I'm running a marathon - Sunday

I'm running a marathon Sunday.  It still hasn't hit me.  But here are 10 things I have learned about training for the marathon.

1. Exhaustion is nothing compared to training for a marathon.  I have never felt so physically tired in my life.  I'm no stranger to commitment and training for extended hours per day.  But running is a different animal.  (It also really stops the kids from whining when they say they are tired and have no time to train for skating....I give them the look and they realize that the commitment, make an action plan and follow it speech is going to come out and if I can work 2 + jobs and run 35-40 miles per week + they can figure it out).
2. I can eat anything.  Pretty much I am starving all the time....I'm not sure what is more intense the exhaustion or hunger.  I can have whatever I want without any repercussions.
3. Hmmm....the above statement is somewhat untrue.  I cannot drink adult beverages the night before a run.  I pay the price with each miserable step.  I even stopped taking wine tasting classes as it was having a bad affect on my Thursday runs.
4. Running is not about speed but distance for the marathon.  My pace has really slowed down.  It will be interesting post marathon to see how that changes.  And due to the distance I have noticed that there are times my feet hurt....oh how a foot rub sounds so amazing.
5. It really makes a difference to have run buddies to train, cheer you on and to jump in during the race to support us! You know who you are and I'm so grateful!
6. My social life really has sucked.  I'm too tired to go out or I'm running.  I'm looking forward to spending time with friends who have been neglected by my lack of availability and time.  And I appreciate how supportive my non-runner friends have been.
7. My mom actually has taken notice of my running and wished me luck for this weekend.  This is a first.  The only other comment she has made is to my friend's mom that I'm crazy.  (That might be true)
8. I have had in depth conversations with other runners about important aspects of the race like there are not too many bathrooms after mile 9 and how to make sure you "go" so you don't have to "go" during the race.  I'm just going to say coffee does not work.  Chia seed....
9. Coming back around to being exhausted - I was telling my pt how I am so tired all the time...all I do is run, work and run some more.  Dan asked me to turn over to check my sacrum and said "Well I can confirm you are tired because your pants are on inside out".  I then got the flu the next day and didn't run for a week.
10. You can take a week off (even if forced) but because of the base of miles still not lose any ground.  I did notice Diana increase her distance from me on the hills but hey I had the flu.

I was informed that champagne was meant to be drank quickly and not to save it.  My dad got me for my 38th birthday a bottle of Dom Perignon.  I was waiting for a special occasion.  I'm happy to say I plan of having that this weekend as this is a special moment for me. 

"You blow a big ball"

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A day of silence

Apr 6, 2012

6:40 AM

7:46 PM

13h 05m 36s

+ 3m 08s

1:13 PM

51.3°

149.732

I was wondering how I was going to go from sunrise to sunset with a day of silence.  This meant no talking, no music, no reading, no phone, email, text, media, etc.  As it turned out I ended up getting the flu on Tuesday afternoon.  Because of my state and how weak I was am, I decided that I should use this opportunity.  I decided not to write a to do list and just go about my day, as this would involve writing and reading.  I had plenty to catch up on as my life halted but everything else had moved forward.  Today was the first day that I started feeling a little better.  It was in my best interest to pretty much clean up.  I started by washing my bedding, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen.  However, my body said you can't do all that and I had to take breaks and did so by napping, resting, drinking tea and doing a little knitting.

Knitting a scarf 

For the most part I did not speak...ok I broke twice by accident.  Both times were to the dog....who else am I going to talk to.  I might have talked to myself out loud, but that is questionable because when one cannot speak there are so many thought running through one's head.

So my first incident went like this...first you must have some backstory.  I haven't had an appetite at all.  Yesterday I forced myself to eat solid food after stepping on the scale and noticing I had dropped 10 lbs and had a freak out moment because I'm running a marathon at the end of the month and I cannot compromise my training. Today, I noticed I was hungry, so around 3 pm I actually cooked up ground beef, sauteed orange bell peppers, added spices, black beans and created a delicious taco salad.  Roms was sniffing at the table and the words automatically flew out of my mouth - "No, get away from there".  I grimaced and then negative self talk started within my head..."why did you do that"? "that was so dumb".  Then I started to justify..."well, it's out of habit", "I was caught off guard", "this is my first experience doing this and I'm not a retreat where all distractions including Roms is not there".  Then I remembered that mistakes in life are often gifts.  I feel that, in general, most people are too afraid to make mistakes and how can one grow or learn without making mistakes.

