Sunday-Monday

Six days on the no-flour diet so far and it's already a big difference! I'm kind of dreading eating wheat again (for diagnostic purposes), but I guess I will use the opportunity to gorge on zatar pita and baklava and those Thai sesame doughnut or whatever things (not that I'm sure there's wheat in those, lol)...this is the sort of stuff I'm missing. It hasn't been that hard to pass up rolls, pies, battered fish, etc, but walking by my favourite ethnic snacks kind of sucks.

However, for the last two days, my guts have been behaving almost normally. It's less painful, less fatiguing, and easier to get out the house in a timely fashion.

I gave things a little whirl yesterday, Sunday evening. I had walked a fair bit earlier in the day sightseeing with guests and was a little cranky due to the heat and a pack of morons who left their dog in a locked car in full sun for "only fifteen minutes." So after giving the humane society investigations office their licence plate number, I had a bit of a rest and then set out on my run.

It was still hot when I started, around 6, humidex 30ishC, but plenty of shade. Drank a little too much Vega before setting out and sort of puke-burped a couple of times, but then everything settled down and I was able to get into a rhythm. I felt a little hot and there was a bit of arrythmia, but for the most part, I was in a zone. I ran 14 miles in 2:16. Considering that my usual cruising pace for just a few miles has been about a minute slower per mile, I'm pretty happy with that. It's my longest run since the Ottawa Marathon--not to mention that I probably ran longer without walking breaks yesterday. LOL

This morning, the dog and I jogged 3 miles. My legs were sore, but in the normal day-after-tough-workout way. They weren't freakishly heavy like they have been, plus I was still moving a touch faster than what has been usual. I wasn't trying to push myself, I just had more energy.

It's very encouraging--I'm happy about running, but I'm especially happy about having more energy in general and the possibility of resuming normal hours--hopefully!--without worrying about where the nearest toilet is. Emotionally, too, I feel less cranky already. I have been uncharacteristically angry since leaving Asia four years ago, and it's been a while that I've been puzzling over it. Yeah, I've been through a bit, umpteen moves, a couple of dumpy places, the greencard stuff, my husband's deployments, but it's like I've been a different, more negative person. My husband and I have been discussing it, putting the pieces together--ie, why was I happily eating spicy tex-mex in 37C heat for a week, and then I get to NY and it's game over? Why did I have so much energy back in Asia? Ground pepper is definitely not kind, but the more I've discussed and thought about it, the more wheat seems to be a culprit too. It's weird; I've long missed being in Asia, but I've had no idea that part of what I was missing was healthy intestinal function.

It's still too early to tell for certain, but it's encouraging. Maybe I can even stop taking iron pills. who knows?