Eczema Experiment

Start of a new, crazy guinea pig experiment on myself... I'm wondering if there's a correlation between diet and my seasonal eczema which appeared to be held in check, if not cured, by the liberal use of knee socks last year. As a result, I've resolved to go bare (non-sock-clad) legged this year and see what happens. Unfortunately, up until the past few days, the weather has been too mild and uncooperative (development of the condition usually coincides with the arrival of cold, dry air). Now! It has finally gone cold and dry for a spell, so we shall see what happens. : ) *crosses fingers *

Pittsburgh Steak Salad

SO I needed something QUICK and easy and really good last night for dinner. Here you go:


Pittsburgh Steak Salad

• 3 thin cut NY Strip Steaks


• Ore-Ida Crinkle Cut Fries


• Cherry Tomatoes


• 1 small onion (sliced)


• 2 medium/small carrots shredded


• 1 Pkg Baby Spinach


• 1 pkg mixed spring greens or Spinach/Red Lettuce Combo


• shredded Provolone Cheese


• Minced Garlic ~3 or 4 cloves


• Garlic Powder


• Onion Salt


• Northwoods Seasoning


• Chili Power


• Sauteing oil of choice (coconut or olive or butter) (~ 1 Tbs)


• Ranch Dressing

Serves: 4

I threw half the bag of Fries in a baking pan, and sprinkled liberally with Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Chili Powder & set it to bake according to directions. Next, I sliced the steaks into thin strips and tossed the pieces in Northwoods Seasoning, Garlic powder and Onion Salt. Meanwhile, I had the minced garlic sauteeing in the oil. Then I tossed the steak bits into the sauteing garlic & oil and browned all sides, careful not to overcook. The salad was assembled by mixing the spinach and mixed greens on 4 plates, adding onions, shredded carrot, and cherry tomatoes. Lastly, top with steak bits, fries, and shredded cheese. Add Ranch dressing to taste. You can probably just prepare the fries and steak without all the extra spices, but what fun would that be? Total time was probably about 30 mins. Enjoy!

Going Gaga

Dang! You know, I don't know if I like her music, and I don't care if someone loves her music or hates her music, or thinks she's crazy, or what.... but one has to admit that Lady Gaga has spunk and guts. I'm betting, if you met her, that she's an incredibly intelligent woman who knows how to "work the system" and has a flawless marketing campaign. I hadn't really paid much attention until recently when I read an article about her beginnings and then just today when I saw this MSNBC SlideShow "Fashion gone Gaga". Regardless of how you feel about her or her music, you really just have to respect how well she knows the system and the effort she puts in for a full production at every moment. Wow! Hope she doesn't burn out. I probably would.

Lemons = Lemonade

Maybe I'm just rationalizing and sugar coating things to make myself feel better, but we've just recently had a life reorganization and one instantaneous impact is that it's forcing me to fulfill my Samhain resolution of "drastically reducing my soda intake". That being that I've gone straight to no soda at ALL. Cool. Not as hard as I had imagined. I've also gone back to drinking tea as a healthful flavored alternative to water. My head is less fuzzy & I'm concentrating better, so.... : ) Yeah, it's all good.

This sums some of it up well...

So I discovered a podcast called "Livin' La Vida Low Carb" the other day during one of my various nutritional forays on the internet and he gets some interesting speakers on the show about health and nutrition. During the 300th episode edition Jimmy Moore is talking with Dr. Jonny Bowden and this one passage struck me as sooo true, so I wanted to share:

Jonny Bowden: "How did you become kind of a crusader for this [i.e. low carb/healthy nutrition]?"
Jimmy Moore: "You know, Jonny, when you change your life and I've met a lot of people since I started doing this who said 'You know what? I changed my life just like you did' and there's just something that happens within you, Jonny, when you make such a dramatic change in your lifestyle? I mean, the Jimmy Moore of 2009 heading into 2010 now, is nothing like the Jimmy Moore of 2003 and before... I don't even think the same way, I have kinda of a... a passion built up within me... it's like 'Hey! I've discovered something that worked for me and it's hard not to be passionate about it, Jonny, when you find out something that has helped you, the biggest thing you want to do is get out there and help other people."

Amen, Brother.

P.S. One of the other things that he goes on to say is that while lo-carb works for him, proper diet & nutrition is not a one-size fits all kind of thing and he's just on about trying to disseminate info about healthy living and nutrition in general to get people information and to get them to start thinking about the choices they make. Amen, again.

Well, that might have gone OKish...

In case you didn't know, I've been working with Kwame Brown in a kinda of apprenticeship to work toward becoming a certified animal trainer (Exuberant Animal, that is). It's been off to a bit of a rocky start, but I think things are progressing. Having taught dance for so many year, I have my stride with that down so that I barely have to think about it. I know well the safety points to hit, the kind of humor that I like to incorporate, the methods that I find effective, have ways to work with different abilities to get the desired results, and have a good feeling for class flow. I started teaching in '99, so it's now a LONG time ago and I don't at all remember what it was like when I started. This has made this learning to lead hard because the methods and skills and MO that I had developed for dance DOES NOT translate 1 to 1 into Exuberant Animal. It's unsettling, because I feel lost, but also fascinating because I am learning a whole bunch of new stuff, new ways to work with people, etc. It's a very good process to be going through. I'm also taking over someone else's class, rather than starting something essentially on my own (with dance, there were several teachers, but we were ALL new at it so there was no established class feel in the beginning). So I've an added challenge (probably mostly in my head) of trying to figure out how I should lead it since the participants are used to Kwame's style and sense of humor and let's face it... I am not him. He is not me. That's just the way things are, so I need to figure out how to get my own stride.

So, on and off, Kwame's been settling me small portions of the class to lead some warm ups or exercises to get my feet wet. It's been a bit awkward because of the issues mentioned above. Last week, he set me up to start the class: "pick 5 things that you want to do and we'll go with that" and then just never really took over again, so last week was my first whole class. It was awkward as hell, especially since I had not enough material picked out, was kinda winging it, trying to figure out how to challenge people but keep them comfortable and safe, and ADDITIONALLY try to come up with what we could do next. Egads! Let's just say that I'm pretty sure the awkwardness that I felt inside carried over. Oh well. This week, yesterday in fact, was my second full class. This time, I was fortunate enough to have a vague heads up about the fact that I'd get the whole class again and so I got some time to prepare, come up with a conceptual theme, and make a list. I felt much better, I think it went much better for the people playing, I know I still have a lot of work to do. I'm not nearly there yet, but it definitely seems like something I can work on, get better at, and actually be able to lead effectively. Yeah, that's the other weird thing about this certification - it seems like one must tread a very thin line between just leading by giving ideas, and teaching. You don't want to 'teach' too much because you want the participants to explore their full range of motion - as far as they're comfortable with, and explore their own creativity. Also, you don't want to leave it too loose because there are certain safety considerations to take into account. It's fascinating. Well, let's hope I keep growing and figuring it out! : )

Wish I had that problem. : )

I've gotten my body (and brain) so used to being active that it's now kinda the norm for me. (So much so that I used Apples to Apples as an excuse to do sit ups last night.... laid on the floor and did "sit ups" to submit my card and to get replacement cards.) So this week has been really hard for me - I'm kinda underwater at work, so it's been stressful, other things have been going on that are stressful this week, I'm working a lot to try and not be underwater anymore, and then there are social obligations.... this left me with about 5 minutes a day to move or get exercise, which is not enough. Thereby, I got MORE stressed because I couldn't move. Vicious cycle. That brings me to today...

