Somewhere in the Sun

Can Anybody Read Elevation Charts?

2010-03-09T12:30:00.000-05:00

I'm horrible at deciding if a race is hilly or not based on an elevation chart. I keep looking at the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon chart to decide if it's hilly or not. It's not that I mind running a hilly race, I don't. It's that I want to manage my expectations about what I can hope to achieve at this race. There was this little race that I ran in September called the Philadelphia Distance Run where I set a PR at a pace that I never thought I could keep in 13.1 miles. And I didn't even think it was difficult to do so. Now, I'm so worried that it will be an insane amount of time before I can beat that time... or that I'll kill myself trying. I want to enjoy my races, but also feel good about my time. So, I've been studying elevation charts and comparing.

Let's start with the Philadelphia Distance Run. Looking back on that race, I felt that it was pretty much flat. I would describe it as a flat, easy course, with only a slight upward grade during mile 13. Here is the elevation chart for that one:

Indeed, my memory seems pretty accurate on that one. That big bump down in mile 5 is where we headed down into the riverfront area, and then we headed back up out of it during mile 13. I have no recollection of any of those extra small bumps elsewhere in the course.

Let's look at another one. This is the elevation chart for the Frederick Half Marathon, a race that I consider to be "rolling hills." Again, I had no issue completing this one, and set a PR both times I ran it (ok, the first time it was my first half marathon ever, but still). I do feel like a major hill is missing on this elevation chart, as it seems to mysteriously end at about 12.5 miles, and the largest hill is actually just before the finish line. But, close enough.

So, this is a "hilly" course, but doable. If I were doing Frederick again, I would think I could get *close* to my PR, but probably couldn't set a new one. Not this year, anyway.

Next... behold the elevation chart for the Baltimore Half Marathon:

This one was a hard, TOUGH race. Remember that I also completed it in a year when the temperature was abnormally high, so that didn't do me any favors. Still, I found this one to be pretty difficult, and I think the elevation chart shows it.

The Maryland Half Marathon:

The race for the insane. I didn't run this one, but I know people who did, and I admire them for it. It was a hot, miserable day that started with pouring rain and ended with 80 degree temperatures, and a finish line on a sand horse track. Awful, and this is generally considered one of the more difficult half marathons around. Maybe THE most difficult in Maryland (there's only been one so far, in 2009). That small bump ending at Mile Marker 11? Brutal, apparently. Steep and evil. That's a tough course. I can tell that by the elevation chart.

So, what about my race? Lehigh Half Marathon:

I don't know... I mean, that is a lot of small bumps, which worries me. But, in the end might not be as bad as the Frederick Half... I think I'll just go in with no expectations and see what happens.

Recipe: Classic Roast Chicken with Gravy

2010-03-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

I first tried roasting a chicken back in January with the Roast Chicken with Two Lemons recipe. That one was very good, but I liked this one more. It was delicious. An ongoing issue that I have, though, is that when roasting a chicken I have found that my oven will smoke. In January, I thought it was because my oven was dirty after the Monkey Bread nonsense, but we cleaned the oven a few weeks ago, so I knew it wasn't the case this time. I did some research and found that my oven is too hot. I have a convection oven, and I use it on the Convection Roast setting (because otherwise, why even have it?). This makes the temperature of the juices at the bottom of the pan above their smoke point, and they start to smoke. I have to keep the oven temperature cooler on the convection setting in order to keep it from smoking. And, as it turns out, it will still cook in the same amount of time.

More experimenting on roasting a chicken later, as I'm certain that I want to make this one again. It was that good! I served it with stuffing and steamed green beans. Yum!

Recipe: Classic Roast Chicken with Gravy

Photo Credit: Lee Harrelson, Cooking Light

Should Orcas Be in Captivity?

2010-03-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Orcas are beautiful animals. We call them killer whales and they are - they're vicious meat eaters, who fight with Great White Sharks. They travel and migrate, and can be found all over the world (although they're more frequently found in the northeast Pacific, Iceland, Norway and Antarctica). Yet, for some reason, humans have found it necessary and right to keep these creatures in pools the equivalent size of a bathtub (to the whale anyway). Why?

When the Killer Whale Tilikum killed Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau in February, one of my co-workers knew I'd have an opinion and came over to ask what I thought. My simple answer is, no, Killer Whales (and Dolphins for that matter) should not be in captivity. His argument was that the only reason that anyone cared about Killer Whales is because they're easily seen in places like Sea World, and so shouldn't some be held there?

So, I mulled it over. Gave it some thought. My answer is still no.

Sea World is a business. They are defending keeping Orcas in captivity by saying that they are educational, but what exactly are we learning? Orcas do not do tricks for human entertainment when they are in the wild. They do not interact with humans in the wild. These shows are entertainment, not education. Sea World will continue to defend them because nearly 70% of the revenue from Sea World is generated by the Orca shows. So - no Killer Whales, no Sea World.

Let's look at Humpback and Blue Whales. They're not found in captivity, they're too large. Yet, somehow, life goes on for them. We know they exist, we care about them, we want to see the species continue. So, really, is it necessary to have Orcas in captivity in order to "care" about them? Isn't this why we have Animal Planet and National Geographic? Isn't this why we have whale watching expeditions? I mean, Discovery Channel has a whole week devoted to sharks, and there is a lot of hype surrounding the Great White, and yet there aren't really Great White Sharks in captivity (there have been 5 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, all only held for a short period of time). I'm not buying that you need to have a few Orcas in captivity to torture them and teach them tricks in order to learn about them.

Some facts (courtesy of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society):

Wild Orcas have lifespans of 35 years for males and 50 years for females. Most Orcas in captivity do not live past age 30.
136 Orcas have been captured from the wild, and 123 of them are now dead. Their average life span in captivity has been 4.5 years.
Orcas born in captivity live to be an average of 8.5 years old before they die.
Orcas can and do dive to 60 meters.
The maximum depth of Shamu Stadium is 10.7 meters. This is one of the largest Orca pools in the world.
Orcas have highly developed brains, and live in the wild in social groups and closely-knit pods.
Four captive Orcas live completely alone.

