I’ve been back to running for a solid month now, applying my plan of action.  My runs have been short and sweet - 2 miles here, 3 miles there maybe a slightly longer run on the weekend.  I’ve missed a couple of runs due to weather, but so far I’ve been able to keep up with the schedule.

I’m really digging the three times/week thing because I don’t feel like I’m such a slave to the running.  And having the extra rest days seems to be keeping my tendonitis at bay, too.  Speaking of that evil stuff, things are okay in that department.  I’m not in any pain during my runs, but things do get achy.  I’m managing it with lots of stretching, ice and the occasional Advil.  The really good news is that I don’t get any after-run or next-day pain.  Last summer, when the tendonitis was at it’s worst, four miles was about as far as I could go without some serious hurt.  And then, I would hurt for the next two or three days before it would go away, only to start all over again once I started running.  As far as I’m concerned, this is 100% better.

The only thing that’s bumming me out is that I’m not gaining as fast as I did when I was running four times/week.  I’ll have one good day where I’m running in the 9s and 10s and then the next time I’m barely able to break 11.  That’s depressing.  But, I suppose I’ve really only been back for a month, so I shouldn’t get too stressed out.

This month, I’ve decided to start adding one hill day to my plan.  In theory, if it doesn’t kill me, it’ll help boost my cardio level and build up my legs.  Of course, if it causes anything to flare up, it’s getting kicked off my schedule.

This month’s totals:  26.12 miles @ 11.09

Say hello to Simon. 

He’s your average 15-year-old housecat – sleeps (a lot), eats, poops.  He’s slowing down in his old age, but every once in a while he manages to race around the house like his tail is on fire.

Recently, I’ve started to notice changes in Simon’s behavior.  They started out rather subtle.  He’s never been a very talkative kitty, but all of a sudden, he started vocalizing.  I thought it was cute.  I encouraged him.

Simon:  meow

Me:  meow

Simon:  meeyow!

Me:  meeyow!

Simon:  MEEYAAAAOWWW!

Me:  MEYYY…oh wtf I’m a crazy cat lady.

Anyway, a few months of that and I noticed that he was doing it all the time. Loudly. While staring at me.  Or staring at Josh.  Or staring at the wall.  Or staring at the ceiling.  Did he want food?  No.  Did he want water?  No.  Did he want to be picked up?  No.  Did he want to be played with? Petted? Brushed? No, no and no. 

Then he started pacing.  In the middle of the night.  Off the bed, down the hall to the bathroom.  Then downstairs.  Then, back upstairs & to the bathroom.  Then back to the bedroom and up on the bed.  Then sit there for two minutes and start all over again.  Did I mention this was in the middle of the night?

Then he got really, really clingy and anxious.  He followed me everywhere and if he couldn’t find me, he’d start with the loud meowing again.  If I was outside shoveling off the deck, he’d freak out.  If I went outside via the basement, I would hear him meowing from the other side of the door.  When I’d come inside, he’d stand at the top of the basement stairs and meow loudly at me.

When I started to notice he was losing weight, I decided that it was time to visit the vet.  I’d been reading up on elderly cats and figured it was senility.  Or maybe he was going deaf.  Or maybe both.

Two hours, two blood tests and $260 later, we have a diagnosis.  It’s not senility.  Or deafness.  It’s hyperthyroidism.  I’m not going to do it justice explaining it in technical terms, so you can refer to the information from the fine folks at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for all that.  Basically what it means is that he’s got an overactive thyroid gland.  It’s fairly common in kitties of his age.  To determine whether or not a cat has hyperthyroidism, the blood is tested for an enzyme called thyroxine (T4).  Normal levels of T4 are between .8 and 4.  Simon’s level was somewhere above 7.  The clinic’s scale only went as high as 7, so that’s as accurate a reading as they could get.  But, the results were pretty clear.

So, the news is good and bad:

• Bad:  Hyperthyroidism is incurable.
• Good: It’s easily managed with drugs.
• Bad: The drugs are in pill form.
• Good:  The drugs are really small.
• Bad: The dosage is twice per day.
• Bad: Simon does not like taking pills.

