sunday-not my funday- my i'm gonna have to runday!

Well this sunday mo and i did the same run we did last week but with the aim of going faster than last week's miserable time! just let me reiterate that this route incorporates the ten hills milngavie bearsden highland games 10k route!

this week it poured down so hard i could taste the sunblock as it was washed off my head and into my eyes pouring down the back of my throat via my tearducts. still at least it was cool and gave me the incentive to run fast to get it over with. the plan this week was to test if i could run any faster now i was superjuicing. however i had sabotaged coming to this run in great shape by drinking a wee bit too much the night before. i even considered calling it off and sleeping in. my gut felt dodgy and my heid was pure pounding man! but after breakfast my gut had settled and the sare heid became a mild throb behind one eye! and i knew i'd regret not running, so i went! [psychobabble - you can always run slow if you feel crap better than not running at all! and you can't let mo down!]

mo ran ahead to set the pace and it also had the added advantage i wouldn't be tempted to talk all the way! mo likes to get "in the zone" and she can't do that with my incessant chatter! i got into my own zone listening to britney's "in the zone!" as i trundled behind her. unfortunately it ran out of battery halfway so had to content myself imagining i could hear the beat!

mo settled into a steady pace about 50 metres in front of me. i kept her in my sights and kept the pace. how i ended up that far behind was probably because of fannying with my shuffle to get the right song and listening to my own psychobabble again! you know the type?? - why did i agree to this, god i wish i hadn't drank so much last night, oh my leg/ foot/ass is sore, etc. i did feel like throwing only one mile in but we had set off too fast and i could read mo's lips to decipher that she was going to slow for a bit then build! the hassle of switching the shuffle off or trying to take the earphones out my ear was more trouble than it was worth. the rubber bits always get detached and stuck in my ear then i have to stop and fish them out to fix then and at the same time being careful not to drop them and lose them. so i nodded that i agreed and understood and was secretly thankful as that eased the vom rising in my throat!

i never looked at the garmin during the run tho i could hear it beeping at each mile marker. having done a rubbish average of 9m45s last week for the 7 miles i was hoping that a below 9 would be achievable - hangover permitting! admittedly the nagging post vino throb behind my right eye was lessening or maybe it was just the pain in my right leg was worse that it masked the head ache but there is nothing like a run for a hangover cure!!

by the end of the run i had lost mo. the last wee bit running back through milngavie had too many turns for me to keep sight of her but i never gave in i kept the pace till the end when the final beep of the garmen told me i had reached 7 miles i stopped to see mo pop out of a bush! i am sure she was afraid if i saw her i'd slow down before i got there and she'd have been right!! mo was disappointed with her time so i wasn't holding any great expectations when i looked at mine! so imagine my surprise when i saw my average was 8m35s!! Ace! mo had 8m31s but wants to get it down to 7m30s - i told her she'll be letting me start ahead of her then when it gets to that stage. although mo insists she'll get me there too [my psychobabble is saying otherwise!] and after the difference in time for the exact same route was surprising to me, maybe, just maybe anything's possible!

so can we contribute some of that improvement to diet? let's hope so! but there is only so much beetroot juice a gal can take! donna you may have started something!

testing, testing...

pH testing

decided to at least do some additional baseline measurements. if i am to do all the juicing i thought i'd best get some pH baselines to go by. i know i have already been doing it for a week and a half so i should expect the reading to be better than before i started. my saliva registered 6 and my wee 6.5, so although still acid not as bad as it would have been 2 weeks ago!!

my son eats vegetables sparingly and usually once i have pureed them or disguised them as a sauce, but he does take lots of smoothies. his pH was 8.5! so he is doing something right!

so will carry on juicing [now making my own!] and eating 5 a day wherever possible and see if i can improve my levels. i will also try and find some evidence based research that gives validity to the acid alkaline diet.

On the other foot...

Since the marathon i have been having pain that started in my right foot and has gradually crept all the way up my leg to my hip! At first i put it down to the marathon after effects, but i rested well and started back by the book building slowly again. The pain hasn't subsided but it hasn't stopped me running although it is getting uncomfortable afterwards and sometimes during a run. Lately i have also noticed that my running shoe was feeling too flappy and i was having to tighten them up. my shoe size [4] in any other shoe was now too big! i was having to buy size 3 again. many moons ago before pregnancy ballooned me from 7 to 11 stone [all water of course!] i had a high foot arch and was a neat 3 in a normal shoe and 4 in a running shoe. after pregnancy i was left very much flat footed and up a whole size in all shoes! i had to change from an asics which were great for high arches to a nike for over pronators and that is what i have run in for the last 13 years! however recently i have noticed if i am standing for a long time i am rotating my foot outwards - supination! in fact i was even walking like that in bare feet! so i decided to do the wet foot test!

http://www.runnersworld.ltd.uk/foottype.htm

My result

My result confirmed what i had now suspected - i was back to having a high arch and supinating and not over pronating - which means i am wearing the wrong type of shoe!! so is this the reason i am getting sciatica and shooting pains in my foot, calf and inner thigh? Possible!

