SIUB: Suck It Up Buttercup!

Who knew that a whole component of triathlon training would be learning a new language? I should propose to Rosetta Stone that they develop some computer software for teaching Tri-Lingo. I suspect they may be looking for a new spokesperson anyway. Oh the things I've had to learn: T1, T2, splits, HR Zones, body glide, shimano, ultegra, brick, HTFU, and my all time favorite - SIUB!! And the list goes on and on. I really like this acronym (SIUB) because it speaks to the fact that yeah, it's hard and if you're a buttercup (like me?) then maybe your not entirely up for the challenge. But you're at the party so you better start dancing. I also think "sucking it up" is an entirely different concept than the classic "harden the F up" (HTFU). I believe that the latter implies that you don't feel it, you become impervious to or callous to pain or discomfort. One step further and you actually begin to enjoy it. But in the meantime we little buttercups must "suck it up". To me, this means, I feel it, I can't deny it, I have to work through it and accept it. Maybe it is through this effort that one becomes able to HTFU. Maybe SIUB is for beginners? It's like its own special training zone. Yeah, Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z-SIUB. All just my speculation of course as I can not find clarification for this in the urban dictionary.

But guess what . . . I'm not talking about sports right now. Although, I am sitting at my computer instead of out for a run currently because I'm hurtin'. I had a very delayed reaction to that 10-miler last Sunday. I was fine until I tried to run again yesterday and my body said it is really just out of the question for now. So instead I will switch my plans for today and tomorrow - swim today and attempt a run again tomorrow. Not a whole lot of sucking it up necessary, just a simple look at the calendar, a check in with the body and a little adjustment of plans. No biggy!

Here's where I have to SIUB: Celiac Disease. I have given ample time here to type 1 diabetes and our quest to fund a cure. But It's time to put Celiac Disease on the table. Hard for me to do without whining - but here it is. The basics* - this is an autoimmune disease with roots in genetics but it is suspected that there is some other environmental trigger that sets it off. Not all individuals with the gene develop Celiac Disease. It is a disease of the digestive system and manifests itself in an autoimmune response to the ingestion of wheat gluten (any product containing wheat, rye, barley or oats). When a person with Celiac Disease ingests these foods the body's immune system goes into attack mode and mounts an attack on the intestines. The symptoms include GI disorders of great magnitude, malnutrition and can result in certain types of cancer if left unattended. Okay, so here's the good news. This disease is actually fully treatable!! ALL one has to do is sustain a completely gluten free diet - for life. If a Celiac does that - any damage that has occurred to the intestines will heal and all symptoms will abate. All better, easy, right? Wrong!! There are three things that make this a daily challenge, they are as follows:

1. Will power - it's just not easy to stay away from all of those wonderful foods and we're surrounded by them constantly. If it were easy none of us would struggle with weight problems.

2. Cross contamination - many people who suffer from Celiac Disease can be set off by just a few crumbs. We need to have separate cutting boards, toasters, utensils, etc. And gluten ingredients are in foods that one would not suspect such as soy sauce. Making eating any prepared foods a game of Russian Roulette.

3. Social isolation - people with Celiac Disease can generally not just go out to dinner at any old restaurant. Birthday parties with pizza and cake are pretty depressing. For adults the loss of beer in one's life can be devastating. And for kids, anything that makes them "different" can make life hard.

Both of my kids and I have Celiac Disease and so we battle these three issues daily. Interestingly as I look at them I think they hit us differently at different times in our lives. For example, I struggle more with #1 and the kids struggle more with #3. Here's a little anecdote, then we're going to move on the the SIUB part. Last night we were lying in bed watching our beloved Biggest Loser when a commercial for Subway's $5 foot long came on. We can usually hold ourselves together but the three of us just lost it and started screaming and rolling around fighting over what we'd order on our foot long. Oh the warm roll, oh how I loved those hot peppers on a veggie and cheese grinder. Oh how we long for a "lactaid" type pill that would allow us just one $5-foot-long!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHIo4VruGZY

But, we can't give in to this kind of oogling over subs - we have to SIUB!! No, not HTFU, that's for all those people who say, "oh it's not so bad, you can still eat rice!" Maybe they are hard hearted enough to think a bowl of rice will appease a kid who has to sit and watch his/her friends eat delicious pizza every Friday at lunch. We're not that hardened. But we can suck it up!

