Last week…

• Monday: 60 mins swim, lifting, stretching
• Tuesday: 7.65 miles easy
• Wednesday: 8 mile progression run
• Thursday: 7.65 miles easy
• Friday: 90 mins Bikram class
• Saturday: 13 miles
• Sunday: 7 miles very easy

Total: 43.3 miles. So I mentioned some hamstring annoyance in my last post, and a trip to Dr. Levine was on the agenda yesterday. He really got into some knots and sources of pain, and I left his office bruised but feeling better. This morning I ran a steady 7.5 miles and it felt pretty good. My plan is to play it by ear this week and rest if I need to – I want to start this marathon training cycle injury-free and ready for some speedwork. Since said cycle technically begins, oh, now, I need to get on it…

I’m neutral!
We had a slow afternoon at work last week, and a colleague of mine convinced me to get on the treadmill so she could take a look at how I ran. (Remember, I work part time at a running store, so this isn’t that weird…)

See, I’ve been pretty adamant about my overpronation, flat feet and need for a pretty hardcore stability shoe (Adrenalines!).

What is pronation? It’s when the outside part of the heel makes initial contact with the ground and the foot “rolls” inward comes in contact with the ground, and can support your body weight without any problem.

(source)

When you overpronate, the foot rolls inward more than it should, indicating the foot and ankle have problems stabilizing the body, and shock isn’t absorbed as efficiently. If this isn’t corrected (like with stability shoes), injuries are likely. (Check out this article from Runner’s World for more details).

Anyways, Robin (expert shoe fitter and encyclopedia of running shoe knowledge) put me in a neutral shoe and watched me run on the treadmill.

Low and behold, I did not overpronate. Like hardly at all.

Whaaattttt? We tried me in another neutral shoe to compare, and still, no overpronation.

“Congratulations, you’re neutral!” said Robin.

And then she proceeded to tell me that there is such a thing as over-correction, which can happen if people that don’t need a stability shoe like the Adrenaline wear them. This can also cause injury (cough, IT Band cough Achilles tendonitis cough). Ok, I can’t confirm my shoes are what have been causing my injuries the past couple of years, but holy moly, I think I may be on to something.

So what did I do with this information? I used my ridiculously awesome discount to get some neutral shoes, of course.

Brooks Glycerin – a well-cushioned shoe good for long runs and marathon training

Brooks Launch – a lighter shoe that can be used for speedwork and races but with enough to it for some training runs as well

I had to order the shoes and should get them this week – I’ll be sure to report back on how they work.

Now the only question is what to do with the 6 or so pairs of Adrenalines I’ve got in the rotation…

An Adrenaline graveyard?

Question: Ever been fit for shoes at a running store? Are you neutral or an overpronator? What shoes do you wear??

Almost immediately, my brain started firing away:

Did I do enough schoolwork yesterday?

Why does my hamstring still hurt?

Is it Sunday?

Wow, it’s weird to have to go to work on a Sunday.

I should make a table listing out all of the diabetes medications and their function when I get home.

Should I take a few days off for this hamstring problem? 

Hmm, those people getting out of that cab look like they had a fun night.

I think I’d rather be running right now.

But am I missing out? I do live in NYC, after all.

Gee, it sure would be nice to have a running buddy to chat with right now.

And before I knew it, a man in tights and a bright green jacket sidled up to me as I headed up Cat hill.

[Insert British accent] “Excuse me Miss, might you be able to give me some advice on my route? I’m here from London.”

Confession: I’m not the friendliest when strange men try to strike up a conversation. But put them in running clothes and give them a British accent, and apparently it’s a whole different ballgame.

So I proceeded not just to tell my new friend Ben from London what route he should run, but also to run it with him. We chatted about London, New York, marathon training, partying in the Meatpacking District (him, not me), whatever. It was totally innocent until Ben said something like:

“If you don’t mind my saying, you’re looking quite svelte this morning…”

I thanked him and laughed, and then he said, “Right. That was borderline inappropriate. And anyways, nothing can happen because we’re both wearing compression gear. Back to running.”

Only a Brit could have pulled that off and make me not want to kick him in the balls. Anyways, we parted ways after I showed him to the bridle path, and I realized how nice it was to get out of my own head for those 2 or so miles.