So now i will have to get new shoes and see if this helps my sore leg and hopefully improves my running!

beans means turning over a new leaf!

i absolutely abhor the idea of becoming vegetarian but i will give in to eating less meat and adding more vegetables to me meals. had been doing well till yesterday and had a poor diet relapse. i started with my usual tea and toast with butter - or rather butter with toast - organic lurpack tho', lunch i missed, for dinner i had a small meaty quiche and supper was cream of tomato soup with roll and more butter! My fluid intake on the other had was better than normal with one glass veggie juice, one glass lemonade and a pint of diluting orange!

on that note today i went healthy food shopping!! Mostly organic fruits and veggies have now been stacked in their categorized shelves in the fridge, with expiry dates duly noted in my notepad from which i can collate daily menus.

So breakfast is always my normal - can't let go of that comfort blanket yet. My stomach churns at the thought of anything cold, juicy or out of the ordinary for my first meal of the day. it will take a bit longer than that to change the habits of a lifetime! one of my pet hates when going on holiday is that no breakfast tastes like my own scottish tea and toast. in france i put up with sweet croissants and minging tea because the bread is too crusty and just doesn't have enough E numbers or preservatives in it to taste like the stuff at home. actually i am not that bad - i converted to soft additive white to wholemeal and occasionally organic wholemeal but i am not keen on the latter. in new york and canada i gave in a had orange juice and pancakes with syrup because nothing came close to the taste of my tea and toast - although i didn't complain as loudly as my waistline at that! in italy, austria, menorca and majorca i made do with the nearest to soft white bread and butter and either tea or orange juice depending on which i found most palatable. so i you think i am changing to healthy fruits, yoghurts, juices and nuts immediately you've got another thought coming!!! i might start taking porridge with yoghurt and maple syrup on run days but that is a few weeks off yet. i did try on sunday after i tried the dog's concoction of such and thought it was quite nice but gave in and had my usual - but the thought was there and that gives me hope...

my lunch i am munching just now is - wait for it, you'll be impressed - three bean salad!!! and the ever faithful veggie juice. hey i am so impressed i wouldn't be upset if i just eat chocolate for dinner! kidding - i don't like more than a taste of chocolate at any given time and most of the time only with wine! and no sis it wasn't three tins of heinz beans either!! three bean and mint salad from tesco! and surprisingly yummy! cannellini, black turtle and soya beans. dog enjoyed the dregs too! oh and the veggie juice! this batch was better than the last one as donna went back to the second recipe she gave me. i think it is the adding of the pineapple that makes it sweeter. anyway feel bagged now so can't really think of dinner at the moment. i'd better go look the list and examine the recipes in my new books and see what appeals. will get back later!!

More beans!

Well i am sure i will have enough wind to fill a hot air balloon tomorrow as i had spicy been burgers for dinner!! Why? Well the problem was that yesterday when i had the notion for a spicy bean burger my other half came home with the quiche because marks' didn't have any! unfortunately the notion never left me and it was the first thing on my mind for dinner. i did have it with coleslaw and tomato sauce [yes my favourite, sis!] so more veg!

The books i had ordered came today, so tomorrow i will plan something from them. i may replace some of the ingredients as i haven't even heard of some never mind be able to buy them. And i will have to start making my own juices now donna has got me started. i have all the raw ingredients - now i just have to dig the juicer out from under all the dog dishes and cat baskets in the garage cupboard and clean it up ready to get juicing!

And maybe tomorrow i'll start looking at running plan! did nothing today although had great intentions, but had too much work to do i gave it a miss. shame because i like running in this drizzly weather. i keep hoping my sore foot will get better but i think i need to look at the possible cause. i suspect my pronation has changed and if so i am not wearing the right shoes anymore. will look at university internet to diagnose the problem and get back to you on that one!

First week of trial

Baseline recordings:

weight 47kg bmi 17.3% heart rate 60bpm bp 110/60

hey i know you are saying wow 47kg but it is all round my mutton tops and dimpling up my ass!! i wasn't like that after the mara!!