I wasn't going to be happy until I went for a good run, so I went out at 11:45 to go get lost (which I succeeded in). I've been borrowing a Garmin GPS watch from my friend, Adi, and it's AWESOME! No only does it let me feel more comfortable heading into the woods alone (because I get tell it to get me back to point A), but I can also just go out with a distance in mind and just go & explore without trying to "map a route" beforehand. So yeah, it was fun. I was aiming for something over 4 miles, I got to 4.3 and said "well why not keep going?" and did. In the end I got in a 4.91 mi. run and then called it quits because my knee was muttering at me. For anyone who doesn't know. I've got a weird left knee. I am guessing it goes back to being in a cast when I was 12 - I know I ended up with some muscle atrophy and many of the problems I have now can be traced to muscle imbalances... anyway, that's why I like Pseudo-barefooting in my VFFs - it forces me to pay attention to my body, there's no alternative. So when I run, I'm always aware of that knee. If it twinges, I change my stride ever so slightly until I am moving in a way that keeps it in a neutral state of awareness. I start to zone out, my form goes away, and then my knee usually brings me back to the task at hand. We're partners. : ) So anyway, I got to this point where my knee was not hurting, but it wouldn't stop making it's presence known no matter what I changed, so now it and I are back home and both happy. That's why it came out to 4.91 mi.

So anyway, back to the subject.... I wish I had that problem. At noon it was 55 degrees. I was in capris that are a super-light cotton, like light summer Pajama pants weight. I also started out in a cotton "wife-beater" tank top & a short sleeved shirt over it. After the first 1/2 mile, I was stripped down to my tank. then later, I was hot even in that. Meanwhile I passed people running in warm-up pants and sweatshirts... * sigh * I wish I had that 'problem' - i.e. still being cold while running - only for the reason that it would enable me to keep running over the summers. Oh well. I won't. I will always overheat. That's just the way my body is. Just like my thighs will always touch, no matter how small I am, without getting liposuction (don't worry, it's NOT on my to do list) and I'm OK with that. It just means I'll never ever be able to run in shorts (as evidenced by the mine-field of scabs due to abrasion that my inner thighs looked like after the Run Like Hell, when I WAS wearing shorts (and also ended up overheating).)

Oh, two last things:
1) is that I find the GPS watch cool because I can go back and check my times... I just find it interesting. Today came out, mile# & time: 1 - 9:03, 2 - 9:59, 3 - 13:23, 4 - 12:05, 5ish - 10:51. I find it interesting that after the third mile, I got faster again. Hmmm...
2) I came across a van parked on a side street that looked exactly like the A-Team van!!! Joy!

Have a good one all!

Random Thoughts

Someday I'll get a post up about my experiences with the Exuberant Animal East Coast Jam... someday when I can get it all to come out of my head as something other than the deranged babbleing of a hyperactive pre-teen... ("OMG, OMG, OMG!!! It was like_! and then he was like_!.... and then, like, it was like the coolest thing EVER!)

File under the category of "kids say the darnedest things"...
I was at the pool this weekend with my sister's family and my 5 (almost 6) year old niece commented: "You belly button's a triangle!" Me: "Oh, I guess so." Her: "Why is that?" Me: "... uh 'cause that's the way it is, I dunno..."

Try on the fly explaining to a 5-6 year old that your bellybutton's a triangle because your skins a little lose still after losing weight and gravity's acting on it, while trying not to exacerbate the media body image hoopla about we all must be a super model, or should be, or can be...

I was also driving on the way to hang with my sister when I FINALLY paid attention to the Lyrics of "Vogue" by Madonna and it stuck me that they have an amazing message. Take a look and ponder for a sec. : )

All you need is your own imagination
So use it that's what it's for
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door
It makes no difference if you're black or white
If you're a boy or a girl
If the music's pumping, it will give you new life
You're a superstar, yes, that's what you are, you know it
.....
Beauty's where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That's where I feel so beautiful
Magical, life's a ball
So get up on the dance floor

Fruit of the week

Last week's "new" fruit/Veg of the week was cranberries. Not Craisins, not Cranberry sauce, not cranberry juice cocktail. Tart was an understatement, so I wasn't sure if maybe they just weren't ripe enough... Today I got a bottle of unsweetened Cranberry Juice from Whole Foods to compare. Nope, the berries I have are fine - that's just what real cranberry is all about, I guess. : ) I did find that cranberries did very well in salad and will probably be good for cooking, but I can't handle more than 4 or 5 at a time by themselves. : ) I wonder if they'll explode when heated?

Next week (aka this week): Sugar (pie) pumpkin. Can't wait!

Friday Article Wrap-up

Headlines & Links that intrigued me this week...

• HOW THE MAYA LIVED
• After letdown, solar-sail project rises again
• Vanished Persian army said found in desert
• Dear Mark: Your Brain on Junk Food
• New Ideas for Winter Squash
• Gordon Pirie's 'Running Fast and Injury Free' - actually didn't read the whole thing, but I intend to
• Is Pain Relief Medicine Good for Runners?
• Break It Down Again
• Sugar: The Bitter Truth - can't vouch for it, I only watched the first 30 mins, but it was intriguing.
• The Many Uses of Junk Food - useful DIY natural cleaning tips... also, though not stated in the post, you can put flour on a grease or oil stain in clothing before you wash it. The flour will soak up the oil & then wash right out. : )

Run Like Hell & Samhain Resolutions

After much craziness with preparing for a party, cooking, cleaning, and making my fairy costume, and then other festivities like the Dupont High Heel race in the mix, on Friday, Oct. 30 J & I boarded a plane for Cincinnati. : )


The Cincinnati trip was planned about 6 months ago as a great excuse to see my friend Alex and to commemorate the event that set my running interest in motion exactly two years ago... The Cincinnati Run Like Hell!


We arrived at Cincinnati almost on time, everything went surprisingly smoothly. Got into town, managed not to get lost on the way to our stay-place for the weekend, met up with Alex, got dinner at a super cute cafe called What's for Dinner? and managed to hit the race packet pick up. J & I dropped Alex off to take care of his rental property that he owns in Cincinnati and while he was busy, J & I occupied ourselves with the Cincinnati Art Museum, which was fantastic. The Damascus Room was quite possibly our favorite part, but I always like that sort of thing. J, on the other hand, really liked the intricate victorian "tourist" table. We went back to our stay-place and got ready for the race, with Alex joining us at the last minute.

Off to the Run Like Hell. The traffic stunk, but once we got parked and situated, the atmosphere was very festive and excited. I wore my costume that I specifically designed to be pretty, runable, and going along with the theme of running "barefoot" - I was an autumn fairy, complete with fully boned 18th century stays and gorgeous (IMHO) wings. The wind that night caused a small problem with my wings since the support system was not very robust, so they caught the wind & got blown every which way including into other people and over my head. Anyway, we joined thr group of runners lining up, with me trying to minimize the incidence of my wings hitting other crowd-members, and at about 7:30 PM, we were off. The course was fun, and it started off downhill. During this stretch, I saw a crazy group of 3 guys, two of whom were screaming and running wildy from a third dressed as Jason (who I later found out was truly named Jason). The next stretch was uphill.... a looooong uphill. I mapped it and I think there was a 180ft elevation gain over the course of a mile, so it was long. Please be aware that all the races I've done (all in DC) have had a max elevation change of 40 ft. and most have been completely flat. I was NOT prepared. I made a honorable go of it though since I made it the whole way up the hill, and only walked a little bit once I got back down to the bottom. Half of the hill was into and through a graveyard and that was totally awesome. Did I forget to mention it was a nighttime run partly through a graveyard??? : ) Anyway, the graveyard bit was pretty fun. Nice atmosphere. Well, as I was going back down the hill, I started getting a stitch in my side - result of breathing rhythm thrown off by constricted breathing and trying to figure out how to deal with a hill in progress. I went on, ignoring it until it refused to be ignored any longer. Egads! It let me know it's displeasure with a vengeance and there was nothing to do but walk/run for about 0.25-0.5 mile or so. Grrr. Very frustrating. Anyway, I made it to the end, making good time for the last 0.2 mi. and had a grand time at the post party. It was fun, as always, to mingle and discuss each other's costumes and Alex & I got a lot of questions (as usual) about our Vibran FiveFingers. There was music and free food & drinks, so J & I got to try a Cincinnati delicacy called Goetta which Alex described as "the parts of the pig you wouldn't normally eat, ground up with oats and made into a patty." Absolutely winning description, but as with Haggis, I ended up being pleasantly surprised - it was good! Also, it tasted disturbingly like a Gardenburger Original Patty - a substitution mistake you do NOT want to make when feeding vegetarians! : ) Anyway, a good time seemed to be had by all and then we stumbled home & passed out. Thankfully it didn't rain on us for more than 5 minutes and it was a balmy 64 degrees.

