Dingos are tricked into the treat of running in October! - Page 11

[bec]

Mel - I'm so sorry about your kitty.  I am still reeling, on occasion my dog passing last spring.  Let yourself grieve, and don't worry what other people think. 

Vagpreneur - *snort*

Entitled kids - I came unglued on my eldest with her rudeness the other day.  A day that I had spent running her and her sisters around to every imaginable activity, homework, instrument practice, speech practice, and working some crazy hours this week!  She's been much nicer to me since.  I guess she figured out where my breaking point is.

RR: After basically a full week with nothing, I finally got a good workout in.  Tri class has really upped the level of intensity this year!  Every class is a brick.  A swim, followed by either a run or a spin (it will be a bike when spring rolls around). 

NRR: I have spent most of the week working on getting the store re-merchandised properly (the entire method has changed).  So, after my Friday shift, I'll have put in almost 30 hours.  That sounds a lot more like full time than part time!  Anyway, at least the district manager loves me!  She told my manager that I am her favorite person that they have hired for this new position!

Also, my DH flies out of the country to Tel Aviv for 2 weeks on Friday.  Ergh.

[Mel38]

Thanks guys. I am missing my kitty but feeling really supported by the family. I realized when we all said goodbye that the kids, even my oldest, don't know the house without him. For me, too, he represents what I feel were my best family years. Early marriage, babies, making our home, so all good memories.

Originally Posted by bec 

Entitled kids - I came unglued on my eldest with her rudeness the other day.  A day that I had spent running her and her sisters around to every imaginable activity, homework, instrument practice, speech practice, and working some crazy hours this week!  She's been much nicer to me since.  I guess she figured out where my breaking point is.

And that is such an important lesson for kids to learn, I think. Just becoming aware that parents don't *have* to do all these things for kids, and there are plenty of parents who can not or will not do them. I agree, a thank you now and then would be a nice gesture, or at least spare me the overt criticism.

Plady I'm acquainted with that particular elephant, too.

Today is packing and errands day before we drive up to DC tomorrow. Yikes, get a load of that storm headed up to the NE, Sandy!! DH was planning on flying to Germany at the end of the week, so we will have to see how things develop.

The weather forecast for the MCM calls for rain, highs in the 50s. I wonder what to wear? I think a long sleeve tech shirt in any case, but I was actually planning to run in shorts - now I am rethinking that. Maybe capris would be better? I will pack them just in case.

I also checked out the course online and made a plan for when to fuel, so I am definitely operating under the assumption that I can manage to run this race. It will be 15 days between my last run and the marathon. My knee does feel good, but I decided against any running this week. I wouldn't be building endurance, and I would rather err on the safe side as far as any pain and inflammation go. I have been aqua-jogging just to loosen up my hamstrings.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

[Plady]

Originally Posted by Mel38 
 Just becoming aware that parents don't *have* to do all these things for kids, and there are plenty of parents who can not or will not do them. I agree, a thank you now and then would be a nice gesture, or at least spare me the overt criticism.

I threw a small fit yesterday when my kids were starting to groan over their breakfast and I snapped at them about how many kids they go to school with who don't even have parents home when they get up for school let alone make them a hot breakfast every day.  They shut up and ate.

I'm sorry for anyone else who is in the same abstinence boat.  I think it's really bugging me now because I'm 40, which means that my 30s (aka woman's sexual prime) are in the rear-view and I sort of feel cheated.  And it's not like you can really nag someone into making out with you, so it's tricky to navigate that angle as well.

[sparkletruck]

Real - omg. That is so sad, and stunning , and sad. Its tragic that it ever happened, and then that a kid himself could have done it makes me weep for everybody involved. I get what you mean about not feeling safer; it's like, when a 17 year old could do such a thing, how can you ever feel safe. yuck. what the h*** is going on with kids today. somehow I feel the insistence of existential angst coming into all this teen horror, that to me is increasingly exacerbated by our tech-saturated, over-stressed, consumer-driven disconnected culture I mean, how sad and lonely and screwed up would a "normal" kid have to be to do something like that. Just sad. Im sorry for your community.

