Depression and the weather

I was very proud of myself this winter for being able to wean myself off of anti-depressants after several years of requiring them. Winter is probably the worst time of year to try and do this (unless you happen to reside in Arizona or Florida) because of the lack of sunlight. However, between my usual working out a lot and switching over to using a regular Magnesium supplements (I had read several books that suggested this as a possible solution) – I was able to continue functioning without the usual side effects.

Things were going fine – until a week ago. Then the rain started. And the rain continued. And the rain seems to never want to go away.

I can tell that depression is lurking on the edges and wanting to pull me into its nasty little grasp.

I could never live in Seattle. I need (make that NEED) sunlight way too much in my life. Running outside can often help bring my mood back into its happy place. And running in the rain can be peaceful and leave you with a clean, calm feeling. But not every single day. That just makes you cold and wet and more depressed.

So – the light box is going to come out again. It helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

And maybe several doses of chocolate…..

Being in shape is not the same as fit

Since running a half marathon and a marathon two days in a row in January while suffering from bronchitis and other bodily infections, I have struggled with my running. At this point in time I can hardly believe that I ran a marathon and a 50 mile race in a two week period in October. I am still able to run, but I think my lungs were weakened by doing the Goofy Challenge while sick.

This has led me to thinking about my healthy.

I am the first to admit that I went from being in great shape in 2008 to letting myself gain weight and lose muscle and being in not-so-great shape in 2011. I could kick myself for letting this happen. In fact, I have mentally kicked myself most days for letting it happen.

Compared to a large portion of the population, I am in good shape. I am slightly overweight, but I am not obese. I exercise regularly. I eat somewhat healthily. But am I fit?

The answer to that question (at least in my opinion) is NO.

I was working out with my trainer the other day and he kicked my butt in a matter of minutes with some of the exercises he gave me. I can run and walk for hours on end (at least when I am trained for it). I can lift weights sitting at a machine and get strong and push myself hard. But going through a series of functional exercises requiring me to use different muscles one right after another and balance and tighten my core left me ready to pass out.

So – I am on a course to get fit in 2011.

What is being fit to me? Fitness to me will consist of the following:

• Eating healthy and breaking my addiction to junk food for once and for all (see previous post). This does not mean giving up junk food. I like it too much and I think it has its time and place in my life.
  
• Getting my body fat percentage down below 20%. I was down to 22% in 2008 and have let it get back up to 32%. Again – I am kicking myself – but it is what it is and there is no denying it.
  
• Pushing myself with a variety of weight training methods so that my body can handle not only static exercises at machines, but balancing, plyometrics, and movement related exercises. I want to be able to jump on benches, box, etc. without it taking a toll on me every time.
  
• Using a variety of cardiovascular type exercises instead of focusing on running alone. Start riding my bike to and from work, swimming, rowing, stair climbing.
  
• Break that elusive 10 minute mile base for running.
  

Now – I need to eat my breakfast consisting of Dancing Berries cereal, almond milk, an apple and a hard-boiled egg.

Eating Healthy is Hard Work

Today marks day 7 of eating healthy. Here are some thoughts on the subject:

• It takes a total mental refocus to eat healthy. It is not going to happen unless you really want to make the change.
  
• It is a lot of work to eat healthy.
  
• Eating healthy requires planning. Meal plans, shopping lists, etc.
  
• Eating healthy requires cleaning junk out of your kitchen (and spare room - and office drawers).
  
• Unless you are independently wealthy – eating healthy requires cooking.
  
• Cooking requires extra time. But – you can cook multiple things at once and prepare for several days in advance, so not too much extra time.
  

I am 50 years old. I have been reading a lot about nutrition and the body. I have also been reading about body weight and aging (sad to think that aging applies to me). I have let junk food and my beloved friends chocolate and sugar control my life for too many years. (Don't worry friends – I am not the type to turn my back and abandon friends entirely). If I want to live many more years to torture my children and grandchildren and enjoy myself while doing so – I need to make these changes.

Some of the changes needed:

• Remove sugar and fat as major parts of my diet. (sniff, sniff, sob)
  
• Lose at least 20 pounds and possibly 30 to get my body to where it should be to handle the fact that aging causes muscle and bone loss unless you prevent that.
  
• Incorporate fruits and vegetables into every meal I eat (this is a hard change).
  
• Plan meals and menus in advance.
  
• Grocery shop.
  
• Pack my breakfasts and lunches the night before.
  
• When I slip or eat junk – make sure it is what I want and that I at least am enjoying myself and not stuffing my face mindlessly.

Just call me Cap’n Mo

I had quite the running adventure this weekend and it didn't involve me running a single step.

I have been involved with the Buffalo Run on Antelope Island since its inception in 2006.