The best part of the weekend, of course, was getting to hang out with Alex and meeting Emily & Tom and their two dogs. It's always the most fun to see a new place with a deignated tour guide, especially if that person has lived there. It's like getting a rosey colored glimpse into their "everyday" lives - seeing their favorite places and local haunts.

Saturday morning, Alex took us for breakfast at Findlay Market - Cincinnati's old farmer's market - and we got AMAZING waffles and crepes from Taste of Belgium. I have to admit that I think Belgian accents are even more fun to listen to than french ones.... *swoons * Next, we dropped him off for an appointment and were going to make our way to the observatory, but got sidetracked at a Blockbuster Going out of Business Sale and at Walgreens. By the time Alex called to get picked up from his appointment, I had acquired several Miziyaki Films, Some Like it Hot, and a 8 in. diameter, orange squishy ball with an interior LED flasher - the latter provided much entertainment throughout the day. : ) After retrieving Alex, we did make our way to the Observatory and found: that they had not removed Pluto from their display of the distance between planets, that the human-powered sun dial really does work (when the sun's out) and came across a deer grazing in the meadow. Next we went up to Ault Park and took in the view. Lastly, we headed up to the Fox & Hound in Mason, OH to watch the PSU game. During half-time, Alex & I ducked out, with squishy ball in tow, to check out the surrounding sights. We hit up the local Walmart, checked out the current movie listings at the Regal, hit Borders to look for the Marge Simpson issue of Playboy and came out sans magazine, but with the addition of half-priced, flashing, fuzzy bat deeley-boppers (and I had thought we made that term up.... nope, it's legit according to wikipedia). Life is good. Unfortunately, all the activity from the weeks leading up to this resulted in me being tired & worn out & really not in the mood to don my costume and mingle with hundreds of people that I didn't know. Weird! Huh?

The trip finished off with a morning Brunch at another neighborhood waffle shop (which I can't remember the name of) with Alex's friend Amanda and a peak at a very unique house right across the street. Finally, we were off to the airport and on our way home.

Samhain Resolutions (my goals for this year):

• eat 1 new vegetable every week or every other week
• run a 10K comfortably
• be able to do a pull-up
• drastically reduce my soda intake (I only drink diet, so it's more a matter of weaning off caffiene & chemicals)
• become a certified Exuberant Animal trainer
• Continue to maintain my current weight-loss.

Repercussions beyond me or you....

Just something I've been pondering. On doing lotsa, lotsa research on "Paleo/Primal" eating theory, one thing that's a constant is total and Rampant anti-grain sentiment. Some of the arguments are interesting and may be legit, but at times it's hard to pick through the all out anti-grain rage and really determine what I think for myself on the subject... Also, I'm in a bit of a funk today, so it's hard to go much of anywhere mentally... I'm still about at: "my guts grump at me when I eat breads, so we'll try to keep it to a minimum."

Now I was pondering today: IF there's really something to Paleo and it should be applied to everyone, and IF there was a massive paradigm shift and everyone stopped eating them,.... holy _(fill in the blank)_, a large sector of commerce across the globe would collapse and where would we all be and what would happen to all those people who made their livelihood through grain farming and ..... keep going - there's a lot of 'what will everyone do' that feeds off that. Like the environmental impact of having a major crop shift and population impact because the vast majority of the world's population subsists on grain products because they are very calorically dense and cheap. Would we have more problems with starving people around the world because we would not have enough food for everyone if we switched all grain fields to pastures and green leafy veggies? i.e. Could that kind of agriculture support the current world population?

Sorry, I'm feeling a bit catastrpohic-dooms-dayish, so I'll go away now. : )

Beets Can't Be Beat!

Yup, so I'm not going to share the recipe I need to work on it some more because all the flavors blended together and turned into a very flat taste. (Actually, that's probably good for some people...) Anyway, I'll post the full list of my Samhain resolutions later, as well as a recap of Cincinnati and the Run Like Hell. I need pictures to do it justice though and I keep leaving my cable at work. argh. So one of my Samhain resolutions will be to try a new vegetable every week or every other week. It's partly spurred by how limited I feel in what I eat and partly by things like this... Either way, I need to get around to 26-52 new vegetables this year. This week was beets. Not just the beet, as I've had that before, but the WHOLE beet including beet greens and t he stalks. AWESOME!!! Do NOT throw those stalks away! They are super yummy! So last night I made spaghetti squash as a base and then sauteed the beet greens and stalks in olive oil & white Wine vinegar and garlic and dried mint and chili powder and Galena st. Seasoning and sauteed some Pork tenderloin in it at the end. I scooped all that onto the spaghetti squash. It was good, though the flavor was not as complex as I had been hoping. The three things I loved about it was that I got at least 3 servings of vegetables in one dish, it was colorful, and by using the beets, stalks, and greens, I got 3 veggies for the price of one. : )) the pics don't really do it justice, but ah well...

Friday Article Wrap-up

Alrighty!


So I read a lot of articles and come across stuff that I find fascinating all the time. Lately, it's been within a very narrow genre and since I've been sharing those articles regularly, some people are getting irritated or taking it the wrong way. As a result, I've figured out a way to present the articles that I've found intriguing this week without constantly spamming people. Also, if you aren't interested, don't read them or pick and choose.



Without further ado, here's this week's list in no particular order:

Fun stuff:

• The 25 Best Costumes At The 2009 NYC Marathon



• SEASONAL: Zombie Attack Preparedness (ZAP) Workout

Informative stuff:

• Omega-3 deficiency may be hurting our hearts


• Feeling grumpy 'is good for you' - finally, after untold stories about how J's gonna live 12-14 years longer than me because he doesn't stress.... ; )


• Collins: Letter to young American women


• Animals make the perfect humans - an OpEd that scathing, yet amusing


• Depression link to processed food - I'd like to see the controls on the study, but I've heard enough anecdotal evidence to buy that it's a contributing factor


• Chris Rock on the billion dollar black 'good hair' industry

• 'The myth of the chemical cure' - also something I've heard a couple of different places and worth noting perhaps


• To Meet Your Nutrient Goals, You May Need to Expand Your Food Variety - I want to look up this study too.
• Not So Happily Ever After

Random Pet-Peeve

So.... you know how you go to a store & check out at the register and they all have these little card swipe screen boxes now? Right. It really irritates me when the screen says "Amount OK?" with options of 'yes' or 'no'. I hate that. I always want to hit "NO". No, the amount is not OK, I think all your stuff is overpriced. Do NOT ask me if it's "OK"... The machines that say "Is the total correct?" are much better. That's not an opinion question & I can honestly give a yes or no answer.

That's my random for the day.

No, wait... I lied. Another random thing... I did an experiment in advertising this weekend. Two years ago I made Lychee Punch for our Halloween Party and nobody touched it:

This year I made "Lychee Sangria". It actually tasted worse (the Pinot Grigio I got ended up being way too dry), but people drank more of it. I am convinced that it's because I called it Sangria, which seems to be trendy right now. Ah well. *sigh *

Unexpected (or rather, un-thought-about) effects of going Pseudo-Paleo/Primal

When I signed up for the MovNat Seminar in August, I was a bit wary because they said we'd be on a "Paleo Diet" and I was thinking: ?!?! "Are they going to try to feed me raw meat slabs or something?" No, not really and the food was all exquisite. I'm not going to go about trying to explain Paleo/Primal here, you can go follow links if you'd like some surface explanation or some more in-depth "science" explanations...

Long story short, I heard a first-hand account of Paleo from a fellow attendee, Greg, who's been following it for a while now. His story was intriguing. Next, I came home, went back to eating my normal crap, and suddenly was ravenous all the time felt sluggish and my guts were hating me. After 48 hours of eating "normally," I whipped together a fresh spinach & basil salad with nuts & olive oil & tomatoes, had some steak, maybe another Veg & finished up with a coconut milk, banana, blueberry, almond dessert and half way through the meal I felt a whole lot more real. Let's combine this with my observations from doing calorie restriction with the Daily Plate all last year - I could eat 1600 calories... if I ate a LOT of Veg, I'd lose weight, if I ate 1600 cals worth of sandwiches & potatoes, I'd stay put. Hmmm... not all calories seem to be the same. Additionally, it's a well known fact that my body does not like digesting grain products (i.e. bread-like things). Put all this together and I decided to start researching and attempting pseudo-paleo.