Plady - I have a little of what you describe. I will say that the elephant parks her big ass in our house now and then, but I think I get what you;re saying. I was without a menstrual cycle until I was 37, and wow, those hormones are FUN. Too bad I am married and old[er] with 3 kids. I feel that sense of lost time sometimes. The past 2 years (40-42) have been a real [cliche] midlife processing time for me, but I think Im coming out of it and I feel happier, although keep thinking about the adage "youth is wasted on the young" Oh to know what I do now 20 years ago!. Maybe this is part of your midlife psychic reorganizing

Bec/Plady - I speak firmly (not yelling, but mad) at my kids a lot about how much I do for them. Ive threatened to just sleep in and let them get ready themselves and just wake me up when they are ready to get in the car They stop complaining for, mm, 15 minutes maybe

RR....

NRR...Im finishing paper #3 of 5. #4 and 5 should be easier, so Im over the hump. And I think Im actually doing ok. I mean I am dissecting some heavy-duty philosophical sh** and think I get it ... or my brain has in fact turned to pudding, which is what it feels like..

... and back to it...
Edited by sparkletruck - 10/25/12 at 1:05pm

[kerc]

Sparkle. In my experience: semesters 2 and 3 of a masters program get easier.

Real: I can't even imagine.

Jo. Missing you

Gaye. Hope your visit is awesome.

My husband gets his head up his butt about 4 weeks out of 16. Can you tell we're on the college cycle?

Geo: I think about you and all the stuff your family is working on right now. Duh. Of course you didn't p r the half. Also. You should enter grandmas half lottery next spring.

[sparkletruck]

Thanks. Kerc. It's amazing how well versed I feel in Plato, Aristotle and the history of rhetoric right now. Anyone have a question ?

Turns out that the paper I wrote for #3 seriously overlaps with what I am supposed to write for #4 (duh, why did he offer a Q for #3 that is so close to #4). Anyway, my #3 is my pies de resistance of the midterm, and now it has to be moved into the #4 slot, worth less points, and I have to write another survey paper of another topic I decided to crank it out, and after all the in depth study and writing Ive done this week it's actually possible. I "cranked out" 3 pages of it in an hour this morning, for example.

RR: in the meantime, I went to the gym 63 minutes bike intervals, 22 minutes run/walk at 8:30 pace. I approached it as a "steady state" workout (for those familiar with rowing vernacular) and it was actually enjoyable. Hard, but not too hard. After 10 days off, not too shabby

NRR.... nothing new Oh wait! Soup party tomorrow night with some parents/friends connected to the kids' school. I plan to bring the bottle of gin in my freezer, some tonic, and limes .... and maybe some soup no, I'm serious.

Does anybody else find that under a lot of stress, other mental faculties go weak, like eating well, spending responsibly, and using decent language? Apparently my brain is baked b/c Im eating crap, planning for all the shopping I will do when this is done, and swearing more than is respectable for a 42 year old mom

[MelW]

My stress habits are extreme forgetfulness and clumsiness. I lose keys, wallet, cellphone pretty chronically, usually wandering around the house swearing as I try to get ready to go only to discover that the cell is in my pocket and the keys are in my hand. Then I trip over the doorstep and get to work looking like a mess.

Re: Elephants, I have a relationship that isn't prone to ignoring any large lurking mammals. That doesn't mean that the beast doesn't show up, but that we both tend to keep pointing and saying "elephant, elephant!". I'm not sure how helpful this is, but at least it's out in the open.

real, that's horrific. I'm grateful for your community that the boy has been found, but so sad for everyone involved. Ugh.

sparkle, hooray for the gym!!

RR- I'm skipping bootcamp tonight. I can't seem to shake this cough. It's been almost 2 weeks, and I have another night shift scheduled for tomorrow night. I need an evening on the couch and an early bedtime if I'm going to survive the weekend.

NRR- My oldest daughter's fiddle group has been invited to open for Ashley MacIssac next weekend. I had bought her tickets to see the concert with grandma for her birthday present (she's 7 next Thursday!), but now she's going to get to be up on stage.

[tjsmama]

plady~I feel your pain. I think pretty often about the fact that I'm in my sexual prime and yet there has been nada for over 5 years now. I keep thinking maybe someday...preferably before I'm well out of said sexual prime. Sigh.

mel38~I'm so sorry about your kitty. You are so going to rock your marathon, though! Thinking good weather thoughts for both of us...that it waits till after your race and is long gone before mine!!