Let's just stop this. Please avoid Sea World. Don't give them your money. There is no reason to be keeping these animals in captivity.

For more information on other marine mammal injustices, please see the Oscar Nominated Documentary, The Cove.

Source:

Captive Orcas: Dying to Entertain You, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevesphotos100/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

All Time Favorite Commercials

2010-03-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I saw the Kia Sorrento commercial in the superbowl, I knew that I'd found a new favorite commercial. So, I thought I'd share my 10 favorite of all time... all though I might be forgetting some. They kind of are all "cute," I suppose. That's just me. Oh, and sorry there are so many disney ones. I'm biased.

Kia Sorrento 2010 (Kia)
Mister Barky Von Schnauser (Petsmart)
Energizer Bunny (Energizer)
The Sun (Jimmy Dean)
Discovery.com Meteor (Discovery Channel)
Gimme Back That Filet O Fish (McDonald's)
Beauty & The Beast (Lilo & Stitch)
Car Movers (Mentos)
50th Anniversary (Disney)
Year of a Million Dreams (Disney)

The Risks of Diving

2010-03-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

As part of my ongoing Dive training, I regularly read up on Scuba Diving accidents and incidents. The website Scubaboard has a forum devoted to talking about and researching these accidents. Is this morbid? Not really. Most of the time, it's used as a reminder of what can happen diving, and how this is a serious sport which has some very serious risks involved.

Last week, I came across the information about EG, who died on the Galapagos Aggressor II on February 12. One of her fellow divers recounted the incident on his blog (read it here). He went into great detail. His wife is Kimberly, and the deceased buddy is Denise. The divemaster on the dive was named Patricio.

As soon as I was in, I located Kimberly and we gave each other the "OK" sign. I cleared my mask and rearranged my hood which was causing water to leak into my mask. Patricio and others were +/- 20 feet below and moving away. I am usually slower than most to equalize on early dives, so Kimberly and I were behind most of the group from the start but were descending much quicker than my usual in order to stay with the group being lead by Patricio. I do not know where E.G. was at that time. I was focused on descending safely and keeping close to my buddy, Kimberly.

On the descent, Patricio was always lower and further out from the island than Kimberly and me. I was surprised when Patricio led us past 90 feet due to Jamie's previous instruction. At some point I remember struggling greatly against the current. My best estimate is that it was around the 3-5 minute mark based my computer's information. I was near hyper-ventilating and had to consciously slow myself down. I could see from Kimberly's body language that she was struggling as well. At about the nine minute mark, Patricio was closer to the island and was signaling to us to grab hold of the sloping bottom and hand over hand move up against the current. Kimberly and I were struggling against the current and neither of us had gotten comfortable in the water yet.
Kimberly said that during the time she was struggling, at the 3-7 minute mark, was the last time she saw E.G. who had been just behind her, toward deeper water. Neither of us remember seeing E.G. or Denise grabbing onto the sloping bottom. It is Kimberly's recollection that Denise was in front of her and me, while E.G. was behind Kimberly.
When Kimberly and I got control by hanging onto the rocks and moderating our breathing (about 10-15 minute mark based upon my dive computer), I started looking around to see where everyone else was. I didn't see E.G. Kimberly and I were well under 2000 psi of air at this point, which is a lot of air to have used so quickly.

Read the full account if you are interested, it is quite a scary tale.

What really gets me about this story is how similar it seems to the experience that Todd and I had in Kona at Never Never Land. Neither of us panicked, although we were both stressed. We did, however, end up in a current that we were not prepared for, and we were separated.

In the end, EG was found much later, four hours after descending. She was on the bottom in 168 feet of water, with no mask, regulator out of her mouth and 2000 PSI left in her tank. No one will really know what exactly happened, but one can speculate that she panicked for some reason (missing mask is a sign of panic). She might even have panicked because she lost her mask. The current was strong, and she was not prepared.

It's difficult to say what might have helped EG to survive this. The original author seems to point towards the divemaster not giving a specific enough briefing or not paying enough attention, or something else at fault with the Aggressor. I tend to disagree. Some ideas of mine:

EG hadn't dove in about 10 months (as stated here by Keith). While most organizations recommend only taking a scuba refresher course after 12 months of not diving, I would figure that you'd want to do a few dives in a much shorter period of time if you are going to somewhere as advanced as the Galapagos (Bonaire or somewhere more calm would be a much different story).
Denise (EG's buddy), stated here that EG was using a brand new Dive computer, and had to ask someone else on the boat for assistance in figuring out how to use it. With new equipment, you should always know how to use it before you get into open water with it. They come with instruction manuals, and you can dive in a local pool to test it out. I can't imagine going to the Galapagos with a new dive computer not knowing how to use it. Talk about unprepared.
Denise also stated that EG was trailing behind her, that she was uncomfortable with this, and talked to EG about it. EG still continued to trail behind. I have to admit, Todd and I have spoken about this after Kona, and we have an agreement that we will hold hands or lock arms in a strong current. At a minimum, we would be side by side.
Panic is a horrible thing. Even at 168 feet, it is reasonable to think that EG should not have died, as long as she had air in her tank. She had plenty of air. She might have gotten narc'd or pushed down in a down current, but who knows. It is so important to not panic, and that is something that you can get from experience and from preparing better for your dives.

I'm not sure that 50 dives is enough to be prepared for the Galapagos, but that also depends a lot on where you've been diving for those 50 dives. If they were all in Bonaire and Little Cayman (as my first 50 dives were), then probably not. However, if they were in the Atlantic or Pacific or more advanced dives, then maybe.

