Road to recovery, reclaiming self.

I went to the doctor on Friday morning.  Diagnosis is that I probably strained my achilles.  Due to the weird foot problems, with it being a little paler, I did have an ultrasound to rule out a possible blood clot.   Recovery is resting it, stretching and pain ointment. 

As of Friday afternoon I was stretching my foot and ankle more during the day. Friday night I was able to bend the toes more and by Saturday morning I was able to curl my toes again and flex the foot toward my shin.

The back of the calf still hurts, and I know I just need to keep stretching it and doing more activity with the foot, ankle, calf, etc. 

Saturday I didn't do the 18 miles that I was suppose to. Oh, no, I didn't.  I went to the gym and did just over a mile at a 5% incline.  The foot started feeling a little odd then, it was *really* hot in the gym and I decided to head home.   The MIKE and I went for a four hour car ride to pick up his bike, I visited "the Cheese Cave" which was across the street and got my fix for the 6 year cheddar cheese which is oh so goood.  We went then to Northfield, MN, it was the first time there for both of us.  Our mission, visit the Food CO-OP where the bike shop owner's wife works. It is an AWESOME health food store.  Lots of products we've seen and many we haven't.  I picked up more Beeler's quarter ham, as it's hard to find in our area, with the intent to slice and freeze for easier use.  Also scored some tiny cans of coconut milk, which will come in handy when a recipe calls for part of a whole can. 

Dinner was Culver's--cheddar burger and side salad for me, chicken breast sandwich and soup for Mike.  

Mike drove home and we met up with a fellow cyclist along the highway for exchanging bike parts. I'm sure anyone passing by on the roadway probably wondered what people were doing off the main road.
 :-)


Today, Sunday, I awoke with a huge migraine, did  household things around the house and then rode my bike for an hour, hooked up to a back wheel trainer.   Felt MUCH better while riding and the  head hurts only slightly now. 

Dinner?  no idea!

No pain no gain? Not this pain!

Haven't written for a few days, since I didn't do a whole lot.   Wednesday morning I got up, went to yoga, which was fabulous! Lots of moves, some new, all good.   Came home, tidied up, then off to a good day of work.  About 2pm yesterday my right back calf started killing me. Just major pain that hurt when I flexed the foot.  Went to a dentist appointment came home and had to talk myself into going to the gym for the run. That way I was guaranteed to do the 5 miles. 

Did a half mile, wanted to stop, got to a mile, got off, did stretches, calf was killing, got back on as running wasn't quite as bad as stretching was--yeah, I know, not the smartest. I managed to do another mile of running and then changed it up to walking at an incline.  I live on flatland, normally don't get much hill work in, so I cranked it to 7% and worked up to 9% and my leg didn't hurt much when I was walking at that angle.  Interesting, I said, so I did the other 3 miles that way. 


Got off the t'mill and OMG the pain, the pain!  Walking flat hurt. Flexing the ankle hurt, driving home thus hurt.  Hubby said that my foot was cold, the lower calf looked swollen and all. I had to agree with him.  In the afternoon my foot felt 'odd'.  Hard to explain, but almost like it was asleep but no needle feeling.  


Woke up this morning and the foot felt better, but the calf didn't.  By the time I got to work and had been in the sitting position on the drive over, my foot was feeling odd again. Thus, I have a doctor appt tomorrow morning.  


I hadn't packed lunch, so I called for lettuce wrap turkey, ham, cheese sandwich for delivery.  After a few bites the taste just wasn't sitting with me, so I had the chips and then a bowl of GF cereal.  Oh, what a lunch, ha ha.  


Did stretches when I got home,  warm soak on the calf, more stretches, warm pack on the calf.   It's just so frustrating! Can't flex the foot forward without the calf hurting, can't "bend" the toes much at all--and I normally can pick up items with my toes, can't do that either.  


On a positive spin, neither Mikenor I want to cook tonight, so take out from the italian restaurant down the street it is!  GF Pizza, pepperoni, black olives, extra cheese and sauce for the hubby. 

Left side is half of the chicken parm. (chicken, sauce and cheeeeeese, and then the GF pizza. YUM!

okay, okay, not included in the picture, the GF pasta, for lunch tomorrow, and the salad :-D

I lost my energy!

Where did my week and energy go?  


