Rolling

I've started rolling out the major leg muscles. Apparently, it helps break something down and loosen them up? It has something to do with preventing injury, especially knee related. At first, rolling out my outer thighs hurt pretty badly on one side but not the other, so I concluded that I was lopsided, which must mean I have to work to even myself out.

Okay, so there is one person in my household who reads books about sports, fitness, and avoiding related injury. Two guesses who this person is not...

In any case, it feels good afterward, and the leg on which rolling nearly caused tears is now approaching the good leg, so I count that as progress. I figure the sports nerd will tell me I'm approaching this like an idiot if indeed I am.

Summertime

I ran 70 minutes this morning after taking the whole week off to deal with crazy long workdays and then being sick. I felt fantastic, and I think it's because I had a whole lot of built up antsyness and fresh legs. I also had a new playlist of classic rock full of songs that make me think of serenades in my living room and Thursday nights at Max's, and if ever I had happy places...

Waka Waka, which apparently I totally missed along with everything World Cup, kept me bouncing along until I hit a comfortable stride. I intersected some kind of serious race at the top of the park and then again down on the west side, and those people look like their bodies were created to run; the fluidity and speed is just mesmerizing, until I started to feel vicarious exhaustion imagining the exertion as I tried to estimate how long I could keep up with them on my all-out sprint.

By the time I got close to an hour, I felt okay in the heat and had the urge to speed it up. When I know I'm rounding the southeast corner of the park and don't have long to go until my Gatorade and cold shower, whatever energy I have wants to kind of burst out. The last ten minutes felt fast and relatively easy; my appreciation for how much of this is mental has certainly grown.

Got home, drank up, and went in for my leftover chopped salad lunch. I experiment with ingredients, but this is the all time favorite:

arugula
tomato
cukes
red/yellow/orange pepper (which I forgot this time)
strawberries (have to have because they love balsamic; I'm more flexible with the other fruits)
blueberries (antioxidants)
apple or  pear
Gorgonzola crumbles
pecans (toasted in the oven) or marcona almonds for a splurge
olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, ground black pepper

...with a slice of home made flax sunflower whole wheat bread and almond/peanut/regular (if I'm throwing caution to the wind) butter for good carbs.

A giant tupperware full of chopped veggies and fruit left undressed makes me happy for the whole weekend :)

UPDATE:
And for my favorite Susana Homemaker: the healthy bread recipe.

2 tbsp active dry yeast
1.5 tsp white sugar
1/2 cup very warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2.5 tbsp lemon juice
7 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
5 tsp salt
3.5 cups bread flour


1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a little bowl. Set aside.
2. In a very large bowl, mix 3.5 cups of water, the honey, molasses, canola oil, egg, and lemon juice.
3. Add yeast mixture to large bowl wet mixture.
4. While stirring, slowly mix in 4.5 cups of wheat flour and the flax meal. Once incorporated, add flax seed, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds until evenly disbursed mixture.
5. Set aside mixture for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in salt and the rest of the flour, slowly (you might not need all of it).
7. Kneed for at least 10 minutes. Return dough to floured bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for an hour.
8. Kneed dough for another minute. Divide dough into 5 loaves on probably two cookie sheets (which might have to overlap to fit in the oven at the same time-- or you can do one at a time; it won't kill the dough). Let rise for another 15-25 minutes.
9. Bake at 370 for 32-36 minutes.

Eat warm, with real butter and sea salt, or dipped in olive oil that has been heated with rosemary.

Run Down

Not getting enough sleep and working too hard are taking their toll this week. I woke up this morning with a sore throat, saw rain outside, and decided an extra hour in bed was the sensible thing to do.

At least I got a running picture today-- this is me crossing the Dash and Splash finish line- with power, as promised.

Dash

I skipped the splash in the Dash and Splash yesterday for reasons illustrative of the state of my schedule and my mind. First, I scheduled a haircut downtown at noon because if I hadn't been able to fit it in somewhere soon, the shaggy dog look would have just reached some unacceptably unprofessional limit. Second, jumping in the pool required more logistical planning than I had head space to figure out; a lock, swimsuit/towel drop off, or a way home- wet.

