Country Music Marathon

It's almost time!

And yes, I am beginning to freak out. No, I didn't train enough... No, I did get to my goal race weight... No no no...

So I am trying to focus on the positive! Like non race things... like where to shop and eat. =)

Since Huntsville is currently without decent grocery shopping, I will definitely be heading to Whole Foods and Trader Joes to pick up some yummy treats. Because this race cost a huge enterance fee, plus hotel, gas, etc... I am on a budget for meals! When GF and on a budget, planning is key. After some googling I found what I was looking for. It took awhile b/c I was avoiding all southern food...and being in the south, that is like 90% of all the eating options. But I'm not a chicken fried steak kind of person, and shrimp & grits as a pre-race dinner sounds gross.


To avoid high costs, I have decided to buy dinner from Whole Foods. This will likely be some soy sauce free brown rice sushi. I love their tuna/salmon rolls. And it is a good dinner for before a big race. The brown rice makes it hearty and filling. The fish lends a grease free protein source. And the fat from the avocado makes increases the satiety level and makes the calories be digested more slowly. I think I'll add a smoothie or side salad too.

Lunch is the cheap option for going out. I found this place called PM. Its a little sushi cafe, with affordable meals. No I won't be having sushi for both meals, that would be overkill (though still delicious). At PM they have salads, rice bowls, sushi, desserts, and even thai nachoes (yum!). Their featured rice bowl for Fridays is a duck and pineapple fried rice bowl. That is what I am going for and requesting fried rice without soy sauce usually isn't a big deal. If I'm lucky they'll serve bubble tea too, though I didn't see it on the menu (hey, a girl can hope!).

Okay well that's my positive note for Nashville. I should probably start thinking more about the actual running part of this trip...

Toenail Debate...

Having 10 toenails is normal.
So...
Does having 11 make you a freak or a more evolved person?
Hmm....

Right now I'll stick with freak. But whatever, I'm still wearing sandals. Hopefully one will fall off soon and I can return to having beat up, but not freakish feet.

Marathon Breakfast

Alright, so normally I don't eat before runs. Maybe a banana if I know I'll be out for a while, but generally thats all. Well in order to achieve better results, I am working on perfecting a breakfast that will be hearty and healthy, without upsetting my stomach! I tend to get mad GI upset before races. This has nothing to do with gluten, but with the fact that I am a ball of freaken nerves before a race. Normally I don't get too stressed or anxious about anything life throws my way... until it throws me a starting line. Then forget it, I'm a wreck.So this breakfast needs to have enough calories and carbs to fuel 26.2 miles... but no grease, no fat, and nothing too refined ( i don't want to crash at mile 20 b/c of silly simple sugars!). Oh and this breakfast should have some vegetables in it b/c I am always looking to stuff more roughage down my throat. Of course it has to be GF, but that's obvious.


Here is what I've come up with...



GF Oats, dried cranberries, shredded zucchini, walnut pieces, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fleur de sel. Very tasty. Add a little milk if you want!
I made a large batch so I can have this healthy treat all week long.

BLT

Does it get any simpler or more delicious than a BLT? It does if you use Maverick Ranch's uncured, all natural bacon and a spread of avocado mashed with vegannaise.

The 'bread' is a skillet flat bread that I conjured up using buckwheat, millet, flax meal, and other GF friendly stuff. =) I love being 'forced' to eat healthy whole grains instead of that shit tasteless white bread. Bummer....

Eating this way gives us glutarded athletes a huge advantage. Or glucose levels aren't prone to spiking as much since our diets are high in unprocessed, fibrous grains. Advantage goes to GF eaters!

Wellness Screening

A great part about working in wellness is that I get to partake in regular screenings. Some people may despise cholesterol checks and such, but I thoroughly enjoy them. If I could, I'd have my finger pricked daily just to track the numbers for fun. Knowing glucose, cholesterol, and all that fun stuff is a great starting point for improving nutrition. Can't fix it if you don't know its broke right?