The benefits in health make sucking it up worth while. It can be done and it can be done well. I think we are all entitled to our little lapses of spirit, like our little Subway incident. But you have to pick yourself up dust yourself off, grab yourself a big 'ole bowl of ice cream (no offense to those who are lactose intolerant) and move on!! So to that end I am going to append this with our family's top 10 gluten free tips I recently wrote in an e-mail to the mother of a couple of newly diagnosed Celiac kids. I hope these tips find their way to helping out a few people. Please also see the links in the right hand column for helpful navigation.

1. Pamela’s Pancake/All purpose Mix (http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Products_frames.html) – most of her cookies are also excellent. You can buy them at Whole Foods or for better economy we usually order in bulk from Amazon. Also, her chocolate cake mix is super easy to make, perfectly acceptable and makes a very good cupcake – worth having a case of it on hand for birthday parties.

2. Still Riding Pizza (http://www.stillridingpizza.com/) As I said before this is the closet thing we’ve found to the “real deal”. Expensive, but really not any more than one would pay to have a decent pizza delivered.

3. LeVenizianne Pasta (http://www.olivenation.com/item-13/Pasta-Corn-Italian-Molino-Di-Ferro-Le-Veneziane-Penne-Rigate) Okay this is a total luxury item, but if your family loves pasta, this is a MUST. I know a lot of people think that the tinkyada rice pasta is acceptable, but it’s only because they have not had LeV! Once we started eating this we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves.

4. Authentic Foods Finely Ground Flours (http://www.authenticfoods.com/) – buying high quality finely milled flours completely changes the consistency of baked goods (no more grittiness). I keep white rice, brown rice, sorghum, potato starch and a commercial GF blend on hand at all times. Other staples such as: Tapioca starch, xanthan gum, yeast, flax meal, etc. I just buy at the grocery store or on amazon. But I can’t stress enough how much of a difference good ingredients make in the final product.

5. Chebe – (http://www.chebe.com/) If you have not experimented with Chebe, check it out. Very strange but extremely versatile. We use the plain for lunch rolls or hot dog/burger buns (I can have rolls ready for lunch boxes in just 25 minutes!). We’ve made the bread sticks which are very good. We use the pizza mix and we combine to make tortillas. You can get creative with this stuff. They also make a cinnamon roll mix which the kids like but it is very sweet. If you buy it direct from Chebe and in bulk it is less expensive but you may want to check out a bag or two first and see how it goes over. Our Whole Foods used to carry it.

6. Cecelia’s Market Place Gluten Free Grocery Shopping Guide – (http://www.ceceliasmarketplace.com/) the most comprehensive and main stream grocery guide I have been able to find.

7. Bakery on Main – (http://www.bakeryonmain.com/pages/gluten-free-products.php) Gluten free granola and granola bars. Usually sold at Whole Foods but also on Amazon. I love the granola (Trader Joe's also has one that is almost exactly the same, maybe even better) but the granola bars are the closest thing to a “real” granola bar. Great for snack at school and road trips. (Other cereals include environkids, rice chex, etc.)

8. Snack Bars: Environkids, Larbars (including their new Jam Frakas bars!), Kind Bars, Bakery on Main. Hammer Nutritionals bars are also GF by the way http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=PRODUCT&CAT=NUTRI&PROD.ID=5156&OMI=10139,10082,10047&AMI=10139

9. Kinnitoos (http://consumer.kinnikinnick.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.home/productcategoryid/12) – The closest thing to a “real” oreo cookie. You can usually get these on Amazon also.