I'm currently reading the book The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain an plan to eventually move on to The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson The problem with both of these books is that they LOOK like and are formatted as "Diet" books because that's what sells. Eventhough Cordain has a ridiculous number of references in the back of the book - journals, papers, and other science publications to support his findings, I get irritated because he'll make statements about fact X or Y and not reference it. I'd like to know more. Oh well. And for the record, I get a lot of good info out of Mark's Daily Apple.

Anyway, so I'm trying it in bits & pieces and in addition to generally feeling better and learning about myself (like, I didn't know I didn't feel particularly well until I noticed I felt better. weird.), I've been forced out of my normal comfort zone. Let's face it, the Binkle cannot live on just Broccoli, Lima beans, Peas and chicken alone. I've been expanding my visions from Spinach salads to Spring Mix and Romaine & this has led me to start looking at the produce section differently... For instance: endives and Leeks... What are they, how can I use them & cook them? Beets - what should I do with those? After finding just beets and then bunches of beets (complete with leaves), should I buy the bunches and then eat the greens too? I've also been pushed to try more meats too. J's always wanted to eat more fish, but I avoid it since it stinks up the house & I dislike white fish generally. Well, I've been trying for more fish... found that my Shoppers carries bags of individually wrapped fish fillets that are flash frozen at sea and some of it is wild caught. This is great for me since then I don't have to worry about going out to buy fresh fish everytime, I can grab it out of the freezer for a quick meal instead of the frozen ravioli or other freezer "food product" and if baked in a sealed tinfoil pouch, the fish smell doesn't permeate the house totally. It's like rediscovering food. I found that I love raw red pepper as a snack, raw almonds taste amazing if your body needs them, and grapes are fantastic after a run. This is awesome.

Nature Girl and 2009 Recap

I just found this article on MSNBC today: Looking at Nature Makes you Nicer. Cool. I've known for a while that I'm at my happiest when I'm around trees & rocks & water. In fact, when we first moved to the DC area, I started suffering from a Nature deficit - I found that I had to go run out and find a small naturey park and spend some time out there. It's like a reset button. I need it. This year has been wonderful because I've been pushing to be outside more. Getting more sunlight is good, sure, but also explore outdoor exercising opportunities, since I've always been prone to thinking exercise sucks. Sailing was wonderful because it really centered me and felt really primal, just shutting my mind off, listening to the water and paying very close attention to the wind on my skin (I was using that more than visual cues to tell wind direction). There was something very basic about being totally dependent on the weather, wind & water to get where you need to be. I've also been busy exploring all the parks I can find in the area as I figured out my need for trees to keep me interested in running. I'd like to become one of the Running People, but I don't think I'll ever free up enough time in my schedule for that. Now here's the rub. I live near a city, in a pretty densely suburban area, and I think I might currently have more actual access to nature than in rural Pennsylvania. Huh? That's right. This past weekend I went to visit my parents who live about 30 miles +/- southwest of Pittsburgh. The whole area is either farms or suburban developments that used to be farms. I figured I'd find a place to go for a run since there's so much more nature around there. Boy, was I ever wrong. There weren't really any parks within a 20 minute driving radius, other than recreation parks that are open fields and baseball diamonds. Though there were hills and trees and forests all around, they are all owned by someone, and not available for common use. (DON'T get me started on my rant about how Scotland was awesome because of their Land Access Rights... you have rights to go onto, use, pass through, and play on any land even if you don't own it as long as you leave it in the same condition you entered and the owners have a responsibility to maintain access to their land by providing gates or steps over fences.) It disturbed me to realize that in a rural area, full of natural beauty, one does not easily have access to it and that we only seem to regularly get access to it if you live in an area where it seems to be hard to come by and thereby requiring setting aside "nature reserves" and etc. Seems kind of wonky and messed up to me. That's just my thought for the day.

Also, for the record, I now have David Bowie's Version of "Nature Boy" running through my head on repeat.

So I figured it was time to evaluate my Samhain resolutions from last year. All in all, I think I did OK on the stuff that really mattered. I sucked at wearing more hats. I decided not to do the Boo!10K, but am training up for the Jingle All the Way 10K in the beginning of December, so that one kinda worked out. I JUST got a dentist appointment (next Tuesday argh!) because I realized I was running out of time. I ditched those last 10 lbs and toned relatively well. I got better at balancing work, play, relaxation and social, but it was at the expense of housekeeping, so I think I still have a bit to work on there, and I've been much better about the eating better and cooking more part in the past few months. An upward trend is what we're looking for. I kinda let the clothing business slide, but that's because I've kinda let the sewing slide, did a cost benefit analysis on the stress levels that would ensue and started going another direction with trying to figure out how to work on a health and mobility career. Now I'm pursuing certification for Exuberant Animal and things seem to be working out, so we'll see how it goes. : ) I'm pretty pleased. Now to just figure out what to resolve to do this coming year....

"damn having a scientific mind & a compulsion to experiment on myself!"

Just got my blood panels back from my physical - from Jan 08, my Cholesterol is down, the LDL is SIGNIFICANTLY down and I find myself wishing I had another panel from July or August '09... that would indicate whether it was strictly due to weight loss or due to healthier eating (have kinda gone half-paleo the past 5-6 weeks and wonder if/how much effect that might have).

Also, tested negative for Celiacs = yay, cake won't kill me! (if had in moderation)

Also, started training on the Couch to 5K program with my friend for Cherry Blossom. Since 30 sec jog to 90 sec walk is, well... kinda a cake-walk for me, I'm using it as an opportunity to start out slowly with running TRULY barefoot.... not too bad, though it's truly evident that I don't have a callus base yet. I really want to see if barefoot vs. psuedo barefoot has more of an effect on foot arch strength... Though you can feel rocks & etc through the Virbam Five Fingers, I can say with complete certainty now that it is WAY different without shoes - after doing a 30 second jog on a sea of shale-like gravel and acorns, going "OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! OWWWIE!!!" That was a bad trip plan on my part and will wait to attempt that again until I have some calluses built up. : ) Onward with the experiments!

Cat-a-tonic

I've not been sleeping 100% well lately. I find myself stretching in my sleep - a friend came up with a good analogy: like a cat does. That's it. Just like a cat or dog.... I'm sleeping and then I fully extend everything as far away from my body as possible, get a good stretch, roll over & go back to sleep. I wouldn't much mind since it feels good, but I keep waking myself up by doing this several times a night. I wonder why. Am I turning into a cat? If so, will I be allergic to myself? Is that why I've been sniffling? Or is that because my Autumn Allergies are starting up?...

Oh, and I really can't wait for the Run Like Hell 5K in Cincinnati (Oct.30)!!! Should be fun! and tomorrow I will be starting to make headway on my fairy costume. Goodie. I've decided to be a woodland fairy because A) it'll be fun & artistic to make in a manner that it looks beautiful & dramatic as I run, B) I can use it for the MD Renaissance Faire, C) since I've taken to the trees & woods with my running, it seems very fitting - plus, it'll be a hoot to do my RLH dress rehearsal practice runs through the woods with the other joggers/walkers thinking I'm nuts. : ) Yay!

Barefoot & hopeless... let's go back to the drawing board.

Yesterday, after figuring that I'd better get a biomechanical check-up (aka chiropractic visit to see if everything's in the right place) before I continue to embark upon a total movement regimen, I went to my Chiro. In addition to the normal re-evaluation, I had them do another foot scan. I know my toes are stronger and I'm able to support myself climbing in VFFs where I wasn't able to two years ago. I also know my ankles are stronger because it took 4.25 miles on semi-rough terrain to get the same old ankle soreness that I got when I started running. As a result, I was hoping I'd see some sort of empirically significant change in my foot structure. Judging from the scans, I'd like to think I see some slight, slight improvement, but I'd have to say it appears to be a wash. There was a pretty colored pressure depiction too, and if you go by that, I've totally slid backward and become completely flat footed, but there is not enough difference between the two scans to validate that, so I'm prone to thinking something in the calibration is off.

