Mudshine

Mud season has arrived in all its glory. I finally got out for a 20 miler this morning, just in time to beat the brief hailstorm that passed overhead just as I was getting out of the car to go in the house after my run.

Our weather continues to be unusually wet and cool. Every day we've had at least a little rain, many days it's been dumping. The Poudre River is high and if we get any warm weather soon it might overflow its banks onto the bike path. Longs Peak is solid white with snow from all the moisture we've had.

I've been struggling with the consistency but it seems like every time I go out for something long, it doesn't tire me out. Today I ran for about two hours and forty minutes of my 20 miles, walking the rest of the distance. I got a good 2600 feet each of climb and descent on the Horsetooth hills. I did two Maniacs all the way to the bottom and three As. By the end of the run I still didn't feel like it was a legitimate workout, it felt too easy. Maybe just too short.

I was hoping for some heat, but I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I did some work for a while then got up to the reservoir by 7 am to start running. That turned out perfect because the rain didn't wait a minute past 11 am to start.

The trails in the foothills have been closed due to the mud, and as I sit here typing it is sunny but tiny hailstones are pounding on the roof of the woman cave. I hope it doesn't destroy my tomatoes, spinach, kale and lettuce that are all doing so well. Today the wet weather lasts about 30 seconds and then it gets sunny and dries up again. Saves on watering.

My running plans are still the same, planning on crewing Bob on his return trip at Badwater in early August, and no racing for me. I am not even tempted by anything right now. I would like to get out and do a long run of 50 miles or so in the month of June. Just to do it, and remind my legs again.

I was hoping to do a long run, maybe even the donut run, last weekend, but then we had this freak shooting in Windsor. They haven't caught the person who shot a guy on his bike twice and killed him! There's also someone shooting at cars on I-25 between here and Windsor. I don't know if they are related, but until they solve it, I am not running between here and Windsor, or anywhere around Windsor or I-25. Forget the donuts.

Maybe I will do a donut to brewery run instead. That should keep me safely inside Fort Collins. Call it the Drunken Dunkin Donut Dash or something? Gotta make it entertaining.

Not much news around here. The post office still has not fixed the mailbox and I've been told anywhere from a month to three months before the mailbox is replaced. Great. I just love being a regular at the post office.

And speaking of slinging mud, I wrote an opinion piece in the local paper, on Nurses' Week, and then some dude responded by slinging mud at me. Claiming to be a nurse, but he's an administrator with a nursing degree. A dinosaur. And he showed exactly why I wrote the opinion piece in the first place, and why I started the website Fighting Dinosaurs too. A perfect example of how nurses eat their young. So my friend Melissa in Florida wrote a response to HIM. I did write my own response to him here, but I doubt if he'll ever read it.

He really wasn't worth the time but I felt like mansplaining it back to him, more for the benefit of people who don't quite understand the BS that nurses deal with all the time. This was a textbook example of horizontal violence. Actually I prefer to call it vertical violence because it rains down on nurses' heads from above. (Sort of like the old, crude but accurate saying, "they're pissing on my head and telling me it's raining")

It stopped hailing and raining. Now it's sunny. Iris is watching the garden grow. It's time for a nap.

It's Monday and My Legs Hurt

As predicted, my legs hurt like hell today. I wasn't going to let that stop me though. Last night it cooled off dramatically and we were actually COLD. I got out an extra blanket and closed the windows.

This morning it was freezing! To me, 44 degrees feels like freezing. It was a perfectly clear day though, the air was crisp this morning and a perfect running day.

I started with the girls for a mile and a half, then did another 9, then another 4 1/2 tonight at Warren Lake for a total of 15 for the day. The morning wasn't too bad, a bit rough getting started, but I didn't really notice the soreness except for going up and down the stairs. Tonight's workout was a struggle. The soreness really started to kick in.

I'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm supposed to meet Emma early in the morning for a run. I hope I can climb out of bed!