Well today was the first day i used the garmen to record my run and i think i should have left it at home!! i ran better last week on a harder route! Last week i ran to strathblane and back from milngavie to include the hilly ascent up the khyber! pass and cuilt brae! chappin at the bit behind mo on both ascents we averaged a 9m 15s/mile over the 11 miles. we were both disappointed but it was hot [it seems to always be hot when we run then pisses down when we stop!] and mo had raced the week before and managed a couple of mad club runs too. me - i had no excuse! i had run the day before but i didn't exactly exert myself! anyway this week we decided on another hilly route the bearsden [highland games] 10k with an extra mile thrown in! ok there are 10 hills on this run [we counted] and again the sun came out. but we planned to take it easy. so we were both disappointed when the garmen stated an average of 9m 45s / mile for the 7 miles! in my head the strathblane run was much harder but either we both crawled this week or the run was harder than i imagined. so after 6 days of juicing i have this paltry result!

on the bright side i never felt out of breath and recovered immediately. i even gassed the majority of the run, although that is my normal as anyone that knows me will verify. in fact kas always used to say i made her ears bleed!

so what do i do now? the participants in the beetroot study were tested after 6 days also and showed a 16% improvement. ok i am not doing any proper tests here but i just wanted to see an improvement in my performance. although i can say i felt good the whole run, recovered well and now have a baseline to compare future runs with.

aslo donna said i wasn't drinking enough of the superjuice and i should have been drinking 3 or 4 times the amount - not if i wanted to be able to leave the toilet!! so letting my body gradually adjust to the veggie change i will up the dose by double 500mls [like the amount drank by guys in the study!] and next week mo and i will do the same run and compare the results! mo kindly offered to be the control group/ bod with no super juice! god love her but that is like testing the hare against the snail [me being the snail of course!]. god help me but if she tries the juice i may as well tie a rope round her to keep up! hey isn't that a training method? if not it should be!

not for the weak stomached - do not read on if you do not like talking poop!

i mean it...

now whilst i have informed you i am peeing like a hot spring gusher, the other ain't doing so good! normally a twice a morning person and a number 3 or 4 on the bristol stool chart [i know too much information!! you were warned! i'm sorry but you will get all the sordid details as i can't escape my previous knowledge gained when i was a continence adviser, or incontinent or pish nurse as i was more fondly known!]

don't laugh! this is a credible poop assessment chart!

anyway, i am not performing to my usual pattern! you would think with all the veggie juice i would have the runs but no - the opposite! and one day not at all!!! ok i'm obsessing but i don't feel my normal self if i am not regular! so what has caused this? is the fibre content higher in veggie juice and has that increase soaked up the little daily fluids i ingest with the resulting constipation? after all the juice is really food! and i drink like a camel! my normal fluid intake [excluding juice trial] is: 2 cups of tea [500mls], 2 diluting orange drinks [700mls] so daily intake per non alcohol day is only about 1200mls. sometimes i have 250mls lucozade post run but only if it is really hot or after a ten miler or more! tragic! and at the weekend i drink a bottle of wine - it lasts about 4 days and i now dilute it [i now - sacrilege you scream!] with a third water! this is because i was getting terrible headaches with anything over 9%vol and because i am not the best at hydrating i felt this was the best solution! so yes the wine will add to the dehydration effects too. plus i have added more veg to my meals! so going from 2 veg a meal [and often per day] to five a day will also have an increase to the roughage intake! so yep i need to drink more fluids if i am to get back to regularity "doon there" and double the veggie juice!! just checked [without doing a proper lit review] the juice isn't considered to cause dehydration so it is probable the extra fruit and veg with dinner!

so i have pontificated long enough and it is now time to go drink the drink!! i have tried to put it off today as yesterday i forgot to shake it and had a weird tasting liquorish sort of tasting sweet version. today i noticed there is swirling green swamp stuff lying in what is left!! i am baulking at the thought but it is either that or the beetroot juice i bought as an emergency supply - and since it tastes like...well i can't describe how bad it tastes! let's just say swamp drink is more appealing!! mmmm yummy! ciao for now!!

ps the green stuff was fine! i just added juice from half an orange and kept stirring it with my straw as i drank it! probably all the spinach donna said she'd used. i like spinach! bring it on!

pink pee!

well what can i say? i am peeing for scotland and peeing pink!! and you don't want to know about my other eliminations!! worried my teeth will go pink or at least my fillings - so been brushing after -just in case! at least to protect the fillings!

well been reading the science bit - the research from which the beetroot article was about. seems there were only 8 participants and the stats bit was really ropey - and i am not great with stats but it did seem to suggest there was a 16% improvement in oxygen uptake which improved endurance. they drank 500mls per day and the outcome tested after only 6 days and compared against a control group. so i am thinking only 6 days to note improvement means i should start to see improvements in my running by next monday!! so until then i will not look at performance on the garmin!!