I'm pretty wiped out, I'll be honest. By the time I get back from NYC, I'm going to need a month to recover, I think. I went to bed Wed night at 8:15, immediately after tucking DS in, and last night at 9-ish. I would have willingly gone to bed at the same time tonight, but I hadn't been online (other than my phone) in nearly 72 hours, and I had 197 emails sitting in my inbox. So, I figured I would at least check in here before heading to bed. It's been a good visit so far, although my stepdad is definitely showing his age and not nearly as energetic as I'm used to. He's 79 now, so I guess that's to be expected, but I still don't like it. We have been quite the tourists...the art museum (where my mom bought us a family membership for my birthday, cool!), a tour of the mint, the federal reserve bank money museum, down to Colorado Springs to the Air Force Academy to see the chapel and visitors center. Not to mention swimming at the hotel pool, going out to eat, and more. Phew. No wonder we're tired! One more full day of visit, which will be filled with a trip to Costco, carving our pumpkins, and trick or treating at the town center across the street.

I can't remember if I ever mentioned here, but we're doing a Biggest Loser competition at work. 3 months, everybody put in $20, biggest percentage each week wins a small prize, winner at the end gets all the cash. I was actually a little surprised that I didn't weigh more, but it's still more than I should weigh, so I'm trying to lose 14 pounds by the middle of January. Should be doable, if I can keep up exercise after the marathon, and just keep my eating habits under control. To that point, I got my first sets of Invisalign retainers on Wednesday...no more snacking because you're not allowed to eat or drink with them in! And you also have to brush after eating/drinking before putting them back in, so that's going to really make me be more mindful about eating. I won't be able to graze at work, at least not without brushing my teeth sixteen times. Although I am sad about not being able to just grab a coffee whenever. Not that I really do it that much, but of course now that I can't, I REALLY want to!

rr~Did anyone mention that it has been snowy and cold here? :brr I am a wimp. So I went to spin class yesterday morning (and it was a really good one!) and then ran for an hour on the hotel dreadmill while watching DS swim with grandma this morning. I also swam some laps while DS was swimming last night. I have my "long run" of 8 miles tomorrow morning, which I'm going to do on the hotel dreadmill again, just because it makes it easier for grandma and grandpa to watch DS and entertain him. Yee haw.

[Realrellim]

Originally Posted by sparkletruck 

Does anybody else find that under a lot of stress, other mental faculties go weak, like eating well, spending responsibly, and using decent language?

100% yes. Especially eating and language, but the spending thing too. I try to aim that toward things I need at least (like another pair of running shoes) because then it feels like pampering myself with an expensive I'll eventually have anyhow. Not, mind you, that I'm always that good.

What is this "sexual prime" everyone is speaking of? I'm pretty sure I've never felt as asexual as I have in my 30s. Maybe that will change in the next two years before I hit 40? (Maybe not and I don't really care?)

RR: 3 on the TM. 'Cause it's cold. Also, because I'm not quite ready to venture outside yet. Tomorrow I'm running with another friend. Maybe Sunday. Maybe.

NRR: So sleepy, but I really should hammer out what might be the last election article. Or deal with bills. Or say to heck with it all and read a book. Or just go to sleep. Hmmm.

[kerc]

My friday:

<long work related stress day>

<feel free to skip to saga. it is not running related>

then pick up eldest to go to naturopath to get results from the food sensitivity testing. (a). I've read a lot of JAMA articles this week about said testing and have mixed ideas. (b). this test is the Iga/Igg test (for those familiar). We got there from many people I know locally suggesting it + the d**n rash she keeps getting. (But we paid out of pocket since apparently it isn't covered by my insurance and I was *so* underimpressed with the lady we went to). Anyhow ... draw the blood, mail off the test. wait 4 weeks (FOUR!).

In the meantime, she's taking fish oil, zinc, a multivitamin, and naturopath recommended gycine + probiotics. And has been for the last month. Also confusing the world: we went camping last weekend and it was cold. She had emergen-c (lots of zinc, among other things), when she doesn't usually. But otherwise, diet = normal. Also rash comes and goes.

Results: dairy sensitive, egg sensitive, gluten sensitive. Naturopath recommends dairy, egg, gluten free diet. WHOA. That's a big recommendation for a 10 year old the week before a big party for her dad and her own birthday. That's a lot. So as I told Nic, I'm then crying in the parking lot at the grocery because wow any one of those is a PIA, never mind all 3. Also because my dh does not  think we should do anything.