I know I have a running blog and lots of runner friends, but sometimes I forget that it’s not just me out there on the roads. Everyone out there pounding out the miles has a story, whether it be a 38 year-old Brit living it up on vacation, a new mom taking her jogging stroller out for the first time or Meb Keflezighi doing some speedwork on the bridle path after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials a little more than a month ago. And whether we realize it or not, we’re all part of a pretty cool (and huge) community of people that have at least one thing in common – running!

Weekend long run
Yesterday I ran a solo 13 miler at a pretty typical long run pace and felt ok.

It was a great way to get outside before spending multiple hours in my new home away from home – the library. My hamstring felt pretty good for most of the run, but got tight for a few miles towards the end. It’s kind of annoying and I’m hoping another visit to Dr. Levine tomorrow will whip it into shape.

Breakfast, per usual.

Even though this morning’s run was my slowest in a while and the hamstring admittedly kind of hurt, it was the most memorable one this week.

Question: Ever met someone literally on the run? Run with complete strangers? I’m thinking I should do it more often…

Emily B.

Congrats! Shoot me an email at mealsformiles@gmail.com and we’ll coordinate.

Hope everyone has a good Saturday!

not from this morning, but still.

Ever since Dr. Levine worked his magic on my hamstring earlier this week, it has been feeling much better. I’m still trying to be somewhat smart – stretching it throughout the day no speedwork until next week. This morning I ran an easy 7.65 miles in the park and felt decent.

Nutrition ramblings
I read an article in the paper a few weeks ago about how more young obese people (like under the age of 18) are getting bariatric surgery to help them lose weight, and it struck a nerve.

Bariatric surgery can be either gastric bypass, which staples the stomach and rearranges the small intestine, sleeve gastrectomy, which removes most of the stomach lest for a thin tube, and Lap-Band, which constricts the stomach and makes you feel full faster.

Bariatric surgery is one of the only proven methods of effective weight loss. One of my professors used to say that if diet were a drug for weight loss, the FDA would never approve it because just hasn’t been shown to be effective enough in the long term. Not because eating a healthy diet doesn’t help people lose weight, but because people just can’t seem to stick to it and keep the weight off. Behavior change is one of the hardest things for people do to, and adding food to the mix just makes it that much harder. Involve young, adolescent kids, who have even less of a grasp on long-term consequences of their choices and less interest in changing (I’m generalizing here), and you’ve got your work cut out for you.

So surgery seems like the logical choice then, right? And a much easier one – it basically does the work for you.

But if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. The girl that’s profiled in the article is a perfect example why we can’t just throw obese kids (or adults) into surgery to easily get them to lose weight.

I don’t know the details of this case, but the way the article is written it sounds like she got little to no counseling before the surgery, and no follow-up or information on what she was supposed to eat afterwards. What a ridiculous and a huge waste of time and money for all parties involved. If people go in to weight loss surgery thinking it’s going to be a magic weight loss solution and they have to do nothing to maintain it, then it’s just a recipe for disaster and disappointment.

When we were studying GI in my MNT class last week we talked about the challenges of bariatric surgery and the fact that sometimes an hour consultation with an RD is the only thing “needed” in order for bariatric surgery to be signed off on by insurance. That’s hardly enough to even gauge where the patient is at and start educating them about anything! Where the disconnect is, I’m not sure (but I have some theories…).

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that bariatric surgery exists and think it helps a ton of people lose weight and get healthier. But I also think it can be like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound that is absolutely gushing blood if there is no basic nutrition education that goes along with it.

Ok, whew. I’m a little calmer now.

Onto baking
I had some pretty organic cranberries, so I whipped up this flavorful quick bread a while back and am finally remembering to share the recipe.

Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup agave nectar or 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease your loaf pan. Combine the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, except for the cranberries and chocolate chips. Mix the wet and dry ingredients, and then add in cranberries and chocolate chips. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.

It’s even better with a little Nutella (but then again, what isn’t?).

Question: Do you have an opinion on bariatric surgery? Any good quickbread recipes?

If you haven’t entered my Chobani giveaway, you’ve got a few more hours! I’ll announce a winner tomorrow morning.

I keep getting reminded it’s Valentine’s Day by all of the cheese going on everywhere, and am resisting the urge to act like a man-hating single gal (though it ain’t easy). I’ve got way to many other things to be happy about and people I love.

Aaaaand moving right along to more relevant topics – last week’s running!

