Bubble Gut + Broken Back = Bad Running Combo

Well, my first official race was the this past Saturday, The Wurst 5 Miler.  I have been so jazzed for this race since when I first started running in June.  For the past couple of weeks, I have had some spotty nausea and GI issues.  Well, Thursday night started the weekend of Hell!  I came down that evening with what I now call "bubble gut."  Except, this was no normal bubble gut.  I'm pretty sure my bowels were on the verge of exploding.  I've never experienced this much activity down south before in my life.  I also started burping CONTINUOUSLY these hot, gaseous, burn the hair in your noise, vomit smelling burps.  It was beyond disgusting.  You can only imagine what the fate of every "exit" in my body was.  NOT pretty.

I'm not sure what the cause was, yet.  I've pinned it down to food poisoning from my salad dressing, detox, or Candida.  I honestly don't know, but my instincts are telling me it was my salad dressing, or something I was continuously eating, because I started feeling better Friday afternoon....and then I ate my usual daily salad, and immediately felt bad again.  I have no idea.  Nothing ever tasted spoiled, or rancid, so I'm baffled as to what it could have been.  I made a new dressing today containing only one of the same ingredients as the previous dressing, so if I get sick again I think I'll have to pin it on the raw apple cider vinegar.  But, doesn't the vinegar trump spoilage?  *ok, just called the company and they said their apple cider does not need to be refrigerated, and does not spoil*  What the hell?!  I'm really scared to eat my salad today....

So, even though the guts were sick I decided I still needed to attempt the Wurst Run.  Probably not the best idea, but hey, I ended up getting some kind of run in for the day by the time it was all said and done.  Convinced I'm going, I head to the bathroom, bend down to shave my legs, and *!BAM!*...pain shot through the back, down the legs, and brought me to my knees.  I have no logical explanation as to why, or how, this happened, but it did and it was bad.

At this point, my friend, Laurie, shows up and I have a bucket load of problems I spill on her, but we head out the door regardless.  During the run, my body and breathing was feeling great.  Runners...you know...like those days when your body is simply in tune and ready to run?!  I was not labored, and my legs were light....my the belly was bubblin' bad.  Needless to say, mile 3 brought us by the cross street with the hospital, and we opt to head off course and in that direction for the ER bathroom.  I knew I was going to blow at mile 2, so making it to a little past 3 miles was more than I expected to accomplish.  I started running a low-grade fever, so we walked back to where my car was, and got me home.  The rest of Saturday continued to get worse with the stomach/GI issues, my back completely went out, and that night was an AWFUL mixture of both. 

I was really bummed about my first official race being screwed by health issues, and didn't want to be perceived as this person who dishes out excuses for not being able to finish a goal, but they weren't empty excuses...they were real ones!  I felt better knowing I had run 5 miles three times previously with some friends, so there's proof I'm not a faker ;-)  Plus, I got the shirt from the race, and that's all that matters, right?!

In conclusion, I went for my first run this morning since Saturday and I felt great!  Rest days really aren't just for torture...they really do work!

The Overdosed Pumpkin...and lovin' it!

Happy Halloween, guys!

Love, 

the Green Smoothie Overdosed Pumpkin

Yay for Halloween!  This is by far my favorite time of year!  Steven and I had fun with this guy last night.  Since his "body" was naturally leaning, I figured I'd make him a little "sick."  I know you can't tell, but those drips are a greenish paint...Green Smoothie!  He marked his spot on the front porch last night, lookin' fine, I must say.

Halloween day will be filled to max with activities for me this year.  My mom's birthday is Halloween, I have my first 5 mile race debut that morning, my sister and bro-in-law will be in town from CO, and I'm sure we'll hit up some festivities later that evening!  I'm really excited about the race.  I got a 4 miler in this past weekend with some friends, so that really helped boost my confidence that I'll be all good for the 5 miles.  I've done 5 mile runs a couple times before, but I haven't done one in a while.  I felt great after the 4 miles, and am planning on doing a 5 miler this weekend.

As for raw vegan updates, I have decided I need more iron in my diet.  Yes, I eat the hell out of leafy greens, but I'm not sure that's cutting it for the amount my body's telling me I need.  At whole foods I found a RAW vegan natural iron supplement!  SO excited, as I've heard synthetic iron can cause nausea, and doesn't have the best reputation for absorption.  The raw vegan iron supplements I bought smell exactly like broccoli and other veggies, so I know there's something good going on in that capsule.  I've been taking them for 3 days now, and I feel awesome!  I've also added Spirulina to my green smoothies in the morning, which has a decent iron amount, as well.  I was dragging a bit on my runs the past couple weeks, and I'm pretty sure it was from low iron levels.  Back on my S.A.D. diet, I used to eat Malt-o-Meal before my runs simply because it was fortified with iron.  I don't know why I didn't make this "iron connection" between my two diets sooner?!

The most interesting observation, still, about my raw vegan diet has been this overwhelming sense of satisfaction!"  No.  More.  Cravings.!  It's weird.  I mean, you still have your natural habits of eating;.  For example, I have to end every meal with something sweet, like a bite of dark chocolate, but before I would need a whole 2 scoop sundae, or eat a whole bag of chips, or something extreme like that.  I used to eat massive amounts of food at night until totally disgustion.  I don't have the desire to do that anymore.  I'm still so shocked at this all the time.

