Lake Mead 1/2 day Kayak adventure

It's been about a month since we went kayaking on Lake Mead, NV.  I'm always a little worried when booking these things at my size because I'm convinced they won't be able to accommodate my size.

That fear has kept me from enjoying a lot of activities over the years.  The fact is that when you look at the pictures provided by the tour guides, the people enjoying the activity are a) young and b) at a healthy weight.

It's safe to say that while we're fit, we're not at a healthy weight.  When booking the tour (with Desert Adventures), we had to give them weight and height information so they could pick the right kayaks for us.  My husband overestimated my height so the kayak was slightly too long for my short little legs.

But it worked.

As for the tour, I thought the half day on Lake Mead would be boring.  Their other tours involve the Colorado River and seem like they'd be fantastic experiences.  But on Lake Mead, we got to Kayak around the Boulder Islands.

We stopped on one of the islands for lunch in a cave and some pictures of us not on the water.

Once I had cancer, I realized I'd been letting my fear and my size get in the way of doing the things I wanted to do.  This trip to Vegas had us doing a lot of things we wouldn't normally have done and the kayaking trip is easily the most memorable experience we had.

Still recovering from chemotherapy, I had to take a break on the walk up to the cave, but I'm really glad that I went all the way up.

I almost look like I know what I'm doing with that paddle, don't I?

We even got to see the old paddleboat out on the lake.

Another kayak trip is on the list for our next trip to Las Vegas (or anywhere with water, really).  And we're looking at taking some lessons now that we're back home.  If you've been wanting to try, you should absolutely give it a try.

Paleo, Low-Carb, Low-Fat, Vegan, Vegetarian, Meatatarian - Let's Talk Diet For a Moment

No matter what your current eating plan is, you probably don't follow your country's Food Guide.  You know, that colourful, pyramid-shaped teaching tool that you were probably handed in a health class at some point during your education.  Do they still do that?  Am I showing my age?

Wait, what? It isn't a pyramid anymore?  WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

Seriously, most people do not follow that - in both a healthy way aaaaaand in unhealthy ways.

First, I'd like to share a post (an old post) by an Ontario Obesity doctor about the Canada Food Guide revisions way back in 2006.  He just recently re-linked it as Canada is in the process of once again updating their food guide (newsflash: they are reconsidering juice's value as a fruit/vegetable serving.) and he has been involved in the process before.  A process he's highly critical of.

Canada's Food Guide to Unhealthy Eating

Read that.  It'll take awhile.  Don't worry, I'll be here when you get back.

As much as it pains me to give up my old delusions that juice is a fruit and froot loops are a grain, I have to agree with the man.

Don't get me wrong.  I grew up on a farm.

My history, my people, are involved heavily in the agriculture industry in both grain and livestock.  I grew up eating meat and potatoes and wheat by the handful as it ran from the truck into the bin.  I also grew up eating a LOT of white flour products which was what we did back then.  In the old days.

I like a good steak as much as the next person and love a hamburger fresh off the grill in the summer.  It's an adjustment to evaluate what I eat and really think about the health value of that cookie, muffin or toaster waffle (hint: none).

Yet, the more I go down the path of weight loss, running and healthy eating, the more I have to accept that the old way just wasn't working and I need to change.

Finally, if you looked at the above post and thought it was WAAAAAYYYYY too much reading and you just want to know what information YOU need to know to get through your day while focusing on health and/or weight loss, read this post from Dr. Freedhoff

What Can You Do?

Ahhh, there's my pyramid all nice and shiny.  And pointy.

Step away from the juice.  Step far away from the processed foods (white flour, junk food, etc) and enjoy the occasional steak, but not every day.  This makes total sense, doesn't it?

Pay attention to your calories.  Get some exercise, but don't overestimate how many calories you're burning.

Running and starting over.

It's been almost a year since I found out I had cancer.  During that year I crashed on the couch and pretty much did nothing.  I tried to keep up with walking after chemo quickly sapped any energy I had for running.  Things just went further sideways about 2 months in when I developed a pretty standard side effect - mouth sores - and couldn't eat for about 10 days.

With radiation, I did my best to avoid aggravating already sensitive areas and avoided most exercise as well, knowing it would further affect my ability to get started again.

Now, I'm resurrecting this blog in an effort to get back at it.  I'm verbally committed to a couple of races for 2016 and it's time to get my plus-sized ass back off the couch.

First up, I'm back on fitbit.  I actually had to replace that sucker after I learned a 2 year old fitbit does not like hot tubs.  Odd considering prior to this, it went everywhere with me - shower, swimming pool, probably even a lake or two and I think it may have even had a dip in the ocean.  Maybe it was just time for it to go.

