The final countdown

This fall has gone by quickly, which is good because the weather has been rather WET. However, with every soggy run, I remind myself that winter and summer this year were very good (the winter was cold and dry, the summer hot and humid but still comfortable), and since spring is pretty much non-existent here, that leaves only one season to provide negative balance.

I am still not running enough: my body rebels with 30-40 miles/week, but once I get around 50 miles or so, there is acceptance, neuromuscular synergy, and the mysterious unlocking of hoarded strength, and running becomes surprisingly easy and automatic. A reasonable goal might be to regain this by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, I have been running and recovering. Yoga and switching from various fancy tarted up teas back to plain old green tea has helped reduce symptoms a lot. I've been doing an endocrine yoga routine I found on youtube, and will investigate this avenue further. I should also tweak my diet a bit: I know I like butter too much and that grapeseed oil tastes almost as good, but sometimes I need more willpower.

A minor setback last Friday was caused by a rogue pack of Mentos--not all of them contain wheat glucose syrup, including the ones I'd eaten during several 3 hour biochemistry lectures this term (candy is necessary--it's my brain craving glucose, not me), but during my temporary time on the Mentos wagon, the old supply at the bus station had run out and was replenished with wheat glucose syrup fiends. Halfway through the lecture, I started to feel kind of funny. Looked at the label and, yep. So Mentos is now on the list of Never Again. I know I need to look at each and every label, no matter how many times I've bought that particular product before, but the bus was coming and just this once...

as an aside, the gluten issue has weaned me off many mass-produced "food" items, and perhaps I should eliminate a few more.

Fortunately, I found some gluten intolerance enzyme pills, kind of like lactase for lactose-intolerant people. It was too late at that point, and I have to avoid gluten altogether rather than wash it down with pills, but the pills seems to have helped me recover more quickly this time. The enzymes help break down other things as well.

And the final cog of my recent progress is chia. Yes, it's a part of the barefoot running-Tarahumara fad, but I can't be too cool for fads, especially those involving food described as looking like frog eggs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAZXTrpXRRs&feature=related
Basically, I bought some chia seeds, mixed them with 1 freshly-squeezed lime and water. That was enough to hook me. The stuff is very fulfilling. My last long run (some with Gaz, some with the dog) was just over 20 miles, and all I had was chia, lime and lemon juice, water, and a bit of sugar or agave (can't remember what I put in), and it was enough. I'm definitely taking some on the upcoming super long run.