On The Run



My colorful array of running shoes. I rotate through these 4 pairs.
The blue & pink pair are my trail runners. "Stuffit's" are in two of the pairs,
a cedar packed cloth foot made to insert in your shoes to absorb moisture and odor.

The height of training wrapped up a grueling 30-mile week (and let's not forget about 3 difficult training sessions with Aaron) today, with an 11-miler completed at a 10:40 pace, which I am satisfied with. It was a relief to not have ice, snow and massive puddles littering my route, and to have the warmth of the March sun (that can make 37° feel much warmer than 37° with clouds). At one point I was running along Grandview Blvd. - a beautiful residential street that rises and dips, has many curves, mature trees and handsome homes - and there was a guy across the street running at about my pace. After paralleling me for a few blocks, he crossed over and struck up a conversation. Asked if I was doing the Trailbreakers race (he is doing the half), told him I was doing the South Shore (they're held the same day), and then we chatted about both races and the day's beautiful running conditions until he hit his turn off (he was only out for a 5-miler☺). That was a fun diversion, helping a mile pass by unawares. 

During my run, I practiced rhythmic breathing. I read about it in Runner's World, initially thinking that it would be a cheesy gimmick, but the further I read, the more sense it made.The general premise is that most runners engage in a breathing pattern that has the exhalation occurring on the same footfall. When you exhale, your diaphragm deflates, which loosens your core. When your core muscles are not fully activated, other parts of your body kick in to propel you along, those parts get taxed, and eventually this can lead to injury. For example, if you typically exhale when your left foot hits the ground, then you will be prone to left sided injuries (This is my case. Over the years, I've had issues with my left piriformis, hip, knee and back). The solution is to inhale for three counts, and exhale for two. Since this is an odd number, each time you exhale, you'll be landing on the opposite foot, reducing the risk for injury. This style of breathing is also purported to decrease fatigue while running and to induce a zen-like experience once it is mastered. It's more difficult to do this 3-2 rhythm then you'd think, but when I was able to do it, I found it propelled me up hills more easily, allowed me to feel less tired while running faster, and lived up to it's zen-like claim.

Besides running a lot this week, our lives are constantly on the run. It feels like we've been on a treadmill ala hamster-style for weeks. Besides the usual weekend chores, we've been hustling for the past 3 weeks to get slate tiles and slate-looking vinyl tiles laid in our family room and living room before our new carpet is installed. Carpet installation is set for this upcoming Friday and Saturday, which means we have a LOT of furniture moving in our near future. During the work week, there have been long hours in the office, travel for Joe, to-do lists that get added to before the list can shorten, and miscellaneous, time-consuming non-work related appointments and errands. After the carpet is installed our attention will turn to the South Shore Half Marathon, the filing of taxes, and a quick ramp up for the Wisconsin Cheesy Half Marathon. To quote Kurt Vonnegut, "And so it goes."

Leprechaun Name

Happy St. Patty's Day (one day early) from the Waukesha Gang!

Stumpy McSmelly (Joy)

Warty O'Bourbon (Joe)

Rusty McSmelly (Chaco)

Blarney McSmelly (Denali)

Last year on this day, Wisconsin was basking in the unprecedented glow of  80° sunshine (weather typically found in southern Utah in March), as we destroyed our knees running 13.1 miles downhill in Moab Utah's Canyonlands Half Marathon, while battling fierce winds that would usher in a "wintry mix" for the next 3 days (weather typically found in Wisconsin in March). A wintry mix that, along with our crippled knees, would prevent us from doing our planned backpacking trip. It burned my ass knowing how great the weather was in Wisconsin, while I was huddled indoors in Utah. It also burned my ass that the Canyonlands Half Marathon didn't include medals (almost all half marathons do), that we had nothing to show for injury, for not giving up and crossing the finish line, even if completely hobbled. So, for more ass burning, I will share that the Canyonlands race has decided to issue medals this year, that Moab, UT has sunshine and 70's forecasted for the next week, and that Wisconsin is back to it's standard cold, windy and snowy March. Obviously, this was the year to do Canyonlands!