Here are todays results:

BMI = 20 (okay I already knew that one...)
TC (total cholesterol) = 179
HDL (the good stuff) = 65
LDL (bad stuff) = 86
TRG (triglycerides) = 141
GLU (glucose) = 83
Iron = 10.5

Overall these are great readings. All in the 'optimal' readings, though I do think the HDL should be higher. There is one reading that falls into the 'red zone'; iron. Blasted iron. My celiac disease causes me to be chonically anemic. I suppose that's better than constant GI issues, but still, as an athlete I need my iron!!! Sigh, guess it is time to call the hematologist again and set up those pesky iron transfusions. I am impressed that it is the first time in a year I am having to go in for more iron... last yr I had two, 3 month sessions of injections. So this is a positive progression. And a reason to eat a hunk of steak (of course I know that won't help, but still...)

Glutarded Easter

Holiday meals are a struggle for all new glutards. Avoiding some of your old favorites, stressing out about consuming some hidden gluten, getting annoyed with family members that ask if you're on a 'low carb' diet... the list goes on. I've had my fair share of those, well okay, one years worth of glutenless holiday meals, but I've got it down now.

This Easter Tyler (my husband) and I were sans family, so it was just dinner for two. Since I had the Oak Barrel 1/2 marathon the day before, I started the day with a 3 mile, slow recovery run. My legs were screaming 'stop moving' the entire time. They burned and ached, so I decided not to push it. After the short bout of exercise, it was time to concentrate on the eating. Of course, there was one thing to do before the cooking began; pour some mimosas. I don't think any Easter morning would be complete without mimosas.

Like any traditional holiday dinner, we started with the meat. Ham in this case. I scored the top, rubbed on a mix of mustard, spices, honey, and OJ then shoved the giant hunk of animal flesh into the oven. In no time it was smelling delicious. We wanted a light, spring meal so our sides consisted of charred asparagus and a cold potato salad. I think the salad was the highlight of the meal. Steamed and cooled fingerling potatoes, sliced radishes, chopped sugar snap peas, and sliced red and yellow bell peppers all tossed lightly in a Caesar dressing. Yum! (and yes, most caesar dressing do contain gluten in the form of soy sauce, so make sure you find one without that harmful ingredient).

This meal was everything I hoped it would be! We finished the day with some chocolate covered strawberries. I've never missed gluten less!

Oak Barrel 1/2 Summary

With my standard pre-race sugar free redbull and my game face on, I was ready to head out to TN and do some running. And this was my first race as a Fleet Feet runner!!

Let me tell you that my mood definitely faded from there...

First of all I was driving Tyler's BMW Z4 to Lynchburg. Sweet ride right? Ha, hardly. This was my third time every driving stick shift and the first time I was doing it alone. Stress level through the roof!!! Absolutely not what I needed before the race.
Sigh.
But I got there with no visible damage done to the vehicle.
Of course as soon as I park, the sky darkened and the sounds of thunder rumbled fiercely. Minutes later, the down pour began. I was hoping to make this 13.1 miles more like an 18 miler with some warm-up and cool-down miles... but quickly ditched that idea when the rain began. Sigh again.
On to the start line... huddled together with the mass of runners not wanting to get soaked an early then we must. When the starting gun fired, I was off! I tried to stay with the front group, but my recent history of starting too quickly and dying later in the race came into mind, so I backed off a little. Wet, but running well the first few miles... until the hills began. Since most of my training was done is Florida, I have little concept of hills. A causeway is all I had for any incline training, and I was just fine with that. Flat, fast running was perfect! Ha, I was not prepared with what was to come at after mile 4... A mile long climb. At one point I just stopped. Only for a split second, but my legs did cease to move and I wondered if I could actually survive this 'hill'. But I took a big, deep breathe and kept on truckin'. It didn't feel much like running for the last quarter mile of that climb, more like I was on a stair machine. UGH. You can imagine how relieved I was to get to the top. Down never felt so good. The rest of the course was rolling hill with a short, steep hills to conquer. The worst part was my swamp feet. It was raining pretty hard at one point and my shoes were soaked. Every step was uncomfortable and squishy. It was my first time being jealous of the lone barefoot runner. The last 3 miles of the race were pretty flat which restored my joyful mood.

I crossed the finish at 1:37:32. Not a PR, but a definite accomplishment!! I ended up with second place OA Female. =)



This is the finisher's 'metal'. It's engraved on a piece of oak barrel!


The only thing cooler was this! My 2nd place OA Female reward... Half of an oak barrel lid!