Three Things Thursday: Sidelined

So I am sidelined from running.

My go to activity of choice.

I'm not sure for how long, I have a dr. appointment this afternoon.  But I am on day 7 with no run for me and the longest I've gone without running since I started running in December.  Boo.

Actually "boo" is really and understatement.  How I really feel is more like....

#$%@in' #$%@!!!!!!!!!!! 

Oh my #$%@ing foot.  I can't #$%@ing believe that I can't #$%@ing RUN.

I am going KRAZY and not in the Pitbull "Yo mama, she gets krazy" kind of way.

See, I have a couple races coming up.  Saturday, I am running (I hope) a 5k with a team of First Church Somerville runners in support of the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Every year the team runs it and this was going to be my first year. Last year I remember seeing the runners and thinking how I would love to do it, but I was no way in shape to run a 5k.  3.1 miles?  I didn't think I could handle it and I would completely embarrass myself. So I just donated to the team instead.  But this year I wanted to be apart of the team.  For the last 3 years running (heh) FCS brought in more $$ for the SHC than any other team.

Then there is the big race.  The Newport, RI half marathon on Oct. 17th. It isn't October yet, so I am putting this one out of my head thinking, hoping, praying, assuming I will be completely fine by then.  Yes. Of course I will.  I have to be. Sigh.

Frankly, I don't think I can write about any other alternative, because I don't want to start crying.  This is the race that my friend Sarah and I decided to sign up for and train for way back in July. The race will be our first face to face meeting after chatting and emailing back and forth for the last 10 months or so.

I read recently about how we often pour our hearts out to our running buddies because there is something about focusing on the road in front of you that makes it easier to open up your heart and just let it all go. I feel like that with my virtual running buddies too. Sure, there is a connection that we have all doing weight watchers, graduating from couch25k, or running in general, but it is more than just that. There is something about writing; writing out your thoughts and a willingness to share something that you may not share verbally with a friend over lunch. I feel like we are able to open up to one another so very easily.

As I was thinking about this post, I got a very lovely email/prayer from my frenpastor, Molly. Someone who I have no problem opening up my heart to, and treasure every time we talk, or email or as I read her blog. (Ironically, the last run before sidelining was a beautiful one from my work to downtown Boston through the parks in JP. I wanted to see how long it would take me to do a round trip to Dana-Farber to visit Molly during her treatments.)

In her email she wrote:  "And God heal her foot. But not before she has to learn some other new way to fly."

So, as grumpy and cranky it makes me that I am on the DL (TEMPORARY DL...hear that God?!) I will take the time to reflect and get some lessons on flying. 

I'm not done learning, but here are some things that have been running (heh.) through my head.  

1. Cherish runs. Past and future. Good ones and sucky ones. I wish we can all have "enough" yucky ones to really appreciate "enough" yummy ones. Gratitude. Yeah, I'll take that lesson.

2. There is more to life than just running.  Really? Oh my. Yes, it completes me, like that last puzzle piece, but wait, there are a whole heck of a lot of puzzle pieces in a 1000 piece puzzle than the one that completes it.  I guess you could also put the mama, spouse, christian, writer, cleanER eater, cook, musician, friend puzzle piece in there last and they would all complete the puzzle too. So maybe I have more puzzle pieces that can complete for a spell. I love the Ani Difranco song, 32 flavors and then some.  Totally my theme song.

BUT, I still do need to move. NEED to move. I used to swim, even was a lifeguard.  And I used to bike everywhere I went; no car for years.  Maybe I need to tap into those flavors.  Tri-anything? Tri-something?

3. Funkalicious. I do NOT want this to become a funk. I out-right stubbornly refuse.

Now if only I could tell my stomach to stop growling, my fingers to stop reaching for the carbs and the scale to stay put...

In the mean time, I will *try* to take this (however long this is) as a learning experience rather than something that is messing with my routine. Chalk it up to the price of being a runner and treat my mind and body like I would anyone that needs time to heal. Gently. Flexibly. Time to inspect and adapt.

And another case of the ironics...I *JUST* talked about change, transition, and transformation and how much I luuuuurrrve it. I don't know what stage I am in at this point and I don't think it really matters. What I do know is that I will keep on going, moving forward towards transformation. So no funks, just transition.