The thing with the Galapagos is that it is colder than other places, requiring what is pretty thick wetsuit to most (7mm). This creates a weighting difficulty for those who may not regularly dive in a 7mm. Frankly, diving a 7mm wetsuit is uncomfortable and bulky, but it keeps you warm. I dive with 20 pounds of weight in a 7mm, when I only dive with 8 pounds in my 1mm suit. These two scenarios feel totally different.

In the end, this was a horrible lesson for lots of divers thinking of getting in over their head with a more challenging diving experience. This same thing could have happened to hundreds of other divers, and they all might have surfaced safely, but clearly something different happened here with EG. It is a shame that it happened and my condolences go out to her family. What a tradgedy.

Stats as of 28 February 2010

2010-02-28T20:00:00.002-05:00

February 2009
51.3 miles
11 hours, 2 minutes
Avg Pace: 12:55/mile

February 2010
56.7 miles -- 6.4 miles longer than in 2009
12 hours, 9 minutes -- 1:07 longer than in 2009
Avg Pace: 12:51/mile -- 4 seconds faster than in 2009

For the most part, I've kept up with my goals. I have done all of my STS Workouts - and I'm starting week #7 of that tomorrow. I'll have a more specific update after I finish week 8, which will be the end of mesocycle 1.

For running, I was faster than in 2009, but not by much. I need to work on thinking about what my goals should be for this year. I've been talking to Davida about running, and she is encouraging me to increase my mileage. I've purchased Run Less, Run Faster at her recommendation and I'm eager to give it a read to see what I can find out about running less and running faster (both sound good to me!).

This has been a brutal, rough winter for running. It's been hard to get my group out and motivated when quite frankly we can't find anywhere to run. We've been sticking to Loch Raven for weeks now, but there has been a lot of treadmill work, and even the weekday runs that I do from my running store have been forced into a gated community that is essentially running in a circle and not much better than a track. Combine that with snow, wind and ice... It's just been a difficult winter here in Maryland. Since my last 23 miler on the NCR Trail on December 12, we have only had ONE runnable day on the trail (January 30, the weekend before the blizzards). Miserable.

I purchased a new Yoga video, Rodney Yee's Yoga for Beginners and I'm eager to give it a try. Hopefully this week. Todd starts his first open water scuba class for DiveCon this week, so I'll have a free night to give it a shot.

Sea Things #35: Squat Anemone Shrimp

2010-02-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sea Things is a regular feature on my blog where I profile a different sea creature. Look for it weekly, or something close to weekly.

Meet the Thor amboinensis, or Squat Anemone Shrimp. This is a very tiny little shrimp that we had never seen before until our trip to Belize in 2008. You see, Belize had just had record-breaking rains a few weeks earlier and as a result, we had terrible conditions and visibility. Where we should normally have seen large pelagics such as tuna, tarpon, jacks, etc, we instead saw nothing. We were lucky to have an excellent divemaster (Marcel), who found some absolutely incredible macro critters. We ended up having a great trip and seeing some amazing things.

The reason why the Squat Anemone Shrimp is so easy to miss is because it's so small. They are 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch long, and hang out around and inside of Anemones. You can see two in the photo above, deep inside of an Anemone in Bonaire.

Suposedly, these shrimp may also be called the "Sexy Anemone Shrimp," but that sounds made up. I've certainly never heard that, but then again, not that many divers really look for creatures like this one. These shrimps are found in the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific, and live inside of the anemones. They will sometimes act as cleaner shrimp, but usually feed off of remains of what the anemone has eaten. They aren't a parasite, as the host anemone isn't affected by the shrimp living there. There are several anemone species where the shrimp can be found, such as the stinging anemone (top) or carpet anemone (center and bottom).

The hand signal for this shrimp is the same as for other shrimps (rub thumb and index finger together). These shrimps can usually be found in shallower water (60 feet and above), so look for them there.

Is there a creature that you would like to see featured in Sea Things? If so, shoot me an email and if I can, I'll write about it. Photos on this post are courtesy of Todd Krebs.

Maybe I don't eat enough

2010-02-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I was doing well with knocking some pounds off and then my weight loss stalled. Everything came to a crashing halt, and I've been hovering right around the same weight for a couple of weeks now. It could be that I'm adding muscle, but I doubt it. I was trying to figure out what to do, and then I looked at this handy-dandy little chart in CalorieKing. It shows my caloric goal for each day - 1507 calories. I'm supposed to eat 1507 calories, net. Meaning, I need to eat at least 1507 calories, and then also eat whatever calories that I burn from working out. This chart displays the net calories - so, the total amount that I ate, minus the calories that I burned.

Notice how the vast majority of the bars are well below 1507? That might be my problem.

Granted, some of the really far down bars are because I burned far more calories than I could ever eat in a day. A couple of the others are because I didn't log my food at all that day (but I think I've only missed 5 or 6 days since the beginning of the year - 2/21 being one of them - note the big bar there).

Ok, so goal for the next 2 weeks - eat my calories for the day. I already started planning this by bringing a variety of snacks to work for today. I have some nuts, grapes, sunflower seed butter, yogurt, dried mango...

I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

Running and Negativity

2010-02-23T16:05:00.005-05:00

Christina at Lazy Bones Running asked about The Running Bug today.

I've talked before about how I was never a runner, and how I decided to run mostly to add variety to my workouts, which included mostly aerobics and weight training videos. See more of my history.

What I found interesting, though, is what Christina had to say about friends and their approach to running:

I remember emailing a friend saying I had caught the running bug and the reply back was one of negativity and disapproval. How could someone like running? It’s hard on the knees. It’s boring. There were a number of people that expressed that sentiment. They obviously didn’t get it and were happy sitting on the couch of doom. Oddly enough now, the majority of those people are no longer in my circle of friendship and I now surround myself with other runners who understand the joy and importance of having caught the running bug.