It isn't crazy that she's sensitive to all these things. It has been a confounding 10 years of on again, off again rash. But this is the first time we've seen it clear up from zinc. And I mention this to naturopath who can't explain why it cleared up with no dietary changes (in the four weeks while we've been waiting for the freaking test). Also Erin's behavior has been SUPER lately. I mean usually she's change-averse, transition-averse. And lately she's been awesome (behavior wise).

Insert discussion from above about

 

Does anybody else find that under a lot of stress, other mental faculties go weak, like eating well, spending responsibly, and using decent language?

edited to add:

_________

The reason for the quote is yes! Which I forgot to put in my first message. My food and my family's food goes right downhill when I'm busy. My oldest defnitely plays on this and her behavior is sometimes out of control when I'm at my most stressed. Is this food related or is this "mom I need you to be my life compass?" hard to say.

_____

And here's my take thus far. Meeting with her pediatrician Thursday to discuss. This is our working plan we are proposing:

*Limit egg + dairy - but not remove entirely. (no more eggs for the sake of eggs, buy coconut milk. allow stuff like ice cream, but not every night).

*Limit gluten -- perhaps more rice, less pasta for instance -- again not remove entirely

*Continue with fish oil + zinc + multi

Continue to pump kid full of veggies and fruit. Continue to eat free-range grass fed beef, pork and chicken. Assess at New Year's. (which means choosing to let Erin have xmas cookies, but not sandwiches for lunch + pasta for dinner + xmas cookies). Her favorite foods are sushi (easy to be GF, DF, egg free) and spaetzel (not so easy). Aside from those two, she's not a huge fan of the sandwich, pizza, or burrito. She will eat veggies like nobody's child should. If I cut it, she will eat it (so long as I don't cook it or its tomatoes).

I feel like I'm walking this fine line between friends (and a spouse) who say its all b.s. and friends who talk regularly about leaky gut syndrome, have celiac, and tell me she should eat just chicken and broth for a month to get her gut healed. I'm not convinced her gut IS leaky, but part of me holds this what if:  what if I know she's sensitive to dairy, egg and gluten, don't take it out and end up with her developing one of the autoimmune diseases?  Gah. But then again, I have lived to age 37 with no major medical hassles. In college and high school. I had "exercise induced asthma." I also was super sensitive to dairy. Now I drink milk and eat ice cream, but I'm not forced to do it daily (milk) nor do I choose to eat ice cream daily. I haven't used an inhaler since 2001. (coincident with gaining lots of weight while pg and swearing ice cream should not be a part of my weekly grocery list).

Your thoughts?

[sparkletruck]

I have some thoughts kerc, but I'm prepping for my work-out.... later today I hope

as for stress induced brain-weakness, I actually understand what its about (I think its "decision fatigue" - there was an interesting article in the NYT mag. awhile back about how making a lot of decisions wears out the ability over the course of a day, week, etc. so that judges, judging the same cases in the morning or night are more likely to set harder punishments at night, poor people have a harder time with accountability tasks b/c they spend a lot of energy parsing how and where to spend the small amount they have (bus, laundry, which groceries this week, etc) My brain feels so taxed by all the writing/critical thinking decisions Im making to construct all these arguments that I, like you Real, am planning all the rewards for myself after this is done. Maybe I'll come back to earth and do none, but new running shoes? A massage? All under consideration...

off to the gym for weights...

oh yeah, to add to the stress, DS had lice. "had" b/c we shaved his head yesterday, but the laundry has not stopped (i.e. ME doing all the laundry between sentences about Episteme ), but yeah, that the girls dont get it...

[Geofizz]

Kerc, I don't understand what of those changes has you focusing on the Zn. Is there a reason to think its deficient in her diet?

I'm very skeptical of the gluten sensitivity stuff. Except in celiacs, there is little evidence of robust medical evidence of its importance, as when you take gluten ingredients out of your diet, you must eat much more simply, and I question if the difference is the gluten or just removing eating crap and, for many people, just eating too much.

Do the blood tests like these always show these sensititivies? I'd love to see how they come back when given a random distribution of the population, not just those struggling with rashes and other such struggles.

