Training for a Half: week 4

No you didn't miss all the other posts about the Half marathon I have signed up for. I've been bad at keeping the commitment to myself of blogging once a week. I think maybe it's the day/time I scheduled always got overtaken by other things. I first had it scheduled for Friday afternoon, when work was winding down and I was not likely to be interrupted, but then someone scheduled a meeting for that time. Then I tried putting it on Saturdays after I got back from Food Not Bombs, but by then I am so motivated to clean the house or do other chores that opening up my computer was the last thing I wanted to do. I'll work on finding the right time.

In our first year here (2014), I signed up for and ran a 5K race alongside the Salt Lake City Marathon. They continue to send reminder emails years later for past participants to sign up for something for the next race. When the reminder came in early January I decided now is the time, I'm finally going to do a half.

I did a 10-day juice fast over Christmas & the New Year and lost 6 pounds. I was lighter than I had been in more than 15 years, I decided I was ready to start training. I have a treadmill too, so I really have no excuse (such as weather) to not run.

I'm a big fan of health and fitness apps. I have a fitbit and check my fitbit app constantly to see where I am in relation to the people I am fitbit friends with. Back in December 2010 I discovered the newly released LoseIt! app and have been charting my ups and downs with that for more than five years now, it's so gratifying! I love my Nike+ Women's training app that combines dumbells and other equipment with cardio segments. When I signed up for this Half, I went to the "coach" section of my Nike+ running app, plugged in the date and length of the race I want to train for, and then 12 weeks of training plan was laid out before me.

The plan includes four days of running - two light (3 miles), two heavy (one longish run, one longer and longer run). It also includes one day of cross-training (so I use the aforementioned Nike+ training app) and two rest days. My main goal is to get through this training and race injury-free, so much the better if I can reach my goal weight while doing it.

A funny thing happens though when you are trying to reach a goal weight and then start an aggressive fitness program. The weight remains the same as you burn fat and start building muscle. I can't get discouraged by the number on the scale (but I sorta do) because the way my clothes hangs is totally different. I have to keep reminding myself that since moving to SLC just over two years ago, I have lost 35 pounds. That's no small feat! And now I am training for a race, a half marathon, something I have always wanted to do. Even if I never do it again, I will be pleased.

I am still juicing every day, sometimes twice a day. After doing that 10-day Reboot, I have a really hard time eating anything that has been fried, processed foods, or bread. It's been really interesting seeing how my body is adapting to this new regime in our house - Dan and I hardly eat meat anymore as we move to a whole-foods plant-based lifestyle. I am now one of those people who buys a 25-pound bag of carrots for juicing.

I digress. The race day is April 16, two weeks before I finish my second Master's degree, and a few weeks after my 42nd birthday. I'm looking forward to my training as it will give me time also to catch up on audio books and podcasts! 

free food giveaways: Food Not Bombs Salt Lake City

Sometime last month when I was volunteering with Green Urban Lunch Box, one of the volunteers told me about the food giveaway at a park near downtown SLC by Food Not Bombs.  I went that day (a Saturday) and have been going every weekend since (except for the weekend I was away).

The volunteers for the organization rescue perfectly good food that has gone past its expiry date from going into the dumpster. So much food is wasted in the United States, and this is a way of keeping it out of the landfill. They collect this food, and then three times a week they set up tables to just give away, no questions asked. Below are photos of some of the things I have brought home - all for free. 

The above photo was from this morning. Dan has the weekend off for Thanksgiving, so he came with me for the first time. There was a lot of food from the post-Thanksgiving feast and only half of the usual people showed up, so there was a lot to be given away. Above we have salad mix, bananas, muffins, cookies, milk, gyro meat, apples, grapefruit, yogurt, snacks, onion dips, stuffing mixes, tortilla, garlic bread, eggplant, sauerkraut, peppers, a sandwich and potato salad.

