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.