Monday night I went to a zumba class with a friend. By Wednesday evening we were both feeling drained, Thursday was tiring, Friday I had nasal congestion, which hasn't left the body yet!   AJ and I figured we touched some surface at the zumba meet place and we were contaminated there.     Wednesday was my first day of Bootless Yoga, as Monday I was sleeping off the Triple D snow half.  That was fun and exciting.  Lots of new stuff to learn. Friday's yoga was different, more stretches and things that made me say, 'oh yeah, I can do this' and then Friday evening/Saturday morning I was needing to stretch again :-D




I emailed my coach and said, 'hey, this is what's happening with my body this week'.  He suggested I pull back on Saturday and do 11 instead of 15.   Thanks to the blizzard we got on Friday (7 inches of snow), I decided to head into the gym, though that was more due to the low temps than anything.  I got 5 miles run, then walked 4 more at 7% incline and then called it a day. I was tired and wasn't going to push myself and just end up sicker!


On the other hand, since I wasn't doing as much exercising, my time for baking/cooking increased! 

My drive to work.  Winds, plus snow. We apparently received 7.5" of snow, a one day record. However, at our house, 5 miles from the measuring location, we received about 5 or 6 I would say.  Thankfully, we have eager neighbor kids who are wanting to earn a buck. I no sooner got out of the car, than I had an offer.  I said to come over when it stopped snowing; he showed up a couple of hours later









Cupcakes were on the agenda. I found some recipes at www.cupcakerecipes.com  I made the peanut butter and chocolate chip recipe, which, of course, demanded I make peanut butter and chocolate icing from scratch (Hershey cocoa can recipe with pb added).

YUM!

I won't say how many of these were devoured this weekend.

Next up was Chebe.  This is tapioca bread heaven. I've found using my food processor makes it much easier and a fluffier product.  I used two bags of the product this time, added in chuncks of cheese for something different.








































One ran off the pizza stone.

Saturday morning I made egg muffings. I got this recipe from Health-Bent I don't follow Paleo diet (obviously, since I make chebe!); however, I have cut down on the amount of  breads in my diet.  It just makes sense. . . the stuff just sits in your intestines and gains weight. Paleo makes sense, I just can't make myself eliminate so many things that I am able to eat (there are plenty of things I can't eat).

I made more of these tonight. . . I used Hormel ham slices, natural, on Saturday and liked that better since they contained the yoke. I used Hormel Canadian Bacon tonight. I was planning to use the leftover Beeler's bacon, but forgot. I still can't believe I made bacon and we didn't eat the whole package. I'm not sure the last time that occurred.


Tonight I also made a rice bar for hubby. He found the recipe around Christmas time and I just got around to making it tonight.   Sushi rice (2 cups rice to 1.5 cups water), crisp bacon, 4 scrambled eggs and a little soy sauce.  Mix together, press in pan, refrigerate and then cut into bars.  They looked really good. He wanted these for cycling food.


Dinner tonight was chicken soup: 2 smart chicken breasts, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, pepper, quinoa (and a little tiny GF pasta--Schar brand), and then chicken stock. YUM! 




[second posting, somehow managed to post earlier by mistake!]

No insanity!

Time for TRIPLE D winter race!  We arrived in Dubuque Saturday evening. I was not sure of the conditions, but had gotten a report from a high school classmate in the area and the fields were pretty blown free of snow. Thus, I figured that the trail wouldn't be too bad, maybe in some spots, but overall not too snowy.

We went to the prerace meeting, picked up our race numbers and received pre-race medals (okay, they were the race medals, but we got them when we picked up our packets!). Mine had runners on it, my husband's had bicycles.  


Dedicated this race to mom, who was in the hospital and has a race of her own this past year.

We went out to eat at a great restaurant just down the street from our hotel. Fabulous food. I had called ahead and inquired about gluten free dining. When we got there, I requested a GF menu and when our waitress came to the table with bread, she told me "this isn't for you" because a) she knew I was gluten free and b) she KNEW what that meant! Exciting for sure! Mike had the  Tequila Mockingbird pizza and I had Tuscany Chicken with oven fried potatoes. YUM.

