New Runners All Welcome! Sept. 9, 09

[RapidBreath]

And so the saga continues. Yesterday I was brave, I had a salad after work (I went for three hours) because I was so hungry. I was really good about no wheat of any kind (even had just vinegar/oil dressing.) But, last night I paid. Ouchie. I am still doing mostly broth, a few no gluten pretzels, and kefir. My doctor did not give me the referral as he promised, instead now he wants to see me. And, he did not explain my results (I think he has no clue.) I was up a lot last night because of bowel trouble and nightmares (thanks Doc, just what I needed.) Nothing like sitting up in bed thinking you are sinking through the floor and the floor has given way beneathe you. Bad dreams, its just my subconsious feeling abused by the doc. The nightmares are in my head. But, prior to this round of useless emails from my Doctor, I haven't had any bad nightmares for two years. Sheesh.

So, my plan is to get my tests explained to me (if possible) if this doctor won't help me I will get a new doctor on Oct. 1. And I'm going to see an allergist on my own, on my own nickel (no insurance.) If I can figure out what I can eat then I might be ok. I seem to be ok if I don't eat much. Even thought I"m really hungry.

I did 3 miles with Leslie Sansone this morning, did a bunch of chores and will do some video work this afternoon.

Tricia- Its so exciting to see a Rainbow, no Irishman at the foot of it with a pot of gold? My mom is a painter its neat to see them outside for a class. What a great run you had, wish I could have gone. Congratulations on hitting your goal weight! Thats an awesome achievement!

Janis- How was the swimming? I always wanted to have a lap pool. We have plenty of room. But, I bet trying to keep the critters out might not be easy.

Janis- I wish my 6th grade teacher had a canary. I had both French/Spanish too although much earlier and I wish I had kept them both up. I can pronounce things but I don't know what I'm saying

Christine- how is it going?

I hope everybody has a great day,

Alisha

 

[lifeverlasting78]

Hi Alisha! I'm sorry about your experience with your doctor and nightmares! I can relate to your frustration since dealing with the incompetence at the hospital where my grandma was staying. Maybe you should switch doctors sooner than 10/1 if you're really unhappy with this one. I hope you get some real help and answers soon!

Hellos to everyone.

My grandma went back to the hospital on Monday and was admitted until today. Her blood sugar went back down to 40 so they kept her there until this afternoon. They switched some of her meds and are hoping that will do the trick. She feels good and is happy to be home.

No workouts for me as I have been battling a cold and a sick tummy! I am wondering how hard my running endurance has been hit since not running for over a week? Oh well, I can't even think about exercising with the way I feel now, so it will just have to wait!

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry I missed out on a lot of personals.

 

[Janis]

Thank you Alisha for starting a new thread. Wow, we drug that behemoth around for a long time! Fitting date to start anew!

Being proactive is key to getting progress with your doc's, frustrating, but I admire your perserverance. Yikes, so sorry you had a rough night. I have had that sinking-out-of-body experience and it is freaky. Is that from the Donnatal? I guess you're going to lay off the salads now, right? Seems like it would be a little too fibrous and packed with roughage. Do you eat meat? I was thinking maybe a really soft chicken and rice soup would be better...cooked for a long time, like congee. That might be easier to digest. (uh, since I am being a busy body already, no onions!)

Christine - poor grandma! I am so glad she is getting good medical care, and having her meds adjusted. Low blood sugar can be life threatening! I sincerely doubt you have lost any ground, at all, with your running endurance. As a matter of fact, I think you'll find you can run easily and effortlessly, having benefited from your break.

Tricia - hey, great run! And thanks so much for the picturesque description. (keep those coming!) I love rainbows. I think their brightness depends on how much moisture is in the air.?? Here is some advice from the gimpy girl who did too much too soon, wait to do cardio intervals, maybe have a rest day in between. No inclines or declines just yet. 'k.

My swim was great. I really enjoyed it. I think I can come up with a workable plan. The health club is a little tatty, but the new owners are working really hard to make the place ship/shape. The pool is salt water and it was clean! That's what is important to me. Not sure I'll use their other equipment though. I have to restrain myself from running out and buying all sorts swimming gear, I'll try to refrain until AFTER Monday. LOL.

After my swim, I had three chicken tacos (hand made fresh tortillas Tricia! OMG! Love love love) with a huge pile of salsa and lime. YUMMMMMY. (the chicken was boiled and hand shredded then tossed with cilantro, onion, jalepeno.)