10. Crackers – diamond cheese nut thins (regular grocery stores, whole foods or Amazon), Glutino makes a “ritz like” cracker but they are always broken to bits when you get them. But are very good with peanut butter. By far the best GF cracker we’ve had is Dr. Schar’s (http://www.glutenfreemall.com/catalog/schar-glutenfree-crackers-p-912.html) they also will arrive broken to bits but they are still worth it!

Here's to your good health, both physical and mental!

*note: my apologies for oversimplification of CD and especially to those who suffer with other food allergies and intolerance in addition to CD - making it especially hard!

JONES 10-MILER: RACE REPORT

A terribly unflattering picture: Camryn greeting dear old Mom (in the rain) after I wandered around aimlessly at the finish line for a while.

First and foremost, thanks so much to the many people that donated to JDRF in honor of this race. We are now up to over $4,000 on our ride donation site: http://ride.jdrf.org/rider.cfm?id=8602 . The minimum to hit the road is $4,000 - so it looks like we are for sure on our way to Killington, VT for the JDRF Ride to Cure diabetes. Thanks so much to all of you!! Our fundraising goal for the ride is $5,000 so we still have a ways to go. Please visit our ride page to check in and see how we're doing and maybe give a couple of bucks while you're there. I can't tell you enough how much this research money impacts the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes. And, how hard the folks at JDRF work to keep the funds rolling. It really is a remarkable organization.

The latest from Camryn is that she has been asked to be the 2009 Youth Ambassador for the JDRF Promise Ball. This is a black tie gala being held in Hartford, CT in May. Camryn will be speaking and helping to raise some significant funds during the Fund a Cure Auction. For more info on this event see http://www.jdrfpromiseball.org/ambassador.htm

As for my race report, I'll keep it as brief as possible. It was GREAT! Nothing bad to report. Although the weather could have been better, what can one really expect at the end of February in New England? It was as billed - cold, wet and did I mention cold (and wet)?

I can sum it up into two categories. First all the good stuff: it wasn't precipitating at the start of the race, my plan to take it easy on the mile 3 "hill" payed off, I got a free T-shirt (that I will never wear due to the corporate sponsorship of the race) that is a size M not the usual XL and it fits!! I had a dry shirt and a gluten free fluff-n-nutter waiting for me in the car, I finished 6 minutes earlier than I predicted, I met some really nice people, the road conditions in the upper climate zone were pretty darn good compared to the revolving mud/ice/mud/ice/mud conditions over the past few weeks. I had a blast, I can actually still walk and I was not last (although pretty darn close)!

The other category is lessons learned: I clearly am on the verge of a bladder control problem, need to add kegal exercises into my workout plan in a very serious way (or wear absorbent bike shorts), also my hydration/nutrition plan was a little heavy on the hydration which exacerbated the (number 1) problem profoundly. The weather got ugly with sleet up on the "hill" (read: mountain) but I was still pretty warm since it was bouncing off me and not sticking so was running with my jacket around my waist. My race scherpas (aka family) were scheduled to meet me at mile 5 for a bottle hand off and they did not show. I was not prepared for how much that would mentally deflate me - although I was prepared for the likelihood of it happening and had spare gels in my pocket. They finally drove up along side of me during mile 6, made the bottle hand off and I ditched my rain coat into the window of the car. As soon as they drove away I descended the hill enough to be drenched with freezing rain. I pulled on my arm warmers which at least kept me from being completely exposed as I was wearing a short sleeve shirt. The moral of the clothing issue here is that I don't really think there was a "correct answer" as to what I should have been wearing. It rained and I ran for 4 more miles . . . end of story! Due to my earlier than predicted arrival at the finish line, my little fan club was sitting in a warm, dry car up the road when I unceremoniously hit the finish line with a big grin and a happy heart!