 

The drug he was prescribed is called Tapazole (Methimazole). I gave him the first pill when we got home from the vet’s yesterday.  I was able to do it quickly and I’m pretty sure the pill was down before he even realized what was going on.  I was hoping for the same success this morning, but Simon caught on to my shenanigans and he was ready for me. 

I lift kitty onto counter, get his butt in the crook of my arm, pry open his jaws and quickly get the pill as far back in his throat as I can get while still avoiding his razor sharp teeth.  Kitty spits the pill onto the counter.  Try again, this time kitty is a lot more squirmy.  And stronger.  Pill in.  Kitty spits it out.  Again.  Pill in.  Pill out, and stuck to the side of his mouth.  By this time, the pill is wet and dissolving in my hands.  DANG IT.  Again!  Pill in.  Kitty spits it half-way across the floor.  Kitty secretly laughs at my incompetence.  How he’s even getting it out of his mouth is beyond me as I’m holding it closed.  TF!  Finally, after the fourth (fifth? sixth?) try, the pill goes down.  THANK GOD.  I might have more of the pill on my fingers, though.

Not one to let my cat outwit me, I prevailed tonight when I decided to hide the pill in some chunks of tuna (credit goes to Josh for this idea).  There was a moment when, while he was chewing, he got this very perplexed look on his face and I thought that maybe he figured out my evil plot, but he appeared oblivious. 

Or maybe he did realize what was going on and he’s secretly plotting to suffocate me with a pillow while I sleep. Oh well, at least I got that pill in him!

Today I ordered some chicken flavored pill pockets, which are little hollow treats that you can slip the pill into.  In theory, Simon should be so thrilled with the treat that he’ll gulp it down without even noticing it’s not really a treat.  He can be a finicky eater, so I don’t know how well this will work.

The vet says that I should start to see improvement in as little as a week. I have to take him back in a month to get his T4 level tested again to see if the pills are working.  If so, yay!  If not, I don’t know what the next step(s) will be.  I’ve had this little kitty for 15 years and he means the world to me.  Rest assured, I’m willing to try pretty much anything to keep him around for as long as I possibly can.

I was naughty this week and blew off my stretching and strength sessions.  I don’t really have any good excuses other than I just didn’t feel like doing them.  I did keep up with my slant board exercises twice/day and I attribute that to the game of Solitaire that I’ve been playing on my iPhone.  Whatever works, right?

I also ended up replacing my mid-week run with a snow removal session (bad!)  But!  I did redeem myself with a fairly decent 4 mile run today.  Josh dumped me off on a back road in Stanton and I ran to my parent’s house.  I was dressed for the 16 degree weather, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the wind.  Holy cow, it was cold!  My lungs were stinging and my nostrils kept sticking together.  Every time I exhaled, the wind would push it back in my face and my sunglasses would fog up.     The only thing that kept me going was that at the 2-mile mark, I was going to change direction and the wind would be at my back instead of hitting me in the face.  Once I hit the turn, everything was all good and I sailed through the rest of my run.

My legs have been doing okay with the 3-day a week plan.  I’ve had a flare up here & there, but nothing that ice, Ibuprofen and arnica gel can’t keep under control.  We’ll see what happens when my mileage starts to pick up.

Oh, I turned 40 on Thursday.  Geez, I’m old.  Spencer turned 16.  Geez, he’s old.  Fun fact:  Spencer and I both take Glucosamine for our joints.  I think that makes me a crazy cat lady?

I felt like baking tonight, but didn’t feel like going to the grocery store to get a bunch of ingredients.  So, I rummaged around in my larder and found I had everything needed to make chewy chocolate cookies. Yummy! The recipe below makes about 4 dozen cookies, but I only made two sheets worth and froze the rest of the dough to use at a later time.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
Makes about 4 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Additional granualted sugar for dipping

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar and eggs. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually stir in the dry ingredients until the dough is just combined and there are no dry pockets. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop the dough by level teaspoonfuls and roll each portion into a smooth ball. Dip the top of each ball into the granulated sugar. Place the dough balls onto baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time, rotating sheet halfway through, until the cookies are set but still soft in the center, about 8-10 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Goes great with beer or wine!

I started running again last week, after a 2.5 month layoff thanks to posterior tibial tendonitis. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to approach my return in an attempt to stay healthy, and I've come up with a plan which I feel pretty good about.