Now I need to accomplish something at home. My goodness a big chunk of the day is gone!

 

[syzygy314]

Well, the first thing I have to say is:

JANIS!!! Homemade tortillas??? (No drooly face.) Arrrrggghhh (think Homer!)! I can make my own, I just never do it! Shame on me! I'm glad your swim was a good one! I've never been in a salt water pool! How cool! (No pun intended.) I do take a break in between, no worries! I did CC Vol 2 tonight! I love that one for the visuals! So far, I've only done Vols. 1, 2 & 3. I still have to try 4-6. It was very windy today! I almost didn't go run. It's so tough to run against the wind, especially along the water where you have no protection!

Alisha - Gosh, girl! I wish we lived closer! I would love to give you some Reiki and Reflexology treatments! They're great for relaxation, sleep deprivation and pain relief! Keep pushing your doctor to help you! Hopefully, you can get some answers soon and maybe there will even be some relief from allergy testing.

Christine - So sorry your grandmother was back in the hospital again! And, to boot, you've been sick, too! Bummer. I was off from running for a week in the middle of my C5K training and was worried too about losing endurance. It ended up working out to my benefit! Just make sure you're completely recovered and energized before starting again! Get well soon!

Jenn - Hope all is well with you today!

Morningstar - Just because I miss our Morningstar! Hello!

As of today, I have broken the 126 pound threshold I've been stuck at for 2 months! Yea!!! I am down to 125.6!! It's really not that big of a deal as I'm content with 126, which really isn't bad at all! My only reason to get to 125 is that I get to treat myself when I hit it!

Tomorrow is going to be SS run as it is supposed to rain on Friday. If it does, I'll do weights Friday and hopefully, run again on Saturday.

Have a great night everyone!

 

[Janis]

Well, the first thing I have to say is:

JANIS!!! Homemade tortillas??? (No drooly face.) Arrrrggghhh (think Homer!)! I can make my own, I just never do it! Shame on me! I

As of today, I have broken the 126 pound threshold I've been stuck at for 2 months! Yea!!! I am down to 125.6!! It's really not that big of a deal as I'm content with 126, which really isn't bad at all! My only reason to get to 125 is that I get to treat myself when I hit it!

YAY! Congrats on the plateau breaking week! Hey, I know how you can celebrate! You can teach me how to make tortillas!

LOL

 

[syzygy314]

JANIS Question for you: Do you know if there are any authentic Mexican restaurants in wine country? We won't be staying SF when we go, so I'm looking for something in Sonoma or Napa. Your talk about chicken tacos and homemade tortillas made me think of it. There are all kinds of ethnic restaurants around here except for any good Mexican ones!

 

[syzygy314]

YAY! Congrats on the plateau breaking week! Hey, I know how you can celebrate! You can teach me how to make tortillas!

LOL

You got it! You'll be surprised how easy it is!

I guess I should go ahead:

Get a bag of Masarina or Manseca (Manseca is what my Mom uses to make tamales)
Measure out how much you want to use. It depends on how many tortillas you want to make, but they do keep well.
Add water and mix by hand until you get a nice dough ball that holds together, but is moist. Your die-hard traditionalists put lard in it, but I don't! Obvious why I think!

I have a cast iron tortilla press that I use to mash them. You could probably also use a pastry roller. I put two cut pieces of bread wrapper on either side of the press. This keeps the masa from sticking to the press. Take a golf ball sized or slightly larger pinch of masa, roll it in your hands. Place it on the center of the press and mash to desired thickness.

While you're mixing your masa, preheat a flat skillet to medium heat. Place your tortilla on the skillet and while this cooks on one side, roll and press your next tortilla. My Mom is an expert and I'm decent at this. You rotate three tortillas on the griddle at a time. Flip the first one over, place the second one down and, by the time you have the third ready to go, the first one should be done! I usually flip it one more time to be sure. They don't take long to cook. I've never timed them. I just flip them to check them. Place the done tortillas in a towel to keep them warm.

I use these for soft tacos without frying them. I'm just so into saving calories! They do crisp up well if you want to fry them!

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[jharris]

Hi ladies,

Tricia, I think I'm up for some longer runs. I am just such a slow runner that it might take me a long time to accomplish a longer run.

Janis, glad your swim was awesome. Did you purchase the water ipod yet? How the heck would you wear it? Does it come with waterproof headphones?

Today was STS disc 5 for me.