I can relate to this. Don't get me wrong, the vast majority of my closest friends are totally embracing of my running. Many of them, even the non-runners, read the blog here. Nowadays, many of my friends are people that I've met through running, and those are the people that I probably see the most often. Interestingly, I've also reconnected with a few high school classmates with whom I was not at all close in high school, but who I speak to online regularly now because they run and I run (there are at least 3 people who used to be on the Cross Country team at my high school who now regularly post on my FB wall, even though we weren't close in HS).

However, when I first started, I did have a handful of friends who didn't understand. There were a few folks who insisted I'd get hurt, or who asked stupid questions like "What are you running from?," thinking they're funny.

So, to those who have supported me over the years, I just want to say "Thank you!" and that I love you guys. Those who were the most nasty in their comments about my running are no longer close to me, and I think I'm better off that way.

Fear of the Phone

2010-02-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

I have to confess something.

I hate talking on the phone. I hate making phone calls. I hate it. I hate phones!!

Oh, there was a time in my life when I didn't hate talking on the phone. I think I spent my entire 3 years of middle school with a receiver permanently attached to my ear. We were one of the first people around to get call waiting because my mom was a real estate agent and none of her clients could get anything other than a busy signal if I was in the house. My friend Becky and I used to spend 3 hours a day prank calling and doing other random things with the phone.

(Becky's sister had 3-way calling. We would call one friend, then quickly three way call a second friend and connect them back up before either one answered. Then, stay silent while listening to two friends argue over who called who. Hilarity ensued -- at least to a 14 year old).

So, The Oatmeal came out with 10 Reasons to Avoid Talking on the Phone and it is SO TRUE. I hate ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

Let's especially look at #2 - The Impulsive. I can't tell you how many times I've committed myself to something because I didn't know what to say on the phone besides "yes." I was just unprepared. My favorite of these turned out good, though. When I first interviewed for my job at Sam Goody (in 1994), I decided after the interview that I didn't want the job anymore. The next day, when the manager called and offered me the job, though, I somehow couldn't find the words to tell him I didn't want it. I figured I'd quit my first night. I ended up working there for a year and a half.

#3 - The Jagged. Both Todd and I are always doing this to each other. It is frustrating. My mom and I do it, too. Those two happen to be the two people that I most enjoy talking to on the phone.

#6 - The Distracted. Or, my sister, who is constantly talking to her kids while I'm talking to her.

#7 - The Lecturer. Todd is always saying that from his side, when I talk to my mom it sounds like I don't get to ever put in a word edgewise.

#9 - The Anxious. I think this is my biggest thing. I'm always wondering when the right time is to end the call, and I start freaking out about it.

#10 - The Epic Goodbye - Either of my sisters do this. I wonder what happens when they talk on the phone to each other.

Still, my dislike and even kind of general fear of talking on the phone goes beyond rational. I don't like to call to order take out food. I prefer to call this one particular pizza place near us because they know my address and name by my telephone number, so I can just give them my order and quickly hang up.

I won't call friends. I will send an email.

Todd: We're going to be late to so-and-so's house. Can you call them and let them know?

Kim: Really?

Todd: Yeah, just call them real quick.

Kim: uh... Can't you call?

Todd: I'm driving. Just call and say we're going to be late.

Kim: Well, I mean, they know we're coming.

Todd: We're going to be late. We should tell them.

Kim: Maybe we should wait a few minutes and see if we can make the time up?

This will go on for an insane amount of time. Usually, I'll finally call.

This problem has caused me issues. I don't make doctor's appointments. I don't call friends. I don't RSVP. People think I'm nuts because I do everything via email.

It's really weird. I don't get it. I need a support group or something.

Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds (Creative Commons)

Ms. Fat Nutritionist, I Salute You.

2010-02-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

Holy smokes! The past few days have just been chock full of stuff to blog about, and I have many, many topics in the hopper.

On reading up on some articles about Subway Jared, I came across an awesome chicky who calls herself The Fat Nutritionist. I read her article, Eat Food. Stuff You Like. As Much as You Want. and I have decided that I want to have a mad love affair with this woman. She summed up so much of what I feel and what I've been trying to say over and over about eating normally. She says:

We want to be healthy.

We want to eat food that’s good for us.

Those desires, being tied to the ultimate desire — to survive — are pretty damn strong.

But you know what we want more than either of these? To be free. To not be told what to do. To not be bossed around as though we are perennially six years old. To not be manipulated, coerced, or condescended to.

I love this. And this is the essence of what I was trying to get at when I when I attacked Dave the trainer several weeks ago. His point - that you probably should avoid not only McDonald's, but fast food in general, if you're trying to lose weight, is not a bad one. It's the way he said it, "I really have no tolerance for this." For a trainer - someone who has clients who are looking to him out of respect and valuing his opinion - to put his foot down on anything as a definite NO and to be so unwilling to accept mistakes... it just so rubbed me the wrong way.

So, I'm so happy to see Michelle (the Fat Nutritionist) coming out with these bold statements that are so inline with my way of thinking. Yes, I'm restricting calories right now because I'd like to lose some weight. But, I'm making that choice. I'm not a bad person if I choose not to. And I'm NOT a bad person if I don't jump in 100%, if I still eat sugar, if I still have dessert occasionally, if I still eat out with my friends, or enjoy a glass of wine or three. These things don't make me less healthy. They don't make me less of an athlete, and they don't make me evil. Otherwise, I could not stick with these changes forever. Trust me, I've tried.

Exercising to lose weight makes fitness not as fun or useful.

Eating to lose weight makes nutrition not as fun or useful.

And, when things are not fun (meaning, intrinsically rewarding), it’s pretty much guaranteed that you will stop doing them, rendering your time “on the wagon” pretty much a loss. Because you’ll lose whatever long-term, intrinsic benefits might have come from doing those things voluntarily.