1. 10% rule. The golden rule of running for beginners or those recovering from an injury is to never increase your mileage by more than 10% per week. Does it make sense? Yes. Is it a smart approach? Yes. Have I ever followed it? Hell no. 10% per week, are you kidding me? Have I been injured more times that I like to admit? HELL YES. I've tried almost everything but applying the 10% rule, so this time around, I'm going to follow that rule like my life depends on it. No more than 10% per week, people.

2. 3 running days. All my other plans had me running four times per week, then when I bumped up my mileage too much and started flirting with injuries, I'd end up dropping back to three times per week in an effort to maintain my health. I'm a bit concerned about not being able to get enough out of training on three days per week, so that's where step 3 comes into play.

3. Cross-train. Once per week, do some sort of hard cross training that gets my heart level up. I'm currently shopping around for a bike trainer and I've got my eye on the Spinnervals DVD set. In the meantime, I borrowed Josh's bike rollers (*scary*) and I'm going to attempt to not kill myself on them starting this week.  If the rollers don’t work out, I’ll bust out the skis.

4. Stretch, stretch, stretch. This is a big one for me, and one that I've been fairly lax about in the past but I need to get back into the habit of stretching. Not only does it improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury but it also feels so good after a hard run. I used to stretch all the time, but got out of the habit for some reason. I also incorporate the use of a slant board (similar to this, but I have a hillbilly version using my foam roller and a piece of wood) in my stretches. When I was in PT several years ago, the therapist told me I had chronically tight calves which was probably the reason for several lower-leg injuries I was suffering from. He had me doing the slant board thing twice daily for five minutes and I think it really helped.

5. Ice, ice, ice. When it hurts, or even when I feel like something might be happening that could turn into something bigger, it's time for an ice treatment. One bonus of running in the winter is that you can ice on the fly. Tonight I was feeling a little something in my ankle so I pulled over, smashed some snow in my sock and tights and continued on. I did get a really strange look from the people in the minivan that drove by.

6. No race commitments. I don’t know what’s going to happen with my injury, and I don’t want to put any pressure on myself by having a deadline looming over my head that will encourage me to make bad decisions on when to run or rest.  My goal is to make it to April feeling strong and do Journeys HM in May, but if it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen. I’ll find something else to do later in the year. Or maybe I won’t.

Well, I think that’s about it.  Last week went pretty well.  My mileage was low and my speeds were shamefully slow, but it sure does feel good to be back.

This is Spencer.


He likes boxes.

This is Scout.

She’s into into antagonizing Spencer.

I was initially sort of blah about the past year.  But then I decided that there must be 10 interesting things that I did or that happened to me in 2009, so I sat down and contemplated.  And contemplated.  And he’s what I came up with.

In 2009 I….

- paid off my truck and my trailer.  Payment-free, baby!  Man, did that feel good. 

- saw my mile splits start dipping into the 9’s (inconceivable!)

- ran 10 miles in 1:39 (9:55 ppm PR!)

- PR’d Journey’s HM with 2:19:12

- PR’d 5-miles with 49:04

- got custom orthotics to take care of the medial tibial stress syndrome I developed due to my high arches. Then spent most of the summer sidelined with posterior tibial tendonitis, which developed because I waited too long to take care of ignored my MTSS.  The running gods giveth, [then I break the cardinal rule of running by not listening to my body] and they taketh away.

- had a great 50-mile ride around Lake Gogebic.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s ride, although I’m contemplating heading to Louisville, KY that weekend to cheer on my friend Tina as she competes in Ironman Louisville in August.

- ran the Kimberly-Clark HM in September on a wing and a prayer and was only 30 seconds slower then the previous year.  That still cracks me up.  I suck so bad. 

- completed the 100 Pushup Challenge

I only have one goal for 2010, and that is to stay injury-free. Fingers crossed!

Yummy and fairly low-cal, the key to this dish is to use the right lettuce. After several failed attempts using cabbage (learned that you have to steam it first), bib (too floppy), and iceberg (couldn’t get a decent leaf from the head), I finally found success with butter lettuce.  The leaves turned out to be the perfect little cups.  I also made some brown rice to serve under (or over) the meat.

