Run DMZ

This week I basically stripped all artificial ingredients, sugar, dairy, meats, gluten and wheat – including my beloved breads and pasta -- from daily life. Instead I loaded up on fruits, vegetables, rice, nuts, oatmeal and beans for five days and alternated between a detox tea and room-temperature water. I seasoned my food with sea salt, vinegar and/or a dash of extra virgin olive oil. That’s it. The results: The biggest surprise: I was never hungry . I ate something every two or three hours the first few days, but mostly out of habit. Then I just let my stomach guide me. It may have helped that by Thursday, the same salad for lunch and rice for dinner wasn’t nearly as appealing. I continued to take my supplements and drank an orange juice with calcium added. I did have sustained “energy.” By Wednesday I was really noticing that I didn’t have the physical energy highs and lows I normally experience as caffeine and carbs start to wear off. Instead, I kept at a steady state. Mentally...

I've long been jealous of people who started running in their 30s and 40s, believing that my body breakdowns were from decades of wear and tear. Now, a Stanford University gives me hope, though it also gives me pause. Yes, we can keep running without killing your joints over time, but as we age, we need to cut back on mileage to stay healthy. CNN: No need to hang up your running shoes as you age.

Another Saturday afternoon, another long list of neglected routine housework. Had a terrific, lazy hazy trail run this morning, so in that spirit I think I might dawdle just a little bit more and catch up on some miscellaneous, running and non-running items here at Run DMZ. Last Year for a Rockin' Finish at the MCRD The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego must find a new place to finish after this year. The Marine Corps Recruit Depot is expanding its barracks and can't host the race finish anymore. No doubt the change will also alter the course as well. It's tough to find a place for 20,000 people, their friends and family and all those cars to carry them home. Rock 'n' Roll Marathon to End MCRD Run Computer or Camera? I’m not sure either about this week’s Wordless Wednesday photos. My computer somehow stored these angles I created by maneuvering my mouse in Google Maps. The camera shots then showed up in a temp file like you see. I saw them and thought the...

My husband and I bought new cell phones this week. I chose a model with an easy-to-read screen and large keyboard, plus it had special buttons for the 911 and ICE contacts. He picked a much sleeker number with lots of fun features sure to impress all the cool kids.

Were I to grade myself on my Lenten prohibition on gossip, my midterm report card would bear a C-. And only because I’m in a generous mood. At least I’m discovering more about myself while learning less about others. I’ve been working through this workbook that Mindy recommended when I complained about my weight. It’s certainly helping me understand why I eat when I do and what I do. Hormones and heredity also are huge factors, but my mother and motherhood are getting a free pass this time around. Yesterday I watched the documentary King Corn . I’d read (and loved!) the book that served as its inspiration, The Omnivore’s Dilemma . For those unfamiliar with either, changes in U.S. agricultural policy 40 years ago encouraged farmers to grow more food, particularly low-cost, high-yield corn that then brought down food prices in general. This not only allowed Americans to buy more food on the cheap, but it also created great corn surpluses. Some of the excess began to be converted into a...

Prior to the hip injury, I was really on a roll: waking up early each morning and eager to get on the road to run or head to the gym. Even immediately after the muscle pull, I felt like I was still moving forward by doing more situps, Pilates and rowing. Then I got hit by a bad head cold on Monday and I haven’t felt like doing squat since. Partly it’s to keep the cold from migrating south into my lungs or into other people. But mostly it's because the illness has neutralized my enthusiasm for everything. I also need to cut way back on the cold medicine, which leaves me fuzzyheaded but amped. I did finally take Wednesday off from work, and since then I’ve gotten slightly better each day. Here’s hoping that ol’ drive is right around the corner.

Funny, I think I made that exact same face when I gave birth to you 22 years ago today!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love volunteering at the Sue Krenn 15k ? I typically show up early and help with registration, which can be chaotic with two different bib handout areas and a lot of last-minute entrants for a race that starts promptly at 7 a.m. Then I help where needed until it’s time to work the finish line. This means that I get an opportunity to at some point view almost every name and face in the race. And, for at least the past three years I’ve handed a bib to, or stripped the tag of, someone famous in the triathlon and running worlds. Last year it was Michellie Jones , Heather Fuhr and Paula Newby-Fraser . Yesterday, the adulation level ramped up several notches when I filled out a bib for Joan Nesbit Mabe . She was in town with her husband for a business trip and decided to run with us on Mission Bay. Younger runners and newcomers to the sport might not recognize the name, but, trust me, she was a mainstay in magazines like Runner’s World and had a great blog th...

I'm still gonna fix it. The M.D. believes it's a severe muscle strain deep in the hip/pelvic region and that rest, prescription-strength Motrin and hip flexor stretches should have me back in full action in about 7 to 10 days. This really was a wake-up call to take much better care of what's inside me, not just what I put on the outside. I'm back to taking calcium magnesium tablets religiously and watching what I eat. Still, knowing this didn't happen because of running is HUGE with me.

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday (it was! it was!) and who passed along a special word to someone that is not so near but still very dear to them. (More than a few times, I was that recipient.) The gang at work surprised me with lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant and, in true recession style, they recycled the company's holiday card into my birthday one. In lieu of a gift, I asked my husband to get a physical -- his first since retiring from the Coast Guard more than three years ago. He got a near-clean bill of health, which is what I'd hoped to hear. My daughters remembered to call their mother (actually, they've always been very, very good about that). In other words, I had one of the best birthdays ever -- truly! I also decided to see a doctor about my hip. So in about an hour I'm heading to the M.D. to determine the source of my pain and what to do about it. Last night I must have spent 15 minutes just comparing ailments with my mother on the p...

Yesterday afternoon was the memorial service for Kim and Chris, the coworker who was killed in a car crash during President’s Day Weekend. They were heading home from Joshua Tree in rain when their car hydroplaned and crashed into an oncoming truck. They both died instantly. Our IT team did a wonderful job organizing the service. Apparently Chris hadn’t been in contact with his family for years, so his coworkers made all of the arrangements in San Diego. His dad came and spoke and said he’d earlier thrown some of Chris’s ashes in the waters of La Jolla and brought some others to this “Celebration of Life” at the Marriott Del Mar. He spoke of Chris’s childhood and wondered aloud how that kid from Boston could come to enjoy fine wine, yoga and cuddle parties. This guy is a legend in the San Diego running community and he officiated. He reminded us to live our lives to the fullest, as Chris and Kim had in the short time they walked among us. And he told us to let people know how much we l...

One thing about being injured is getting to stay up well past my bedtime because I don’t have to be anywhere, like outside running in gloriously perfect conditions, early the next morning. So it was that Gilbert and I joined friends Todd and Christine last night to watch and hear Todd perform with musician and singer Kim Divine at Lestat’s in Normal Heights. We ate at a Burger Lounge beforehand, and the rave reviews were well warranted. The entire evening was a really nice change of pace of us, and I thank our friends for making it possible. Otherwise, it’s been and will continue to be a very mellow weekend due to my inactivity. Everything was moving along swimmingly when Thursday night I got up from a chair and felt a stabbing pain in my right hip. I had felt something similar before, on a marathon course . But this also felt different. So I decided to see if I could walk it off, and thought I did until the next morning, when it hurt every time I took a step. I’ve since been resting ...