Fat Girl Learns To Run

Future Food ---------- Day 241

I was watching the TV show The Drs today which focused on the types of food we should eat.  One of the segments featured the chefs of Moto via satellite.  This was very exciting for me since that is the restaurant where we took my son for his 18^th birthday.  I was curious to hear what they were going to talk about.  The Moto dining experience is all about eating a type of cooking called molecular gastronomy.  It basically is eating ‘food’ that looks like and tastes like a certain food but is made from something today different.  An example of a food on the show was a piece of raw ahi tuna.  It looked like tuna and tasted like tuna but was made from watermelon and seaweed which was placed in a cryovac machine.

The point that was made about their food, like the ’tuna’, was that they used a common produce, the watermelon, instead of using tuna which is not a ‘green’ food since fishing for tuna uses a lot of energy.  It was basically seafood without fish.  I really never thought of their food that way, but it does make sense.

Another thing I learned about food was that the tartar sauce that you get on the side for fried fish is about 400 calories.  A general rule is basically to stay away from the condiments.  The option to tartar sauce that they suggested was to use malt vinegar which has about 12 calories.

Watching this show made me more conscious of what I would be eating for dinner.

Show me your Teeth ----------- Day 240

During my last dentist appointment, I was told that I need to at least brush my teeth for a total of two minutes and then floss.  Most people think that they have brushed for two minutes when they have only brushed for 30 seconds.  Two minutes seems like a really long time when you are brushing your teeth.  In the past, I would plan on doing my brushing and flossing just before I went to bed.  The problem was that I am always really tired before I go to bed so I speed up the process.  I decided that I needed to change my routine and brush/floss right after I have had dinner when I am more awake.  I find this whole process really boring but it is necessary.  If we think about taking care of ourselves, we sometimes forget that our mouth is part of our body. I know that I did.

Today I came across a feature on the internet about comments dentists had about our teeth.  Below are some of those comments.

· If your hands bled when you washed them, you'd run to the doctor. But in the public's mind, bleeding gums are okay. Unless you're really whaling away with your brush, if your gums bleed even a little, that's periodontal disease, period.

 

· When someone meets you for the first time, the first thing they notice is eyes. Second is teeth, and third is hair. But people spend way more money on their hair than their teeth.

 

· The electric toothbrush is one of the best things to ever happen to dentistry. The newer ones replicate professional cleaning -- they won't reach much below the gum line, but they're far superior to regular toothbrushes. The cheap ones are okay for kids, but you'll have to pay more than $75 for a really good brush with a warranty and replacement heads.

 

· I call soda pop the liquid chain saw. It cuts through teeth. And it's not just the sugar -- it's the acid.

 

· Taking metal fillings out can release more mercury than leaving them in.

 

· A few decades ago, most insurance plans would cover up to $1,000 or $1,500 in dental bills every year. Today, a single crown can cost that much, but most policies still have the same limit. People are getting teeth pulled that could be fixed because they can't afford to pay for the work.

 

· Cosmetic dentistry works only on a healthy mouth -- you can't build a house on a swamp. But if you look around, you can find a dentist who will do cosmetic work without treating your gum disease first. There are a lot of incompetents and outright charlatans in my profession.

 

· Don't eat a heavy garlic lunch before coming to see us -- we'd appreciate that.

 

Running Away ----------- Day 239

Today was race day.  Since I went to bed early last night, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning.  The first thing I did was eat one of my banana rollups for breakfast.  I wanted to make sure that my food was digested before I ran.  I also made sure that I drank enough water.  Soon it was time to leave for the race.  My son dropped me off by the start line about 20 minutes before the race.  I was surprised that there were not more people there already.  As it got closer to the race, more people showed up. 