There. Three Things.

The truth is, this is probably just tendinitis in my foot from going to hard too fast with the Vibrams and running too many days in a row.

(Mer, don't roll your eyes at me! But yeah, feel free to give me a big 'ol "toldyaso" this weekend. :-/ )

Yes, the irony is that I started running in the VFF to prevent injury.  Anyway, if it is "just" tendinitis, I am *only* looking at 10-14 days rest according to my self-diagnosis via the interwebs. 10-14 days in the grand scheme ain't nothin'.  So I really should just suck it up be done with the dramatic vent.

Not quite the same lunch break sweat session as I would like, but I did work my fingers a bit with this here post. Oh shoot!  Tendinitis, stay away from my hands, you hear?!

What do you do when you are faced with a set back in your life, work, exercise program or food wise?  What did you do or wish you did?

Change, Transition and Transformation

In my FCS community, every few months we have new sermon series; a theme that links the messages and our discussion topics in our services. If you remember back in February I wrote about the Lenten theme: Simple Shifts which was one of the factors that spurred on my cleanER eating and writing this blog.  

For the next several weeks, we will be discussing Change, Transition and Transformation. As the liturgist this last Sunday, I got to share my own thoughts on change. 

So about change. Yeah, not a fan. I like my routines; my schedules; my same greek yogurt and granola breakfast every morning; my pew two rows up from the back and on left. Change is uncomfortable for me, not safe. And I don’t like to deal with it.

And transition. Well, as I am sure most moms can attest to, transition – that time between 8 and 10 centimeters is called the ring of fire for a reason! Yowser!

But transformation. Oh, how I LOVE, love, LOVE transformations. I love before and after stories. I love reading and hearing about how people reflect on their lives and take a before (good or bad, it is all relative)….and transform it into this beautiful after. Their own resurrection stories. 

For me, I love looking back at my journey and seeing these huge seismic shifts in my life. Moving from being hugely in debt to being debt free. How miserable I was in my job before my layoff and how happy I am (and my family is) after; How sluggish I was almost 70lbs heavier than I am today. How unhealthy I was 9 short months ago eating all processed franken food, chugging 6-8 diet sodas a day to actually learning to cook and eat real food from our CSA and our first ever garden; Life before finding FCS and life after.

So many transformations and hopefully even more to come.

Yet here is the thing. I couldn’t have all these transformations if it didn’t start with a change and transition first. That would be like reading the last chapter of a book, but never actually investing in the characters or the story. Where is the fun in that?! Not to mention, do you really just want to read Revelations. Shyeah, I didn’t think so!

You, me, this church community,(this blogosphere community) we are midst of change, ok many CHANGES, transitions and transformations. Yet we need them all as we build, with the help of God our beloved selves, and our beloved community.

Friday's Drawers (on Monday. Whoops)

I forgot to post our CSA pic on Friday.  Whoops.  

Here was our share this week, minus one apple and one red pepper that I couldn't help but chomp on before snapping a pic.  I swear I could eat their peppers like an apple.  So sweet 'n tasty!

Callaloo, potatoes, basil, salad mix, apples (yum!),
peppers (double yum!), carrots, garden maters.

Three Things Thursday: Good Reads

When I first made the switch to cleaner eating, I was a sponge searching for information and I did what a lot of people do...I read anything I could get my hands on. Anything to help the S in the ISFJ in me!

So I headed to the library started off with Pollan, worked my way over to Jillian, picked up some cookbooks, got some new cookbooks from my fam as prezzies, went online, found message boards anything and everything to find other people that had the same enthusiasm as my new found discovery of food.  Actual food!  So today I bring you Three Good Reads from my adventures in forsaking franken-food for real food.

1. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Young Reader's Edition. Michael Pollan is clearly the go-to it-boy when it comes to writing about, documenting and being a change agent for back to basics real food.  Between Food, Inc., In Defense of Food, and the quite funny, but oh so true, short and sweet Food Rules, you cannot go wrong with anything with Michael Pollan's name on it.  I particularly enjoyed the Young Reader's edition of the Ominvore's Dilemma.  It was basic enough for me to read after a crazy day at work, but not condescending in any way.  I loved the graphs, pictures and facts. They kept me engaged and stuck with me months after reading it. It took me time to watch Food Inc.  I wasn't sure I was ready to, and if you are like me in that respect, having a book that you can pick up and put down when you are ready to helped.   I bet after you read this, though, you will want to go out and see Food Inc. and devour all of Pollan's other books.