So, a bit about me - I'm overweight, probably considered officially obese by BMI charts.  I wear plus sized clothes and my first goal is too get the heck out of those plus sized clothes.  So this blog will be a mixture of posts about running, cross training, issues for the plus sized (woman) runner, and probably the odd picture of my garden, pets, or travel.   Like this picture of me kayaking on Lake Mead near Vegas.

Actually, stay tuned, I'll comment on that in my next post because as someone who is overweight, I worried about doing something like that and I'm so glad I finally did it.

Back to starting over.  I've tried to pick up running again, but I think I did it too close to the treatments and my body hadn't recovered yet.  To be clear, at the end of chemo, I was neutropenic (low white blood cells), anemic (low red cells), had low platelets and ended up stopping chemo early as a reaction to the chemo caused the skin on my hands to start peeling off - a bit like a sun burn that just got worse and spread week after week.  So in the days and weeks post chemo, my body was in no shape to start running again and even a learn to run program was too much.

About learn to run programs - I started with the plan at coolrunnings.  This time I'm doing more of a casual approach - run until I'm tired, walk to recover, run until I'm tired.

Prior to cancer, my last training run was a 9 mile run at pretty much the best pace I'd ever completed.  It was a month before a 1/2 marathon I'd signed up for and had to miss out on due to the surgery.  I started treatments the day after my friends ran that half.

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell.  I'm back and getting started again.  Running and weight loss will be key in avoiding a recurrance.

Why do you run?

When I tell people I run, I get a lot of responses.  Most manage to cover their surprise quite well - after all, I'm over 200 pounds, a woman, and I don't fit the image of a runner.  A lot of the response depends on the who I'm talking to.  If it's a runner, I'll hear something like, "That's awesome."  This may or may not be followed by, "You should come running with us!"

With non-runners, I hear excuses or questions.  I'm not judging the excuses - first, running isn't for everyone; second, I've made all of those excuses myself at one time or another.  As much as I'm aware that I'm not going to convert any of these people, I've learned to shut up when I hear the excuses, or respond in a sympathetic way.  Some examples of excuses or questions I've received, how I now respond and what I'm really thinking (Yes, I'm aware it's judgmental as hell, forgive me and realize that I do not say these things, much like others did not say them to me before.)

I can't run, I have bad knees  - My response, "yeah, running can be hard on the knees."  My real thoughts - "I was a competitive curler for years.  I've had MRIs to evaluate the amount of damage I've done to my knees.  My knees crunch when I walk upstairs.  Heck, sometimes they just crunch when I'm walking.  Or when I straighten them, even while lying down.  I know from knee pain.  Need a knee brace recommendation?  I'm your girl.  Also, for curling, Robax is bloody amazing - I do not recommend this for running and you need to really research the use of NSAIDs and running and make your own decision.  Ditto muscle relaxants.  You know what has never hurt me while running?  My knees.  Oh, sure, I've had other injuries, but my knees are troopers.  Or it's possible I have no memory of life without knee pain and they really hurt and I'm in denial.  Research has actually shown that running slows (potentially stops) arthritis in the knees.  Sure, you can't just jump in and run for 6 miles, but there are plenty of learn to run programs out there that can get you from 0 to whatever distance you want with reduced injuries and much more happiness.  Do it.  You won't regret it."

What made you start running? My response, "I had this friend who ran and she often talked about half marathons and it sounded like a good way to get active."  My real thought, "Dude, look at me.  I'm fat.  I have skinny friends.  They run AND drink beer.  I want to be thin and drink beer.  Therefore: running.  Also, half marathons and medals.  I like medals and i thought half marathons might impress people.  I was wrong, but it's too late and I kind of like running.  And beer.  And medals."

Running is bad for your knees.  My response, blank stare followed by a subject change.  My thoughts, "It's not, you're an idiot and I can't even come up with a polite response to that."

I don't have time to run.  My response, "yeah, it's hard to fit it in sometimes."  My thoughts, "You probably don't, but if you start talking about Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad (or whatever the TV show du jour is) in the next five minutes, I'm pretty sure you have time to run."

You should run with us.  My response, "nah, I'd just slow you down."  My thoughts, "Nah, I'd just slow you down and be ashamed of how slow I am.  Because I'm a runner, therefore I am slow."

Why don't you do races closer to home?  My response, "I do, they just take less planning than destination races."  My thoughts, "Because then someone I know might want to run with me.  And find out how slow I am.  And judge me because I'm both fat AND slow.  Or someone I know might just see me running and be appalled.  So I'll just go do it with strangers.  Also, the local races I want to run seem to conflict with my destination run this year, which sucks. I can't run ALL THE RACES.  In a single year."