These are some of the thoughts that ran through my mind during today's painfully slow long run. We're getting close to our first race of the season, so the training load has ramped up. Yesterday was a mandatory rest day, which I struggled to enforce, especially with my new found desire to outdo my FitBit metrics day after day, but was grateful for it by the end of the day (I'll note I was still able to get over 10,000 steps in without any kind of formal exercise!). Following a day of "rest" and 9 hours of sleep last night, I was ready for my 9-miler....What a crappy run it was. Cold, windy, cloudy and icy. Though we only had the faintest dusting of snow - you could see the sidewalk through it - there was black ice in many places and that snow adhered to it perfectly, sneering at those who tried to cross it, beckoning feet to push off too quickly to send bodies sputtering ass over teakettle. I was on to the ice's machinations, placing my steps carefully, which meant I was outside forever. It was a looooong, slow run. Endless. I was 16 seconds per mile slower than I was in last week's 10-miler. There better be good running conditions for my 11-miler next week! This is getting old.  ...and sure, now the sun is peeking out!

Dagnabit!

Just as expected, Chaco's blood serum results have found little to go on. Only two vague positives were detected for Black Willows and a Maple Mix as possible tree allergens. These findings weren't significant enough to warrant attention, so for now, we have no answers. The dermatologist recommends re-doing the blood serum test in a different season, such as late spring-early summer, and with Chaco (ideally) off steroids for a week or two. For now, we just stay the course with giving him steroids at the greatest intervals possible to keep him comfortable from itching too much. So frustrating.

Got To Thinking

I got to thinking about how much more air time Chaco is getting than Denali due to the allergy issue, so here's a picture of Denali, who is just dandy☺ He's a total mama's boy, my shadow. Always wanting to be in my lap (whether I'm on the couch or the toilet), or next to me in bed. He's Sweetie Petey.

I also got to thinking about how little I've written about running lately. Our first half marathon is less than a month away! Yesterday we had a 10-mile run that went well, despite the standing water and hidden sheaths of ice. By well, I mean we felt physically good, our pace was respectable and no one took a tumble, but there was no real joy in it. Winter running this year has been a constant annoyance with strong winds, snowier and icier paths than usual and more often than not, grey skies reflecting on grey streets. We can't run unfettered, there are constant stops to walk over snow piles, around sidewalk squares of ice or depressions of water. This slows the pace down, which means you're out in the cold longer, and that you cannot accurately gauge how well you're really running. At the gym, I've had a massive breakthrough, finding I can run a 9:40 sustained pace with a low heart rate (I'd been stuck at a 10:00 - 10:10 pace for a long time), but have not been been able to see how that will transfer to street running due to the winter obstacles. I'm crossing my fingers that we get a couple long runs in under good conditions before the South Shore Half. C'mon spring!

Got to thinking about other tidbits I may or may not have shared:

• We've purchased new carpet for the entire house. The current carpet is at least 20 years old, the padding is balling up underneath, creating mounds like mini-moguls, seams are showing and corners are fraying. The carpet will be installed at the end of March after we (and by we I mean Joe) completes a tiling project. In 1959 when our house was built, it was not code that you had to have a fireplace hearth or non-flammable flooring in front of it. For both appearance and safety, we're laying slate stones in front of the living room fireplace (which will compliment the slate entry hall). In the family room, we're laying vinyl slate tiles in front of both outside entry doors to help protect the carpet from dirt and wetness.
• Aunt Shirley, by her choice and finagling, will transfer to a better and closer nursing home later this month - Luther Manor, where she'll also have a single room. Very lucky. She is resurrecting talk of engaging in PT with a goal of being able to sit up, stand up and maybe even walk a few steps on her own someday.
• Joe was once a lifetime member of Bally's Fitness. Then Bally's was bought out by Blast, and now Blast lost it's convenient Brookfield location (it was a block from Joe's work). Blast members were told they could go to the next nearest location in West Allis (not convenient at all), so Joe found himself a new and better gym close to home - Xperience. His joining fee was waived, there's no contract and only a $10 monthly fee for the use of tons of equipment and locker rooms. Xperience is about 2 miles from home, but they may move to a vacant K-Mart that is a mile from home.
• My niece, Marisa, has scrimped and saved with a goal to buy her own home. She has found a cute little house in West Allis, and is scheduled to close April 12th!
• My mom, 71 years old and with a knee replacement, has shown that there are no excuses in this life to stop moving or to limit yourself. Yesterday she took 1st place in her age category in the Blarney 5k. Woot woot!