This got me to thinking though... the arguments for barefoot training being pro-foot-muscle frequently have to do with the nerves and touch receptors (or whatever you want to call them) in the bottom of the foot reacting to the things you are stepping on and then triggering a muscle response to pull that portion of your tender little footsie away from the sharp rock. I wonder if, while running in my VFFs, I've strengthened my toes and ankles, but not gotten as much benefit in the foot because the sole of the VFFs dampen a lot of the sharp pointy things that I step on. Walking on gravel in VFFs is DEFINITELY more pleasant than in true bare feet. I think I see another experiment in which to use myself as a guinea pig!

Part of this all is that I am a scientist. The concepts and theories behind the arguments pro-bare feet make sense to me in physical and biomechanical sense. I really want some solid evidence to back it up though. I'd like to have a before and after to support my statements of "I believe this to be better for my body." Guess I'm off to go play in some gravel without shoes.... tomorrow... or the next day. Today I just want to run through the woods with abandon again. : )

Trails, Trials and a new Recipe

Right, so on September 5, I ran in the Arlington Pentagon 9/11 Memorial 5K. I signed up for it with my friend Adi - I told him I would last year. It sounded fun because you finish the early evening race and get a medal, beer & pizza. For two weeks before the race, I went out 2 or 3 times a week to get "back in shape." Two days before the race, I ran a full 3.1 mi. route in a reasonable time and was very happy. It was easy. I showed up at the race, I had a light lunch/ afternoon snack of almonds and carrots and tomato and red peppers and cucumbers and yellow squash... all the good stuff. Lined up, feeling good.... after the first 1.5 mi, I was feeling lousey.... not physically, but mentally. I hated the fool who was standing 60 feet past the starting line telling me we were "almost there, almost done" - I don't care that he was doing it as a joke. I hated the people around me, I hated the route, it was hot (80 degrees, 54% humidity) and sticky... ugh. Then we turned into the last 1.25 mi. It was through a parking lot. With no moving air. Facing into the setting sun. My brain gave out. I walked for 20 feet. jogged some more, walked for 20 feet, jogged, walked & stripped down to my running bra, jogged and finished it out with a ginormous grimace and the feeling that I wanted to throttle someone. I lumbered off grumbling for some pizza and leftover veggies.

Not a triumphant moment. Then I started thinking about it. whether I keep going or not is all mental. I know at this point that I prefer woods running to urban running. After that race, I decided to set my sights on distance running and working my way up to trails. The following Friday I went and decided to try running the Loop around Lake Accotink. It's 3.8 mi round trip, mostly through trees, with a smooth, clean, gravel/dirt trail. This plan was inherently a bad idea. I had spent the day running around in platform knee boots with a 3.25 inch heel. If you've worn heels, you can do the math... if you haven't... well, by the end of the day your foot muscles have partially atrophied and frozen into the shape of the shoe, it's hard to put your heel down flat because your Achilles is all tight, and probably you've partially bruised the ball of your foot from the abuse of the shoes. So I get home from work, kick my boots off, change, hop into my Fivefingers and drive to the lake. Anyone not familiar with barefooting should be told that to do it properly, you need to have your whole foot relaxed to flex with the terrain and absorb the rocks & bumps properly. Uh... yeah... I take off... the trail's rougher than the normal asphalt, about 1.25 mi in, I'm feeling good, except the balls of my feet are tender. I step wrong on a large stone on my left foot and add a good beating to my already tender left foot. Ow. I keep going, but now I'm favoring that foot. after the turn around at 1.5 (the sun's going down so I nix the idea of doing a full loop), the favoring of the left foot has been throwing off my mechanics, so a stabilizing tendon in my left knee is starting to get angry with me. Also, my stomach is cramping for some odd reason, and I'm getting overheated - argh! In a race this would make me stop. In the woods, I was still smiling and having a helluva lotta fun and kept going, albeit being more careful how I planted my left foot. I finished a full 3 miles back to the car, it felt like I had only been out for 15 minutes, and I was singing with the radio on the way home. That's it. I'm only going to do trail running from now on.

Today I went out to Accotink again and did the whole 3.8... finished it in 39:15. It certainly didn't feel like 40 minutes. I didn't feel done when I stopped. J was doing the south-west half of the lake only, so I passed him on my way around. He hadn't come out of the woods yet, so I ran back to find him, then ran back with him & did a cool down walk. totalled out at 4.25 miles and felt like I probably could have gone farther if I didn't have other things to do. : ) I'm pretty happy. I need to find a bigger loop to work on and soon I need to start making little forays off the groomed trail onto some of the hiking trails that shoot off to the sides... I need to get some of my ankle muscles stronger - the ones that control lateral stability. They're just a little sore at the moment. I recognize this from when I first started running.... they're not used to being used quite that much. They're a lot stronger than they were two years ago, though, that's for sure! So yeah, apparently trails and woods make me happy & I'll just have to stick to that. I always come out of there feeling like I could take on the world. Accotink also looked like it had good opportunities to practice some of my MovNat stuff if I get off the beaten path, so I can't wait to try it. Whee!

Also, yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I hope you all participated... I spent most of the day running around trying to find a good pirate hat.
AAAAaaaarrrrrr! to ye!

As promised, here's a new recipe for a side dish that I made up while trying to finish most of the leftover veggies in the fridge:

Eggplant Side

3 mini-eggplant thinly sliced (~1/4 thick, tops), or equivalent large EP
1 stalk heart of palm sliced like EP
~2 Tbsp. minced garlic
~2 Tbsp coconut oil
Copious amounts of cinnamon reasonable dusting across whole pan twice
~1 Tbsp lemongrass herb paste (may be able to sub lemon juice)
~ sauteing eggplant, heart of palm, garlic, cinnamon & lemon grass paste in coconut oil ( in lieu of CO, maybe just butter and then add a bit of shredded coconut for flavor), after a few minutes, added a bit of water & covered the frying pan to add some steaming... cooked until eggplant melted in your mouth (15-20 mins). Taste. Add more cinnamon if necessary, add in maple syrup, stir, & add a bit of spinach at the very end - cooked just long enough to wilt. This served two.

By mini-eggplant, I used these:

Causal Fridays and Barefoot v. Minimal Shoes

Ok, so I just had a total geek-out on my way up the elevator this morning... Today is Friday - for many, Casual Friday. How easy it is to switch letters and change the meanings of words.... Then I thought: "If you just shift the U, Casual turns into Causal. What would 'Causal Friday' be like?" I hope J doesn't read this otherwise he might be ashamed to know me. ; )

Also, I gave some thought this morning to barefooting some more... I mean, I'm sure you all know that I run pseudo-barefoot in my Vibram FiveFingers, but I've eschewed shoes for as long as I can remember. Indoors? barefoot. Running around outside playing as a kid? barefoot as much as I could get away with. Heck, I've always preferred to buy shoes such that I can at least slightly feel the cracks in the sidewalk when I'm walking. It feels weird to me otherwise. So since I've started running around in the FiveFingers more & more, I've been feeling it in my joints when I go back to 'regular' shoes. I feel the shift in my joints and alignment. Or rather, I'm aware of them... Odd. as a result I am now trying to buy my shoes with as flat and thin a sole as possible and as flexible or roomy as possible (It totally goes against all financial sense to pay for as little as possible...) The thing that is intriguing me right now is that even in minimalist shoes, I do not ambulate in the same manner. Barefoot or in my VFFs, I walk lightly and lead with my toes, touching down the forefoot or midfoot first and then compress into my heel. With my minimalist flats, I still find myself landing on my heel and it feels very awkward to try and walk in a different manner in them. I need to ponder if it's because my brain has been "programmed" for so long to walk in a particular manner with shoes on (then one would think it'd translate to the VFFs also) or is it more that the construction of the shoes does not lend itself well to having a natural gait while keeping the shoes on my feet? I need to go contemplate.