I want to go up in the mountains but I'm too busy this week. if I get all my stuff done, I can go up next week. I'm also running the Estes Park Half the weekend after next. But I want to hit the trails up high, even though I know my ankles won't like it. I just need to get up there on the trails, way up high, and see, and breathe.

Today is our 24th wedding anniversary. Dennis went for a run, which is cause for celebration. Maybe he realizes that I might chick him by our 25th if he doesn't do something now. But he also brought home a key lime pie. It could have something to do with that.

I'm hoping this soreness will go away by mid-week. I'm looking pathetic. This is worse than after a long ultra. A few more quad-bashing sessions and I should be bombproof!

Carb O.D. at the Silver Grill

It was long past time to get back up on the hill and do Rock Repeats. I miss this workout, but I wasn't doing a lot for hills all year. I don't need much vertical for what I do, but it helps for strength, and it's a good break from the usual pavement.

The Rock Repeat course is a wide service road in the park, it's dirt with a few slightly rocky sections but nothing approaching technical. It's a good compromise for my weak ankles, a chance to get off the pavement, go up and see the views, without dealing with rocky stuff that hurts with every step. In the summer it has the added benefit of being wide enough to see the snakes.

Wrapping up an 80 mile week today wasn't too bad. I thought I'd be tired but I felt good. So good that I ran two Rock Repeats at a pace I haven't run since 2007. Almost my best splits ever on that thing both up and down, and I walked a majority of the uphills. I felt strong on both the uphill section, and coming down, I could feel that I have more turnover in my legs. What holds me back on the downhills is my brain, worried about my ankles.

There were no snakes to be seen today, though. It was a cool morning, I was cold at the top when I stopped to take some pictures. The flowers were out everywhere, we've had some rain lately and everything is green and blooming. The trail was busy with hikers and mountain bikers but very few runners. I got started late, didn't get to the trailhead until 8:30.

After the second Rock Repeat I knew it wouldn't be wise to do another whole one, because as past experience tells me, I will most likely be extremely sore for several days after this. I went partway up the dirt road, for about a mile, then came back down and finished the last couple of miles on the paved road to Redstone Canyon. Not a bad 13 miles with 3000 feet of climb and the same of descent.

After I got home Dennis twisted my arm into going to the Silver Grill where I downed two huge plates of food. A plate of cinnamon roll French toast and another huge plate of hash browns with green chile. More carbs than I've eaten all week, but it's what I needed today. If you are ever in Fort Collins you should eat breakfast at the Silver Grill. I think it might be the oldest restaurant in town, or close to it. Anyway it is an ideal place to refuel after a long run.

I'm refueled from today's run, and getting prepped for next week's triple digit mileage. As Wheaties Boy would say, "now shit gets real".

Easter Frogs on Maniac Hill

Not the Easter bunnies. Easter is one of those holidays that I don't really notice. The other day I saw one of my neighbors and she asked me what we were doing for Easter. I asked her, "When is Easter?"

She laughed. "It's this Sunday!"

Better get going, slacker...time is running out!

Not having been raised Christian I don't ever think about Easter and I'm barely aware of it. Sort of blends into spring. I don't even associate Peeps with Easter, only with spring. So when people wish me Happy Easter it always takes me by surprise. I just wish them a Happy Easter back, and move on.

So what are we doing for Easter? Dennis is in the garage taking the window air conditioning unit apart and cleaning it out before he installs it in the window again. We don't have central AC, good for heat training.

He took the girls to Starbucks while I was out on my run. I went for a short run with Iris this morning, and then went up to Horsetooth Reservoir to do a 15 mile hill run. I waited until 10:30 to get started, it was supposed to warm up to the 70s, which it did. I felt good and ran a good pace up and down those hills, feeling very strong on the climbs. It rained for about 10 minutes when I was coming down the big hill. Not very much, and it didn't really cool things down once it passed. I need whatever heat training I can get in these next 2 weeks.