42, Immuno Therapy, Bleeding Money

Thanks to Chaco, I got to take my birthday off. Thanks to Chaco, I had an expensive birthday.

You may recall that Chaco’s dermatologist, the only one within 100+ miles of Milwaukee, works 3 days per week, each day at a different location, with each location being at least 45 minutes from home. Between corralling Chaco, commuting to the doc and time spent in the appointment, I easily need 4 hours off work. When Chaco’s follow up appointment was scheduled for 3/6, I decided why bother with rushing in to work for the afternoon? Might as well take the whole day and pamper myself a bit.

My birthday morning dawned with 6 new inches of snow. Bleck. I slept in a tad, went to the gym, shoveled, and gathered Chaco for a trip to the Glendale vet location (last time we went to Oak Creek). A review of Chaco’s progress (of which there has been none) since his change to rabbit protein, convinced Dr. Stepnick that he is an outlier – one of those rare young cats who does not have a food allergen, but more likely an environmental allergen. Stop food therapy and move on to immuno therapy. The good news is he can go back to regular, less expensive foods, and we can give him the human foods he loves again, such as peanut butter, banana bread and fresh spinach.

To determine what in the environment could be causing his itchiness, a blood serum test is done. Chaco is still on a steroid every 2.5 days to prevent him from scratching his face and ears raw, and apparently, there is a lot of heated debate in the veterinary world about how accurate blood serum tests are when done on a cat on steroids. Dr. Stepnick says she has had success in this area, so we moved ahead with the blood draw. Results will take a week or so.  If the test finds allergen markers, then a special shot can be made for Chaco, a shot that we would administer to him for a full year before knowing if it’s going to help. The shot would initially be given every other day for one month, then tapered to weekly. It could take up to 6 months before any improvements are noted, if any will occur at all, and he would remain on steroids until the shots start kicking in. The shots cost about $70/mos. 

If the blood serum finds nothing, we could do a skin test. This would involve Chaco being put under, having one side of his body shaved, and 64 allergens injected into him. The accuracy of these tests on cats, or the odds of them finding the problem, is 50/50. I’ve already ruled this option out. Those odds aren’t high enough for me to put Chaco through all of that. And with him being such an outlier, I’m guessing the testing would find nothing, and then we’d still be at the last resort option, which is keeping him on steroids for life. Steroids, of course, can cause long-term health issues, meaning we would possibly be sacrificing quantity of life for quality of life. L Let’s all cross our fingers and toes that the serum test finds something. The cost of this appointment? $502!!!!

With a 30% Kohl’s coupon and a $10 Kohl’s birthday coupon, my plan was to treat myself to some new spring duds after Chaco was safely tucked in at home. I had a pit in my stomach after dropping so much money at the vet, but felt I had to take advantage of my Kohl's deals. Shopping felt more like a duty than a pleasure, but I soldiered on, finding a ton of great buys, including an amazing J-Lo dress for summer, and walked away satisfied with my new spring wardrobe. Keeping the spring theme going, as well as the notion of pampering, I went in for my monthly pedicure, opting for a brilliant Kelly green.

Joe came home with Volcano Tofu carry-out, and presents galore. There is no one more thoughtful, observant or prepared for special occasions than Joe. Throughout the year, he keeps his eyes and ears open for passing words or expressions of interest, mental noting things I want, that I don't even recall I want. This year's grand gift was a Pandora bracelet and charms, but everything else was just as great - The Hunger Games trilogy, a movie, a CD, and 2 pair of very unique and delicate earrings. The night ended with my traditional birthday dessert, long time fave combo of brownies (homemade by Joe on the sly the previous night after I went to bed) and vanilla ice cream. Overall, a great day for my 42nd birthday.

