not have to be your own urine.. its easiest done in the shower or 'peeing' in a cup. You will feel results after on[c]e or twice and see results in a week or so.. the more you do it the better!” (Quote from http://www.myhomeremedies.com/topic.cgi?topicid=18)

Ohhhh, “the more you do it the better” and ellipsis after “it does not have to be your own” kills me every time. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…

If you can put aside your fears of fungus for a second (just breathe deeply and exhale; try not to think about cheese or yeast), I’d like to share another recipe. When Wal-mart runs a good sale on large “butt” hams (thank you Glenn and Sandy!), Kevin and I like to take one home, chop it up into fist-size pieces, and boil it all for 3-4 hours.

“Boil it” you say? Yes, I say! While we always purchase ham that does not contain a milk, wheat, or offending oil-type product, we like to boil out as many preservatives and junk as possible (not a perfect process, but healthier). If we get a big enough ham, we tend to make several different recipes like the one below. Kevin says this one tastes like pizza because of all the Italian spices, but you’ll have to try it for yourself and see. This dish has been modified from one of my Mom’s recipes (Thanks Mom!). I’ve omitted the bacon that the original recipe called for, added more onion, cooked Japanese Sweet rice separately (instead of mixing in regular long-grain rice), and doubled the ham. I like to keep the rice separate so that I can eat just the Purloo leftovers after my “rice day.”

Purloo (thick stew)1 large onion, sliced long
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 16 oz bag of frozen okra
¼ tsp of garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove)
2-2 ½ cups of cooked ham, chopped
1 can of tomatoes, chopped (try the salt-free kind for a health kick)
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ teaspoon basil
1 pinch of dried red pepper flakes
Cook in a large, non-stick pot the onion, bell pepper, okra, and garlic until onion is soft. Add the ham and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Then add tomatoes, thyme, salt, basil, and pepper flakes until completely heated. Add a couple spoonfuls of purloo to a bed of rice on your plate using your choice of rice (my choice being Japanese sweet rice since I’m not allergic).

Makes approximately 5-6 servings. Great for leftovers!

PS. Future blogs won’t all be this graphic.

Corn Day For Me and You

Yesterday was corn day. Yeah!!! I love me some corn day! You got your cream style corn, corn on the cob, frozen sweet kernel corn, corn flakes, frosted flakes, corn noodles, tacos, corn meal-fried fish, corn tortillas chips, corn oil, corn bread, corn bread dressing, fruit popsicles with corn sugar, corn syrup, candy corn, gum, corn tortillas…wait a minute people! Perhaps I should explain my enthusiasm before I run out of room describing all of the corn products in the world.

“Corn day” is a day in which I allow myself to eat products made from corn. I usually have a corn day twice a week because corn products usually have wonderful carbs that are great for running. Since I can’t have wheat, corn is wonderful because I can eat all of the products above. Why, might you ask, do I only eat corn products on certain days? This is based on the theory of the rotation diet.

Now, I’m not sure what “leaky guts” are (as described in the linked article), nor do I know if this is a guaranteed way to eliminate the formation of new or worsening of current food allergies. However, rotating types of food is theoretically supposed to allow my body to rid itself of each type of food (say corn, or beans, or oatmeal), essentially get it out of my system, before I introduce it again. I don’t rotate all food because it takes a great deal of time to plan out a week where you only have tomatoes once, celery once, etc. for every food. But, I do have a bean/nut day (ha ha, nut day!), corn day (two in fact), oatmeal day, goat milk day, grape day, Japanese short-grain rice day (I’m not joking here), and egg day each week. These are foods that I am slightly allergic too, but that I’ve been able to add back into my diet without symptoms since I’ve been running (yeah!). I’m not actually allergic to goats milk, but since I have such a strong reaction to cow milk, I try not to take for granted such a precious thing. Did I just hear a baah?

So yesterday was corn day and one of the meals that my husband and I love to make is tacos, or “topos” as we call it in “baby voice.” Tapo fixings are great because I can use up any of the leftover chicken, beef, or turkey from previous meals, but also have salad fixings for the next day after we make tacos (for a non-corn day). They’re also great because it’s kind of a “build your own” meal and my husband and I don’t have to eat the same toppings. My husband, for example, loves to add cheese, avocados, extra lean ground beef (usually says 98/2 on the package, which means 98% meat, 2% fat), onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa. I love all of that, but I leave off the cheese unless I want to make it a “goat cheese and corn day.” Tortilla chips and salsa on the side are a must for me too. When we have the time, I like to fry up the beef with no added oil in a pan, a small onion, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste, but we quite often microwave and just add salt and pepper.

Instead of beef, we’ll sometimes use up left over baked or boiled turkey or chicken and make up some fajita meat. Here’s my recipe for fajita meat below. Can’t really go wrong with this one even if you get a little more of one ingredient than what’s listed here. Thanks to my mom for teaching me how to make a “One-pot-wonder” for every occasion!