• 2006 – signed up for the 50K. First year of the race and the race director, Jim Skaggs had a 4 hour cutoff for the first 25K loop. I was about 5 minutes over the cutoff and knew there was no way to finish the race in under 8 hours (even though Jim said I could continue since I was so close) – so dropped down to a 25K option.
  
• 2007 – raced and finished the 50K. This is the year that I met Leslie Petersen and protected her from her fear of a buffalo stampede.
  
• 2008 – raced and finished the 50K.
  
• 2009 – signed up for the 50 Mile. I ended up with serious IT Band issues and had to DNF at mile 28. I will be back to conquer this beast.
  
• 2010 – signed up for the 50K. Ended up in a cast on my right ankle. Volunteered for most of the afternoon and the finish line.
  
• 2011 – inception of the 100 mile race. Volunteered to help out. Was asked if I would run an aid station overnight at the Ranch. Agreed to do so.
  

Once I contacted the volunteer coordinator and agreed to do anything they need – I got more adventures than I had planned. Britta asked if I would be willing to camp at the Ranch. It sounded like a lot of fun so I agreed. Then I suggested it to my sister and (brave person that she is) she agreed to camp out with me. I have to admit – my sister is very game and willing to support me in a lot of my idiocies.

As the race drew nearer I found out that I was an aid station captain. This also meant getting all of the gear across the island and setting up my aid station. This was not going to happen in my little Jeep, so we involved my brother-in-law, Gary, who was willing to bring his truck out on the island and move gear for me.

The week of the race we all started watching the weather. Rumors of extremely cold temperatures and possible wind, rain and snow had the racers and volunteers all adjusting their expectations and gear for the race. And yes – volunteers do need to have gear.

Friday morning I loaded up the Jeep with food and essentials for two days. This also included extra camp chairs and lots of blankets for runners because we knew that we potentially might have cases of hypothermic runners to deal with – especially if the conditions were wet. It was pretty discouraging that as I headed through Salt Lake and into Davis counties I was facing almost white-out conditions, but as I drove out to Antelope Island, the skies cleared and the snow stopped.

Marcia, Gary and I all headed out to the Start/Finish area and loaded up the pickup with our supplies for the Ranch aid station. The 100 mile runners would be coming through this aid station at Mile 38 and again at mile 82. The 50 Mile runners on Saturday would hit the aid station at mile 32 – but I would be long gone before that occurred.

We had our aid station setup by around 2:00. Lindsay Lauck arrived to help me for the first few hours and Marcia and Gary headed off the island. As with any first year race (and this was the first year for the 100 mile option) – there is a lot to be learned. Lesson number 1 – this aid station does not need to be set up until after 4:00 p.m. We sat and we talked and we sat and we talked. I finally headed back down the road to get an idea of where the leaders were. I came back and told Lindsay I saw two runners just past Frary Peak and that they would probably cover the 4.5 miles and be to our station around 4:45. I was right.

Dan Varga came bounding in first. All he wanted was to have his water bottle topped off and he was out the door and back on the course. A few minutes later, Karl Meltzer repeated the same request and handed me a pocketful of garbage to dump. These guys were cruising. Over the next hour we had three more runners – Mark Tanaka, another runner, and Davy Crockett. We had been waiting for Davy and sang him in and cheered him on.

Lindsay left for the night a little after 5 p.m. and another family showed up that had never volunteered or ran in a trail race, so I told them what to expect and what to do. Marcia came back out for the night around 5:30 and we settled in. More and more runners started coming through. All of them had struggled a bit more because of the wet conditions on the first half of the course and all were covered in mud. The mud had definitely added some extra work for them to run through.

Before it got too dark, we changed into our heavy duty winter clothes. My right piriformis area was really hurting me – but once I got into my thermals and snowboarding pants, the pain eased up considerably and I eventually forgot about it. As it got dark our volunteer family left for the night and Marcia and I started setting up for a long, cold night. About 11:00 p.m., the last racer came through on the first lap and we started predicting when the leaders might come through again.

We hunkered down in the tent. Marcia had a folding chair and a sleeping bag and blankets. I had a reclining lawn chair (that was a life saver) and my son's sub-zero sleeping bag and blankets. Marcia had also brought a propane heater that helped to keep us a little warmer. We put up a blanket to block the worst of the cold on the front flap of the tent and just talked the night away.

We had predicted the runners would come in around 1:15 a.m. and suddenly, about 12:50 Marcia said, "Runner!" Dan Varga was wandering around the tent trying to find a way in. We filled up his water bottle and he raced out of there. Karl Meltzer came in at 1:00 a.m. and also was quickly on his way. It was awesome to see the speed these runners were putting in. Davy Crockett had told us he expected to be in around 4:00 a.m. at the earliest, but we knew there were two more runners in between him, so we left the tent door open and turned on a lantern we had left out by the gate to help show the way in.