Christine {{{{HUGS}}}} to both you and grandma. I hope you both feel 100% soon. DH had a cold last week, but no tummy issues.

Alisha {{{HUGS}}}. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

DD should have no problem learning Spanish. Her grandmother and great grandmother speak it fluently. French might be another story. I took it in High School but can't remember anything.

Tomorrow is cardio for me, so I better get to bed if I'm gonna get it done.

 

[Janis]

You got it! You'll be surprised how easy it is!

I guess I should go ahead:

Get a bag of Masarina or Manseca (Manseca is what my Mom uses to make tamales)

Okay, lots available right now, I just saw fresh ground at the store yesterday! Might as well learn to make tamales too! Is there a particular press that works better than others?

They do crisp up well if you want to fry them!

Are you nuts girl? I grew up in Tucson! We only eat them soft! LOL!

As for the authentic Mexican restaurants in Sonoma and Napa I'll compile a list of known good eats, and a list of possibles. The best, in my experience, isn't the swankiest. (Sonoma County is pretty big, so it also depends on where in sonoma you're thinking.)

Thanks for the instructions. When I get a press I am going to do this! I have always wanted to. I am super excited!

 

[Janis]

Hi ladies,

Janis, glad your swim was awesome. Did you purchase the water ipod yet? How the heck would you wear it? Does it come with waterproof headphones?

Yeah - i was really confused too until I went to their website. It is the Swimman. They take the itty bitty ipod shuffle and waterproof it, you clip it to the back of your goggles and wear under your swim cap. The headphones are waterproof too!

I just ordered new goggles, actually a swim mask, my goggles made me look like I had enormous bags under my eyes even hours later! The pressure on the eyebones was too much. Last thing I need is to look haggard! lol.

 

[jharris]

Yeah - i was really confused too until I went to their website. It is the Swimman. They take the itty bitty ipod shuffle and waterproof it, you clip it to the back of your goggles and wear under your swim cap. The headphones are waterproof too!

I just ordered new goggles, actually a swim mask, my goggles made me look like I had enormous bags under my eyes even hours later! The pressure on the eyebones was too much. Last thing I need is to look haggard! lol.

Janis I highly doubt you could ever look haggard.

I woke up very tired and with a horrible kink in my neck. It hurts to turn my head to the left. So I opted for a rest day. I don't know if this is a combo of DOMS from disc 5 and sleeping wrong or what. All I know is I didn't have this problem when I went to bed last night. Hopefully a couple advil will help.

 

[Janis]

Hi Ladies

No cardio for me today. I am waiting for a furniture delivery. I did do STS disc5. Good workout. I like doing Back and Tri's together. But then again I love everything about STS.

I am afraid to get too hopeful, but I think my ankle/shin is getting better.

Tricia - one Q about tortillas, have you tried the non hydrogenated Spectrum vegetable shortening instead of lard, I was wondering if this might work??? and maybe more lime salt to make up for the lack of flavor. (lard + carnitas = love.) I choose to ignore the lard aspect when I eat at taquerias!)

Christine - how are you and how is grandma now?

Alisha - any improvements? Walking more? Eating more?

Jenn - those neck kinks are so uncomfortable....have you tried alternating cool/hot compresses? Sometimes it works - one brings down swelling, the other keep the blood flowing. Can you take a hot bath? I hope your more comfortable tonight.

 

[lifeverlasting78]

Janis, I'm glad you are enjoying your swimming! I have never heard of a gym with a salt water pool, that's cool! My grandma is doing much better today and I am feeling a little bit better, thanks for asking! What type of furniture are you having delivered? My hubby and I can't wait to get new living room furniture. Hooray on your ankle feeling better!

Tricia, I'm encouraged to hear that you had to take a week off from running too, but got back into it stronger than before! I hope that happens with me too. I will definitely wait until I'm 100% ready though. CONGRATS on breaking through a plateau!! I know how good that feels! What delicious treat will you reward yourself with when you get to goal?? Wait, did you mean food or something else?? hee

Mmmmm, if I still wasn't feeling a bit lousy I would want tortillas for dinner!

Jen, how is your neck? Thanks for the hugs! My grandma is doing great so far! I am feeling a tad better, still not 100%, but my stomach is better so that makes me happy!! I can deal with colds but don't deal well with belly issues!! I took Spanish for 4 years in HS and can't remember a thing! Well, I can remember some words, but not many. Awesome that your daughter has the diversity in your family to learn from!