Today's intake was the usual glass, nice and chilled, with half and orange squeezed into it - i like orange juice! after downing that i noticed i had a little left over (and since donna was bringing a new batch today) i though i may as well use up the rest and give her her bottle back! lunch was to be pea and ham soup so i just threw the rest into the bowl. hmmm not sure how i felt about it! it had that post vom aftertaste! and even a few carrot chunks -though where they came from i am not sure! ignoring the aftertaste, because it didn't taste too bad -just didn't taste like pea and ham, more like cucumber soup - i downed it hot! 'twas a lovely maroon colour too!

now i am preoccupied as to what to make for tea tonight! pleased with myself that i managed to incorporate 5 veg into last night's dinner, i am now at a loss on what to make tonight. i need a recipe book! yesterday i browsed the local store and was disappointed to only find many weight loss recipe books. i was looking for alkaline or pH balanced diets/ cookbooks/ recipes! so onto amazon for a search revealed so many i couldn't make up my mind about - so i ordered 4! oh and pH test strips - well might as well take experimentation all the way! but that won't help me find a recipe for tonight so will surf net to see what is there that complements what my fridge can provide! will keep you posted! maybe talk to donna later about recipes too!

Juicy!

Ok been really lazy after mara.. hardly run. lucky if i am doing 18 miles a week and mostly at weekend! been feeling really tired and lethargic too. maybe not running enough to keep up stamina. anyway the hypochondriac in me thought i may have "footstrike" anaemia after mara and the training so i went and got bloods done. the good thing is the came back normal, the bad thing is i have no excuse for such pish running!

this is more noticeable on the sunday runs with mo! we started off at a similar level - mo recovering from injury and me from mara. now 6 weeks on mo is leaps ahead of me [and yes she always was way ahead normally] even tho she is doing as little milage as i am.

so i have decided that something has to change!! i will try make a more concerted effort to fit more running in but this is difficult doing 2 jobs and running a family and my mara training was only 4 days a week [even when doing 40 odd miles] so i am not too bothered as long as i try for 4 and maintain 3 as a minimum when time is short but make them a quality run!

the other aim [and probably the most important one] is my diet! it is dreadful! i am ashamed to say how poor it is on fruits and veg! even tho i am happy to say most of the food i eat is organic [don't start me on that soapbox - that's another blog!] this NEEDS to change. to help me in my efforts my best pal donna is going to juice me up! this decision was made after reading the beetroot research in the news all week - after all 16% improvement is not to be sniffed at. it can make a significant difference to any pb and even if it helps me shorten the ever increasing distance between me and mo then it is worth a try!

i also keep getting constant pester emails from a website i subscribed to ages ago and never get round to unsubscribing from. to be honest i think my subconscious likes the wee reminder [or should i say chastising?] to get me to rethink my diet. the site is all about alkalising your body, and at the moment mine is probably so acidic i could probably give the genetically modified ripley a run for her money lol, so i though i'd look at this diet again.

i hate having to think about foods i hate making efforts to buy fruits and vegs then watch them rot in their bowls till i throw them out - yes i need an easier alternative. why can't supermarkets just sell packaged alkaline meals as easily as they sell the packaged junk?

anyway donna to the rescue suggested i try her juices! now remember i don't even like most fruit and veg and when she listed all the horror ingredients i baulked at the idea and wondered what i was getting into! but needs must!

i started yesterday. and maybe it was psychological but who cares cause it is working but after just one glass i felt i was breathing better - that is only way i can explain it! like i felt more oxygenated! i even noticed when i took the dog a walk the 24 stairs i climb at the start of my walk to the path i was hardly breathless! normally i am gasping at top. can this be possible after only one glass [actually a glass and a half]?? and here comes the bigger shock - it was not only palatable - it was actually nice!! - and it contain all the things i said i hated and contrary to what i thought i couldn't identify the taste of any of them in the juice!

so here goes to day 2!! i will take a glass a day and see if this makes an impact on my running. as i log all my times on my garmin it will be great to make comparisons of before juicing and after! watch this space!!