To Run or Not to Run?

I used the kiniseo (spelling?) tape at the AIDS Run 10K this weekend and it made my shins hurt worse!  Usually it hurts for only the first couple of miles but this time it took 5 miles to get rid of the burning.  Boo.  At least my shins stopped hurting at the uphill parts so I ran past tons of people who were tired at that point.  So...do I sign up for the Carlsbad 1/2?  Eck.

Autumn Cleansing

"Detox, detox, detox...I hope it makes me strong like an ox!" -- Actual g-chat status profile of my dorky sig-o :)

Being prone to catching colds that last for almost an entire month at a time, my ears perked up when my fantastic and knowledgeable yoga instructor, Susan, suggested that we all engage in an autumn cleansing/detox before the equinox to ward off potential illnesses as we shift from summer to fall. As Susan explained it, in the summer time, we do and eat a lot of things to keep cool (i.e., foods consumed, sunscreen, etc.) but we need to warm up our bodies to prepare for the chillier fall temperatures. I pulled information together based on suggestions from Susan (she's an Ayurveda practitioner), articles in Yoga Journal, and good ole' google searching, and I came up with this plan for a 3-day detox:

Daily/General Principles
+ Squeeze the juice of 1 whole lemon into a glass of lukewarm water. Drink 3 glasses of lemon water each day, and drink the first glass upon waking up in the morning.

+ Scrub the skin with a dry loofah as hard as you can stand it, as there are many contaminents built up on the skin after a summer of sweating and applying various lotions/sunscreens.

+ Drink 4-6 cups of Yogi DeTox Tea (no worries of weird poop, this tea is for detoxing the liver and kidneys, not a diet/laxative tea...) A box with 16 teabags is less than $5 at Henry's!

+ Abstain from processed sugars, alcohol, processed meats, and refined flour.

+ Eat warm autumn foods.


Prepared Foods & Snacks
I'm a working woman so I relied on a combination of home cooked foods as well as premade store-bought ones...sigh, I know...but I did get everything from my favorite grocery store, Henry's.
+ Brown rice crackers.
+ Organic fruits and vegetables.
+ Organic soy yogurts.
+ Warm organic soups with reduced or no sodium.



Meals
No photos :( I was always hungry when cooking so in my haste to eat I kept forgetting to take any photos of the dishes I cooked.

+ Quinoa: 1 part quinoa, 1 part water, 1 part reduced sodium organic chicken broth. Put all ingredients in a pot with lid on. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Let sit for 3-5 minutes, then fluff up with a fork.

+ Steamed Butternut Squash: Place chopped squash pieces on a steamer in boiling water. Steam for 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

+ Sauteed Organic Red Dandelion Stems (our least favorite dish): Blanch cleaned and chopped red dandelion stems. Sautee in a pan with melted unsalted organic butter. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

+ Braised Chicken: Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on chicken (I used organic free range boneless skinless thighs.) Melt 1 tablespoon of unsalted organic butter on medium-high heat. Cook both sides of chicken for 3-5 minutes each. Pour in organic low sodium chicken broth, reduce heat, and allow to braise for approx. 15 minutes. This chicken was actually really tasty! I was getting irritated with cooking using so little spice and flavor, but this was very good and the chicken turned out nice and tender.

+ Sauteed Kale: Add cleaned and chopped kale to a pan with 1-2 tablespoons of heated olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Add 1/2 cup or so of the organic low sodium chicken broth and cover with lid. Reduce heat and cook for another 4-5 minutes depending on how crisp you want the kale. Add fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste (not too much.)

+ Brown Basmati Rice: Cook 1 part brown basmati rice, 1 part water, 1 part organic low sodium chicken broth and 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted organic butter. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

+ Spaghetti Squash: Cut squash in half, lengthwise. Put cut-side down in a baking tray filled with about half an inch of water, then bake in a 375-degree preheated oven for approx. 45 minutes. Scoop out the meat (or spaghetti) with a fork. Toss lightly with olive oil and sea salt.

+ Sweet Potato French Fries: Toss peeled and chopped sweet potatoes in mixture of 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon water. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake for 30 minutes in a 425-degree preheated oven, turning once.

+ Sesame Cilantro Salmon: Salt and pepper salmon, then cook skin side down in pan with sesame oil for 5-6 minutes so the skin gets nice and crispy. Put in a 375-preheated oven for another 7-10 minutes, until salmon is cooked through to your liking. While salmon is in the oven, use some reserved seseame oil to sautee chopped garlic, cilantro, ginger, and green onions; use this as a topping on the salmon!

***
We both actually feel really good post-detox, but we'll see if it actually does help fend off the cold & flu season! If nothing else, we ate super healthy for 3 days!