2. Master Your Metabolism. I am not a fan of diet books. I think they are a total waste of money and hype. And this one looks and is marketed right out there with all the diet books lined up at your local grocery store.  That said, it came recommended to me by a fellow WeWa kickass chica, I did pick it up (at the library!).

What I liked about this book was that I related to it instantly.  I lost all this weight (Like Jillian) eating franken food and was obsessed about "fat" in my diet - Fat makes you fat right?  Wrong.  And when it came to keeping it off, I had to either eat so little or workout like mad-woman to keep the pounds off.  And the minute I would stop eating Lean Cuisines, insta-gain. Like her, diet cokes were my beverage of choice.  4-8 a day. Yikes!  In the book she goes through her own transformation, shares a lot of the same ideas as Michael Pollan but relates it back to hormones and how your body processes food.

The organization of the book was a little all over the place. For example, I couldn't tell you what the 3 diet secrets are as advertised on the jacket cover. And I also am not a fan of....this worked for me so it must work for you too...mentality that was throughout the book. But in the end, I do think she has some good ideas, and she got me thinking not just about the food I make, but also what I make it in (i.e. plastics, teflon, cleaners, etc.)

3. More with Less. When it comes to food, I am very grateful for all that we have.  There is something about experiencing this gratitude and grace when I think about all the animals, people and plants that are involved in providing this food that I am about to put into my body.  When I look at it that way, I do want to do more with less.  I want to leave as little a mark as I possibly can.  I like this particular cookbook because it has recipes, but also stories, passages, feelings and memories about the recipes that people share.  I think I also like this book because every once in awhile I come across a recipe that I completely remember my mom making for us and it brings me to a whole new level of gratitude.

Committed

In my days as a project manager, we started implementing a project management process called Scrum. Not an acronym, just a term taken from rugby that involved a team of bright people with lots of different ideas and personalities getting together and committing to developing quality work. In Scrum there are different characters, "pigs" and "chickens".

Wow. I am getting hungry already. I hope these are free-range.

So the “pigs” are committed, since they are the ones actually doing the work, while everyone else is a “chicken”—interested in the project but really indifferent because if the project fails they’re not the pigs—meaning they are the ones with their ham-hocks on the line.  The needs, desires, ideas and influences of the chickens are taken into account, but they are not allowed to disrupt or impede the project.

It got me thinking about the journey that I am on, that we are all on. Each one of us has our own thing --whether it is weight loss, cleaner eating, vegan eating, running, parenting, running while parenting, living with chronic conditions, or just plan surviving (and surviving well! Clean CT scans! yay!). Regardless of the journey, at some point, we made a commitment to go on it. Sure, it may have had some loopy turns, rest stops, or we forgot the GPS, but we still are committed to be on that PIG of a road. 

I've been very, very blessed to have a supportive community around me - in fact I truly believe you need a community to support you, to be involved - but in the end, it is ME that is making the commitment to actually change. I am the PIG here and my family, my friends, my community, my CHICKENS are involved, but they aren't the ones making the commitment to MY journey. 

Each week I try to commit to something small on my big journey. I like the Franklin Covey idea of at least one social, one mental, one spiritual and one physical activity.  I put these big rocks in first, because inevitably the rest of my time will get filled in by the little rocks all around them. Sometimes I do these big rock things without really planning too, but it sure does feel good when you commit to something and then actually follow through with it, doesn't it?

So here is my commitment for this week:

1. Mental - Read something that is not on a screen, blackberry, the back of a cereal box, or can be found in the bathroom. 
2. Spiritual - pray at least 5 minutes a day
3. Physical - Log 24 running miles this week (Since when does THIS feel the easiest!)
4. Social (oh this is the hardest!) - watch a movie with David on Friday with "Mama's favorite soda" and find and talk to a new person at coffee hour on Sunday.

What will you commit to this week? I'll be your Chicken, if you be mine.