Another random thought for the day: I passed a car on the highway yesterday that had 3 wheels - one in front, two in back. Sorry, I did not have my camera for once. It looked brand new. It had a curved windshield, sides, looked like a 2 seater, was TINY, had a normal steering wheel, and a roll bar. It appeared to be a convertible with the top down. Anyone know what that was? I tried to check out the make & model while driving by, but the words were all long, in tiny print, and a script-ish font. What kind of marketing sense does that make????

MovNat Seminar Recap

So, I've been getting a lot of questions (and rightly so) about what is this "Mov- NAT" thingie that I went to. If you'd like the official stuff about it, feel free to go visit the MovNat website. Make sure to watch the Erwan Le Corre video on YouTube also. It's cool.



So, if you want the really short, bare-bones answer, here's what I learned: barefoot movement & conditioning, running, jumping, landing, crawling, rolling, balancing, accuracy, agility, breathing, hanging, climbing, swimming, holding of breath, throwing sticks, throwing rocks, lifting, carrying, using gravity to one's advantage and overall efficiency of movement, some morsels of diet - paleo in specific, sparring, punching, self defense and that I'm a scary, scary woman if threatened. Really if I break most of those down into the subcategories of movement that I haven't named specifically, it's mind-boggling that the seminar was only over 5 days, more like 4 days when two of those were half-days... Really, I'm not quite sure how it all happened because it felt like we only did 2 or 3 things a day (this, said through rose colored glasses, since I can remember spending some days where I was just wishing for it to end).



For more of a detailed description of the experience, read on... and on... and on... (I don't see how it can end up short & concise).



Background

I have to admit that I don't fully follow all the "zoo human" philosophy on the website, or maybe I do, but phrased in a different manner. What I do know is that I feel people in general are dealing with a nature defficiency (myself especially - I go nuts if I don't get enough exposure to rocks & trees & water & stuff), and I feel like our modern western lifestyle is not conducive to health, wellness & mobility over our ever-increasing lifetimes. By talking biomechanics with my chiropractor & others and by reading & researching, I've been becoming fascinated with how our body works and have begun developing a theory, that I'd love to work with some day, that our life-long mobility and ability is determined by the movements we use in our everyday lives. The western world is suffering from some chronic pain issues and mobility issues that are not seen in some other cultures at later stages in life. Keep in mind that I'm not discounting the lack of elasticity in tendons and ligaments that come with age as well as breakdown of cartilage, wear of joints, etc.... BUT a number of mobility problems appear to be preventable either due to avoiding misalignments caused by imbalances caused by lack of use of muscles or by avoiding injury by using proper techniques and keeping critical joints strong and flexible. This is merely a quickie aside...



How it came about

Anyway, so let's start at the beginning of how I impulsively signed up for this thing. Please see the statement above about the mobility mind-set that I'm in at the moment. So for the past two years I've been mildly intrigued by Methode Naturelle and Parkour. Additionally, I've been trying to broaden my exercise regimen to strengthen and expand my abilities (both because I'm all dooms-day-ish and believe that I could get stuck in some catastrophic situation sometime, and because I'd like to still be able to get up off the floor when I'm 80 - "help, I've fallen and I can't get up" should not enter my vocabulary unless to make a joke or in an instance where both legs are broken). In June or July, I try to find something to use my HTO gift-card on and come out of the store with a FREE copy of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine and read this article about the Natural Fitness with an "annoyingly fit" man. It's a great article. So I googled MovNat. I watched the YouTube Video. Then I watched it again. And again. And AGAIN. It turned into one of those obsessive things I do such that I was researching or going to the MovNat page everytime I needed an ADHD break at work (i.e. every 10 minutes). Lastly I saw that they were going to be offering seminars in West Virginia in August & September. Then I got more & more distracted. At some point, the irrational part of my brain went AWOL & said "if you don't sign up for this & try it, you'll always be wondering & regret it." This led to an "are there still any available spaces left?" email, with the expectation of the answer "no". I got the answer: "there's one spot left and we've pencilled your name in if you want it." EGADS! What have I gotten myself into. It's one of those weird things that seemed to be 'fate.' We discussed it at home, I paid, it was all set, I was very excited. Then the "you're crazy" part of my brain kicked in & I started fretting about the cost & what a Paleo Diet was (raw meat?) and vacation time and holding the rest of the class back and killing myself and.... If there's one thing I'm an expert at, it's fretting - especially about the various possible ways for me to meet my demise. Well, anyway, that's how I got signed up for it and there was no turning back after hitting the "pay" button. * sigh *



And so it begins...

Tuesday, August 18, sees me departing a little after 7 AM on my drive to West Virginia. After a 5.5 hour car ride in which I stock up on doritos & a rootbeer (I will be eating Paleo for the next five days! augh!), I arrive at the campsite and find a collection of tents and one or two other people there. Tents -> Ozark Trail, first thought -> "egads, I wish I brought my own tent, this sucker's gonna leak". I spend some time talking to my first co-conspirator, James, a "kid" who's in college and is studying Physics - suddenly I don't feel like I'll be totally out of my element. After a bit of chatting, we decide to go see if Jeff, the assistant, needs any help with lunch. This is when I meet co-conspirator #2, Chris, the first of two Canadians and who drove down from Montreal the night before. I'm betting that was longer than 5.5 hours. Part way through chopping red peppers, we were joined by the other Canadian, Greg, an ex-air force instructor, Jason, and the man himself, Erwan Le Corre. In response to me saying "Oh, you're THE man!", he replied: "What were you expecting, a Zeus?" My reaction was not because he was very average looking, but because I had not been able to ascertain via the website, really what he looked like. A little bit later, we were joined by the last participant, a woman named Liz. It was a cozy little group. I had been expecting something different. The listing had said there would be 12 participants and we ended up with only 6. I had been expecting most everyone else to be fitness professionals and we numbered as a physics student, a patent examiner, a freelance journalist, a mediator, a finance guy, and a program manger. Hmm.... we each had a different level of fitness and abilities too, as was determined over the next couple of days. The first meal was a phenomenal salad of greens, peppers, nuts, oils & vinegar and I think some meat & fruit. Our first lesson was conditioning for barefoot movement - i.e. finding the sharpest gravel on the campsite road and purposely standing on it... "It's like a Chinese massage," says Erwan. Hmmm... Then we went to a local park with playgrounds & pavilions to see that MovNat can be practiced anywhere. I'd say we spend about 4 hours learning some basics, like balancing, jumping off picnic tables, walking on all fours, barefoot running and some warm-up moves. Part of it, I suspect, was for evaluating each of our ability levels. I successfully demonstrated that my Klutz Factor is abysmally high as I was 'balancing' across the wooden backstop to a horseshoe pit and managed to simultaneously fall off of AND onto the 'balance beam', leaving a gash in my leg that will be my souvenir! : )

I should have gotten a prize for "first blood." That night finished with a leisure swim in Summersville Lake, an amazing Paleo Dinner of more salad, veggies, steaks, and a dessert of coconut milk-banana-blueberry-bliss - I could get used to that. Did I mention that Erwan is originally French and oversaw all the meal prep? You can do the math on that one... Mmmm...

Day two involved a warm-up on a steep grassy slope of the campground, just below a couple of RV pads. We spent a significant amount of time learning about stretching and warming up by using practical movements that exercise full range of motion instead of just one piece at a time. Emphasis was put on the difference between motion in context (actually going over or under something), and without context (just going through a motion) and how each action without context can be given context in your mind to give it more meaning. We did a good bit of rolling around in the grass and crawling and then some stretches that were motions one would use if one were trying to hide in grass from predators or prey. The people staying in the RVs seemed to be highly amused by all this. I like to think that when we were practicing looking around furtively and hiding that the RV campers got nervous about an impending attack, because they left shortly thereafter. They also left us a large watermelon as a peace offering. After warming up, we went off into the forest and carried some long logs to our workout site. It was at this time that I re-discovered my 'true nature' of being completely distracted by the things around me... "look! a red mushroom! Look at that flower! Look! That part of the tree looks like a face! We just squashed a blue fungus of some sort..." Either way, I followed along balancing on logs, doing standing long-jumps, jumping off of logs, learning how to properly dead-lift stones above our heads and throw them. About mid-day, the assistant, Jeff, showed up with lunch - a bag of walnuts, a bag of almonds, some bananas and grapes, and a 9x13 Tupperware of chopped zucchini, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes. That was it. I was skeptical, but I followed the suggestion of "just eat what you want, your body will tell you what it needs." I've never tasted almonds so good. The rest of the day, was some more practice of skills and combining skills into a "combo circuit" that was repeated over and over for 15 minutes. Things I learned from combo: I need to have a goal or purpose and then I can enjoy repetitive things. My goal was throwing a rock, chasing it, picking it up, throwing it, and chasing it again. I wonder why I'm so "play" based... the 15 minutes felt like 5.