I hate running.  I don't know how you can like it.  My response, "yeah, it isn't for everyone. " My thoughts, "I used to hate running too.  Turns out I didn't understand to work myself up to running longer distances/lengths of time so it was harder than it needed to be and felt like everything hurt all the time.  I know better now and it feels great.  Most of the time.  Sort of.  I mean, for the first mile or so it can be hell.  And the last mile.  And the middle miles.  And oh my god hills.  And I'm slow so maybe I'm just more of a jogger than a runner, but whatever.  I run.  And when I'm done my run, I feel freakin' amazing.  And for about an hour, I don't shut up.  You probably should feel a bit sorry for my husband, but in all seriousness, I love running because of how it feels.  And there are days when I'm simply amazed at how far I've run.  And how consistently I do it.  And how even when a run starts out crappy, I run through it - for better or worse.  And when I'm done those runs, I feel even better than when I'm done an easy run because challenges rock.  And succeeding in a challenge where I might have once failed or given up is the best feeling ever.  It's a feeling I wish everyone could experience once."

But it's cold out.  My response, "yes, it is.  That's why there are treadmills."  My thoughts, "Yes, it is.  That's why there are treadmills."

Treadmills suck.  My response, "yes, they do."  My thoughts, "yes, they do, but the ones at my gym have TVs so I can watch ridiculous people buy houses on TV (thank you HGTV).  And they're sometimes just better than running outside on sheer ice.  Or in 2 feet of snow because apparently, even in Canada, people can't bother to break out a shovel and clear the damned sidewalk.  Also an air conditioned gym can be better than running in extreme heat, wind, thunderstorms, tornados, etc.  And they're better than not running at all."

It's too hot to run.  See "But it's cold out" and also "treadmills suck."

I used to run, when I lived in Australia for a year and lived at sea level.  Running here hurts my lungs.  My response, "you lived in Australia?  That's cool." because that's clearly the response they want.  My thoughts, "If I can run when I'm over 200 lbs, you can run.  You do hot yoga AND boot camp and you complain that running makes your lungs hurt.  Right.  I get it.  We'll stop talking about running."

Runner's need fuel

I have a bad habit of running my long runs on weekend mornings without breakfast and with only a bottle of dilute Gatorade with me.  As a new, slow runner this isn't a problem at lower mileage.  On the weekend, I did my first 5 mile run (on a treadmill, thanks spring snow) after eating an orange.  Everything was fine until mile 4-ish.  then I started slowing down and had to walk more and more.  That last 3/4 of a mile was kind of awful.

I thought that it was just because I'm getting used to running longer and further.  My husband, often smarter than I am, suggested that maybe I should try food and/or Gu before and/or during my next long run.

I'm not really a breakfast person at the best of times.  I'll choke down a bowl of oatmeal with some cinnamon and fruit because it's healthy and filling.  But I rarely take the time to do that before a run, and it seems like that may not be the best choice pre-run anyway.

So, off to the Running Room I went on Sunday morning (my local running store is further and not open on Sundays) and I came home with a variety of energy bars and gels to try out.

Now if only we could avoid getting 4+ inches of slush on Saturday mornings.  I'm still a fair weather runner and running that long on a treadmill is painful, even if I do get plenty of time to watch HGTV.

How do you fuel for long runs?

Dear Hal Higdon (Thanks)

Last week I hated you.  I mean, you start out the week with strength training.  The next day I run.  And then I do cross training, followed by a day where you throw together running AND strength training.  If I survive your gauntlet of pain, I get a rest day.

Followed by a long run.

The old me (from last week) thought you were a sadistic kind of fellow.  Here's the thing, I'm fat.  I just am.  I started doing this running thing to lose weight.  And then I discovered I like it a bit so, hey, why not do something like train for a half marathon?  Which I did - not so successfully - a couple of years ago.  And in the hours after that first half marathon, I hated running.  I swore I'd never race again.  And whether or not I'd run again was also up in the air.

And then I forgot about that pain. I worked through the injuries I caused myself.  I ran a 5K or two.  And then this year came and my friends said, "hey, there's this half marathon..."

And I said, "SURE!!!!!!!!!! SIGN ME UP!"

With that in the distant future (September was a long way away), I decided to start looking for things closer to home in between and I stumbled across this race that included two of my loves - running and cinnamon buns.  Well, three of my loves actually since it is out in the country and I'm running past cows, not houses.  And I thought, "eight miles?  I can do that!"

So, off I went to the Hal Higdon site and found myself a training plan (15K/10 mile).  And I began slowly - I had more weeks between me and the race than Hal had in the training plan so I modified the plan and stretched things out.  Everything was coming up roses - I even started strength training per the schedule.

When I started strength training, I looked around for an easy, comprehensive plan that wouldn't lock me in the gym for hours.  I settled on this one that focuses on the wrong things for a runner - heavy weight, low reps.  Also, every workout includes squats.  Let me say that again - EVERY. WORKOUT. SQUATS.

It starts out easy with an empty Olympic bar and you build up every week to higher weight.  Well, last week, I finally started hitting failure on my squats.  At 90 lbs + body weight post run - it was a Thursday.