Before the race began, they announced that the 6 minute mile racers should line up in front.  I am definitely not in that group so I moved further to the back.  The race then began.  It was great weather for a race.  For me, running the first minute seems the hardest; I always want to quit.  Once I run for about 5 minutes, I get into my rhythm.  I noticed that there quite a few parents running with their children.  Running a race seems like a nice family activity but when one of the kids decides to stop suddenly in front of me, it throws me off.  If you are going to stop, move off the path.  When this incident occurred, we just happened to be on the narrowest part of the course.

I also noticed this guy who would run and then walk and repeat the process.  If he just ran at a steady pace, he wouldn’t have to start and stop.  I was so tempted to tell him that but I didn’t.  I usually don’t pay attention to the people running around me but I did notice this old man that was always a little in front of me.  He was race walking instead of just running but he had a good pace going.  God bless him for being out there.  I did pass the man at about 2 miles.  It just wouldn’t be right if this old guy beat me in the race.

My goal for the race was to run without stopping and have a better time than I had at the Turkey Trot.  I accomplished both.  I was also happy that I ran a steady pace throughout the race.  The next race I have scheduled is the Half Marathon.  After running this race, I might enter another one before the big race.

 

Making Batches ---------- Day 238

This morning I went back to the dentist for part two of my teeth cleaning.  For my cleaning I brought one of those eye masks to wear.  My thought was that wearing a mask would make me think that I am sleeping and I would zone out during the procedure.  I think the mask might have helped because it didn’t seem that bad today.  Having one side of my mouth numb for a couple of hours afterwards is no fun.

After the dentist, I went to pick up my race packet for the 5K race in my suburb.  My son was driving me around since I was out of it after the dentist.  I think those shots that I got made me dopey.  At the park district there was a poster of the race course.  I always like to know that ahead of time to mentally prepare for the race.  The good thing about the course is that I have run parts of the course already.

Since I couldn’t eat when I got home because of numb mouth, I made a big batch of stir fry using up food products in the fridge.  I was able to freeze 10 containers of food which I will take to work for my lunch meals.  To get ready for my breakfasts during the week, I made a batch of oatmeal to store in the fridge.  It feels good when I am organized with my meal plans for the week.

My mouth still hurts from the cleaning so I wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything else today.  Knowing that I would probably feel kind of blah afterwards, I got my workout in this morning before going to the dentist. The plan for tomorrow is that my son is going to drive me to the race start and then go to the Starbucks across the street and I will meet him there after the race.  I think that tomorrow morning is going to be sunny and cool which sounds like perfect race weather.  Now I am going to relax the rest of the evening and get a good night’s sleep so I am ready for race day.

 

 

Out of Stock ---------- Day 237

In my adventures riding the CTA, something happened twice in the past week that just seemed odd to me.  It was actually a good thing but it just seemed unusual to me.  This is what happened.  I get on the train and there were no seats so I just grabbed on to a bar to keep my balance.  Before the train got to the next stop, a guy got out of his seat and told me to sit down.  My first thought was that he was getting off at the next stop so that is why he was letting me sit down.  As the train continued to make stops, I noticed that this guy was not getting off the train.  When the train started to empty out, he sat down on one of the available seats.  It just didn’t make sense to me that this guy let me have his seat.  Tonight the same thing happens to me on the train.  Again this guy let’s me have his seat.  People are usually rude on the train so it was really surprising to be treated nice.

I forgot to mention the little drama I had yesterday.  Before my run, I always go to Nordstrom for a yogurt parfait.  They make a really good one and it is just the perfect snack for me to have before running.  So at lunch time I go to Nordstrom and I don’t see any yogurts in the case.  I then asked the person behind the counter if they have any yogurts and she tells me that they didn’t make any today.   Now what do I do?  I have my big run tonight.  I then head over to the Corner Bakery.  They only had rice pudding.  That won’t work.  I then stop at Starbuck.  They had some yogurt parfaits.  There was this really small Greek yogurt and a regular size one.  I didn’t know if the small one was enough for my snack so I bought both of them.