Day three was spent on the Gauley River and it was, by far, the most fantastic day of the seminar. It was the only truly sunny day we had all week for one thing. Thankfully I started the morning by explaining to Erwan that if I look like I'm not paying any attention whatsoever, I really am and don't mind me - I used to drive my teachers nuts with that. Secondly, though a river setting, there was a variety of terrains, from beach to dirty, to boulders to large flatrocks to rocky flat terrain. I was in heaven. It's a landscape that I've kind of grown up with and love dearly. The first lesson of the day was to walk barefoot across rocky terrain without really looking where you're going. Quite hard, really. I'm apparently way too stiff & have to relax my shoulders. We stopped for a swim, swam onto some rocks in the middle of the river, practiced breathing and holding of breath. Then we played cooperative 'games' of toss the rock & toss the stick and toss the stick while running around obstacles and toss the stick while balancing on a log. Next we stopped for lunch on a large flatrock complex and then practiced jumping up ledges and down ledges and across gaping chasms. We found a funky tree to balance on and that was fun, then we found a rather good Bouldering problem and scaled it. I scaled it 4 or 5 times just because. It was my first real, outdoor climbing!!! Yay! We finished with another swim and practice pushing a log across the river while swimming. I dripped dry while doing another climb. It was a great day.

Day three is also the only day I have pictures of essentially.

Day four is when I finally fell apart. I was not having the issues that some other people had - some of the guys were light sleepers and/or not used to being in the woods and hadn't been sleeping much at all. I come from a breed that A) grew up camping and B) have a family history of being able to sleep through train derailments. Sleep was NOT an issue for me. Except that night it rained a goodly bit and 1/3 of my air mattress and bedding got wet. Additionally, they started the day off by saying "OK, now today is going to be pretty intense!" That is the LAST thing I ever want to hear. We went back to the playground/park and warmed up with some out of context stretching and brief bursts of high intensity motion. Then we started learning self-defense and sparring techniques. This is where I discovered that I could cause damage if threatened. We were to practice protecting our heads. With the technique we learned, one could not only parry blows, but also fight back a bit with one's elbows. So we paired up and Chris was put in a position of 'attacking' while I was to defend myself. well, after a a few minutes i had to call a time out because my mind was getting into it and all of a sudden he was not my friend anymore, but a real attacker and I was about to leap & try to rip his head off... I kinda knew I had this in me, I felt it coming on, so I called a time-out. This combined with the 'rage' I exhibited when I was instructed to "hate the target" while Greg was holding it, resulted in me being labelled both 'scary' and 'dangerous' by the guys later. The latter half of the day, as promised, was filled with a smattering of intensity workouts.... series of intense bursts of conditioning, some fast combos and etc. In the midst of all this, it poured buckets on us on and off and when it wasn't raining on us, we were rolling around in soaked, muddy grass. The best part was when we were walking back from the restrooms to the playground. We passed a ginormous puddle on the sidewalk that was 2-3 inches deep. We stopped, we stomped, we kicked water on each other as if none of us were over the age of 15. It was great!!! Then there was another combo set up... theoretically it was nothing to be worried about... balance on a railroad tie for about 30-40 feet, go up a ladder, slide down a slide, run across the playground, duck under a bar, do 5 jump-pull-ups, jump off the steps 3 times and repeat. For some reason, before we started, I started feeling ill. I recognized the feeling from the one and only swim meet that I ever participated in. I hated the pressure & competition. I don't know why I felt that way on the combo, but whatever. The last thing we did was a longer combo... run to a tree, run to the bathrooms, do a small combo from earlier, run to the swings, run back to the bathroom, run to the playground, do the big combo, and then run back to the tree. The end. I started, I did half of it, between the swings & the bathroom I started having trouble breathing... It got worse! A freakin' anxiety/asthma attack! I got soooooo mad! It made it worse. I had to stop, I calmed down by the time I got to the top of the slide. By the bottom of the slide, I was OK, but I ended up being the last one to finish the route. I was sooo mad and pissed. There was no reason for it except a mental breakdown or will. ugh.

Day Five was the final day and it was a half-day only. We lost one of the participants in the morning at breakfast because she had a plane to catch. This is the last picture of us all before we parted:

We took a whitewater style raft across Summersville Lake to an island or peninsula which had a good collection of rocks. On the way, we worked on swimming and swimming under things while holding breath. We worked on accuracy of rock tossing. We also worked on various high-intensity series of lifting & pushups & etc. It was hard, but I knew it wasn't going to last long. The last thing before paddling back was a series of balancing along a wet log, jumping into the water, swimming under it, running back to the other end & repeat. One thing I liked very much about Erwan's instruction was that he got a good sense of each person and knew when to push you... literally. My first circuit, I got onto the log & froze.... Erwan pushed me off into the water. The next time around I went across the wet log with no problem. I don't know if I needed the push as a challenge or to show me that no harm would come by falling off... or maybe both, but I needed to be pushed off. Lastly, we rowed back while Jason & Jeff swam across the lake and finished up with lunch & said goodbye.

The Aftermath...

There were a couple of surprising results after all was said & done. For one thing, by being "Paleo" for a week has given me a particular aversion to "food products" (i.e. processed foods) - this I can only see as being a good thing. I've been doing some research on Coconut oil because, at least at first glance, it appears to potentially be a miracle food. I've also paid more attention to the things I buy.... the fewer ingredients the better.... whole raw nuts, sun dried raisins, no sugar or sulfates or salt added. I'm seeking more fruits & vegetables (again) and less grain products. The grains - breads, & etc - I'm noticing making me feel even more sluggish and uncomfortable than ever before. Actually, right after getting back and going back to a "normal" diet, I got a weird rash on my lower back and both my elbows. A lot of other weird things were going on too, like my leg swelling due to the wound getting infected, but the rash is making me think perchance I should look into Celiacs.... I'm not really sure I'd want to know though. Can you really enjoy a piece of cake with the knowledge that it could kill you?

In addition to diet changes, I was shocked to find that I DIDN'T come away from the experience sore & immobile. Just goes to show you that your body can adapt rather quickly. Also, I found I was able to do a goodly bit more than I had expected. I got kudos points for at least trying stuff even if I couldn't do it. I was known as having a "fighting spirit" by the end and that made me feel good. I also learned a lot about myself - how I work mentally. Competition, big surprise, is my downfall. I am best motivated when I want to do it for myself. I found that I had to fight an urge the first day to "prove myself" to the guys. They never said anything other than encouraging things. There were no disparaging remarks, no talking down, nothing but brotherly encouragement, yet I still felt like I had to prove-down the stereotype of "weak woman" and I found that this was mostly in my head, not theirs. I ended up coming up with a new personal motto, "I can't right now, but I can certainly try"... Huh? Meaning that I know my limits, but that won't stop me from trying until I can, whether it takes me hours, days or months, because I know that I can do most anything if I work on it. I also learned that when threatened or pushed, something else kicks in. I'm by no means going to throw caution to the wind and subject myself to danger, but I got reassurance that if I ever had to protect myself, I could either do a good job of it, or take someone else down with me.

Well, I guess that's all for right now... I think I'm on the verge of having bleeding stumps for fingers from typing so much. I'll write more later if I think of more.

Odd aside for the day: Spellcheck on here doesn't like 'egads'.... Tee-Hee!