Race morning came as it always will. This was a race I entered to do with my hubby, though he was doing the 65 mile bike portion. Temps in the low 30s, but would they stay there, very little wind, but would it stay that way? I put my new Melanzana pants to the test as a base bottom layer with other pants on outside, Mizuno breath long shirt on with Melanzana hoodie. Race number, check, camel back with water, check, ifitness pack with Cytomax and a few GUs, check.

I had an omelet at the hotel restaurant, suggest passing on that next time, it just wasn't that great for the money. Drove over to the race hotel, short 5 minute drive, and waited for the news. We'd be bussed out at 9:45, ultra and marathoners would leave about earlier. About 40 of us total for the half-marathon. As people get on the bus I look at their state of dress, etc. . . some have yaktraks on like I do, others don't, many have just a single handheld bottle of hydration. I overhear several comments of "there will be water along the way, right?" uh, no, this is a self-supported race! Lots of "I've never done this before", etc.

The nature trail course as the people who were self-depricating on the bus take off quite fast. . . my conclusion, those who aren't fast like me would never fathom to enter a race like this!

DON'T do this: 

self-dep·re·cat·ing (slfdpr-ktng)

adj. Tending to undervalue oneself and one's abilities.

We should ALL be happy with where we are and where we see ourselves going. The journey to the finish is as important as the finish, maybe more so. It's where we often find our strength.

We get to the trail, in country, a few miles west of Graf and there's no race official, so we just start. 10:26:29 my watch says. And off we go. . .1 cross country skier, 1 racer with his gorgeous husky dog and lots of other people who just take off much faster than me. I'm fine with that. This is TRAINING for me, not a race. . . .and because of that, I am able to take photos along the way of the beautiful scenery, the bald eagle in a tree next to its nest, spy the innards on the trail from some other bird's snack, the nativity scene in a limestone hole (when I was thinking of my mom who was in the hospital) and the "snow birds" nest.

This was an accident photo, but it looks neat, I think.

Giant bald eagle in the tree.  The nest was quite large and in the tree next to it. There was another bald eagle. . .or at least a very giant  bird I could see from quite a ways off... on the horizon on other side of the trail

Snow birds' nest, har har har.

The nativity scene I spied.  At least one other person made the trek over to view it.  Very nice with how the sun was hitting on it. My mom was in the hospital and I wasn't able to go see her. Interesting I spied this at the same time I was thinking of her. 

Race organizer's wife who was out on the course. 

After all the scenery, the change of clothes (take off the hoodie, put on a short sleeve over Mizuno shirt. . . change race number to pants, stretching when legs started getting heavy, etc., talking to an old man on the trail who wanted to know what was going on. . . . my finish time was my worst ever for a half. . . 3:09, BUT, I've never run this far on snow before,  and I decided to enjoy the day, the race, the trail, the scenery and it wasn't  a race for me, it was just a training event :-)  I may not have run 18 miles, but it sure felt like I did!

The race ended at a bar. . .yup a bar, where you could order anything you want on the tab of the race (entry fees hard at work!!). I got a pepsi (bar food = gluten), talked to a few people who were in the race and then got a ride back with one of the volunteers to the host hotel.  First order, get a little energy in me (some pecan crackers and a chocolate milk); second, get cleaned up, lastly, get more food! I went BACK to CRUST (I said it was really good), arranged to meet a long lost friend there, got some relaxation in while I enjoyed a soda, read part of a book and, when friend D arrived, enjoyed great company over a GF pizza for me and a salad and sandwich for her. 

After chatting for over an hour, THE MIKE called. He was done with the race, a few hours ahead of what he was thinking (YEAH!) and I headed over to the host hotel with D for a meet up and greet.  We chatted more while the cyclists were finishing. One of her daughters has done a TRI and wants to do more!!! Then the awards were ready to begin and I had to say 'farewell' but not 'goodbye' to D! We agree to see each other more than every ten years, HA!  THE MIKE didn't win anything in the raffle, but I won a Balaclava! (though I always wish I had baklava when I say that)!

A little stiff and sore on Monday, felt like I had run through tires for an hour.  Worked half a day on MLK day, then off to Zumba in the evening, my third time, and I dragged a friend with me this time. She said she had fun. I thought I'd be sore aftewards but today, Tuesday, I had no stiffness. Zumba was just what I needed to get the muscles moving again!


[edited to add another photo]

Rest day before INSANITY

I have some food pictures to post, but will need to that in another post. . .