• Monday: 60 minutes swimming, lifting, corework
• Tuesday: 8 miles with Emilia
• Wednesday: 8 mile progression run
• Thursday: 8 miles easy
• Friday: 7 miles easy
• Saturday: 60 minutes spinning, lifting, corework
• Sunday: 12 miles

Total: 43 miles

I liked not really having much of a plan in terms of mileage, and these runs felt great and were much-needed mentally. I’m still feeling some tightness behind the right knee from my stupid Bikram injury, but Dr. Levine is on it and I’m not pushing it with any really challenging speedwork. I think I technically wanted to have an “official” marathon training plan by now, but to be honest I’m fine just winging it until my brain can comprehend thinking about things aside from Medical Nutrition Therapy. We shall see how that works…

A Chobani giveaway!
Last week, the fine people at Chobani sent me some delicious Greek yogurt treats to sample.

New flavors:

• Blood orange
• Passion fruit
• Apple cinnamon

I’ve been on the Greek yogurt bandwagon for a while – not just because it’s creamier and thicker, but because you get way more bang for your buck protein-wise without added calories (this is because of the straining process Greek yogurt goes through). Chobani packs 14 grams of protein in their standard 6 ounce containers with about 100 – 140 calories, depending on the flavor and % fat.

I usually just go for the plain 2% Greek yogurt and add fruit, nuts and honey to it, but these flavors are pretty delicious. Obviously, they’ve got a bit more sugar than the plain version, but it’s always good to mix it up every once and a while.

SO, if you would like to win a package of delicious new Chobani flavors like mine, just leave me a comment telling me how long you’ve been eating Greek yogurt, and whether you eat it because of it’s superior nutritional content (compared to regular yogurt) or because you like the taste better. I want to know!

I was pretty busy, but I loved it and was super excited for what the future would bring. And could not wait to go experience college far away from my hometown.

My priorities were simple – school and gymnastics – and I was completely entrenched in whatever I was studying because that’s what I needed to do to get where I wanted to go. And it worked! I got a scholarship and shipped off to Boston for college.

Even though it’s a little different now – I’m old, I run instead of flip and have to worry about earning a living and paying the rent (NBD…) – I’m finding myself totally consumed by my studies again. I know I’ve been in graduate school for a loooong time already, but having a demanding full time job prevented me from getting as involved in my school work as I would have liked. A lot of times I felt like I was only skimming the surface of whatever I was learning. Sure, I got by and I got A’s, but something was missing.

Now is a whole different ballgame, and I feel totally “in it,” for lack of better words. I have to make myself stop studying and will not rest until I learn everything there is to learn because that’s what I need to do to get where I want to go. It’s awesome. A little slash a lot exhausting, but awesome.

What about fun? Well, I lightened up by my senior year of high school and had some fun, and I think once the academic part of the internship is over I’ll probably emerge from my studying cave and let loose a bit. But for now, a few months of sacrifice is worth the many years of being a successful and smart MS, RD… yes?

Running!
Still doing it, so that’s a win. I woke up too early this morning and got in a decent and chilly 12 miler.

I usually do my long runs on Saturday’s, but switched it up because of a supposed snow/slush storm yesterday morning and did some spinning instead. I very much wanted to stay in my warm bed this morning, but as always, never regret a run.

Warm breakfast that follows: another win. And yep, always the same.

I’m thinking about doing some research on the benefits of a runner’s high on studying and the retention of information. You know, in my free time…

Question: What were you like in high school? Over-achiever? Troublemaker? Any resemblance to what you’re like now?

I am also an expert on packing meals in Tupperware and carting them around all day long.

Besides doing endless amounts of work, I’m trying to do a better job keeping up with my nutrition news, and a recent study that came out caught my eye.

Basically, the study looked at people that were put on reduced calorie diets and gave three separate groups different amounts of protein, carbs and fat to determine if the proportion of nutrients (more fats? less carbs? tons of protein?) influenced the amount of weight lost.

Researchers looked at participant progress at 6 months and 2 years, and basically found that the main predictor for weight loss at 6 months and keeping it off at 2 years is adherence to diet. There was no real difference in the type of diet in regards to how much weight was lost.

Why is this important? Well, we pretty much already know this – any diet that reduces calories will help people lose weight. The key is sticking to it and changing behavior so the diet will actually work in the long term and help keep weight off, and that’s what this study highlights more than anything.