Amazing Pizza

So yesterday I tried to continue with my eating healthy & fully with a salad bar lunch at Whole Foods (hot squash medley in tomato & onion sauce and a salad of spinach & field greens with Broccoli, Quinoa, shredded carrot & grilled chicken breast topped with Balsamic vinegar). Then I made a salad & pizza for dinner. It's one of my famous Trader Joe's Pizza Concoctions... I "hunt & gather my way through the store. It was amazing. Try it sometime. : )

Trader Joe's Pizza #5

• 1 ball of Garlic & Herb Pizza Crust Dough
• 2 hunks of Hearts of Palm=, sliced into circles
• 10 Pitted Kalamata Olives, sliced into quarters
• ~ 5 Marinated Artichoke Hearts, juice squeezed out & separated into different leaves
• ~10-12 large leaves of fresh Basil
• ~ 5 baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• ~1/4 cup of Quattro Formaggio Shredded Cheese Mix
• 2/3 jar of TJ's Vodka Sauce

Preheat oven to 425 according to crust package directions. Put 2/3 of the jar of Vodka Sauce into a sauce pan and boil over Med/Hi heat until turns into a wet paste consistency (~15-20 minutes). Either slice mushrooms or chop coarsely with a chopper. Saute mushroom pieces in Coconut Oil for ~ 5-10 minutes. Roll out crust to size of pizza pan or stone (mine's about 14-16 inch). Top Crust with Vodka Sauce Paste, basil leaves, sauteed mushroom, chopped olives, Heart of Palm & artichoke. Finish topping lightly with cheese. Bake for ~7 minutes or so. This crust never seems to get "golden", so just poke it. Cut, serve & enjoy!

If sliced into 8 pieces, this ends up being about 230 +/- calories per slice. : )

In addition to the pizza, I made a small entree salad of baby spring greens, fresh garden tomatoes, pine nuts, a medley I got at Whole Foods comprising coconut shavings, raisins & Cacao Nibs, and some sweet chicken I made by coating chicken breast pieces in a mixture of honey, agave, & Cassia Cinnamon. This was topped with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I made the mistake of putting in the Kalamata Olives. Bad idea. Don't do that with a sweet salad. Lastly, there were Champagne grapes for dessert.

Hope you get a chance to try the Pizza & enjoy!

Another Diet Shift

I just got back from a 5 day MovNat (Natural Movement) Seminar with Erwan Le Corre and will discuss more of that at some later date... I've had a minor epiphany though concerning what I eat.

They had us on a Paleo Diet and the switch was not bad, especially since the food was prepared by a Frenchman, but I noticed no major effects. When I returned to normal everyday life, I went for a gourmet Mushroom puree pizza, some buffalo chicken croquettes & a pint or two of beer. The next day, I went on to an amusement park, got the Mahi Mahi Fish & Chips, ate only half, added an afternoon snack of fries, and topped it off with a Margarita, chips & salsa, and a half of an enchilada dish. he next day started with my normal breakfast Luna Bar, and a quickie lunch at McD's of Fillet o' Fish & apples. By mid-afternoon, I was feeling lethargic & irritated. I immediately ran off to Trader Joe's to stock up on natural Raw Almonds, unsweetened natural sun dried raisins, a couple of packages of grapes, some fresh spinach, fresh mozzarella, Bananas, blueberries, more almonds, and some coconut milk, coconut oil & agave. Last night I ate about 4 oz. of steak, seasoned & grilled, a salad of fresh spinach with some basil from the deck, copious tomatoes from the deck, raisins, almond slices, olive oil, & balsamic vinegar, then a side of grilled veggies, an ear of sweet corn, and a dessert of bananas, blueberries, almonds in coconut milk, honey, agave & coconut oil (the last 3 in small amounts). half way through the meal I started feeling alive again & was more than full, but not unpleasantly so... Further, I was not hungry this morning and only ate my breakfast bar because I needed something with my antibiotics (will explain later). Today I brought the Almonds & raisins and some dried apples with me in case I wanted a snack (didn't really) and then ate a gyro salad for lunch. I'm staying full & not feeling nearly so lethargic today. Hmmm... idea: more raw, more fresh, more veggies, add some healthy fats, avoid processed foods altogether. We'll see how this goes. : )

Public Service Announcement

Oh my holy __(fill in expletive of choice)__! It's been a longtime since I posted anything. Honestly, I've been crushed under the guilt of not being able to write up a description of our trip to Alaska since I was unable to post the photos for a long time. Ah well...



I found this CNN story today... Why? Really WHY must people demonize playing and having fun? Is fun something that is only allowed for kids? If so, then I might as well just kill myself now or revel in being a self-centered, perpetually adolescent generation Y-er. I mean, seriously... what's the purpose of posing and being staid & reserved? There's this whole social stigma about "This is what you wear at this age, this is how you act, this is what you look like and this is the way you move, this is what you like..." etc, etc, ad nauseum.... What a load of bunk.

Anyway, done with my rant and on to playing a bit of catch-up with you, my dear readers (all one of you...). : ) The alaska trip was fabulous and I'll hopefully devote an entire post to that at some point. The summer's been hell-a busy, so I've been going quite crazy, getting behind, and falling quite short on a lot of my resolutions.

At some point, I've gone crazy and decided I needed to be getting a more well-rounded exercise regimen. I found a theory called MovNat, an updated version of Methode Naturelle, which has been on my radar for about 2 years now, but I've never done anything about it. I also found an exercise concept called Exuberant Animal, which is all about full body & mental wellbeing through play-activities. Conveniently, the local Rec Center has classes by one of the only EA instructors on teh East Coast. Yay! Basically, it's a minimally structured exercise class based on being silly and whatever the Kwame decides seems fun at the moment. So far we've used such recognizable childhood favorites as Tug-of-War, Follow the Leader, Crabwalks & Wheelbarrow races among other thing. There's a lot of partnering and cooperative aspects too. It's a good silly time. I hope tonight's class is still on! At some point with all of this, I went crazy, decided to be "spontaneous" and signed up for the MovNat seminar in Summersville Lake, WV. I embark on that adventure tomorrow. Bright & early. Let's hope I come back in one piece.

This past weekend we went to the Jane Austen Ball at Gadsby's Tavern & hit a pool party downtown that ended up being a filming location for MTV's "The Real World". Interesting.

I think that's about it for now. I'll get more pics up someday and see about taking photos of the seminar. Fun.

Roadkill I am not! (at least for now...)

So as I said last time, I decided to try this Bike to Work Day thing, although I didn't officially register because there were no "Pit Stops" on my way to work at all & I don't want the cheesey T-shirt & I was going to do it or not based ont he weather forecast. So for the past two days I cleaned my bike, oiled my bike, inflated the tires & attempted to attach the headlamp & tail light. I still need to replace my front tire & probably my back brakes, but it was ready to go. The weather cleared, at least for this morning... if it's too miserable come time to go home, I'll probably just take Metro & bus and come back for my bike later.

Riding to work was a relative success... I got out the door & discovered that my shifter wouldn't work, so I oiled it and fiddled with it and then I only had one of the three gears, so I fiddled with it some more... got it to the point where I had all 3 gears, most of the time, and got going. The headlamp and taillight were useless - the taillight because I dropped it and then it refused to light, and the headlamp because I had to McGuyver it to my bike basket and it kept sliding so that it pointed straight down or straight up. Will figure out a more permanent solution someday. It was a nice ride, pretty relaxing until I got into the parts of G--D--- Alexandria, where they don't allow you to ride on sidewalks & don't provide any bike lanes. Fortunately, that was only a small part of the trip & most of it was spent in neighborhoods and riding with a good view of Cameron Run (a stream). I think it seemed like a good way to start my day, except I'm already getting hungry. DOH! Maybe I'll try to do this more often on nice days. I have to admit, though, that I am a wuss and would not choose to bike commute on cold days, snowy days, humid days, rainy days, etc.... so I think it'll only be an occasional thing unless it ever becomes a necessity. It'll be interesting to see how much my bottom hurts later.... I have a cushy old-school cruising saddle seat with the springs at the back and then have put a gel padded seat cover on top of that, but I still remember hurting after the last time I rode it for any distance. We shall see.

Sailing update: We did get to go out for class last night, and my lessons are now done with... I didn't get failed, I feel pretty comfortable with the boat now, so Yay! I get one free week of sailing to practice with and then I'm going to have to start paying (boo!) Maybe I should just get a boat.... ; )