I noticed this pond at the top of Maniac Hill, it usually is dried up, but now it's green and has water in it, and the sound of the frogs was deafening. You know it's loud when motorcycles and cars are going by and you can still hear the frogs! I guess frogs are sort of like Easter bunnies, they hop...

Yesterday I had a hard time getting my run in. I procrastinated until early afternoon, which is never a good thing for me. I am not an afternoon person. When I finally got out, I was unmotivated and ended up running into someone I know, and we talked for about an hour out there on the Power Trail, and by the time we were done I was even less motivated, so I finished 5 miles and went home and played darts in the garage with Dennis after he helped me pull all my stuff for Cornbelt out from behind all the junk that's accumulated over the past year.

It's a lazy day, Isabelle is in her usual spot in the grass in the front yard, and Iris is here at my feet. Pretty boring, and it's nice to have boring sometimes. Happy Easter.

A Dam Maniac!

That's the name of my workout today. I went up to run hills at Horsetooth. The scene at Horsetooth right now is somewhere between these two pictures.

The weather was a lot nicer, but it was still cold this morning. Not quite so bad though.

I wanted to get a decent hill workout and I would like to have run Rock Repeats, but with the snow and ice and now mud, it would be a mess and the footing would not be good for my ankles. I opted for the road.

I only needed about 12 miles to get my 60 mile goal for the week, but somehow that didn't seem like enough of a challenge. My arms were tired from carrying the pogo stick while running in the beer tour!

I ended up with a little over 17 miles today and somewhere around 2000 feet of ascent, and the same of descent. But I did the same workout a month ago and today I was a lot faster! Somewhere around 40 seconds per mile faster. I didn't have to push hard on the hills, just a steady pace that challenged me without really pushing hard. That tells me I recovered well from Pemberton.

I ran down the A hill, over Maniac and back, then back north on the A and down to the Lory State Park turnoff, up almost to the park entrance, then back down and up over Dam Hill, and then one more time down and then up A hill and back to Rotary Park. About two hours and 50 minutes. Ten minute mile average on those hills is a good pace.

I ended up with 65 miles for the week, without any long runs. I guess I consider 20 miles + a long run.

This next week, actually the next 2 1/2 weeks, are super busy for me. I'm going to shoot for getting a 70 mile week or two before the end of the month, and I should be able to do that despite my insane schedule. It's all good insanity, well, mostly. Except the taxes part. But hopefully that won't turn out too bad either. Finishing up my Cancer Exercise Trainer course this week, and lots and lots of meetings, all business-related. Exciting stuff.

I am giving a presentation to the Aspen Club on March 5th. This will be the first time back at the hospital since I quit. I'm looking forward to it though. It's a community group to promote health and well-being in people over 50. Hey, I could almost be a member. My talk will be 5 days too early, I guess.

The birthday run will be a low key one this year, for lack of brain power to put into making a creative theme. Just too much going on for me all at once right now.

I do plan to make it an interesting running tour of some of my favorite spots in Fort Collins, though, including some breweries. There will be Buffaloes. Spongebob might show up. I'm expecting Sasquatch, too. There might even be some pogo sticking. The distance will be more like 20 miles, though, not 50.

Don't worry, I'll make up for it later.

Beaten by a Prairie Dog

OMG. I barely survived a 13.1-ish mile run this morning up and down the hills of suburban Louisville...the Prairie Dog Half Marathon.

All I know is that it hurt, I suffered, I finished, and I'm glad it's over. Wow, I didn't think I could hurt so much in just 13.1 miles but I did. Final time 1:53:56 on my watch. Chip time might be a little faster. Might be.

I woke up too early this morning, I couldn't sleep well because I knew I had to get up. I had my coffee, some oatmeal and yogurt. It was cold and clear, with just a hint of breeze outside.

I always overestimate how long it will take me to get to the Denver area. I drove down to Louisville and got there too early, I could have used the extra half hour of sleep. But I picked up my packet and hit the portapotties before the crowds. I saw Joanne and her husband Hunter, we talked some before we lined up for the start.