Dairy sensitivity runs in families. The sensitivies also have more medical ooomph behind it with regards to excema and other things like frequent ear infections, If you know you've struggled with it in the past, then that would be where i'd start.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by Geofizz 

Kerc, I don't understand what of those changes has you focusing on the Zn. Is there a reason to think its deficient in her diet?

The Zn comes from her pediatrician who suggested that sometimes people are low in Zn when they have rashes around their mouth or anus. Supplementing can help.

Do the blood tests like these always show these sensititivies? I'd love to see how they come back when given a random distribution of the population, not just those struggling with rashes and other such struggles.

Well yes. That's the 100,000 dollar question.Because I don't know of a single person who has had this stuff done at this office and *not* come back sensitive to something.

 Also bugging me: there's no # associated with the amount of Iga/igg found. I get that it varies for each, but this just shows a spectrum. No error bars. No way to establish what they (the lab) thinks highly reactive means.  edited to add: looking deeper into the lab. There's 30% error between runs on the IGg (grey bars).  Deeply suppressed analytical geochemist in me, who measured crap at the parts per billion range for her doctoral work, is looking for a second opinion.

Also a google on the lab she used --> top hit is "quackwatch". Super.

On the dairy: we've eliminated it before and not seen profound results. Several times. Including when I was nursing and she was a colicky baby.

Edited by kerc - 10/27/12 at 8:11am

[kerc]

Also a dive into the medical literature suggests that people who have zn deficiencies are more likely to be sensitive to the most common sensitivities. And we've supplemented with fish oil before, but the ocmbination of the fish oil + zinc seems to have cleared stuff up like nobody's business.

[MelW]

My experience with allergy testing is that there are lots of false positives and false negatives, and that they're helpful for guidance in what *might* be problematic, but need to be confirmed with dietary elimination followed by challenge. And that many sensitivities are variable over time or do fine with light/rotational eating (similar to what you described as your possible plan). My immunologist recommends a 5 day elimination diet followed by two day challenges, though I've sometimes needed to use more than 5 days to clear rashes to get to a baseline that we could assess challenges from.

As for food ideas, feel free to hit me up for recipes. I have one kid allergic to dairy (the other not), a husband very allergic to egg (but not the kids), and other kid allergic to wheat plus a gazillion other things. Most of our family meals are dairy, egg and wheat-free. I'm also an occasional believer in "leaky gut" but with a good dose of skepticism. My biggest rant about allergies is to blame monoculture- I think repeated exposures to the genetically identical corn/wheat/cow/etc. as mainstays in our diets is problematic, though can't quite figure out how to reconcile this with my knowledge anthropologically of many cultures reliant on very few foods. Seasonal rotation, perhaps?

[kerc]

Originally Posted by MelW 

My experience with allergy testing is that there are lots of false positives and false negatives, and that they're helpful for guidance in what *might* be problematic, but need to be confirmed with dietary elimination followed by challenge. And that many sensitivities are variable over time or do fine with light/rotational eating (similar to what you described as your possible plan). My immunologist recommends a 5 day elimination diet followed by two day challenges, though I've sometimes needed to use more than 5 days to clear rashes to get to a baseline that we could assess challenges from.

Maybe we need an immunologist. Then I would feel better.

[Plady]

Originally Posted by Realrellim 



What is this "sexual prime" everyone is speaking of? I'm pretty sure I've never felt as asexual as I have in my 30s. Maybe that will change in the next two years before I hit 40? (Maybe not and I don't really care?)

Yup, asexual, that's the word isn't it?  Maybe there is no such thing as a 'prime' in the  30's, I certainly didn't experience it, but maybe it wasn't so much me and my partner missing out as having accepted a bill of goods from Cosmo that had no basis in reality in the first place.  But still, I feel like that Frog in the Princess and the Frog, "kissing is nice, yes?" and then getting shut down.  