I'm not craving any S.A.D. food, either.  All the raw vegan substitutes for the foods I would miss have been completely awesome.  I must say, I do have a slice of whole wheat multi-grain leavened bread with my dinner about every other day, so that's helped with the bread craving.  I've also had cheese pizza with Steven about 3 times since the beginning of all this raw vegan stuff.  I don't have a problem with these little "cheating" episodes whatsoever.  I consider my dinner to be "let loose" on the raw vegan stuff at dinner (this is where I'll cook my veggies, and eat cooked whole grains), but I still never bring animal flesh or dairy into the mix...except for those cheese pizza incidents.  Cheese pizza does make me extremely constipated the next day, so believe me, I pay my price for cheating.  My diet is still primarily 98% raw vegan/cooked vegan, so I'm pleased. 

Man, I can't stop eating these kale chips!  They are definitely a new favorite for me.  Dang, they're good!

Whatcha been smokin', Jill?

Hemp!

(Hemp Seed can be bought at Whole Foods, Central Market, and many other natural food stores.  The picture above is the exact brand hemp seed I bought at CentralMarket)

Protein, protein, protein...it's Ms. Jill's favorite word!  Jill is one of my e-friends I met at Runner's World's online community "The Loop."  As you can imagine, runners love their protein, and it's going to be hard to convince one they don't need as much as traditionally believed.  Who knows, maybe I'm wrong, or maybe they're wrong?  All that matters is...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!  Well, you know, take that with a grain of salt in regards to some ideas ;-)  On my run this morning, I noticed my legs muscles were weak.  I started thinking about protein, and if my lack of having as much protein in my diet as of recently was the explanation for this.  Honestly, I don't think it is; I think it's a result of "taking it easiER" the past two weeks by only running flat ground and for short distance due to a hip flexor strain.  My hip flexor is better, so I'm incorporating hills back in my running.  Obviously, my legs muscles atrophied a tad from the lack of hill strength training, so they're feeling a little weak.  Who knows, maybe it's the diet, and maybe it's not.  As of right now, I'm adhering to this perspective on "protein" here .

The point being...lately when I think of the role protein plays in my diet as an active person, I immediately think of Jill since she's been following both my new running and new raw food lives.  Jill hearts protein!  She's been such a sport about about trying out the green smoothies, but noted she's been putting protein powders in them.  So, after my run this morning, I decided to make a post-run "raw" vegan hemp protein shake with Jill in mind.

Hemp seed/nut is an amazing little food.  It is one of the few plant complete proteins, and is dang tasty, too!  What about soy?  Well, soy has a bad reputation for possibly causing thyroid problems, breast cancer, early dementia, and for being a high mucus producer.  As always, you will find a flip side to most every argument, so until they decide hemp's going to kill us, too, I'm gonna to eat it.  Unfortunately, hemp can not be legally grown in the US, but can be imported from certain countries like Cananda.  Now, I'm not sure about this, but I think imported hemp seed must be "treated" before entering the U.S....even though some raw food sites state they have "raw" hemp seed, or "raw" hemp powder, I'm not sure how accurate that affirmation is.  I'll do some more researching on that.  Anyway, here's a tasty post-workout EASY vegan (maybe could be raw?) hemp protein shake just for you, Jill!

 Chocolate Hemp Shake

• 2 Tbs. shelled hemp seed (11g protein, Jill!)
• 1 tsp. dried, shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional, but good)
• 1 cup cold water
• 4 dried dates (you can use Agave, honey, or whatever sweetener you have on hand)
  
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder (raw cacao powder, if you have it)

Procedure:  Throw it all in the blender, and go for it!  Blend on slow, working your way up to the highest setting, and blend for about a minute until all hemp seed and dates are totally combined, creamy, and like milk (fyi, blending hemp seed with water is how you make hemp milk).  At this point, you could add a banana, if you like.  If choosing to add the coconut, you will need to blend on high for little bit longer so those shreds become no more.  Hemp seeds will blend completely with no need for straining, as they are very small and soft.  If you'd like, you could use a little less water, and throw a few ice cubes in the mix.  You can also soak your dates before hand for easier blending, as well).

Hemp is very nutty tasting.  It's also great sprinkled on salads, cereals, and sauteed veggies.  Enjoy! 

There ya go, Jill!  11 grams of complete protein all in a small 1 cup serving.

Running Raw???

As I previously stated, I have taken up running. Running?! Claire?! Yes, that's right. Don't think your eye's have deceived you. That's me you saw around 7:30am on the streets, and that's me you heard say "I can't eat Mexican tonight, and have to be in bed early tonight for me 'long run' in the morning" on a Friday night. So, here's the deal...can raw foodist be heavily active, too? I mean, I don't want to be an aspiring raw foodist conflicting to be an aspiring runner, as well. Athletes have heard over and over "you need to get your protein, etc." As you probably figure, I immediately went to the computer and found many active raw foodist our there! The most fascinating has been Tim VanOrden. He's not only a raw foodist, but a "Fruitarian," AND a professional runner. Do what?! That means he does not eat nuts, seeds, or grains as other raw foodists do, which means he takes in no protein whatsoever. Only fruit and vegetables for this guy. Sooooo, how does this professional runner get protein? Well, he doesn't....but in a way, he does...supposedly. Check out his very interesting video about his opinion on protein and amino acids. Also, here's another link pertaining to vegan protein. Vegan bodybuilders?! Had no idea they existed...