Hi Alisha, how are you feeling?

Still no workouts for me, but I'm okay with resting since all I want to do is sleep anyway, lol. Have a great night everyone!

 

[RapidBreath]

Its a hot one

Good afternoon everybody, I did 3 miles with Leslie again. I am feeling a bit better, but I suspect thats from not eating much and I got to sleep some last night. Yeah, sleep! I had the weirdest symptom yesterday, I felt like my gut was hot, like I had an internal hot pad. Bizarre. I'm not having any cramping, or cutting pain like I had been. I tried putting a little bit of gluten free whey powder in a bowl of kefir and stirred it up and so far I'm ok. I haven't heard from the dr. office yet, I will pester them tomorrow. I am feeling ok so long as there is no real food in there. The longer I go without food though, I get really hungry. Its not easy. My blood sugar was ok though, 81 is just fine. Not too high and not too low. Maybe my insulin resistance is finally fixed, I don't really know. I wish I understood the damn test. Thats why I keep after the doctors office to see a specialist, I hope they can help me understand. Thats all I want, I don't want drugs. Just say no to drugs, right?

Christine- I sure hope your grandma feels better today. I used to have horrible problems with blood sugar and I really understand. Not running for a week? Don’t worry about it. Not running for a month is another story. OH wait. That’s my story. Uh oh. . . I hope you are feeling better too. I hate belly issues too.

Janis- Yeah I think the Donnatal was not my friend. Its toasty here (bet its hot over there >points to the West>) Going for a swim sounds so refreshing. Salt water? Ooh. Tacos with homemade tortillas sound good (I’m eating vicariously? Is that like living vicariously?)

Tricia- Running against the wind is hard I hate having wind in my ears. I would accept any treatment (Reiki, reflexology, salt water baths, acupuncture, meditation, anything at this point.)

Jenn- Have a good day! Thanks for the {{{Hugs}}} For learning French your daughter might get a kick out of a kids show, like Sesame Street, called “telefrance” its this silly singing pinapple that goes on adventures. He talks, and of course its in French. We watched that in high school, it was funny. I hope your neck feels better, when I have a kink its usually from sleeping wrong and what works (its no fun) is to sleep flat on the ground on my yoga mat with my feet up (like you were to do a situp not a crunch.) and hands out at your side. You will want a blanket unless you are super hot. Its not super comfy but by morning the kink works itself out, I don’t know if that would help you at all. Oh, let people know so they don’t step on you in the night.

MStar- I hope you are ok, lots of hugs.

 

[jharris]

My neck is feeling a little better. I'm not certain that it is my neck though, maybe my trap muscle. You know how when you hold the phone between your ear and shoulder well that's when it hurts the most.

Christine glad to hear you are feeling better. I don't think you should lose too much endurance with your running.

Alisha I will have to rent that from the library when she starts. Thanks for the tip. Glad your feeling better today.

Janis maybe tonight I will try a hot compress. The shower this morning felt great. What kind of furniture did you order?

Tricia you are making me hungry with all this tortilla talk.

Morningstar hope you are having a great hiking trip.

 

[syzygy314]

Wow! So much activity today! Hope I can remember to respond to everything! My old brain can't retain that much anymore! Maybe I should read posts with a notebook?

Christine - I'm glad to hear you and your grandmother are doing better!

Jenn - Sorry about your neck! I get those now and then and they are a bugger! Heat and a good massage will help a bit!

Janis - The fried tortillas may have been a preference of my Dad's. Mom always had to cater to his tastes! I've never even heard of that shortening you mentioned. I just know lard makes the tamales taste really good, but I would think any good solid fat would work well. I like the idea of the lime! Now I'm getting a hankering for some tacos! I may just have to make some this weekend! As to tamales, I don't know how much you know about Mexican cooking, but these are time consuming to make! Be sure to set aside a full day and if you can recruit some help, even better! Mom used to have us all in the kitchen on kind of an assembly line! Dad would cook the pork overnight, shred it in the morning and add the spices while Mom mixed the masa. Then, she would spread the masa on the corn husks and one or two of us would scoop the meat mixture into that while the other(s) would roll and seal them. Dad would then steam them. We had a whole system! We'd make them around Christmas and make dozens and dozens so we could freeze them and have them throughout the next few months! Fantastic!!!

Alisha - Glad you've had an okay day today!

Another hello to Morningstar and hoping you've got some beautiful weather for hiking!