The best part of the day was that in the cold, freezing rain I hit mile 8 1/2 still staring at the back of the two people I had been behind for the past hour plus. It was at that point in the race that we hit 3 really significant hills that stretch the last mile and a half. On the first hill I got a little closer, on the second hill guy #1 slows to a walk and my little train that could slowly but surely chugged up alongside and passed him. Vowing not to walk those hills, no matter how slow I had to take them I chugged up alongside woman #2, the green jacket I had been watching the whole race. She ground down to a walk on the last hill and I continued to chug, chug , chug, slowly up that hill. Thanks to Martha and quite a few hill intervals I got up and over and was able to even get my legs under me enough to hoof it to the finish line with what I had left (which wasn't much).

So onward the training goes - about 7 weeks until the 1/2 Marathon in NYC and then into triathlon season. As we go we're raising awareness and money for a cure - and having some fun doing it. If you'd like to join in and sponsor us on our journey, please visit http://ride.jdrf.org/rider.cfm?id=8602 and remember that every dollar gets us closer to a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Thanks again for all your support!!
Barb & Camryn

PRACTICING WHAT I PREACH: IT AIN'T EASY!

Last week, my son, Stratton started a new semester of gymnastics. His first semester left him feeling as though he was ready for the Olympic trials. He has some natural abilities mostly based on the fact that at almost 9 years old he only weighs 48 pounds. This makes it easier for him to hoist himself into positions that other more gravitationally challenged children might have a bit of trouble with. And truth be told, most of the kids in his class (other than him) basically roll around on the floor picking their noses and grunting. So of course, he's a superstar.

Last week he came home from his new semester nearly in tears. He was placed in a group of kids ranging from 10 to 13 (remember, he's 8) who all have very strong skills. They were doing triple back flips into the "pit" and one handed cartwheels and he was struggling just to reach the high bar, which just is not possible for him without standing on the low bar. He came home ready to quit or at the very least be transferred back to the class with the floor rolling grunters.

My motherly advice was this: if you want to quit, you can, and if you want to go back to the other class you can - totally up to you. But can I ask you a couple of questions? Yes - okay, do you like stepping over those kids on the floor? No. Do you think you will learn new skills by staying in a class with kids who are rolling on the floor? No. Do you want to be challenged or do you want to always stay the same? Challenged. Do you just want to be the best in the class? Yes! Even if that means just being the best floor rolling, nose picking, grunter? No! So what do you think you might want to do? Wait before you answer the question - let's talk running for a minute - I never miss an opportunity to talk running!

There is a saying that "you have to run your own race". It's not about the person in front of you or behind you. Just you. Everybody has a different set of circumstances that they bring to the race. Their circumstances are not our business or problem and certainly not within our control. It is our business to work with what we've got and do our best. You just have to run your own race!

I'm proud of his decision: he's sticking with the difficult class. I am fully confident that one day he'll be doing triple back flips and one handed cartwheels. The physical skills can be learned but we have to remember to teach the mental skills too.

Today I had to swallow a big dose of my own medicine however. I was scheduled for a 7 mile run. I carefully reviewed the course for the 10-mile race that is coming up (2 weeks from tomorrow) and picked out the 7 most hilly, treacherous miles on the course and decided that if I am not going to do the full 10 prior to the race (which I am not planning to do, yikes!) I should at least be mentally prepared for the hardest parts. The only place I could find to park my car was at the bottom of a massive hill (pictured here, but I assure you the picture does not do it justice!). But to get my seven in, I would have to climb that hill at the very end of the run and then jog back down to finish. Good prep since in the race this hill falls at about mile 9 and is followed by another of equal stature that stretches about to the finish.

