Cold Two

I think I'm sick.  Ugh.  Second time this year.  Not sure if it's allergies that led to sinusitis that led to an upper respiratory infection, or if it's some kind of virus, or if it was just exhaustion, but I feel like crud.  Maybe my breaking point is to work out for every single day, at least once a day, often twice (if you count 90 minutes of hot yoga!), for about 3 weeks. 

It's funny, usually if my body needs a rest day from exercise, I feel it in sore muscles, most frequently it seems to be somewhere in my calf muscles.  And I usually listen -- take a day or two off, and then come back feeling better.

But this time, I am soooo sleepy, my nose is running and stuffy, I have a horrible headache, and I feel like I can't breathe. 

I sucked it up and went to urgent care and he gave me the allergies/sinusitis/upper resp infection line.  And meds.  I guess that's all that really matters.

I don't think China will let me in the country if I show up sick, so I need to get better quickly! 

Fortunately, if I don't get around to most of the stuff on my long to-do list for this weekend, it won't be the end of the world.  It will make next weekend significantly more chaotic, but I'll manage. 

Writing to Beijing

Now the Beijing marathon delay is becoming more and more official (so far it was only news reports from the Financial Times and Runner's World that indicated it was cancelled).  I'd be lying if I said there wasn't still a little part of my heart that was hoping they were wrong.

But now the official marathon travel organization for foreign runners posted an announcement on the webpage:

Dear marathon runners,


China International Travel Service, Head Office received an urgent notice from the Beijing Marathon Organizing Committee (BMOC) that the prior designated race date (Oct. 14th) is largely PRONE TO DELAY due to multiple factors. No further information is available from the organizing committee yet.

We advise you NOT to book Beijing flights and hotels at the moment in case of any schedule changes. CITS, as a designated marathon entry agency for foreign amateur runners, and as China's largest and most trusted state-owned travel operator, fully understand the situation and feel sorry for all the inconvenience. We deeply regret the organizer's inappropriate moves on the announcement of race date and will spare no efforts in urging the committee to publish their final arrangements. For applicants who have already paid the entry fee yet cannot come due to the delay of information shall e-mail us at citsmarathon@cits.com.cn to apply for refund. We'll reply a.s.a.p and report to the committee accordingly.

Please keep close track on the official website of Beijing Marathon (http://www.beijing-marathon.com) about the latest updates of the event. We will also keep our entry site (http://marathon.cits.com.cn) updated.

Hahahaha.  About three weeks before the scheduled race they tell you to hold off on making travel arrangements??  Who really flies to Beijing from abroad for a marathon and books their plane tickets on three weeks' notice or less?  Seriously, who? 

So I sent this email:

I just wanted to let you know so that you can report to the marathon committee that I have wanted to run the Beijing marathon ever since I watched the Olympics on TV in 2008.

Because this is a very expensive and major trip, requiring a lot of money and many vacation days, my husband and I saved and planned to run the marathon in 2012. We spent over $2,000 on plane tickets, another $400 on visas, and we reserved a hotel near the marathon starting line for over $700. Unfortunately, because the marathon has been cancelled, I will not be able to run it, but we cannot afford to lose all the money we have paid, so we will still be taking a vacation to China. It is very disappointing and I had much higher expectations for a big city marathon. It is also disappointing that I have spent all summer training for the marathon, and I will now not be able to run it -- I wonder if the committee that cancelled it knew how many people worked so hard, running 20 miles on a hot summer morning to be prepared to run in Beijing on Oct. 14. We will be arriving in Beijing on October 12. I will never plan to run Beijing again, this was a very bad and disappointing experience.

Please note, I know this is not your fault. I just wanted to share my experience and disappointment with you so that you could share it with others as you deem appropriate.

I feel that was a good way of summing up how I felt, and I hope I didn't come across as bitterly and hatefully as I feel most days when I think about it. 

Sigh...

Salad Change

So I posted about this before but we had to have our blood drawn for work and get our lab results if we want to be on the PPO at work (not the high deductible health plan) and have part of the costs paid by our employer.

My blood work came back okay, despite the fact that I hadn't technically been fasting that day (I'd eaten a granola bar at about 5:10 a.m. before I ran out of habit, then had my blood drawn just after 9). But there were a few items listed among my blood test results that were not great.

First, my BP was "elevated.". About 123/84, so not bad, but my doctor said it should be under 120 and under 80.  But just yesterday at the dentist's office, it was 123/77, so marginally better.  Still a bit higher than it should be. 

Second, my cholesterol was "borderline.". It was 204, and the doctor said it should be under 200.

Third, my iron was totally out of whack. Not unusual for a vegetarian woman who exercises a lot, right? Well, it would not be unusual for a vegetarian woman who exercises a lot to have low iron, but mine was high. Wtf? I would say generally I'm a pretty healthy eater too.  (As an aside, my doctor sent me a letter telling me to stop taking all iron supplements immediately -- which makes NO sense since I'm not taking iron supplements and I never have, so for now I just cut out my multi-vitamin per the doc, and will get the iron retested in a few months.)

Fourth, least alarming, were my many allergies. They tested for a lot of things (it was an elective test I chose at no cost!). The good range for a reaction to an allergen is 0 to 0.05.  I ended up with lots of things in the .1 to 1.0 range.  But for some things like cats and dogs, I was over 4.0!  But most shocking I thought was Kentucky Bluegrass, and my number for that was over 65.0! Yikes!  Guess I should find out where that is and never ever ever go there. 

Anyway, back to the things I can control at least somewhat like BP, cholesterol and iron. 

Coincidentally, this month's issue of Vegetarian Times had an article about how to lower cholesterol naturally. Well, less article, more Q&A. Someone who is a vegan asked about lowering cholesterol. Some of the suggestions were to eat more beans, oatmeal, okra, barley, and soy (and nuts, but given the allergies, that would kill me) and less olive oil (actually less of all oils).

So my big plan, put into effect last night after yoga, is to make my dinner salad after yoga with my usual mix of veggies (usually spinach or mixed greens and red onion, then sometimes some avocado and/or artichokes and/or olives or whatever else we have around), topped with only red or white wine vinegar and pepper. I'm also going to try to add beans to the salad a couple nights per week.

Guess we will know next year when it gets checked again if this helps.  Or maybe if I get my iron retested in a few months, they can check cholesterol too. 

Hood to Coast Van Decorations

One of the more enjoyable parts of the relay was checking out all the other vans and their decorations.  I wish I'd thought to take photos of more of them, but I did take shots of a decent number.

If I had to pick a favorite (at least from among those I photographed), I'd probably go with one of the lawyer jokes or the Princess Bride one (I think third photo below).

Themes I noticed -- lots of 12-year-old boy humor.  We love to Fartlek.  My third leg is hard.  Our third leg is harder than yours.  Chuck Norris would run 400 miles.  Where are my nipple guards?  My wife is going to take my very hard third leg.

You get the idea.  Anyway, checking out the vans was a fun way to pass the time.  Wish I'd been better about photographing my favorites. 

Princess Bride:

This one made me laugh -- pimp my airport shuttle:

Jocks in a box, as featured in the Hood to Coast movie I believe:

I just liked the protruding foot on this one:

The back half of this van was picutred above.  The D'Feeters.

I take it this means 5 male runners, 1 female?:

Less a van pic, more just a random relay exchange, but vans right along the road:

Hood to Coast virgins?  No idea...  One of the guys in our van thought we should catch up and ask but we didn't. 

Sweet!  A Texas van!  (Not ours)