Ingredients

• Butter lettuce leaves (rinsed & dried)
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 T oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 T vinegar
• Asian chili pepper sauce (optional, to taste)
• 1 bunch green onions (chopped)
• 2 T sesame oil

 

Directions

1.  Brown ground turkey over medium-high heat with 1T oil.  When fully cooked, drain & remove from pan.

2. Using the same pan, add onions & stir fry for 1-2 minutes.  Add garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar & chili pepper sauce.  Stir to mix.  Add green onions & sesame oil.  Add sauce mixture to ground turkey, mix well.

3. Add a spoonful of the meat mixture into the center of each leaf, wrap like a burrito and enjoy!

Hello!  It’s been a couple o’ weeks since I last blagged.  How was your Christmas?  Mine was good.  I got the camera I’ve been lusting after for a while now, the Canon Rebel XS. Very cool!

I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to learn all the photography terminology (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) and taking tons of pictures.  Some are pretty good, some not so much. Here are a few of the okay shots.

I am happy to announce that come January, Running Chick will refocus to running!  Yep, training will start up again after a three month hiatus.  So, be prepared for major bitching about how out of shape I’ve become, slow mile splits and various aches and pains.  Honestly, though, I can’t wait to get back to a fitness routine.  My shoes are lonely and in the fall I bought a swanky Brooks running jacket that is just begging for me to take it out for a spin.  That baby’s supposed to be hurricane/tsunami/avalanche-proof and I’m anxious to test it out.  I can report that it stands up to beer spills just fine. 

Happy twenty-ten all!

We almost made it to Christmas without having any snow. Almost.

Then, last weekend, it started to snow. And snow. AND SNOW. And it didn't stop for seven days straight. Each day we got 4-8" of light, fluffy lake effect snow, and each day cleaning up my yard took at least 90 minutes. 

Damn you, Lake Superior! *shakes fist*

In total, I figure I tallied about 12-13 hours of snow removal last week.  That’s a part-time job!  Too bad I don’t get paid for it.

Anyway, the snow’s tapered off enough for me to start thinking about taking some snowshoe hikes or renting classic skis.  My skate skis can stay in their ski bag, I’m still pissed at them from our little disagreement two years ago.

Hopefully this week (and the next two since I’m on vacation for that long after this Friday w00t! ) I’ll be able to actually enjoy some fun snow-related activities.  I’m also hoping **fingers crossed** to stay healthy over vacation.  Last year, I was super sick the entire time and finally felt better the day before heading back to work.  Suck.

It’s time to start thinking about what I want to accomplish with running in 2010.  Goals, and such, ya know.  I would really like to move up to a marathon, but I’m not sure how my legs are going to handle the mileage.  Heck, I can barely make it through training for a HM before something breaks.  Right now, I don’t think I’m going to sign up for anything.  I’ll start running in January and see how things turn out with my (hopefully healed) tendinitis. 

Know what I really wish?  That by some miracle from the running gods, I will have finally achieved the right combination of shoes and orthotics that I run injury-free.  I didn’t get that over the summer, because I couldn’t rest enough for the tendinitis to make a recovery.  All I was doing was running one week and cross training the next.  That was no fun.  Actually, it was depressing, frustrating, and defeating all rolled into one.  No fun, indeed.  I have no idea how long tendinitis takes to go away.  I haven’t run a step since mid-September and I hope that’s enough.

Guess I’ll find out soon enough.  Ciao.

And just like that, vacation is over and it's back to the daily grind.

I finished up painting on mid-week (looks great!) and then when I was removing the tape from the trim, half of the paint came off with it. Noooooo! I think it was because the original paint on the trim was oil-based and I used latex. Anyway, I quickly realized that all the trim had to be scraped, sanded and primed before I could do any repainting. Damn you, oil-based paint! **shakes fist**

I pouted for a couple of days, then started scraping. And scraping. And scraping. It's a good arm workout, but since I'm only using my right hand, I'm going to have a right arm like Popeye and a left arm like Olive Oyle.

I finally finished up tonight. Tomorrow is another trip to the paint sore for primer then taping and priming. If all goes well, I should be done with all painting by Sunday and I can move everything back and stop living out of three rooms.