As I stepped out of my car two quick runners pranced past me . . . I nervously hop in behind them and think, well at least they are in front of me so they won't have to pass me. Then I turn around and I notice that there is a stream of about 15 runners pouring down the big hill right toward me, evidently everyone decided to come out and run "the course" today. Ughh, I do a quick calculation and figure that they will catch up to me and overtake me on THE hill (the one that should be called a mountain). And in fact they do. One by one they prance by me on that hill. So light on their feet that it actually looks like their feet never hit the ground. I count 1..2..3...4...13...14...15 there they all go! Well good, at least no one is watching my butt in these ridiculous tights anymore. As I watch them disappear in front of me I fantasize about each of them having to run with a 30 lb back pack on. Bet they'd be running with me then! I think about my advice to my son. About running his own race. It's just not easy not to care about what everyone else is doing. In my head I buy it, after all, it's just not physically possible for me to run their race (as my feet do actually hit the ground, and stay there for a while, and I am carrying that 30 lbs). I'm cool with it, I know it's going to be lonely. But I check my heart rate and I am way off the plan. I have now been running "tempo" for 3 miles and the plan for today was to start out in zone one and work my way to tempo by mile 6. Guess whose race I was running? Not mine! I plodded along considering this for a while and then as I rounded the bend I saw "them" waaay out ahead, but I could see them!!! The other runners. It's really hard to just let them go. I remind myself that last year they were probably all preparing for this same race and I was "running" in cycles on the treadmill: 2 minutes walking/1 minute running for a whole 20 minutes. And now I am 2 weeks away from a 10 mile road race in which I intend to come in last but to run the entire 10 miles.

So I need to practice what I preach and run my own race. Got it! But after coming to that conclusion I still had several miles of pondering left so I got to thinking how much of a metaphor that is for life. We all have to run our own races with our own set of circumstances. I am surrounded by so many powerful people who inspire me. Starting with Camryn on her hard diabetic road. She's running her race. And so many friends and family members who are cancer survivors - running their own races.

One of my personal inspirations is a friend who is a two time breast cancer survivor, has completed multiple marathons and triathlons and has her own share of everyday challenges like the rest of us. She's currently training for the Boston Marathon, perhaps I'll run with her on Monday and she'll remind me what it means to be a true champion. Oh, by the way, she's turning 68 this summer!

NON-LINEAR THINKING: RUNNING, SICK KIDS & SOUP

I am an expert at non-linear thinking. Someone close to me once commented that I change the subject more than most people change their underwear . . maybe . .

I had a kid home from school today and the other came home and proclaimed that he thinks he has strep throat. So my bet is that tomorrow I'll have two kids home from school. I did a little math out of curiosity - I wondered how many full weeks of school my children may have attended this year. There have been 19 weeks since the beginning of the school year (not counting winter break). My kids, total 9 days of absences. That leaves us 10 full weeks of school. 6 of those weeks contain a day (or more) off for a holiday. So we're down to 4 full weeks of school. What a coincidence . . . there have been 4 snow days so far this year and that leaves us with NO full weeks of school. Now this presupposes that my kids were never home sick at the same time and that they were not home sick on weeks that contained a holiday or snow day - but still! I was kind of feeling like we have not had a single full week of school this entire year, and in fact we may not have.

Next subject: Running in the winter! I have been "tagged" a couple of times with this floating note on Facebook where you are supposed to write down 25 random things about yourself. I just can't do that. But in lieu of that, here are 25 random thoughts I had while running today. First things first: outdoor temp = 15F, wind chill 0F, time = 1:50 PM, target heart rate = zone 2, clothing = two pairs of socks, warmest running tights, compression shorts, under armor turtle neck, long sleeved running shirt with built in mittens, nylon jacket, gloves, bank robber style face mask, baseball hat, dog on sledding harness tied around my waist. Okay, here are my 25 random thoughts:

1. I only have an hour until I have to pick up the kid at school. I better move it. It's too cold, I want to stay home.

2. I wonder if being cold makes your heart rate go up, or if I am really part sloth?

3. Hill? This isn't a flippin' hill, it's a freakin' mountain!

4. When will I learn to stop making such rookie mistakes?

5. I should have driven the course before attempting to run it!

6. This is part of that 10 mile road race course - I'm doomed.

7. I wonder how much the dog is actually pulling me up this hill.

8. He's probably not allowed in the race, dang!

9. Hey my feet don't hurt!

10. Shoot, now that I thought about it they might start to hurt.

11. I have to remember to thank Martha for helping fix my foot problem

12. I really like Martha - she's a true professional!! I'm lucky to know her.

13. Oh no another hill - Tues. I did hill intervals on the treadmill at the gym and almost got shot off the back, very embarrassing. I hate treadmills. And I really hate that my heart rate shows on the two treadmills on either side of me so there is no hiding the pain!