Two/three weeks ago I let my husband talk me into a 13.1 on Jan.15. Okay, he suggested it only! NO pressure on his part.

It's a winter/snow race, but as my state's been experiencing autumn for the winter months I said, 'sure'. . . then a few days ago we got our first snow, 5" with major winds (i.e. snow drifts here and there).  Today it's -2, suppose to get up to the 20s and tomorrow it's suppose to be in the 30s. Race starts at 10:45am and I'm thinking, 'what was I thinking?????'

Last night I did my 3 mile route on the streets with powder on them and, on one stretch the snowmobiles had been on the sidewalk so I followed that path.  Had to stop every so often, as while the body remembered it'd be a big workout, it was a big workout and wasn't suppose to be.  10 degrees or so, my eyes leaked, then the eye lash corners stuck together; it was a great run!

Started packing last night. . . what do you wear onroutes you've not been on, in unknown weather temps (aside from cold), when you have to carry everything yourself--if you get outside help in this 13.1 you have forfeited.  Heat packs, feet covers, gaiters for shoes, yaktraks, how many pairs of pants? how many shirt layers? hats, neck warmer/face cover, camelback, and the list goes on!

Rules of the race here.  What is the Triple D?  Find out here.

Wake up, WAKE up, it's run time!

Monday.

I didn't want to get up this morning. It's been gorgeous fall or spring weather for my area, not the January the calendar says. However, at night the temps are dipping down into the 20s and that makes for a chilly morning run!

My fabulous hubs put the AY-UP lights together for me again (he had to dismantle the head piece so he could use the lights on his bike) and I was ready to go, double pants, warm Fox River socks (you know, the sock monkey company--- I wore my wool socks out, though they have awesome lightweight socks with an orange or lime green band going through the foot of the sock --arch support!),  Mizuno breath thermal top (fabulous to wear around the house on those really cold, windy days too),  with my Melanzana hoodie (which is a fabulous small town product in Leadville, CO, a/k/a Cloud City USA).

I was ready to go for a run! Thankfully, I was going to be out longer than it took to decide what to wear, ha ha.

Full moon was still in the sky, the sun was set to rise in twenty/thirty minutes. Not much wind, it was a perfectly awesome morning for a run.
Center orb is the full moon; cell phone doesn't take the best pics for distance, or motion.



After getting a couple miles in, the sun started coming up which allowed for this gorgeous windy picture at the park entrance.  Pretty awesome, right?

And everyone loves a sunrise picture! I may live in the city, but on the fringes. One perk is being able to run through nearby parks and open pastureland with scenes such as this.

Five miles down, good time for me, especially considering I stopped three times to take the phone out of its pouch and take pictures!  Legs were feeling good after one rest day and fifteen miles on Saturday.

Rest day

Today was set for a rest day in the plan and rest I did!  Slept late, real late for me, even with the cat pawing at my neck and screaming in my ear. . . okay, maybe the cat can't scream, but a MEOW right in the ear gets one's attention. . . and the human gets to ignore the cat just for the fun of it.  Watched the news, made pancakes (which involved re-heating ones from last weekend) and watching a couple shows of extreme building (on the new gadget thing my techi-capable hubby bought) of the Alps train tunnel and the Hong Kong airport/tunnels/bridge/metro, then went for a beautiful walk in sunny, warm, midwest. Still no snow and it was just in the 40s today, so a 3+mile walk to a park and back, able to enjoy the beautiful scenery without worry of slowing down my running pace.  Back at home I turned into "Becky Home-ecky Mode": Au Gratin Potatoes and Ham from scratch followed by homemade gelatin and then gingerbread cookies. PLUS I washed the dishes. . . via the dishwasher. Oh, the life! 


Au Gratin Potatoes:   6 or so red potatoes, skin on, sliced in half and run through the food processor, letting gravity push them onto the slicer, so they were thinner slices, 1 red onion (high in antioxidants), run through the food processor and then caramelized in a non-stick skillet, small brick of cheddar cheese and Monterey cheese, half of each shredded via the food processor. The ham was Beeler's ham.  It's raised in my state--the old way, where pigs are able to get into the mud-- has no nitrates/nitrites, no artificial ingredients, no preservatives. Just ham. It's hard to find at our local grocer, as they tend to only carry it during the holidays. Thus, I bought a quarter ham last month, froze it, and used about a third of it for the potato dish.  The rest, sigh, will just have to be eaten by us this week:  ham and eggs for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches/quesadillas, veggie soup with ham pieces.  If you've never had plain, good ham, you need to try this stuff. It's awesome, tastes like what pork use to taste like on the farm, not full of these ingredients other companies put in their products.