There I am, in my blissful ignorance before the race. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into.

I ran into my Fort Collins expatriate running buddy Eddie Metro, now living in Boulder, shortly before the start. As I said to him, I have no idea what to expect, I'm lost on how to pace myself at anything shorter than 50 miles...

And I got that part right. I took off fairly far back in the pack, at a comfortable but brisk pace. I haven't tried running any road races longer than 5K in forever, so when I reached the one mile mark in 7:40 I was little surprised. It didn't feel that fast and I was able to talk.

I hit 2 miles in 15:30 and 3 miles in 23:23. I felt good, realizing that it was already faster than the last 5K I did. Seven pounds lighter could account for that.

AND THEN.

The next mile was gradually uphill, and then miles 5 and 6 were UP. Up, up, up...on a dirt path...switchbacks, curves, on and off of sidewalks, bike paths, streets...and my legs were tired. Still tired from being re-introduced to real training.

It was sooooo hilly...then we had to do the torture loop from hell. There was a flat one mile or so loop at the top of the plateau, before we started to head back down around 9 miles. But the downhill part was never consistent like the uphill part was. I am good on the downhills and I was able to make up a little. I was wearing my soft, comfortable Pearl Izumi H3s, and they feel good when I'm running fast, even on the downhills.

I reached 11 miles in 1:31 and was excited, thinking my time might not be too bad. But then I heard some runners talking about how the mile markers were all off and that the mile marks were all short on their Garmins. Oh, poop. Damn road racers, know it alls, so anal. I bet they're the same ones who put the 13.1 stickers on their cars. I've got you pegged.

Just kidding, really...you all probably kicked my ass today.

We went downhill, under a tunnel, and then made a 180, which made us run UPHILL and INTO THE WIND for the last mile and a half. There went my time fantasy...

Around 12 and a half miles Eddie was waiting for me, snapping pictures with his camera. He ran about a quarter mile with me as I approached the final mile marker. He took off ahead, telling me to smile when I cross the finish line...all I could do was gasp, "Do you know CPR?"

I had NOTHING left in my legs when I hit that finish line. My legs were toast. I could barely stand while Eddie helped me take off my timing chip. It was a strange feeling because aerobically I could have pushed harder, I was never struggling with the breathing. My exhausted legs were holding me back. The prairie dog kicked my butt, and legs, basically, everything below my hips. But Eddie won his age group. Way to go!

Eddie and I after the finish. He was almost propping me up...photo credit: some nice dude snapping Eddie Metro's camera

It's all good though...I got a good, hard, challenging, hilly 13 mile run in, give or take a few, depending on what the course length actually was. I pushed it for nearly two hours. And other than my legs burning and screaming, I felt pretty comfortable at about an 8 to 8 1/2 minute per mile pace, and I didn't do too badly on the hills.

Gotta start somewhere. Even if it is with a solid ass-kicking. Oh yeah, and I didn't even place in my age group. Not even close...that's okay too...I'm about ready to step up to sub-geezerdom.

Fifty more days to the big day!

Four Maniacs

Finally we got some sunshine and things started melting! It's not warm, but 40 degrees above zero beats 13 below!

I'm feeling good. The training is going reasonably well now. Despite the recent lack of sugar and grains in my diet I've had plenty of energy and I don't feel bad at all doing 2-3 hours of workouts a day. I happen to be very inspired right now...by my upcoming new age group and by all the records that were set at Across the Years this year.

This morning I watched this interview of Joe Fejes right after the 6 Day race finish. I love his racing and training strategies. But the classic Joe Fejes statement comes right in the middle of the video.

"For some reason, I seem to be a decent multiday runner. So go figure..."

Decent.

It shows his humility, which is always refreshing in elite runners, and listening to him, you know this guy's head and heart are in the right place, and I wish him the best of luck this summer in Alaska. He's a true champion and a nice guy.