In my nutrition counseling class, we’re getting into behavior change and how difficult it is for people, especially when it has to do with food, which comes with all sorts of emotional baggage. Even though I love the scientific aspect of dietetics, all the science in the world isn’t going to make people change their habits. I have no idea how to do this, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be an expert on it, but I’m excited to experience and learn whatever I can do that will make a bit of a difference.

Oh yes, the running
Like I said earlier, I’ve been digging my time on the roads and bridle path lately. My brain has been moving 100 miles a minute, and I almost feel like I get more out of the runs when I’m finished – mentally and physically.

8 miles has been my go-to distance this week, and Wednesday was a fairly decent progression run.

I like the feeling of finishing runs strong, and have been a big fan of progression runs lately. I think they’re also great practice for proper pacing, since I always tend to start out too fast and fade towards the end of most races.

We’re actually experiencing winter again here in NYC, and this morning I ran 8 easy miles at sunrise with a perfect dusting of snow covering the grass and bridle path. I don’t mind a little bit of the white stuff, but hopefully it won’t get too crazy and, like, blizzard or anything any time soon.

Question: Have you ever tried to change your eating habits? Successful or unsuccessful? Are you a fan of progression runs?

I love these runs dearly, but sometimes they get old. That’s why, when Emilia suggested a Queensboro Bridge run this morning I was down. She’s visiting from Houston, and neither of us had run the QB since the NYC Marathon, in which it kicked our asses.

Bless her heart, Emilia met me at 6:15 a.m. during her vacation and we pretty much showed the bridge who’s boss while chatting and watching the sun rise. It felt fantastic to change up my route a bit and run with a buddy, and we ended in Central Park as it was starting to fill up with fellow runners.

And if that didn’t already make my morning, the speedy runner (Margaret!) that said, “Kelly! I love your blog!” as we passed each other on the East side of the park totally sealed the deal. Thank you!!

Let’s talk last week.

• Monday: 60 mins swimming, lifting
• Tuesday: 7.5 easy miles
• Wednesday: 7.1 easy miles
• Thursday: 7.4 easy miles
• Friday: 40 minutes spinning, 30 minutes elliptical, lifting
• Saturday: 11 miles
• Sunday: 7.2 miles

Total: 40.2 miles

I pretty much failed at my planned “cut back” week, and am honestly attributing it to the fact that I needed a few more miles to get the stress of last week out of my body, head and heart.   Sometimes I get really hung up on the number of miles I’ve set in a given week – weather it be an increase or decrease – and if I don’t hit them I get mad at myself. I’m trying to cut down on this totally unnecessary stress, so for the next couple weeks I think I’m just going to run and not really worry about it. We’ll see how it goes…

Things I want
One of the great things about my new job is being surrounded by running stuff and being able to try out all sorts of running shoes while we’re working.

Meet my new friends: Saucony Grid Type A5 racing flats. Totally inappropriate for my flat, overpronating feet and I’d probably injure myself if I ever raced in them, but aren’t they just snazzy?

These are going to be my next victim – Asics Gel-DS Racer. Still a racing flat but with a bit  more stability.

I’ve never raced in racing flats before, but it’s definitely something I want to try in a 10K, 15K or half marathon distance at some point soon to see if they help with my speed. If I ever find a pair that work, I’ll probably wear them during speedwork to get used to how they feel.

I promise it will only be for speedwork and races, dear Adrenalines. We’re still in it for the long haul.

It’s pretty hard to resist the temptation of buying lots of new running gear when I’m surrounded by it all day, but the goal of not becoming homeless before the dietetic internship is over is a pretty big motivator.

Question: Do you wear racing flats for speedwork or races? How do you think they help you? And, what kind do you wear?

• A). Gnarly
• B). Insane
• C). Really busy
• D). Awesome
• E). All of the above

If you chose E). All of the above, you would be correct. See? Already getting into full time student mode. As much as I tried to prepare myself for all of the changes that go along with an intensive dietetic internship and new part time job, they pretty much smacked me upside the head multiple times this past week and gave me a few swift kicks in the ass.

<3 best friends for the next 3.5 months

So far, I’ve learned:

Standing all day at work is hard! It takes a lot more out of you than sitting at a desk for nine hours, but I think once I get used to it I’ll like it a hell of a lot better than living in a cube

Books are expensive. I’ve probably spent more on books this semester than ever before, and still have more I need to buy. I haz a poor.

