Race Recap: To Write Love On Her Arm

This was the 3rd year for the race To Write Love On Her Arms and the 3rd year I ran. If you don't know the story behind the organization, you should read the story that started it all.

When I went to bed I was excited to able to go run this race for the third time! I was awake before my alarm. I got up, grabbed a cup of coffee and was going to get ready when it happened. Without all the details, lets just say my tummy wasn't feeling good. I had given myself an hour to have breakfast and get ready before leaving. For that hour I had to decide if I was even going to make it or not. Since I did not preregister, I figured I would decide what to do when I got there. My mom had a booth at the race site, so I thought I would hang out there and worst case I would be a spectator.

Drove 20 minutes to the race and felt good. When I arrived I went and stopped by the booth, still felt good. Ok I'm gonna register!! 7:45 tummy not so good. I went to the start line and waited. Oh and whoever was smoking in the starting area, yes a "runner." THAT'S JUST RUDE.

They said go and I went hoping not to lose my breakfast out on the race course.

First mile felt good. My stomach was a little upset, but not too bad. 1.3 miles in and I was starting to not feel so good. Around 1.5 I was wanting to walk. The theme behind this race is "What are you running for?" Well, I run for my health. And while I'm having all these thoughts of I don't feel good, just walk going through my head, I had to start realizing that I need to focus on something else. Last weekend my friends at Sparkle Athletic ran the Ragnar Ultra for the Rhett Syndrome girls. I started thinking about the girls who can't run.

I would love to tell you that at that moment I had this big wave of energy pass by me and I finished strong. Well no, that's not what happened. I think that only happens in the movies. I hit the 2 mile marker and I was toast. I hit my puke point and knew I was done. I moved to the side and started walking. A lady who runs about my pace passed me. I thought let her get just a little ways in front of you and then catch her. I did. Then I had to walk again. She got ahead of me and I never did catch her again. I rounded the corner saw the finish line and gave it all I had to finish. Crossed the finish line and almost threw up. As I was gasping for air another smoker. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

I'm glad I sucked it up and finished. It's a great organization and a fun race, minus the smokers.

Yes I'm totally picking on smokers in todays post. Just to let you know I'm an ex smoker. Smoked for 14 years and there is no way in hell I would have smoked that close to runners.

What do you run for?

Pirate Plunder 2 Miler Recap

Arrrrggggg... For the 3rd year I ran the Pirate Plunder 2 Miler. It's race 6 of 7 in the Running Zone Foundation Series.

This year my friend Catherine designed our shirts! She did a fabulous job!

I showed up early since I needed to pick up my packet. Plus I'm always early because I hate feeling rushed before a race. The best part of running in the Running Zone Foundation races is that Gecko Club members get perks! We have our own porta potty!! If you are a local you really should join!!

I had zero plan for this race other than starting, running and finishing. This is the first race I've ran since I started going to the chiropractor! I've been running more, just haven't been working on speed.

The National Anthem was sung and we were off! I just ran. I had my watch set to distance not speed. I had no idea how fast or slow I was running. Again I was just there to run.

I ended up finishing in 18:59!

This is always a fun race and of course I'll be back next year!!

Inside Tracker

Back in January I had my blood analyzed by Inside Tracker.

What is Inside Tracker? (From their website)

InsideTracker is a personalized health analytics company founded by leading scientists, physicians, nutritionists and exercise physiologists from MIT, Harvard and Tufts University. 

The InsideTracker platform tracks and analyzes key biochemical and physiological markers and applies sophisticated algorithms and large scientific databases to determine personalized optimal zones for each marker. InsideTracker’s expert system offers science-driven nutrition and lifestyle interventions that empower people to optimize their markers. When optimized, these marker levels have been scientifically proven to increase vitality, improve performance and extend life.

Our goal is to empower individuals with the essential information they need to manage and optimize their own health. We believe that by providing a dynamic, personalized analytic platform at the intersection of biology, science and technology, then distilling the results into simple, natural and sustainable nutrition and lifestyle recommendations to follow, we can help people live longer, healthier lives.