Got in a good 3.5 mile run tonight! It was pretty cool out! Didn't break 70 today! Also, it's starting to get a little darker out. I didn't have much energy this evening and I thought I wasn't going to make more than 2 miles, but manages to zone out enough to get my second wind! I think tomorrow is going to be a step workout and upper body. I could tell my legs were a little tired today and they've been sore, so I'm going to take it a little easy on the legs tomorrow!

Have a great night everyone! And, I hope I didn't miss anything!

 

[RapidBreath]

Its Friday!

I slept last night and I'm not experiencing any pain today. My doctor wrote an email saying he hadn't been able to make contact with the specialist yet but he is trying. I'm ok with that. He still doesn't know how to explain my blood work to me. I will try to get in some miles today but it depends on how I feel (so far so good.) I hope I continue to lose weight. I will be going to make a donation today (bye bye old clothes!) and stopping at the pharmacy today. I need to transition from carbs to more fats. I was able to tolerate a little bit of butter on my potato last night. Lets hope that I can have other fats too. I would like to go to the movies. Did anybody see The Time Traveler's wife?

Jenn- I hope your neck is feeling better today.

Tricia- Its tough to find unadulterated lard here, its often full of hydrogenated garbage yucko! But real lard in tamales sounds so good.

Morning everybody else!

Alisha

 

[lifeverlasting78]

Alisha, I'm glad you're feeling a little better! I haven't seen that movie, but my sister did and she said it was reeeallllly sad, so bring tissues!!

Tricia, great run last night! It's only 65 here today, but it's rainy! Is it any warmer today for you?

Janis, did you get your furniture?

Jen, I'm glad your neck/trap feels a little better! Try a heating pad and a nice massage!

I'm still resting and think I will pick up my workouts again on Monday. I'm okay with the rest, it feels really good. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[Janis]

Good morning ladies!

I just finished sts disc6 legs. Great workout! (I really need to hit the shower.lol.)

The furniture was a small corner sectional for the oddly shaped media room. We have tried several different arrangements for that room and nothing has worked very well. After looking and looking and looking we found one from Scandanavian Designs that fits perfectly.

Now I am obsessively looking at/for tortilla presses. and swim gear. lol.

Alisha - yay! I am so glad you got some sleep and are feeling at least human enough to go to the movies. I hope you go!

Christine - I think your are smart to take as many days as you need to recover. Smart smart girl!

Tricia - HEY congrats on your nice run! And thanks for the tamale reality check! I have made tamales about four times in my life, and I always forget how time consuming is. Food prep amnesia. HA ha! But seriously, we all love tamales, I think I could find a way to make really clean/straight protein packed tamales. Perfect for a post workout meal, don't you think! and portable too!

Jenn - how is your neck today?

Off to shower and eat!

 

[syzygy314]

Hi Everyone!

Happy Friday!

Alisha - I'm glad you're feeling better today! I hope this is a good sign and you will continue to get better!

Christine - I'm glad you're getting better, too! It'll be good to have you back out there with us again! It was chilly and rainy all day today. It's supposed to rain tomorrow too, but hopefully not all day!

Janis - I hate not being able to find something that fits well in the house! I'm glad you found something.

Jenn - I hope your neck has loosened up a bit!

If you figure out a good, clean tamale recipe! I'm first in line for it! In the meantime, we should have a tamale-making party! What fun that would be!! I keep thinking I'll get myself motivated enough to make some, but I always talk myself out of it. Maybe I'll try it this Christmas! If I save a day or two of vacation, I might be able to do it!

We had our annual reviews at work today. I always hate this time of year. There's usually a lot of behind doors meetings and yelling and more meetings. Other than last year, they've always let someone go to save money since real estate and the economy started to tank, so it makes us all very nervous! We're already down to a skeleton crew as it is, so we didn't lose anyone else (whew!) and to my utter amazement, they gave me a raise and a small bonus! {{Snoopy Dance!!!}} So, it all worked out very well! It's nice to be appreciated! The few staff we have right now really busts butt to get everything done, especially at the end of the month when we have our busiest days with real estate closings! It's not what it used to be, but since the downsizing, it works our butts off!

Well, it's raining cats and dogs here right now. I have to take my pups to the vet tomorrow to get their shots so they can go to the kennel when we go on vacation. DH is taking his GMAT exam tomorrow morning. Hope he does well!

Stay dry if you're getting rain! I'll check in again later - just in case!