The Dash was enjoyable nonetheless. It started at 102nd and headed northward.  I initially felt some tightness in my shins and the little bit of foot flopping which has accompanied shin issues in the past. Luckily for me, the race started with long, moderate uphills, which gave my shins a break and the legs a chance to get warm. By the time we reached 102nd on the west side, my legs were okay, but I really didn't try to speed it up for another couple miles.

I've gotten better at finding someone to tuck in behind to use as my pacer. I feel like a stalker or some terribly noticeable spy, trailing at such a close distance. Since I only stopped at every other water break, I'd often lose my pacer at hydration stations and then spend a bit of time finding a new one. My hydration came from Gatorade strapped around my middle in little bottles, sipped every five minutes or so, and the water cups were used to cool off my neck.

By the time we reached the south end of the park, I felt loose and fell into a comfortable rhythm. I know this means that I should be doing real warm ups before this kind of thing, but that would mean getting up half an hour earlier and, frankly, not gonna happen. I'd rather warm up on the course and have a slower time (my time for the 10k was 1:05:47, or a 10:36 mile pace).

This is nice though, because by the time I hit last fifth of a mile, I can pick up the pace, and by the last tenth of a mile, I'm booking it. So much fun. Everyone standing at the finish line seems to enjoy strong finishers (and care very little about slow whole coursers), so the harder I push it, the more they cheer (and then the harder I push it).  Feels good to finish strong.

I picked up my apple and pretzels and decided to turn my 10k into more of an endurance run by jogging home from the middle of the park at 102nd. I'm also usually embarrassed to get in a cab, soaked from sweat and hydration station showers.

I feel good today; no pain from the run, and more rested after a weekend focused on getting rested. This week is the first Team Life Without Lupus meeting, and I feel ready to start (at least talking about) the real training. My goal up until now has been to get in better general and running shape-- good enough shape that I can easily start building up endurance, that running feels natural, and, of course, that I can do it in the morning.

Flare episode and all, phase 1 goal accomplished. Now the hard part...

Excuses, Excuses....

If ever there were a legitimate excuse for skipping a run, it's "RECORD BREAKING HEAT" scrolling across weather.com, every news channel, and the mini elevator tv whose job it is to provide inane management tips like "give encouragement; a positive attitude will radiate to the team."

I've been itching to run, but a day off is probably not a bad idea. I ran for 35 minutes Saturday morning, which was strenuous-feeling in the hot sun... and the hot shade, and then did a half hour beach run through the wet sand and edges of the surf on Sunday. Every few minutes, I ran all the way in and submerged everything below my neck for ten seconds or so to cool down my core, and then ran out, dripping and spraying sea behind me. The ocean breeze felt incredible, and I definitely worked a bunch of leg muscles in a way they're not normally engaged.

Gotta run tomorrow, then pilates on Friday, and the Splash and Dash on Saturday. Last call people.... who wants to run this super fun 10k/ jump in the pool with me?

Noodle Kugel

Woke up this morning with a great attitude about beating the heat-- I'd run slowly and keep chugging, as I smiled and skipped to the music. Then, right before heading out the door, a phone call. Right.... pilates.... 'cause it's Tuesday starting off the week. So I quickly switched gear and proceeded to turn my arms into noodles over the next hour. Apparently, just because weight happens not to be carried on one's arms is not the same as one possessing strength in said arms. Should be good though- for all that arm using stuff I do, like... pumping them as I run?

Good thing I didn't run because 20 minutes on at (2)90 degrees with an overhead heat element sounds more like a recipe for lightly cooking my insides than an appropriate walk to work. Coffee cup heavy.

Dinner of Associate

A pot of quinoa goes a long way...

A full box made sunday night, tupperwared and refrigerated, serves as a foundation for one meal per weekday and saves me from ordering crap or the same boring salads to the office.