I ended up dozing off around 2:00 or so and suddenly Marcia whispered something about being surrounded by buffalo. She could see the silhouette of buffalo crossing in front of the lantern. We then started being pretty scared. I could see a lot of buffalo eyes reflecting off of my headlamp, we heard buffalo snorts and woofing that sounded like they were within 10-20 feet of the tent. We would then hear a lot of buffalo feet stampeding down the road that was not far from our aid station tent. I will admit that two women all alone with no radio or cell contact with the race directors and quite a ways from the next aid station left us very scared for a couple of hours. We kept talking because we think our talking earlier had kept the buffalo away.

It was after 4 a.m. before the next wave of racers started trickling in. Ultra runners are such a great group. They all tried to joke around even as tired as they were. Everyone was positive and thanked us for being there. Davy was in third place at this time and about 8 minutes in front of another runner and racing to keep his position. With no radio contact we had no idea whether runners had DNF'd earlier in the race.

One runner that had us a bit concerned was Mark Tanaka. He had been in third place Friday afternoon and came in after 6 a.m. He was extremely cold (but not hypothermic) and extremely tired. We ended up putting him in my subzero sleeping bag, piling several blankets on him, putting hand warmers in his gloves and pouring chicken broth down him to try and help him recover. We put back the lounging chair and he dozed for quite a while. He was determined to finish and felt that sleeping would help him get some energy back. I think he ended up being in our aid station for about 70 minutes, so we had a good visit with him before we wrapped him up in a space blanket to help him get warm before the sun fully came up and sent him out the door.

It was blissful to see the sun come up. We were tired from not sleeping and tired from the cold and anxiously awaiting the backup captain to arrive on Saturday morning.

It was a great afternoon and evening and quite an adventure. Right now I am a bit scared about the idea of being there overnight again because of the Buffalo. It might be that if we can come up with a better lighting system and a way of making some automatic noise that I will be less fearful and ready to repeat the adventure. But probably not for a few years.

The reason – the 2012 Buffalo Run 50 Mile Race has to be conquered. I cannot let that 50 mile DNF be my final attempt at that race.

A final thanks to my sister for being there for me and being a good sport.

Antelope Island - Then and Now

I've been walking and running on Antelope Island since about 1996. When I first started going out to the island, hardly anyone would ever be there. I would say this lasted until 2006 or so. I would be pretty well alone on the island with the buffalo (aka bison), antelope, rabbits, birds and "no see-ums". In fact, I would often worry that if something happened to me out there (attacked by a buffalo, fell off Frary Peak, etc.) that it could be a long time until I was found.

In 2006, Jim Skaggs started the Buffalo Run. This was a 25K and 50K trail race in March on some of the island trails. Since then, the Buffalo Run has expanded to include 50 mile and 100 mile options and Jim has also added in other races during the year and training runs.

Now, anytime I go out and run on Antelope Island – the crowds are there. In addition to horses and riders and mountain bikers (and those pesky Boy Scouts), there are always runners on the trails. While it is nice to see the island being used well and comforting to know I will quickly get found if I was injured – I kind of miss the solitude of the trails.

Last Saturday I needed some outdoor time, so I grabbed my gear and headed up north and out to the island. It was the final training run before this year's Buffalo Run, so between 75-100 runners were on the trails, in addition to other outdoors enthusiasts. I was able to push my mileage, get in some great mud and trail running, and breathe some fresh air. Nothing beats being outside and pushing the limits of your body. These are the days that make all the other days worth while.

Anemia again?

The last few days I have been incredibly tired. No energy when I run or try and work out. Today I have been freezing no matter what I wear or eat or how high I turn up the thermostat.

I am thinking I got sloppy about taking my iron pills lately and that my anemia has come back. I'll take them regularly for the next week and hope that they symptoms go away.

Athlete the movie

One of my co-workers let me borrow a movie called Athlete. It is the story of four endurance athletes and some of the challenges they face and overcome. One is a blind athlete running with the Achilles Track Club in New York, one is a cancer survivor competing in marathons and other endurance events and the other two are twin sisters preparing for and competing in Ironman Triathlons. It was a really neat motivational movie and reminded me a lot of Spirit of the Marathon.

Paul's sister was in the movie – so that made it fun to watch for. She was one of the guides with the Achilles Track Club. I loved how he said I would know it was his sister because she is the one who calls someone an 'a$$hole'.

It is always inspiring to see other athletes conquer an event or comeback from incredible challenges.

Also – the movie reminded me of volunteering at the St. George Ironman last year and the incredible athletes that were there. In the back of my mind I still want to do an Ironman – but not until after I complete a 100 mile run.