Dan and I both hate to see food going to waste, and if we can not spend money by helping divert perfectly good food from going to the landfill, so much the better. Most of this food is usually organic, though not always. Between the food we grew and preserved, the $50 gift card I won from Bob's Red Mill thanks to the Splendid Table, and going to these weekly giveaways, our food costs have gone way down. Now it's just a matter of dealing with all this food. Dan has been cooking up a storm all day, and I am juicing all the vegetables I can. At this rate though, we won't have to buy groceries for a while, other than for staples like salt and rice.

How it works: everyone arrives at 11:00am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The volunteers have the tables with boxes of food all lined up at Richmond Park 450 E 600 S. A coin is flipped, to decide whether the inside or the outside of the line gets to go first - keep it egalitarian. The line is divided in two and we go in circles around the string of tables, taking only one item per box each time we pass by. People who abuse this and take more than one item (if they know the rules and ignore them) are either told to go the back of the line or come next time. Mostly it's older people (immigrants who don't speak English well) and young people that come. Most people have all they need by the time they make a full circle around the table, but there is always more bread, apples, or potatoes leftover. There is a donation bucket for gas for the volunteers. When the weather turns too cold/bad, the giveaway will happen at the Boing house on 500 east, just around the corner from the park.

It's such an excellent service. You never know what you'll get. One week it was largely gluten-free. Another week there was a lot of dairy. Another time it was mostly produce. There is always a lot of bread though, we never need to buy or bake bread again.

Today, because there was a huge abundance of food and not many people, one of the volunteers thanked me for coming and taking food. Where else does that happen? I love this city. 

Juicing: a thing I am doing now

Ok so sometime last month, Leilani Munter came to give a talk at the new law building at the University of Utah. The Law department at the U has a strong environmental program and I have been to several of the events. This one was part of a series called "Trailblazers of Clean Energy", and how could I not attend a lecture by a "vegan hippie chick who loves race cars"? Also: it's only six blocks from my house.

So she talked about a lot of things, solar energy and the race car industry. Toward the end of the talk she hammered home the point about a vegan diet, encouraging all the attendees to at least start with "Meat Free Mondays" (now a popular thing in the US). She is part of the team that brought out The Cove, Blackfish, and soon to be released Racing Extinction. The take home message with the latter was "start with one thing". She included watching documentaries.

I sat on her ideas for a few weeks. Then I happened to open up Netflix last week and came on a couple of titles she mentioned, including Forks Over Knives (which I watched first) and I felt the pull to move towards a plant-based, whole foods diet. Yes, for the environment and to keep livestock out of terror, but it was more about my health. I eat really well, I exercise, drink lots of water, get enough sleep, I have good skin hygiene but I still have terrible acne and I feel tired all the time. And I seem to be producing a lot of mucous. And a few other minor symptoms that, when you add them up, point to a common culprit. This was validated for me a few weeks ago when I was sick with a cold, and any time I have a cold I avoid dairy. I love cheese and enjoy yogurt, but you know, I could probably live without them. So that was the first step.

Then a few days after watching that film, I saw (also on Neflix) Hungry for Change and that really hit home for me. They have a book and things you can print and hang on your fridge. I was finally convinced about the virtues of juicing. I bought a crappy old juicer at the DI thrift store a few months ago and dusted it off. Today I made juice for the sixth day in a row.

I want clear skin. I'm going to be looking for a job soon for when I graduate in May, and I'm going to our field's biggest academic conference in three weeks (I'm presenting a poster), so I want to look my best. In the film they said we can expect a difference (in skin) after 10-15 days, and it's already happening for me on day 6. I've also lost 2.5 pounds in that time. I haven't noticed a huge change energy-wise, but there are other factors there too, I'm sure.

I look at all vegetables now in terms of their juicability in the little machine that I have. It's a centrifugal grinder so it's not awesome but hey, for $8 I can't complain. I remember a time when I was living in Victoria, everyone was giving them away after the last juicing craze. They were all over the place in second hand stores. I'm guessing they have gotten a lot better in the interim because I was lucky to find the one I have. One day, when I have a job after I graduate, I'll get a nice one.

Meanwhile, I am planning a lot of beets and carrots and leafy greens in next year's garden, wherever that may be.