Yes! Find something you like. Find food you like. The rest will come. Let's work on it. I encourage you to check out Michelle's blog, I will be adding it to the blog roll.

Giving Barefoot a Try

2010-02-18T21:39:00.004-05:00

Tonight was a treadmill night because I was concerned that none of my running pals would be showing up to run after we had to sneak under a gate in a gated community in order to find a safe place to run on Tuesday. That's right - seven of us, sliding under a gate like something out of Mission: Impossible in order to have a safe place to run. Apparently, they showed up tonight, but they sounded so uncertain that I decided to run at home.

I gave it some thought earlier, and I decided to give the barefoot running thing a try. Barefoot running is the trendy thing right now in the running world, and it's apparently a "hot button" issue. Should you wear shoes? Should you run barefoot? Are running shoes hurting people and doing more harm than good? Is running barefoot horrible and asking for injury? I've kinda-sorta listened to some of the debates, but honestly, I am kind of indifferent to the whole issue.

Still, I decided to give it a try. I was running on the treadmill, so I figured I didn't have to worry about the whole "stepping on rocks or glass or nails" issue, and I could have a pair of shoes and socks nearby if I didn't like it.

I'll be honest, it was kind of interesting. It was something to do anyway. Certainly, I'd have to get used to it since I think I was landing too much on my heels. I could definitely feel the heat of the treadmill under my feet. I started out excited, like "yeah! I'm barefoot! Ha!" And it did feel free and light and easy.

As I went on though, my left calf and my right ankle were sort of hurting. I was getting nervous about my feet. I wasn't missing the shoes as much as I was missing my orthotics. I was about 20 minutes in and I was watching the timer on the treadmill, seeing how long I had left. Then, it occurred to me, "hey! I could just put on shoes!"

So, I jumped off and put on socks and shoes. Wow, it felt like I was wearing two super-soft, heavy pillows on my feet. Totally a weird feeling, much more weird than the barefoot thing. I got used to the shoes after another 8 or 9 minutes, but it was strange at first.

So, what did I think? Eh. I'm still indifferent. It's something I'd have to speak to my podiatrist about. I'm not ready to drop my shoes just yet. Or, more like it, I'm not ready to drop my orthotics just yet.

I will say this, too - one thing I really dislike about the whole barefoot running crowd is some of the negativity that I see on their websites. They seem to really enjoy attacking running shoes, Runner's World, and people who run with shoes on. Guys, that's not a way to get people on your side. Many people run with shoes for many different reasons. So, go ahead and be enthusiastic about barefoot running. Go ahead and run barefoot. It's cool. But, leave the attacks of others out of it. There's no grand conspiracy by Nike to injure people.

If you're curious about barefoot running, here are some resources:

Vibram Five Fingers: I saw someone wearing this at the Annapolis Ten Miler in 2009. They protect your feet so that you're not as worried about stepping on things. Frankly, I kind of like the Five Fingers KSO for the beach.
BarefootRunner.org: Barefoot Rick has been running barefoot since 2003 (longer than I've been running!) and has done 18 marathons barefoot.
BarefootRunner.com: A guide for running barefoot.
Barefooted.com: Barefoot Ken, another barefoot running blogger.

GIVEAWAY ALERT! Please check out this awesome blog, and participate in the Olympics Red Mitten Giveaway!

Image courtesy of 802 (Creative Commons)

My Lenten Promise: To Be Thankful

2010-02-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, I totally disliked Lent. I hated that I had to give up something, and I didn't really understand why I had to. Even as an adult, I used to tell people that I refuse to believe that God cares whether or not I eat meat on a particular day. Nowadays, I don't consider myself Catholic anymore at all. Well, I still have the guilt. I don't think you ever get rid of the guilt. However, both Todd and I were both married in the Catholic church for our first marriages, so now I'm just living in sin with him. At least, to the church. So, I tend to put myself in a different category other than Catholic.

I thought about it, though, and this year, I really wanted to do something for Lent. It doesn't mean giving something up, because I often feel like I give up plenty just being a runner and trying to eat healthy. So, instead, I decided to do something extra to appreciate this life a little more.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across Thankful for, which is a site that hooks into twitter and simply lets people be thankful for things in a public way. This lenten season, I'm going to be thankful for something every day. (I will have to be thankful for two things today, as I missed yesterday).

I know, it's a small thing. I might try and think of some other things, too. For now, watch for #thankfulfor on my tweets. You can also find my list of thanks here.

Sea Things #34: Varicose Phyllidia

2010-02-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

Sea Things is a regular feature on my blog where I profile a different sea creature. Look for it weekly, or something close to weekly.

The Varicose Phyllidia, or Phyllidia varicosa, is also sometimes called a "Scrambled Egg Nudibranch." It is a type of sea slug, or nudibranch, which Todd very much loves to find. They're pretty common in the Indo-Pacific, and we saw many of them while we were in Hawaii. They get to be 3 or 4 inches long, which is actually pretty big as nudibranchs go.

Like many nudibranchs, the Varicose Phyllidia secretes a toxic substance that apparently has a strong odor above the water, and will often kill other animals if it's brought into an aquarium. They're dangerous little guys (well, to fish and sea life, anyway), and their bright colors serve as a warning to other animals.

Is there a creature that you would like to see featured in Sea Things? If so, shoot me an email and if I can, I'll write about it. Photos on this post are courtesy of Todd Krebs.

STS 4-Week Checkin

2010-02-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am four weeks into my STS 6-Month Rotation! Let's take a look at how things are going.

As I've mentioned before, the 6 month rotation differs from the standard 3 month rotation because you repeat each week. So, while the 3-month rotation would be Week 1, followed by week 2, followed by week 3, the 6-month rotation is week 1, followed by week 1, followed by week 2, followed by week 2 again. So, I've only done two weeks of STS, but I've done both of them twice. In the same way, each mesocycle is 8 weeks long rather than 4 weeks.