Gelatin:  Box of knox gelatin package, recipe is on the back. We used frozen concentrate fruit juice (not cocktail, straight juice!).  I added banana and strawberries to mine.

GF Gingerbread cookies:  I used Brer Rabbit molasses and the recipe on the label for gingerbread cookies/ice cream sandwiches. I don't know why someone would need a recipe for ice cream sandwiches. How hard is it to put ice cream between two cookies? 

I'm not sure why, but I only seem to make gingerbread or molasses cookies in the wintertime.  Growing up, we use to eat bread with some butter and top it off with some molasses or sorghum for a snack. I rarely do that any longer.

LONG run day

Yesterday, Friday, was a long and crazy day. I was going to ride my bike after work; then the end of work went to the dogs. I came home & begged, had scrambled egg & cheese soft corn shell taco for a late dinner and went brain dead in front of the computer.
This morning I got up twice: once when hubby's went out for biking and the next time, an hour later when my phone buzzed. Haha. Had some buckwheat cereal with bananas for breakfast, loaded up my waist / hip camelback, some energy , changed opinion on what to wear about 10 times , slight breeze, only 30 today and it's that "in between stage" of over/under dressing. Then went out for my 15 mile run. First 5 miles seemed to take for.ev .er.  I carry my cell phone in a snack size zip lock bag. I stopped to take a pic (the blurry tree) and didn't take it out of the baggie.





Last year the water was up about 5 or 6 feet from where it is now.

(photo  2/4/11)


...after the first 5 I started feeling better and moving along. Stopped at the river, halfway point, for some pics. River is about 3 feet, if not more, below normal stage.

Saw one runner out, and several dog walkers. Turned around and headed back. Saw two more runners about a mile from home. One was wearing shorts! Brrrrr.  

Legs started getting sore at about 12miles today.

Got home, stretched, took a long soak and then went to a local fast american-mexican food place for 'lunch' at 3pm, Pablo's.  I ordered a steak salad, hubby had the burrito.  Had to remind the girl to put steak on the salad!  We sat at the windows and watched the goings on. Haven't eaten there in a while, nor people watched.  We had fun coming up with stories for people and figuring out who was heading into Scratch Cupcakery. If you're by this way, I've been told they're divine! However, they are not gluten free.



Tonight for dinner I decided to make the Penguins I saw on a blog a few weeks ago.  Aren't they adorable?  Colassal and medium size olives stuffed with cream cheese, on top of a slice of carrot with triangle cut out from the "feet" for the "beak". 



And the awesome dinner, strawberries, broccoli, mashed potatoes and broiled steak.  My grill hasn't seen much time since I discovered the broiler!  Hubby had fun with the penguins; yes, playing with his food!

Beautiful day

I managed to wake up at 5:30 even though I forgot to set the alarm. Up and to the gym for "eyestone" workout. Certain minutes at threshold or interval pace. 6 miles total and the last mile wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be at 4.98miles. Got all six done and feel great. Plus, who can feel bad when they get to see the sunrise?

Gorgeous January day in caucus state with suggested high temps of 55degrees!  In JANUARY.

Foooood

Today I was suppose to run, but I didn't (sorry coach). My legs are still a bit sore...need to do more stretching and tomorrow morning I have a run and will do zumba at night. I didn't plan to not run; however by the time I did errands and prepared for dinner it was late for me to run.

I came home and made Chebe pizza crust for crackers, got a salad ready (for never before tried yogurt dressing) then sliced carrots and cut broccoli florets for side, sliced a previously baked potato for skipper frying and baked salmon with seasoning. I think Betty Croker would be satisfied.

After mixing in food processor, put between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with your rolling pin.

After baking on pizza stone.

Tapioca flour = chewiness.

Prepped dinner. . . finished product = clean plate.

Day after

Sore. I decided to attend a zumba class last night for the first time, after I had done hill repeats. Some parts of the class I didn't do, knowing that it would be more stress on my legs. I think doing zumba is like doing 'abs of steel' and the like. . . it feels great at the time, but later it makes you aware of muscles you didn't know existed! Therefore, today was a delicious rest day.