FitBit

With my birthday on the horizon, I decided to treat myself to a new fitness toy, the FitBit. This fabulous little device clips onto your bra strap, waistband, or can be carried in a pants pocket while it counts your steps, calories burned and tracks your sleep efficiency. It syncs with your computer (you have to have Windows XP or a Mac) or iPhone apps, and will give you all sorts of groovy stats throughout the day. Most of you are familiar with the general recommendation that for good health, you should take a minimum of 10,000 steps per day (this equals about 5 miles), eat a healthy diet and get enough quality sleep. This device is often used as a motivator for people who are not internally driven or consistent with exercise, as it sends messages and information to light a fire under your ass (i.e. "you're at 33% of your steps goal today" or "only 2 more flights to win a badge", etc.). I don't need the motivation, but I am a metrics junkie and love to know the numerical results of my efforts. For instance, yesterday (which included a 9-mile run) I took over 26,000 steps, which equated to more than 12.5 miles or 40 floors (vertical steps); the equivalent of climbing the tallest Sequoia (earlier in the day when I was at 30 flights, the FitBit announced I'd climbed the equivalent of Victoria Falls). I burned over 2700 calories and my sleep efficiency was 90%.

This last number is the most startling, though not surprising, statistic for me. The FitBit graph tells me that I fell asleep within 8 minutes of going to bed (this sounds right, I usually crash quickly), that I slept a total of 6 hours and 47 minutes, though I was in bed for 7 hours and 42 minutes, and most crucial here, is that I awakened 21 times!!! This is not due to sleep apnea, but primarily due to the Boys who constantly disturb our sleep (research says having pets in the bedroom is terribly detrimental to sleep). They want under the covers, they want out, they want under, they want out, they bring a toy they want us to throw, they want us to get up so they tap our faces, or shimmy under the window shades, or attack our feet and so on and so on. Throw in a couple trips to the bathroom, and some extra waking moments with monthly menstrual night sweats, and you come up with broken sleep. The graphs shows spikes for awake periods, and from this I can discern that I am not going longer than 90 minutes without a brief moment of consciousness. The chart reveals I may only be awake for 1-2 minutes, but that's still enough to reduce the quality of my sleep, giving me a sleep efficiency rating of 90%. Not bad, but it could be better. One night, I'll have Joe wear the FitBit to bed so we can see the profile of an insomniac ... maybe we'll actually find that he gets more sleep then we thought... (or maybe this is wishful thinking!).

I highly recommend the FitBit (and I don't get kickbacks) to all of you if you'd like to improve your health or track what you're doing. It's an interactive unit that can do more than what I've described. You can set goals (weight loss, dietary, etc.), log your daily food intake and the FitBit will help guide you through the process. You can  also join the online FitBit community for support or for friendly competition. It's only $99. Check it out! http://www.fitbit.com/one

Ladies, Who's Hungry?!

This is my PMS week and I have been ravenously hungry. I’ve gone on terrible food rampages all week – eating all my work food by noon, and Hoovering in anything remotely edible at home. It’s been ugly and I’ve felt guilty. I sought solace in researching why we get so hungry and found two interesting tidbits.

1.      Our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) increases during the “luteal phase” of ovulation, commonly known as that week (or two) of PMS, because the body is busy doing more things in preparation for pregnancy or in most cases, the shedding of the uterine lining, which raises our metabolism by 200-300 calories, so the hunger is real. Most women in this phase will experience their hunger as a desire for carbs, and this is because the body is using glycogen stores (the fuel sitting in muscles) at a more rapid rate. It's also our body instinctually trying to elevate Serotonin levels (see #2), which simple non-fruit carbohydrates can do. I could eat toast all day long… ☺

2.      During the luteal phase, Estrogen levels decrease while Progesterone levels increase, causing Serotonin to plummet in the brain. Amongst other things, Serotonin is responsible for making us feel happy, mentally sharp, sated and energized. When our levels drop, this impacts our mood (growl, cry, laugh, snarl, repeat), our cognitions (hard to focus/concentrate, reduced motivation), leaves us tired (this also happens because shifting hormones interrupt normal sleep cycles, leading to fitful nights), and our hunger increases when Serotonin isn’t as prevalent to conduct its normal hunger regulation duties.

Learning the science behind the hunger made me feel better. It also helped knowing my glassy eyed staring at the computer all week, my extreme irritability and sweaty, inconsistent sleep are based in chemical reactions that can be explained by doctors, and not just part of a group of symptoms commonly accepted at face value by the world.

Of course, we do not have to be at the total mercy of our bodies – diet, exercise, good sleep hygiene, etc. are ways to lessen the effects of PMS. Since I’ve already worked out 12 hours this week, have gotten to bed on time to aim for 7-8 hours of sleep and have a healthy plant based diet (albeit way too much of that diet this week!), I shudder to think how I would have fared if I was living life like the average American slug!