I'm very happy doing the longer rotation. It means that I get a chance to do each video twice, and improve upon what I've done the week before. If a weight or an exercise wasn't quite right the first week, in the second week, I get to try again. It's going well.

Not only that, but I'm also still managing to get up and do my workouts in the morning before work. Where I was often doing the workouts in the evenings when I did the 3 month rotation, this time I'm keeping my Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings free (Tuesday/Thursday, I run in the evenings). I keep saying this is my special gift to Todd, as I get to spend more time with him as a result.

Results?

As you can see by my awesome PhysicsDiet.com chart, I've got an overall downward trend in the first 4 weeks of doing STS. Every Monday I tend to to have a bit of a gain, which I think is a result of my long runs and/or not being as hydrated on the weekends. Then, those pink humps at the end of the chart are my days working at home during the blizzards we had over the last two weeks. I ate fine, and I got all of my workouts in, but we were drinking wine each night, and as a result, I was retaining water. Not to mention, last week I started thyroid meds.

My total weight loss (based on the PhysicsDiet.com rolling average) was 1.64 pounds. It's more like 3 pounds when you don't look at rolling averages and only look at actual weight on January 18 when I started STS and February 14 when I finished week 4. I like the rolling averages better, since it means that individual spikes in weight matter less, even though the same is true when weight suddenly dips.

I've taken measurements, also, and they weren't as dramatic as I had hoped, but they were still very good. Most notably, I've lost an inch around my chest, 1.5 inches around my waist, and around half an inch around each thigh. I haven't bothered with the body fat calipers again, as I found them inaccurate and lame. Maybe next week.

So, another 4 weeks and I will have completed mesocycle 1. We'll see how things go.

We are a Featured Wedding!!

2010-02-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Todd and I were featured on Crystal Blue Weddings, which is a new blog that features weddings in the Cayman Islands. How cool! :)

Check it out!

Have I mentioned that my wedding was a wonderful, beautiful day that could not have been more perfect?

I loved that day, I love my husband, and I love my marriage. And -- I love the Caymans. I can't wait to go back again!

Valentines Day Pizzas

2010-02-15T07:00:00.003-05:00

Earlier in the day Sunday (Valentines Day), I'd gone to Loch Raven Reservoir to run. Most roads in the area are not runnable, they are too narrow from the snow, and few people have shoveled their sidewalks. Those that have still have lots of ice on them. So, we decided on going to Loch Raven after 10am when the road is closed between Morgan Mill and Providence. No parking, though. In the end, I did almost 9 miles, which was from Pierces to Providence, back to Morgan Mill, back to Providence, then back to Pierces.

While I was gone, Todd had told me he was going to be working on this house project he's working on. He tricked me, though! Even though he bought supplies for his project, he secretly measured for sliding shelves (similar to these) for the kitchen and installed the first set while I was gone! He's a good husband, and that was an awesome gift, as we are slowly trying to make my kitchen into a lean, mean, cooking machine since I cook so much.

What did I do for him? I surprised him with 50 First Dates, which is one of "our" movies, and some Spam & Reece's (you have to see the movie to understand).

If you recall, last year Todd and I celebrated Valentines Day by making sushi together, which turned into a comedy of errors. This year, we decided to make pizzas using The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook, which I've owned for about 5 or 6 years now, but have never cooked a single thing from.

As far as the pizzas went, things started out a little rocky. We were lounging around at about 4:30, and I suggested that we start cooking since I hadn't actually read any further in the instructions for the pizza than to write down the ingredients for my shopping list, but I had a feeling that the dough would take a while. After we finally got ourselves up, I read the instructions, and it was requiring us to have the dough rest for 2 hours, then sit overnight in the fridge, then sit for 2 more hours... Hm. That would ruin Valentines Day. I started to panic, thinking this would be a repeat of 2009's sushi.

So, what did we do? We ended up hopping in the car and going up to Weis market. They sell pre-made uncooked pizza dough in their refrigerated section. This worked nicely for us.

And so, we started chopping, and preparing the sauces for the pizzas. We had picked out two - Shrimp Scampi Pizza and Thai Chicken Pizza. Lots of veggies needed chopping (Todd likes doing this, which is perfect. He's like my sous chef). I had to use lots of ingredients in the sauces. Meanwhile, we uncorked a bottle of Chardonnay (thank you, Jenny and Doug!) and enjoyed that while we worked. Meanwhile, we took a break and had some Strawberry-Poppyseed salad (have I ever posted that recipe?).

I was nervous about how the end result would be. Todd shaped the dough into 9 inch circles, we got them on the pizza peel... 10 minutes later? Awesome pizza!!!! Soo good. The photo at the top of the post is the Shrimp Scampi (with the strawberry salad in the background) and the below photo is the Thai Chicken Pizza.

Afterwards, we had chocolate fondue with pound cake and strawberries. Delicious, but we're not as into the sweets as we used to be... And we were full from the pizza.

This was a perfect, wonderful Valentine's Day. I can't ask for more :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sea Things #33: Moorish Idol

2010-02-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Sea Things is a regular feature on my blog where I profile a different sea creature. Look for it weekly, or something close to weekly.

Moorish Idols, or Zanclus cornutus are pretty common in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, we saw them all over the place in Hawaii. Coming up after one of our first dives, I said to Todd, "You know, I think Moorish Idols are going to be my new Queen Angel in the Pacific." What I meant was, they're pretty common, we see them a lot, but they're also skittish and tough to get close to. You may recognize the Moorish Idol as Gill from Finding Nemo.

They are such pretty fish! They get to be about 7 inches in size, and are often seen in pairs. In fact, they mate for life. They eat sponges, tunicates and invertebrates.