14. It is really pretty here. I am so lucky to live in such a pretty place. So, this is our reservoir? I just saw a show about turning sewage into drinking water - I am REALLY lucky to live here!

15. I wonder where I am? I think I was supposed to turn left somewhere, I wonder if I did? I really should drive a route before I run it. I don't think I'm going to make it in time to pick up the kid. Check time, check heart rate. Shoot - this is not zone 2 and I'm running out of time and where the heck am I?

16. I like visualization, I should try that for a while, it usually helps me focus. But in order to use visualization I have to have sufficient endorphins flowing to put me in a bit of a hallucinating state. And, I have to think about that Danny What's-his-name guy who talks about chi running. Neck elongated, shoulders back and down, chest open, breathing steady, leaning slightly forward.

17. Excellent! Now I'm hallucinating! I've read about all sorts of visualizations, from people who believe their lower half is a horse or a bicycle or whatever. But in mine - I'm a San Francisco trolley car. I simply hook a cable from the top of my head onto the imaginary power line above me. And if I'm at the right angle, my posture is correct, etc. I simply just have to move my feet to keep up. Ahhh, that's great.

18. Oh that bad dog kennel is coming up. I wonder if Sam will remember it? Probably not, he's not that smart.

19. check heart rate, check time. Oh wow!! It's earlier than I thought. Is that possible? If I pick it up just a bit I might be able to get a cup of coffee at that cute little cafe when I'm done.

20. This is probably not in the training plan - but I really love coffee!

21. I should have brought that espresso gel with me. I secretly love those things! I bet they'd taste great in a smoothie.

22. If I'm going to get injured, now is really the time to do it - I could get out of this 10 - mile race and be recovered in time for the 1/2 marathon in April.

23. That's a completely defeatist attitude that will get me nowhere! If I can't get through this 10-miler what makes me think I can do a half-marathon.

24. Quick prayer to the Gods of running - I didn't mean it, really! I don't want to get injured, I was just on a really big hill and had a momentary lapse. I should have stayed in zone 2 and this bad thinking would not have happened - damn coffee!

25. OMG, I'm done! That was quick . . . check time - time for coffee and will make it to school pick up. YES!! I'm not sooo bad - I love running, what was I worried about? That was a great hill!

And my last random thought was about how I have all of the ingredients to make this soup. Not sure if I want to eat it or just soak my feet in it. But - it's really, really good (provided you have not soaked your feet in it!).

Creamy Potato Kale Soup

(courtesy of Moosewood Restaurants Low-Fat Favorites)

1c finely chopped onions

2/3 c. finely chopped leeks
1/2 tsp. salt
1T canola or olive oil
4 c. veggie broth

4 c. coarsely chopped potatoes

1/2 tsp. ground fennel (this really isn't necessary)

1/2 c. finely chopped celery

2 T white wine (plus one glass for the chef!)

1/2 tsp. dried dill

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 T minced scallions (also not that necessary)

1 1/2 T basil

1/2 c. evaporated skim milk

4 c. loosely packed kale

salt & pepper to taste
squeeze of fresh lemon (optional)

Saute onions and leeks and salt in oil over low heat until tender. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add potatoes, celery, fennel, wine and dill. Simmer for about 20 minutes, covered, until potatoes are tender. In a blender or food processor puree the soup in batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the mustard, scallions, basil and evaporated skim milk. In a separate pot, gently boil the kale in just enough water to cover. When the kale is just tender, drain it and stir it into the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice, if desired. Carefully reheat soup until it is very hot but not boiling.

per 9 oz. serving: 168 cal., 4.6 g protein, 4.3g fat, 28.8g carbs, 311 mg. sodium, 3.96g dietary fiber.

Guess I better go get choppin'