So I moved on.  I thought a lot about the last time I had the flu.  I couldn't go anywhere for two weeks, who was there for me, the relationships I had then and the ones I still have now. The new relationships I've formed since then and how some of my relationships have changed over time. Then I felt gratitude for the family and friends in my life, the experiences I've had and the life I choose to live.

I know that life in solitude is not a life, at least for me.  I have always found my energy around people and I am a verbal processor.  This was good lesson for me to look inward.  Maybe at the very least to gain a better understanding of my introverted friends.

When the alarm rang on my phone, I turned it off and instead of calling someone I turned on my computer and started writing.  I still feel and believe I am not done processing all of this because I haven't "talked" it out.  I'm sure as the days pass, my insight will become more clear.  What I decide to do with that insight will be the shift in perspective and possible change(s) that I may make from here on out.

BEER 101

Beer 101

I decided that I wanted to brew my own beer.  Immediately I thought of my cousin, Ron, who has over 16 years brewing experience, resident brewing expert and has taught homebrew to many people.  So I called him and he got me in contact with Kim at Let's Brew.

I set up a time so that Ron could teach both myself and my friend Karen in the kitchen how to do a home brew in a small batch. Karen has gluten intolerance so she was able to create a gluten free beer.  I decided to make a Belgian style beer called Abbey.

Karen adding in hops

Specialty grains were placed in hot water to steep.  For Karen, she had adjunct grains of corn to steep.   As for the pots water on the burners, I added belgian candy sugar and hops.  Karen added sorghum and hops.  Hops come from the Humulis Lupulus plant or vine. It is the female flower that is used in brewing. Hops are what makes beer bitter.  Hope also act as a natural preservative that allows beer to last up to a year in storage at properly controlled temperatures.

To be honest, the concoction of water, hops and sweetener didn't look so great - much like the consistency boiling watery puke.  Look below and decide for yourself.

Left is my Abbey Ale and the right is Gluten Free

We then drained off the water that the grains or corn were steeping in and added it to the pots with another round of hops for aroma and I added sweet orange peel to my beer.

Sterilizing the fermenter

Everything must be sterilized because of the yeast in the beer.  Any contamination that gets to the yeast affects the beer.  Which by the way, beer gets most of it's flavor from yeast.  

Adding in hops

Ron

Once the process of boiling is complete, we transferred the pots to the sink area where we placed an immersion wort chiller which is a coil of copper tubing that has cool water running through it.  You stir the beer (without creating bubbles) to a set temperature....which I can't remember at this time.  This is why I had Ron help me being the beer expert.  Then the beer can be transferred into the fermenter.  Once the beer is in the fermenter yeast is added and the Brix is checked with a refractometer, which measures the number of Brix, identifying which identifies the amount of sugar content that is in the beer before fermentation.  Post fermentation a Hydrometer is used to check the gravity of the beer and then alcohol content can be measured.

Karen pouring her beer

Pouring in my creation

Checking Brix

Writing down pertinent info

Look how different our beer is.

Quality time with Ron

Brewing Beer Part Deux

Two weeks later we return to Let's Brew.  We begin by choosing our caps for our bottles and cleaning the bottles.  The bottles are washed and some are transferred to a holder, as we needed to wash additional bottles.  

Cleaning the bottles

Redneck Christmas Tree

Next is to transfer the beer and not take any of the yeast.  The beer is siphoned off so that we can pour the beer into the bottles.

Look at the yeast at the bottom

Siphoning the beer 

The bottling process is four steps once the bottles are washed.

1. Add a carbonation drop
2. Blow out any additional air in the bottles with CO2
3. Add beer
4. Cap bottle

Ok the last step is to place the bottle in the box.

Adding carbonation

Blowing out the air

Pouring in the beer

Capping the beer

Finished product

The beer is stored at room temperature for about two weeks.  I am then going to test one of the beers.  It is not quite two weeks yet.  However, I am anticipating that it will be fabulous.  I always enjoy spending time with Ron and had a blast doing this.  In the future, I would like do a barley wine and honey cream ale.  Watch out McMenamins.

***As of today the beer is ready to taste, however, I am in not in a position to taste anything as I have come down with the flu.  I will keep you all posted.