They're popular as aquarium fishes, but don't live long in captivity. I don't know of a diver hand signal for them, but I haven't spent enough time in the Pacific to have learned all of the hand signals. Anyway, they're common enough that probably they don't need one.

Is there a creature that you would like to see featured in Sea Things? If so, shoot me an email and if I can, I'll write about it. Photos on this post are courtesy of Todd Krebs.

Do We Need to Adjust Serving Sizes?

2010-02-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

An article from the New York Times, One Bowl = 2 Servings. FDA May Fix That.

This article talks a lot about serving sizes and how they're not always indicative of what people actually eat. There has been some talk of changing the requirements and making serving sizes more in line with what an "average person" (or, an average American) actually eats.

Good, in theory. But I have some issues.

First off, this is great for single-serving items where clearly the serving sizes are wrong. The serving size for a muffin should never be "half a muffin." No one eats only half a muffin, and that is horrifically confusing. A can of soup, usually consumed in one sitting, should be one serving (instead of 2 or 2.5 or whatever it is). Marie Callendar's Frozen Pot Pies are listed as two servings for one pie, and that should be one. If it is something that should and can be eaten in one sitting, it should be one serving, period.

However, there are other things that are not so clear. The article talks several times about cereal, and this is one that is always brought up. A serving of cereal is almost always 3/4 cup to one cup. Most people tend to eat 2 cups of cereal or more in a sitting. But, should they??? I don't think so. If we want to standardize, and say that a serving of cereal is one cup, and get rid of all of the 3/4 cup ones, that's fine. But, to bring the serving size up to two cups seems wrong to me. Same with potato chips. Usually, the serving size is one ounce. And, frankly, I think it should stay that way. The article says:

Munch half a bag of Tostitos while watching the Super Bowl and you could take in about half the 2,000 calories an average person needs in a day.

Well, don't munch on half a bag of Tostitos while you're watching the Super Bowl, then. I mean, really? Do we need to up the serving size to half a bag because that's what people eat? Or, should we instead keep the serving size what it is, and talk to people about controlling their portions?

We just eat too much. I would hate to see people starting to believe that the amount of chips, cereal, cookies, etc that they eat is reasonable, because it is not.

Another part of the article made the suggestion that we should put nutrition information on the front of the package. I really do not see the point in this at all. People do not care, people do not pay attention. Again, serving size will come into question. Let's just stop right there and spend some money on nutrition education - for children and for parents. How about that? Then, people will turn around the box and look at the Nutrition Information, as I have been doing for over 12 years.

One more place we can fix: confusing labels that involve preparation. If I buy cake mix, it lists the calories as both "as prepared" and "mix only." However, the rest of the nutrients are only listed as mix only, and I end up having to calculate. If I'm following the instructions exactly (for example, using a large egg and a 1/4 cup of oil as directed), then I shouldn't have to pick up a pencil and paper to calculate ANYTHING on the nutrition label. It should all just be there.

Also, let's do something about popcorn. Popcorn labels are really confusing. Take the example here. The nutrition information lists "As packaged." Ok, fine, but no one eats bagged popcorn as packaged. NO ONE. But, let's just say they do. The second column is "Per Cup Popped." This makes sense, but then it says the serving size is 3 Tbsp, or about 4 cups popped. Huh? So, what about the "per cup popped?" And, is the "as packaged" the 3 Tbsp? What about the 4 cups popped? What's the nutrition info on that? Why is this permitted to be so confusing?? I would prefer it say "one bag" or "half a bag" or something. Nothing ever makes sense when it comes to microwave popcorn.

And don't get me started on Movie Theatre Popcorn.

So, in essence, I think the FDA is in the right place with this discussion, but I don't think changing up every serving size for everything makes total sense. Let's just change the ones that really should be considered a single serving. Then, maybe just state "single serving" on the package or something.

Read some more:

This pint of Ben & Jerry's is Four Servings?? (from Slate)
Do We Need to Know What's in Junk Food? (from The New York Times)

Where are You Summer?

2010-02-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

Record breaking Maryland snowfall!

This crazy man in a funny hat wanted to shovel off the deck.

5 Year Anniversary

2010-02-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

I looked back through my old blog posts, and discovered that today, February 11, is the fifth anniversary of my very first run. If you have access to my private blog, you can see my original post on the subject here, with an introduction to the original Cathe rotation that started it all here. On the subject of the video rotation, I wrote:

This one also includes some scary running - and I have always had a motto of "I don't run." Life is about trying new things, so I'm going to try the running, I think I will just have to buy something to cover my head - maybe a hood and earmuffs.

LOL.

And on the run itself:

Last night, I was able to find a treadmill to run on, which saved me the issue of it being cold and annoying to be outside. The running wasn't too bad, of course, I was really only doing about 2 minutes of actual running based on what Cathe said I should do, but I was walking really fast when I wasn't running.

Too funny.

Thing is, it seems like ages ago. I went to this gym type of place, and I was so embarrassed because other people were working out around me. I wore sweat pants and a t-shirt (egads!). I ran very little, but I was happy that I gave it a shot. Anyway, it must not have been horrible, because I decided to register for a 5K only about a month later.

And since then? Let's just recap.

Fourteen 5K Races
Four 10K Races
One 5 Mile Race
Two 13K Races
Three 10 Mile Races
Four Half Marathons
Five Marathons

How far I've come. If I'd told that person from 5 years ago that I would eventually run not one, not two, but five marathons, what would she have said? Would she have been surprised at what she is today? Who knows.

Anyway, happy anniversary to me.

Thyroid Wackiness

2010-02-10T20:35:00.002-05:00

My DiveCon course requires me to get a physical. There was a medical questionnaire for my regular Open Water, but you didn't have to get it verified by a doctor (hence, the fact that I checked "no" for "do you have migraines?"). With DiveCon, the doctor has to sign off on the questionnaire.