Kerc - I also question the validity of the tests since I have yet to meet someone for whom they didn't uncover heretofore unrealized sensitivities.  That said, I'm in the midst of reading Wheat Belly and it certainly makes a compelling case for why gluten intolerance is a true modern epidemic and not just a food fad for those who can shop at Whole Foods.  If you haven't read it the basis of the argument is that the wheat that is in all out bread and all our processed foods is a brandy fresh new genetically modified frankengrain that bears little resemblance to the stuff our parents' generation and before ate.  That this new strand which is easier for farmers to grow lots of has a particular arrangement of complex carbohydrate that spikes up human blood sugar in an unnaturally dramatic way (more so than sucrose) and triggers all sorts of physiologic responses to deal with it.  And in the end it seems like he's leading up to suggesting a pretty typical low carb diet, which I guess, now that I'm paying some attention to gluten is of course gluten-free if you cut out all the grains and aren't eating processed food either.  In any case, I heartily sympathize with feeling left out to dry by dh (my words, not yours).  Mine is nearly always unsupportive of taking steps towards preventative care or any treatments that might disrupt his day (including taking dogs to the vet when they are chewing their ass off leaving that to me and adding the sense that it is a waste of time and money as well - let's not talk about that vasectomy he was supposed to schedule over a year ago now).  And I'd feel the same way, which is the greater evil?  Annoying the whole family with a complete dietary overhaul or putting a child at risk of future disease in the name of current convenience?  I don't know.  But I hear you.

Sparkle - Yes!  Brain overload = just can't be bothered to make the right choice inside or out.  When I get stressed I can tell because my inner voice turns into some NJ mob underling, very Joe Pesci.  Then I start thinking about how "it's not fair that everyone else in the world gets to <insert treat/activity here>" and then if I don't take a time out for myself the next thing you know I'm not at all a nice person to be around except that you might be able to extort some ice cream from me.

Gaye - Long before I ran at all I read a story about someone who'd run the NYC marathon in a very casual way, stopping for pizza in Brooklyn and a beer in the Bronx.  It made me first want to run one myself.  Maybe you could make the trip to NYC more about touring than timing?   

MelW - How exciting for your dd (and you)!  Is it inside or outside?  If outside I'll send some extra dry weather vibes your way!

ETA - X-posted with MelW and Kerc.  MelW, maybe new GM strains are the missing link in your monoculture theory?

[Geofizz]

I recall the Zn decificency is a big issue for people survivng on diets of mostly manIoc root. Any gaps in her diet that would suggest she's actually deficient?

[Shantimama]

Does walking my kids a couple of kilometers to and from work and walking the dog count towards maintaining my Dingo status?  I can't believe how inactive I have become after being on my feel all summer. I need to find a middle ground here!

kerc - I have noticed that every single person I know who has been to a naturopath around here has been told they are gluten sensitive. It does make me suspicious. That said, when I keep it out of my diet I do feel significantly better even though I am not celiac. I think there are people who are genuinely sensitive to it but I also agree with geo that for many people, they make other significant dietary changes when they eliminate gluten and that likely accounts for some of the changes in some, if not most of them.

I am plugging away at coursework here. Other stuff is not good at all so it is nice to have something measurable to see I am making some progress in at least one aspect of my life. I am half way through the work for one of the courses I started October 1 and just started the process of gathering articles for the research paper for this course. The others are sheer memorization of theories and facts with lots of multiple choice and essay questions on quizzes and exams. That is going to take some stamina but I keep reminding myself of the goal. I am still waiting to hear what else I need to take to meet the prerequisites for the programs I want to begin in the spring and suspect this year will simply consist of a lot of grunt work and box ticking. Caffeine helps a lot.

[JayGee]

Kerc - how frustrating! I tend to take those kinds of tests with a grain of salt as well. To diagnose my own rash problems I did total elimination for 30 days (Whole30), and then did individual trials of various allergens. Dairy was fine, non-gluten grains were fine. Gluten caused blistering welts between my fingers and on my knees. So now I know to steer clear of gluten and have had no further problems. And it's nice to have some rice and cream in my coffee without stressing about the rash maybe returning. Could you try something like that?

Libido - yeah, a little low in that department as well. Actually it is probably more of an opportunity problem than a libido problem. Darn kids....

Sparkle - lice?! Yuck! I will add my prayers that the girls stay lice free. And my eating is the first thing to go in the crapper when stress hits. Thankful I am not a shopper.

RR - nothing today, but I got in touch with a group that runs on trails with headlamps on Monday nights. I want to try it out!

NRR - recently I have been thinking about those things that make me truly happy and how to incorporate those things into my life. Trail running is one of those things, along with books/reading, and being around animals. In fact, just thinking about those things makes me smile .