First Look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Teaser "first look webcast": http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/first_look_uo2.html

"First look" website sent via email today: http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/index.html

The website confirms Flight of the Hippogriff, Dragon Challenge, and yes, there will be butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks!

First 1/2 Marathon - done!

K and I ran the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon (aka, "The Happiest Race on Earth") last Sunday, September 6, 2009. He finished in 2:02 and I finished in 2:28. It was a fun race with loads of runners in costume (Minnie Mouses...Mice?, Mickeys, Huey/Duey/Louie, and even Elvis) and definitely with the Disney touch. Every mile was jam packed with high school marching bands, cheerleaders, hula dancers, ballet folkorico troupes, boy scouts, etc., to cheer us on -- it really helped! This is the first race I've done where there was never a wait to use a port-a-potty (thank you, Disney) and the finish line had all kinds of amenities including a station with ice packs and cool towels to wipe off the salty sweat. I am already feeling the itch to sign up for another race even in spite of all my shin splints problems...


Here we are, happy to have finished the race :) K's entire family came out to support us, including his parents, his brother/sis-in-law/niece, and his sister/bro-in-law/niece/2 nephews. It was so cute, K's dad was so excited for our race, he made us signs and even accidentally woke up in a tizzy on Saturday morning thinking he had missed the race only to realize as he was frantically getting ready that the race is Sunday. So now K and I have completed one of our joint New Years Resolutions -- to run at least 3 races together...though this was actually our fourth since we have now done the Mission Bay St. Patty's Day 10K, Coronado Bay Bridge Run (4 miles), and Coronado 4th of July 5K/15K. Next up, AIDS Run/Walk with the Women of Color in Law, Inc. team!

I am such a sucker

The other night I bought a heinously overpriced box of gummy bears in the parking lot of Target. Two young boys, maybe 11 or 12 years old, approached me with friendly smiles. Each of them lugged a duffel bag, aged to two varying shades of worn out gray. "Hello, Miss may I just have a minute of your time?" I tried to ignore the polite greeting and go my own way, but I detected a note of desperation in this kid's voice that reminded me of my own youth and the traces of desperation that would escape my lips as I trudged around with my own little sack containing magazines, Girl Scout cookies, and useless trinkets to peddle for various fundraising purposes. I sighed and stopped to listen as the kid rattled off his list of sweet treats, hazelnut brittle, chocolate chip cookies, gummy bears, and green-tea-with-antioxidants-good-for-the-health (this kid was good!) I then remembered just how much I dreaded the times of year when our troop or classroom would gear up for the annual ___-sale fundraiser since I was almost certain to end up with the least amount of sales. I could only buy so much for myself using my small allowance and the notion of buying fundraising goodies was somewhat bizarre my Korean relatives who did not really have a taste for American sweets or periodicals; and even though my parents owned their own restaurant, they couldn't really hock my wares because well, my parents are immigrants and they were always busy running the show. And so every now and then, when my desire to not-be-last would overtake my childhood shyness, I would opt for the door to door route and feel bitter that my parents did not work in offices with many cubicles filled with co-workers bursting at the seams to buy one another's unnecessary items. Feel bitter when I should have felt grateful that my parents worked all day, every day. So there I was, in the parking lot at Target, lost in a reverie of youth and holding a $7 box of gummy bears.

Mysterious Bruising

For my last long training run, I had planned an easy 8 mile run along De Anza. On Friday night though, as I was using the Stick on the outer part of my right shin, I felt a weird aching on the front part of my shin that is over the bone. I noticed a tiny pin-head sized knot poking out of my skin too. It hurt when I rubbed it with my finger. Curious indeed. I woke up on Saturday morning with a 3-4 inch long bruise on the front of my right shin (the part that was hurting the night before but that I did not even use the stick on...) and it glowed an unflattering shade of red. Sigh. After 12 weeks of adjusting my training, paying out of pocket for a sports chiropractor, diligently doing PT exercises and stretches and eating various foods and taking supplements to reduce muscle inflamation...and I end up with a large, unexplained bruise on my right leg. I felt like my body was slapping me in my own face (err, leg?) and trying to tell me that I am not meant to be a distance runner. So I ran a very uncomfortable, painful, slow, and sweaty (omg hottest weekend in SD in ages) 5.00 mile run at my favorite spot, De Anza Cove. I asked a few of my friends that are more experienced runners about my shin bruise...and I think I busted some capillaries in my leg. I'm going to just do runs on the Elliptical machine and yoga this week and see what happens at the race...

13+ Miles

Saturday, August 22, 2009 - Ran over 13 miles doing the Mission Bay "snowman" loop that started at De Anza, looped through Crown Point, around Sail Bay, across the Sea World parking lot, past Fiesta Island, and back through De Anza Cove. My shins burned so much. I'm pretty frustrated.