Fajita meat (makes about 6-8 tacos or about 4 salad toppings)2 cups of cooked turkey or chicken, ripped apart, small and stringy for taco stuffing
2-3 tsp Bolner’s Fiesta Brand Taco Seasoning
½-1 tsp salt
1 small can of mild green peppers (not jalapeno)
1 large onion
¼-1/2 cup of your favorite salsa (we like Herdez because it has no vinegar)

When we use turkey meat, we typically buy a whole turkey (largest we can get), add salt, wrap it in tin foil, stick it in a baking container with a lid, and bake at 325 degrees for 5, 6, or 7 hours (depending on how big the Turkey is and the USDA’s recommended cooking time). The Turkey comes out incredibly moist and you don’t have to add butter, oil, or spices. I learned this recipe from my mother in law (thanks!).

When we use chicken, we typically boil thighs or breast (ahem…chicken thighs or breast) in a big pot of water because there’s very little preparation work, but we’ve also been known to take bake the chicken in a metal container with a lid so we can add lots of spices (like oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil, and salt). We just add lots of water to the pan so we limit the use of oil. I’ll have to share more specific recipes for both chicken and turkey in another blog.

Once you’ve got your meat, just add all of the ingredients into a large sauce pan and fry it up on medium-medium high with no added oil. If you want more veggies, try adding a bell pepper or extra tomato. I typically will keep a lid on the pan until the onions are fully cooked, and then take the lid off so as not to make it soupy. Make sure you stir a couple times while the onions are cooking, then stir regularly after you take off the lid.

Makes about 6-8 tacos or about 4 large portions for salads

Running for Health, and Other Reasons...

For the past month, I’ve been thinking how cool it would be to keep track of my exercise, but I was trying to think of why I would want to share that information over the Web. You know, like am I trying to inspire other people? Is this solely for the purposes of tracking my exercise so I can improve/look back? Am I trying to connect with other athletes (whoa, am I an athlete??)? Am I just trying to show off? The way I figure it, no one wants to read a selfish blog nor do I think calling attention to myself for the sake of attention is a biblically based move.

After thinking and praying about it for a while, I decided that my real motivations were that I really want to just inspire people, you know, people who don’t even have athletic backgrounds, like I used to, or who do know how to sprint a 400 but haven’t done it in a while and would like to get back into shape. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any delusions of grandeur; I know I’m not a running or exercising expert. However, I used to think that walking a mile was hard where now I’m running 8-11 miles every other Saturday. With the help of a very supporting family and God, I have drive and I’d love to share it.

Secondarily, I think it’s a great way to keep track of my stats so I can improve. My husband got me to start an excel sheet when he inspired me to start running three years ago (Bless you!!!). But, it’s an excel sheet. It’s in black and white. There are no pictures, there are no graphs (although I could make one, but where’s the ease in that? J), and no one ever sees it but me and my husband so I don’t get feedback from many people. While I tried to keep as many anecdotes about my run to make it somewhat interesting, I lost motivation quickly (as shown in the fact that my husband was making many of my entries for me in the end; poor man!).

So…once I decided that my two reasons for creating a running blog weren’t completely selfish, I checked out a few random running blogs to get a feeling for what makes them successful. I found that the most successful running blogs do three things: (1) keep track of stats, (2) provide anecdotes to training or training lifestyle, and (3) have a theme (like https://owa.angelo.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=a11a401e57854b29917c58653bc1a2dc&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fitmepink.blogspot.com%2f or https://owa.angelo.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=a11a401e57854b29917c58653bc1a2dc&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.youmotherrunner.com%2f).

Well, I can do the first two, but what about the third? What about a theme? On a random internet search, I was looking at this really fluffy Web site that Gwyneth Paltrow started, located at https://owa.angelo.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=a11a401e57854b29917c58653bc1a2dc&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.goop.com. She’s all Zen like and advises local produce eating and $1,000 dress shopping and junk, but I started thinking about the recipes that she provides on her web site. And that made me think of my allergies… so if you know me, then you know where this is leading, probably.

This is my “Allergic to Sitting” Blog. While I’m quite big on grabbing a container of nuts or a bag of chips and watching Lord of the Rings in our home theatre, running allows me to do that and I’m not talking calorie-wise. I have some funky weird food allergies (or you could call them intolerances if you’d like, it doesn’t matter since my body obviously can’t handle certain things no matter what you call it). I’ll post my current list of allergies here in a bit, but basically I want to talk about my breakthroughs and frustrations with food as me and my husband work around and through my allergies with exercise and diet. I’d like to use this blog to share several things. I would like to provide what recipes that we use, how to find alternative foods of all kinds (cheaply, healthfully, and locally) and using them while training, how I eat out at restaurants, Web site and book recommendations, food holiday frustrations, how I weaned myself off of allergy medications, how I’m feeling on a daily basis, how my husband survives, maintaining a healthy weight on a limited diet, and then post my training log and upcoming races. I’m not sure if it’ll gain a huge following, but if this information can help you, one reader, GREAT!!!!