Day off running=baking/kitchen time

Windy and cold. 25ºF and windy gusts up to flags waving proudly in the air miles per hour. Is that a meterologist term?

I got to play "farmer's wife" today. That consists of being asked to "run to town" or in our case, 'run to the bike shop' and get a specific item. . . quite similar to a farmer's wife being asked/told to run to the implement to get xyz part for the tractor or combine :-) Afterwards I went for my 5 mile run which consisted of twelve hill repeats and then back home for left over pasta (Heartland) and homemade sauce.

Then I pulled out the pan of homemade date bars (similar to larabars, but cheaper, ha ha). Quite good, though I didn't get them pressed in the pan hard enough together, so they're a bit crumbly.

First, chop the dates in your food processor; then add in your "mix-ins". Have a 9x13 pan lined with wax paper. Pour in the mixture and then press it down firmly. You need to press quite firmly. Using another pan with wax or parchment paper between the pan and mixture would probably work well.

I made two different kinds. Half the dates I used vanilla, pecans, almonds, brazil nuts and chocolate chips. The other half I used almonds and peanut butter and a smidge of vanilla.

After my pasta today I had a 2x2 piece of the date bar. Quite good!

Celebrate the old, ring in the new

Happy New Year.


2012 has come in like a Lion. . . a ferocious lion who is very loud and angry. The wind is howling today, major gusts here, and it makes me thankful that we have no snow to go with the wind, even though I love snow and want some this winter!

Yesterday was a long run for me, 13 miles. I did this "early" in the morning as we had places to be (shopping) later in the day. For me early means darkness and I hate to run in the dark. Even though I love looking at stars and enjoying a calm peaceful evening, something about running when I can't see around me is quite scary.

Therefore, I donned my hubby's Ay-Up headlamps, very bright and Aussie awesome, and headed out on the path. My first five miles were a little slower since I was warming up and kept looking into the woods to ensure no ferocious animal (like a racoon or deer) was laying in wait for me. My fears were unfounded, by the time the sun came up I had seen zero animals. After the sun, I spied a siamese cat, two bald eagles and the most adorable black lab puppy.

There goes my mind, wondering again. second loop for my run went faster for me and I was feeling great, though my legs started getting tight about mile 12.

My husband made a wonderful breakfast for me upon my return. He says it's because I've always done for him after his bicycling rides.

Fabulous day for a run at the end of the year. No snow, no ice, no rain, and just a little wind. Thankfully today is my rest day, as the wind is horrible outside. Tomorrow I may, sadly, have to venture to the treadmill.

Opening day!

I've done it. I've created a blog for running, gluten free living, with a little quirkiness tossed into the mix!

In 2006 I chose to experiment with gluten free--not because it's a fad, but because I have relatives who had recently been diagnosed and my doctor's office refused to do the official biopsy test.  I felt so much better and can tell when I have been glutenized. Three years after that visit the doctor wanted to test me for celiac. I refused, as I did not want to eat gluten for two weeks in order to prove to them that I had celiac, or at least an intolerance.

In 2006 I started exercising again, walking generally.  In 2009 my friend Teresa suggested I enter a St. Paddy's day race assuring me I could just walk the 8K.  I started the event, got caught up in the excitement and started running.  I couldn't walk or bend or do anything later that day or the next few days without hurting though! I started reading Runner's World and other running information, I mixed running into my workout and entered a couple half marathons. I decided I wanted to get better, faster, etc, and my fabulous hubby, The Mike, found Hal Higdon's training plan. I used that, was more consistent and improved my time.  Then I injured myself. . . in a shopping cart incident.   After running a half marathon injured, taking six weeks off and gaining ten pounds, The Mike and I decided I needed a coach. Someone to tell me what to do, but it would be up to me to actually do the prescribed exercise.  I came back from the injury, slowly and safely. The next 13.1 I knocked off some time and the one six months later I finally broke 2:30. The Coach is still there and I am slowly improving, and challenging myself. I've added races with hills--HILLS--which is big stuff for this flatlander! My PR is now in the 2:20s for a 13.1 and I finished my first 26.2  last month in St. Louis.

Now, enough about me. How about you? When did you start running or dining GF?