When it was time to have my snack, I noticed that this little yogurt parfait was the same price as the large one that I got at Nordstrom.  What a rip off!  This is what I get for not wearing my reading glasses. The yogurt tasted ok but not as good as Nordstrom’s yogurt.  I just ate the one yogurt and had the other one today.  The other one made from regular yogurt was just mediocre.  Sometimes you never know how good something is until you taste something of inferior quality.  Nordstrom better have yogurts next week.

Halfway There ---------- Day 236

I have been thinking about it for the last week and today was the day.  Tonight was our 6 mile group run.   For me it’s always scary attempting to do something I haven’t done before.  It was a warm evening so I just ran with a short sleeve top and shorts (my favorite type of outfit for running).  When I was talking to Shannon before the run, I told her that my guess was that we would run to Addison and then turn around.  I am really bad at estimating distance when running.  A mile doesn’t seem that far when you are driving but when you are running it is a different story.

As the 10K group headed out to run, we quickly divided into 3 pace groups.  Shannon and I were the middle pace group running with our group leader Christa.   I promised myself that I wouldn’t ask the group leader, “Are we there yet?” but being the weak person that I am I had to ask her.  Luckily we were almost at the turnaround when I asked.  When I got my bearings at the turnaround, we were at Addison.  Good guess on my part.  As we were running back, I started to lose it at 4 miles.  I had to stop running for a few seconds and just walk.  Christa looked back and saw me struggling so she turned around and ran next to me for a bit until I pulled myself together.  I then got my second wind and finished the distance.  When I have those weak moments, all I need is some extra encouragement to keep me going. 

I felt a great sense of accomplishment finishing the 6 miles.  Another thing I can check off my list as completed.  Now I just need to double the distance to complete the Half Marathon.  I’m halfway there.  Last Fall, I was excited to complete 3 miles for the first time and now I have doubled that distance.

After we got back from running, we changed and went out for Kefir smoothies at a place down the street.  Shannon, Kevin (who was in the first pace group) and myself went out.  Having a smoothie was just the thing that I needed to rejuvenate myself after the run.  Now I need to go to bed and rest my legs from the run. 

Getting Ready ---------- Day 235

Last night I was watching The Biggest Loser and one of the contestants who weighs over 300 lbs was very excited when he ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  I know how he felt.  For some reason running is the hot button for the contestants from the show.  After the woman on the Red team was voted out last week, the camera crew followed her to New Orleans where she ran the Rock n Roll ½ marathon.  I noticed that the time she crossed the finish line was around 3 hrs 49 minutes.  A decent time for the ½ marathon is about 2 hours 15 minutes.  So my conclusion about race is that she must have walked most of the 13.1 miles.  I might be totally off base about this but being part of the running community, that is my gut feeling.  It just rubs me the wrong way when someone makes a big deal of running a long distance and doesn’t really do it.

For my big run tomorrow (6 miles), I thought that I would do an easy run tonight just to get my body loose.  I asked Shannon last week if she ate anything special before her 8K race a couple of weeks ago.  She told me that she had some chicken and rice the night before and that worked for her.  Since Shannon ran the entire race without stopping, I thought I would eat the same thing tonight.  I am also making sure that I am drinking a lot of water.  Now I need to get a good night’s sleep.

Gaining a Ton ----------- Day 234

When I went to bed last night, my mouth still had some numbness from the teeth cleaning.  I ended up eating some hot cereal for dinner since I didn’t have to chew anything.  This morning my teeth still hurt so I had to take some more pain pills.  Later in the day, my teeth finally felt better.  I hope that my recovery on Saturday is quicker so I am not in pain when I run the race on Sunday.