There is so much to learn. Hence the need for a lot of books. We need to know nutritional implications and interventions for different diseases, conditions, weight changes, etc., and it’s also pretty important to fully understand the actual diseases and conditions, food/medication interactions, etc. etc. etc. It’s pretty overwhelming to think of how much work I’ve got ahead of me, but I’m taking it one day at a time and so far, so good.

This internship will completely prepare me to be an RD. We’ve been told that NYU dietetic interns are among the best because of how we’re trained and prepared for the real deal. I’m going to keep telling this to myself when I wake up at 2:00 a.m. in full panic attack mode.

I am not going to have a life until mid-May. I’ve already had to say no to friends wanting to make plans, am super behind on emails and phone calls and spent 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday getting work done with just a quick break to cook dinner and watch Gossip Girl (WTF, Blair and Dan??). My hope is that once I figure out a new system to balance all this stuff, I’ll have time for some fun…

I am now a regular at the Fairway coffee section. I don’t know why, but when the coffee guy looked at me and said, “Decaf cinnamon? One pound?”, it made me happy.

Running is necessary. Ok, obvi. But along with some personal stuff going on this week, I’ve feared the spontaneous combustion of my brain and/or heart, which would not bode well for my future. I was so tired when I woke up on Saturday morning, but knew I’d feel better once I got on the roads.

oh hello, CW-X running tights. winter has missed you

I was a little worried because of some hamstring niggling, but I kept the pace super easy and it loosened up pretty nicely.

And 11 miles later, I worked through more problems and sources of stress than I ever thought possible. It was like each footfall on the roads or bridle path pounded some of the worry out of my head and replaced it with happy endorphins. When I returned to my apartment, all I could think was, “Whew. I needed that.”

Breakfast – the usual sprouted grain cinnamon raisin bread with cream cheese, peanut butter and berries

Question: When the going gets tough or stressful, are you more likely to skip a run, or make absolutely sure you get it in? I think I need my runs now more than ever, and will definitely make sure I can get ‘em done as much as I can.

Running
I’ve been feeling some tightness and pain behind my right knee and along my hamstring towards the end of my runs, and I think it’s because of this Bikram pose:

You have to lock the standing leg and I overdid it last week in class. I love yoga, but not when it messes with my running. Luckily, Dr. Levine came to the rescue and with a combination of ART and electrical stimulation (i.e., shocking the crap out of the hamstring), it felt much better this morning and I ran 7.5 easy miles. I probably won’t be doing any speedwork until at least next week and will play with my long run distance on Saturday – I definitely don’t want to aggravate anything before I even start marathon training.

And running heroes
A while back I read a really inspiring book – The Long Run, by Matt Long. I even blogged about how inspired I was from it. The way the story was told (it just seemed so real) and the determination he had coming back from near death and debilitating injuries just left me teary-eyed and almost speechless.

I’ve had some medical problems in the past that definitely made me realize how lucky I am to be alive and running, and even though it looks like nothing compared to this guy’s, I could completely related to his feelings of hopelessness, fear and stubborn will.

I knew Matt lived in my ‘hood, but so do a million other people that I’ll probably never run into ever, like Madonna. Even so, after I read the book I wanted to find him and be friends.  Or at least tell him how awesome I thought he was.

Enter my new part time job, which is at a running/triathlon store that Matt just so happens to frequent. And when he came in to buy a Garmin (I think), I was probably more starstruck than had Madonna actually walked in (who cares about her anyway?).

He was cool, just like I had pictured him, and talked to us for a while about random things – he’s big into biking now. I tried to not be me and ask a million questions, and for the most part succeeded (except when he told us he recently got married and I squealed a little).

Dietetic internship
It’s SO MUCH WORK, but in the best way possible. My classes balance each other out so well – in Nutrition Counseling we talk about “feelings”, behavior change and the psychological aspect of being an RD, and Physical Assessment and Medical Nutrition Therapy are more hardcore science and how to treat different diseases and conditions. I feel more engaged and focused than ever before, thanks to no more full time job, and am loving every second of it.

So to recap, I have so far spent the week running, talking about running, meeting one of my running heroes and then going to my dietetic internship classes and learning about my other passion in life.

I’m not going to question how I got this lucky, but I’m also not going to take it for granted. Game on, new life.

Question: If you could meet one of your inspirations, who would it be? Running or otherwise?