Now, the week didn't start out all that well, even though it was one of the mini tapers in the program.  Every day was a simple 2 mile run, but after Monday's strength, my legs felt like lead through the Tuesday run.  Where I'd hoped to work on speed a bit with the reduced mileage, I ended up working on trying not to lay down on the treadmill and cry instead of running.  I walked a lot that day.

The next day, determined, I hit the elliptical and put in a full 60 minutes and felt slightly better.  Then Thursday came and, well, I made some mistakes.

Going back to the "fat" thing, I'm also trying to fix my diet.  Which means eating out less - especially at lunch.  So I picked up a bunch of frozen diet lunches on sale.  On Thursday, I had oatmeal for breakfast.  Then I had a frozen meal that clocked in at <300 calories.  Five and a half hours later, I was at the gym running and lifting.  I wanted to die, but I finished those squats.

After that, I dreaded this week.  Not only was I still strength training, but my mileage would be going up a bit.  Basically every day in the week would be up a mile, giving me a 3 mile increase overall.  I modified that and went with a 2 mile increase overall, because ow.

Last night - Thursday - was run and strength.  And I dreaded it.  But I learned a bit from last week.  I supplemented my food for the day and ate more calories with some fruit, veggies and cheese.  I got to the gym and I decided to try intervals because I'm a glutton for punishment.

I finished my speed work, hit the weights and finished them successfully as well.  By the time I got home, I felt like a million bucks.

So, Mr. Higdon, thanks.  Your training plans, while sometimes painful and evil, have made me stronger.  And maybe even a little faster.  I can't wait to start the half marathon plan in June.

Do you tutu?

There's a bit of an uproar on the wonderful internet over fluffy bits of tulle.  For the record, while tutus make me smile when I'm running, I've never actually considered wearing one myself.  I do love seeing them during a race though, whether they're sported by a young girl or an adult male.  It's a sign that the wearer is having fun or at least has a fun personality, whether or not they're having fun at that exact moment is irrelevant.

In a world where we're obsessed with conformity and not standing out, I think it's pretty great that people put it out there and show who they are when they're running - whether it's with a tutu, a princess costume or as a running Elvis.  Those people are helping create memorable moments in the event, they make other runners smile and attract the attention of those on the sidelines cheering.  They're a sign that running isn't stupidly serious, that it can (and should) be fun.

If it isn't, why are you doing it?

Since beginning running, I've heard many excuses from friends about why they don't run.  I think I've even been blocked on the odd facebook page because I talk about it far too much.  What it comes down to is people don't run because they don't like it (with a handful of people having serious issues that would physically prevent them from doing it).

When I took Phys Ed, the focus was on team sports.  The only time we ran was for the fitness tests that were done periodically.  I can't tell you how much I hated that 12 minute run.  Seriously.  12 minutes was all we needed to run, but no one had ever come out and helped us train.  No one spent time talking about pace and building up distance and time slowly.  Nothing like that.  Just one day a year we'd line up and run for 12 minutes.

And it would hurt.  And people went out too fast and couldn't finish.  People felt like they were going to die. It was, after all, a "test."  You wanted to do your best.  You didn't want to be too slow.  And you had no real concept of how it felt to run for 12 minutes - especially if you went out at a sprint.

Is it any wonder people have developed a hatred for this sport?  I have people tell me all the time that they don't understand how I can WANT to run, that I choose to run for enjoyment as well as weight loss.  It's akin to torture to them.

And I try to explain that it isn't all about speed.  It's not about finishing first.  It's about challenging yourself, finding your limits and then pushing them further.  It's about time spent with friends and strangers running for cupcakes.  It's about running down the Vegas strip listening to live music.  It's about being passed by a horde of runners dressed as Elvis.  Or seeing a group of people in tutus.  It's about someone running a 10K much faster than you're running your 5K, telling you how great you're doing as they pass you.  It's about complete strangers cheering you on and holding strange and encouraging signs.

I'm a slow runner.  Maybe my view is tainted by the fact that I'll never actually win a race.  I'm holding out for that day when I'm the only runner in my age group and I win by default, but I fear that day won't come as running gains in popularity.  And I'm OK with that.

While I absolutely would point and laugh at anyone wearing a tutu to the office (except during march madness foosball tournaments, of course) I will not call someone wearing a tutu while running lame.  You've got more guts than me.  You're willing to wear your personality on your sleeve (or waist) for everyone to see, and let the haters hate.

The great thing that has come out of this is that the runner whose picture was used to call tutu'd runners lame makes and sells those same tutus, giving all proceeds from those sales to a charity that encourages girls to run.  She and her friend who make the tutus in their spare time have had to shut down their order page because they cannot keep up to the number of orders being placed.

Need a tutu?  http://glam-runner.com/ 
Just want to donate to a great charity?  Find your local Girls on the Run Chapter.