So, I went and got a physical. It was uneventful. I got an EKG, I went the next morning to get blood work done, and my doc generally felt I was pretty healthy. I did get a prescription for Imitrex (for the migraines), and she said migraines weren't going to keep me from diving. She wouldn't sign off until my test results came back, though.

The doctor called yesterday with the test results. I expected nothing, but she had a couple of issues. First of all, I'm vitamin D deficient. This was especially odd because over the weekend I spotted a bottle of Vitamin D supplements that I'd purchased about 6 months ago after I'd seen some show or read some book about needing Vitamin D. I had taken one and never taken another. Then, Monday night, I read an article from active.com about how most Americans are Vitamin D deficient, so I took a supplement Monday night. For the doctor to call me Tuesday and tell me to start taking Vitamin D supplements of the exact same dosage I was taking was weird. It's like I have ESP.

Anyway, if you don't take Vitamin D supplements, you might consider it. I am taking 1000 IU. The doc was looking for me to be at 20 units for my vitamin D levels, and I was at something really low. 9, I think.

So then, the doctor moved on to the other issue: my thyroid. I have hypothyroidism. The test is for TSH, which is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. A normal level is .5 to 4.5 units of TSH. My level was 8.3. What that means is that my pituitary gland is producing TSH, practically screaming at my thyroid to do something and make some thyroxine, and my thyroid isn't following through or getting the message. So, it just keeps making more TSH. As a result, I have to take synthetic thyroxine. I started taking it this morning, and I likely have to take it everyday for the rest of my life.

Some of this makes total sense. You may have read before that I have started to consider myself a "slow loser" and that I've been having trouble losing weight. I didn't have trouble in early 2008, when I lost 15-20 pounds easily and right off the bat, but then after that I started just failing at it. I assumed that I needed to suck it up and realize that this is a consequence of getting older, but maybe not... I actually have a medical condition that is causing me to have difficulty losing weight! Who'd have thought.

I'm also supposed to be feeling tired. My doctor asked me if I was feeling tired a lot. I said that people tend to feel tired when they run a lot, so I just figured it was that. For the record though, I have excellent sleep patterns (definitely compared to when I was married the first time). My doctor responded that athletes tend to not notice the thyroid issues until they "crash." Yikes!

I didn't really get into why I have this condition. Some people have it because they just do, the thyroid stops working. Some people have it because the body produces antibodies that attack the thyroid. I read an article today that suggests that running is actually what's causing it. Here it is: Studies may link athletes and hypothyroidism. It's pretty interesting.

So, I get to go back and get more blood drawn after 6 weeks on the medicine. If my TSH levels are normal, the doctor will sign my scuba release. In the meantime, no diving. (well, no divecon certification... I have longer than 6 weeks left in the training and I can do the training dives).

Hamilton Beach Change-a-Bowl: Keep or Take it Back?

2010-02-08T21:29:00.005-05:00

I was grinding some chicken recently for a recipe, and since I don't have a food processor, I was doing it in the blender. That's because the blender is my go-to appliance to substitute for my non-existent food processor. It works fine for many things, but not for chicken, apparently. The chicken got all caught around the blades of the blender. Not good.

So, later I was looking for a food processor in the Weis Market because it was the only place I was going that day. This was a few weeks ago. They didn't have a food processor, but they had this Hamilton Beach Change-a-Bowl thingy. It was $39.99, marked down to $19.99. I thought about it, but it really doesn't solve the chicken-grinding problem, and is not a substitution for a food processor. So, I thought about getting it for its slicing and shredding properties. I ended up passing, feeling like I didn't want to spend $20 on that.

So, tonight I was back in the Weis Market (today's horrible music selection was "I Just Called To Say I Love You"), and I saw the Change-a-Bowl again. Today, it was marked down to only $9.99. So, I bought it.

Was this a good choice? I mean, it isn't a food processor, although it will do some things that a food processor will do. I could see myself making awesome things like broccoli slaw for my favorite Asian Beef & Noodles meal, or shredding cheese or chopping things. That's cool and all. On the other hand, it's another appliance to store in the house. On still another hand, it was only ten bucks.

What I do like about it is that it uses Gladware bowls, so you can purchase additional bowls for it at very low cost, and store the cheese, lettuce or whatever in the bowls.

Return it, or keep it? Opinions, please.

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Recipe: Super-Charge Me! Cookies

2010-02-07T16:41:00.003-05:00

I've been reading a series of blogs that involve women who work out and also love to eat healthy. A few of my newly found blogs are really some ladies who seem to just take photos of the delicious healthy foods that they eat every day. Nothing wrong with that!

So, it's been several blogs now where I've heard mention of SCM Cookies. As in, "I needed to run out to work quickly, grabbed a SCM Cookie and headed out!" or something. And I was confused. SCM Cookies? WTF is an SCM Cookie? So, I investigated.

This lead me to Dreena's Vegan Recipes, and the recipe for "Super-Charge Me Cookies." Dreena's daughter had been at a soccer game and all of the girls had gotten a 1/4 pound, 530 calorie monstrosity cookie to eat after the game. She invented these cookies as a healthy yet delicious alternative to those. Read the story... I decided I'd give them a try, if I could find all of the ingredients.

In my version, I didn't have spelt flour (couldn't find it), so I used 2/3 cup minus 2 tsp of whole wheat flour (this was recommended in the comments as a substitution). I used dried cherries instead of raisins, in the hope that Todd might try them (he doesn't like raisins). I added chocolate chips (what is carob?), and I used sunflower seed butter in place of the almond butter (despite my previous bad experience with it).

I made 12, and one cookie made the way I made them contains 172 calories, 8g fat, 3g protein, and 3g fiber.

They are indeed pretty good, so if it allows me to indulge while still staying healthy, I'd say they're worth the trouble to find the ingredients and make. I think their worst quality is the 100% pure maple syrup, which is so incredibly expensive. I wonder if there is a cheaper alternative?