Honestly I've secretly wanted to find a company like this for years. Doctors have run so many tests on me and they tell me I'm fine. I know I'm not fine because somedays I can hardly get out of bed. I know this is not normal. When Jonathan, from Inside Tracker, contacted me I knew I had to do this. 

There are 5 different plans, ranging from $49.00-$499.00. I chose the Performance Plan. I'll add the disclaimer here. I paid for the service. After I paid for the package on their website, they emailed me the instructions on how to schedule my appointment to have my blood drawn. It was a very easy process. I was able to set up my appointment online and had no problems!! 

You must fast 12 hours prior to the appointment so I made mine for 8:15am. I made sure to schedule it when my husband was home cause I'm a HUGE wimp when it comes to blood being drawn. They took 4 vials of blood. When you hate needles that's a lot. But I just kept repeating it'll be worth it!!

My blood was drawn on the 2nd of January and I had my test results on the 6th! When I got my results it was during the week of my first marathon. Honestly I just quickly looked at them and didn't really do anything with the info because I was freaking out over my first marathon. 

I had 20 different things checked out, from cholesterol to white blood count. I had 5 things that weren't in the optimal range. The most important one to me was the Vitamin D.

I read a few articles online about Vitamin D. I started to realize that this could be one of the reasons that I'm so tired different times of the month. I know everyone says how Vitamin D affects our bones, but I've been finding more articles saying Vitamin D is a hormone. As you can see from the picture above, my vitamin d levels are in the red. I'm not a supplement fan, I think you should try to get your vitamins from your food, but I did start taking vitamin D. In the three months that I've been taking Vitamin D, I have less "bad days" as I call them. I still have a one or two days a month when I can hardly get out of bed, but it's getting much better.

Oh my cholesterol is high. I should eat more fish and less red meat. And yes, I live 5 minutes from Port Canaveral where I can buy fresh caught fish, but I don't. I need to change this. I have started eating more oatmeal. It is a start.

My Vitamin B12 and Glucose were also a little high. 

As you can see from the pictures above, Inside Tracker lets you know what foods you should eat and also which ones to avoid. I have not been following 100% what they tell me to eat. As I mentioned before I eat oatmeal now for breakfast. I started adding raw cacao powder, which was recommend for my glucose. Chia seeds also popped up for a recommendation for me. I started drinking Iskiate daily. I have a recipe on my blog. 

I'm sure you're asking yourself why would I pay for this service vs. going to a doctor and having my insurance pay for it. Well here's my answer: Inside Tracker actually gives you the tools to correct your results with food, not drugs. They also give the science behind each test. They explain everything. I'm sure if I had gone to a doctor the recommendation would be a pill to lower my cholesterol. I am just fine with trying a more natural way first.  Back in 2008 I had a doctor do a full blood work on me. I still have the results and comparing the two, Inside Tracker tested more things. My doctor didn't check my Vitamin D. 

I was very happy with my results from Inside Tracker. I would recommend this to everyone. It's not just for athletes looking to be the best at their sport. Inside Tracker is for anyone who wants to better their health. I'm going to be retested in May. This time, I'm going to get the Ultimate Plan!!

Iskiate Recipe

Ok, so I was the last runner to read the book Born to Run.

It wasn't until after I met Christopher McDougall that I read his book.

I'm sure you've all read it, so I won't summarize the book. While I was reading it, he mentions that they gave him iskiate to drink. I figure if the tribe who has been running for years and years and years drinks it, I should too. If you read my blog regularly you know I can't drink Gatorade, Powerade or even Nuun. I googled the recipe. It turns out that everyone has their own recipe.  I have developed my version, by tweaking several other recipes.

My recipe:

13 grams        Chia Seeds
14-17 grams   Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon  Fresh Squeezed Lime juice
 Fill the glass with Water

I refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes. It is still very good if left in the refrigerator overnight. I use maple syrup to sweeten the drink because I read somewhere that maple syrup was good for runners. I could be wrong, but it works as sweetener. I've also used honey. I've even tried no sweetener. It wasn't  very good.

Some recipes call to cook it. I've done it both ways and this one is the easiest for me. 

I know it looks weird. My husband thinks it looks like caviar. I drink this everyday. If I get up early to run, I drink this as soon as I get back. If I run in the afternoon I drink it before. 

Have you ever tried it?