I didn’t feel quite right when I got home from work so I decided to go on the treadmill instead of running outside.  While I was on the treadmill, saw this segment on TV about this woman whose actions that I found disgusting.  The woman weighs 600 lbs and is trying to gain weight to reach 1,000 lbs.   She said that losing weight was difficult for her so she gave up and just decided to gain weight instead.   She has this internet site where people pay to see pictures of her fat rolls.  Viewers even send her food to make her fatter.  What is wrong with this person?  Doesn’t she realize how unhealthy her lifestyle is?  People should encourage her to lose weight instead of gaining weight.  It makes me sad when I see people just not care about themselves especially if they have children which they need to take care of.

Pay the Piper ---------- Day 233

After work at I had to do something that I was dreading.  I had to go to the Periodontist to get a deep cleaning on half of my teeth.  I got to the office early but they took me right away so I couldn’t get mentally prepared for this treatment.  The dental assistant asked me if I had taken any pain pills before coming.  I said ‘no’ so she gave me some pills.  This is not a good sign. First my mouth was numbed with a cotton swab.  So far so good; nothing hurting me.  Then I was told I would feel some pain as a needle was jabbed into my gums multiple times to really numb my mouth.  This really hurt.  At this point I really wanted to leave and forget the whole thing.

Then for the next half hour I proceeded to hear my teeth being cleaned.  It didn’t really hurt but sometimes it sounded like nails scratching a chalkboard which is a sound that I hate.  After the cleaning was done, I had to rinse out my mouth.  Considering that half of my mouth was numb, there was a lot of drooling going on by the sink while I was rinsing.  I asked when the numbing would subside so I could eat and was told about 2 hours.  That’s a long time if you are hungry.  If that wasn’t bad enough, I was also told that my gums would be sore for a few days.

 When I left the office, I was mentally and physically drained from the procedure.  The only thing I can do tonight is watch some TV and be a coach potato.  I have to blame myself for getting into a situation where I needed to have this sort of cleaning.  It is because I have not been diligent with my flossing and really brushing my teeth thoroughly for all these years.  I guess today is when I finally had to pay the piper. Oh, and let’s not forget that the other half of my teeth need to be cleaned on Saturday.  This is one time I am not looking forward to the weekend.

Simon Says ----------- Day 232

After enjoying the great day yesterday, today was a letdown.   The weather really wasn’t that bad outside.  Actually, it is the type of weather that I like to run in on Thursday nights.  Since I felt tired and unmotivated today after getting too much fresh air yesterday, I didn’t feel like running outside.   I wasn’t in the thinking mood so I decided to do the 1 hour endurance program on the treadmill.  This way the treadmill tells me how fast to go and at what incline.  When using a treadmill program or an exercise tape, I think of it as a ‘Simon Says’ type of activity.  Tell me what to do and I will do it.

The treadmill workout has you walking/running at various speed and most of the time you are on the maximum incline.  The workout didn’t seem that bad as before; probably because I was familiar with the program.  I have come to realize that I struggle with the unknown.  If I have experienced a running path, exercise program or exercise tape at least once, the second time around is much better.  I guess that is why I struggled with the 5 miles.

When the workout was done, I had covered 4 miles and my shirt was soaking wet from sweating.   Since I had bought a pair of cushioned running socks yesterday, I thought that I would wear them while doing the treadmill exercise.  It is a good thing that I did.  The socks were very comfortable but my feet felt too warm.  This is a good thing when the weather is cool but not when the weather is warm.  I don’t function well when my feet are warm. Depending on the weather on Thursday will determine the socks that I wear.  Since I am running 6 miles on Thursday, I need to have clothing on that will not irate me because I need all the help I can get to finish the run.

In the morning, I stopped at the store and got some kale and spinach for the week.  Since I bought some fig vinegar and basil olive oil yesterday, I am looking forward to using those condiments on the greens.  Tonight I had some steamed kale with the basil oil and some lemon juice with my protein.  It was very tasty.  Since I use just enough oil to add some flavor, the bottle lasts quite awhile.

For some reason, my body is aching after that workout.  The best remedy for that is to soak in the tub which I am about to do.  I don’t think I can ever live in a place without a soaking tub while I continue to incorporate running in my life.