We had several friends over for a post-Thanksgiving Thangsgiving over the weekend and it was our first time brining a turkey. It turned out really, really well and brining will probably be the standard for turkeys cooked at my house from now on. Behold the pictures. Yes, that it a cat litter bucket that you see. It worked great!

I put the second coat of paint on the walls, then finally took care of the rest of my oustide stuff. The weather has been crazy - no snow, and in the mid to high 40's for about two weeks. I read somewhere that this time last year, we had 19" of snow on the ground. Not that I'm complaining, but it's been a long time since we've been snow-free at Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I'll decide if the walls need a final coat. If not, then the tape comes off and I do touch-ups. Josh wants to fix the heater vent, put in another electrical outlet and add a light switch and light to the closet, so I can't move my stuff back in until that's done. Right now, it's all crammed in the back and middle bedrooms. I'm having a few friends over for a dinner party on Saturday and hopefully they won't end up weaving their way to the bathroom through all my stuff. It could make for an interesting party game, once the booze starts flowing. Kinda like a real-life version of Jenga!

Paint!  I finally got fed up with the mauve-ish color I selected for my bedroom way back when and after much pondering, selected a really nice green/brown color called Sierra Taupe.

Saturday and Sunday were spent clearing out the bedroom, removing the outlet covers, washing the walls, scraping, patching, sanding, washing again, taping and finally putting the first coat on.

My helper

My other helper

Sierra Taupe

The first coat is on, and so far I’m happy.  Painting is always a little bit stressful for me because I’m always afraid that the color I spent agonizing over will look like crap once it hits the wall.  Fortunately I like this right away.  Tomorrow, coat #2 goes on.  Hopefully I’ll still be happy.

Later on, we made Pizzas of Awesomeness!

Mine. Awesome!

Josh's. Awesome!

My new favorite thing, pomegranates!  They take some serious maintenance to get the little seeds (avrils) out, but so worth it in the end.

They’re a little bit weird to wrap your head around - sweet, juicy and crunchy all at once.  Whaat?  But after the initial few bites, I couldn’t put them away.

 

Glamour shot!

For dinner tonight, I whipped up a tasty baked acorn squash with sausage.  I didn’t really follow a recipe and I didn’t really measure anything, so my recipe is a big vague.  This dish turned out really well – quite delicious - so I deem it a success!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Acorn squash
• Sausage, cudighi. Could also use ground turkey.
• Onion
• Celery
• Red pepper
• Salt & pepper
• Brown rice

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Cut the squash horizontally and scrape out the seeds.
Place the squash cut-side down on a baking sheet, bake for 45-60 minutes or until fork tender.
When done, remove from the oven and turn cut-side up on the baking sheet.

Brown the sausage over medium-high heat, set aside when done.
Saute the vegetables in the same sautee pan with a splash of olive oil until tender.
Add the sausage back into the vegetables, combine.

When the rice is done cooking, add to the sausage & vegetable mixture.
Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Increase oven heat to 400 degrees.

Spoon the mixture into the squash until full. Top with shredded parmesean cheese.

Return to oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is golden.

You can also find the recipe on the wiki, if you so desire.

Serve with a glass of Turning Leaf Pinot Noir or your favorite later.  Yum!

How can you know love a crock pot meal?  Get a hunk of meat, season it up, chuck it in the crock pot with a bunch of veggies, add some more seasoning and some stock, turn it on low and walk out the door.  When you get home from work, presto!  Dinner is ready!

I had high hopes for this roast, but it turned out to be too dry for me.  It was really tasty, so I had the seasonings spot-on, but I just couldn’t get past how dry it was.  Boo.

Oh well, maybe next time.  If  you want the recipe, click on the image.  Any suggestions for not drying out the roast are welcome.

In other news, holy crap do I have a serious case of camera envy.  It’s bad, people.  Really bad.

This is the Canon Rebel XS.  It’s a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera and about a billion times better than my point-and-shoot Olympus.  The Rebel would allow me to take some seriously bad-ass pictures of, well, anything.  It’s pretty pricey, so that’s my biggest hold-up at the moment. 

 

Maybe I’ll magically win the lottery without buying a ticket?