Today it was hill workout day, and I needed a little more of a challenge than I've been doing lately. I've stuck to short little hill repeats or a quick 10 mile out and back on Centennial Drive. I'm looking forward to getting up on the Rock Repeats soon, but I'm not quite ready and I don't want to trash my legs the first time I go. I opted for something in-between with a little more vertical today.

The view going up is of Horsetooth Rock and Longs Peak, but you could only see a little of Longs due to cloud cover.

Maniac Hill is known locally among cyclists and runners for it's hill training merits, it's close to town but has a good steady steep climb. I chose north Maniac today, starting from Maxwell Trail parking area behind Hughes Stadium.

I ran four repeats, from the starting line of the Horsetooth Half Marathon, to the top of Maniac Hill, and back. It gave me roughly 10.8 miles and it took 2 hours. Not sure of the vertical total but I think it's about 500 feet per hill from bottom to top, so roughly 2000 feet of climb and the same of descent. I didn't push hard, I just climbed and descended, very relaxed. Just getting the legs used to going up and down.

The whole way up, the shoulder was mostly covered with slush when I started, but by the time I finished things were in a good thaw and it was just wet. At the top of the hill it was clear and the shoulder was runnable. Fortunately all the motorists were nice today, no one tried to run me off the road or splash me with slush.

I hope the weather continues like this, looks like we could have a nice day for a 30 miler later this week.

Welcome December!

December is here, finally! I know I will enjoy this month more than any other month all year.

We had fun with the girls over a long, relaxing holiday weekend. I cooked a small turkey, along with mashed potatoes and gravy, a spinach casserole that turned out sooooo good, and apple tarts.

The apple tart is my signature dish, it's the one that everyone always asks for if I'm coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.

With the leftovers, I made turkey green chile. So simple and delicious. I'll put the recipe up at Bitchen Swill when I get around to it.

I got quite a few miles in this week again, ended up with 50 running miles for the week, which was a bit of a stretch because I ran 16 miles on Friday and then I was tired.

Saturday I only ran 6 miles but it felt like the last 6 miles of a 24 hour run. My legs were fried. The weather was amazing this weekend though. Temperatures in the 50s and sunshine with no wind. I ran in shorts on Saturday.

It's too nice NOT to go outside.

But Sunday I wanted to get up to Horsetooth Reservoir and do my 10 mile out & back that I've been missing so much but was afraid to do until my hamstring got better. The sunrise in the morning was outrageous.

I drove toward Dixon Dam and the light kept getting more intense on Horsetooth Rock, it was glowing bright red.

It was a lot warmer than I thought it might be, so I ended up not having to bundle up quite as much as I usually do. I left a pile of clothes in the car and hoped the wind wouldn't pick up. It never did.

I stopped a bunch of times to take pictures, I couldn't help it, I felt like a tourist in my own backyard, it's been so long since I ran up there! Probably only 6 months but it feels like forever!

The ten miles felt okay despite how tired my legs were on Saturday. I went super slow but had no problem climbing the hills. I feel strong, just slow. I'm looking forward to putting a few weeks of these runs behind me and then I will start hitting the Rock Repeats to build more strength climbing hills. Maybe I'll be able to do a few more trails this year if I can get my ankles to cooperate.

December has never been so welcome. I usually view December as a month I just have to get through, because once winter solstice arrives, I'm gearing up for spring, because as far as I'm concerned, January 1 is the first day of spring. So I guess this month will just be a warmup for spring, right?

This was a long, difficult, stressful year, and I am glad to be on the other side of the stress.

I found out about a few other nurses who are just going into a stressful period which I know will resolve once they make their decisions to leave, but until they take that step it will be painful, and I feel for them. It's not healthy to be bullied by people who have power over you. Better to leave the toxicity behind, because once you leave, they will have to find someone else to pick on.

Every once in a while I still get hit with a wave of hurtful memories or anger that resurfaces, usually when someone else comes to me and tells me their story. My own wounds are still fresh, but healing. It leaves me with a reminder of how bad I feel, physically, when I get back into that vortex. But now I can smooth it out for myself and go back to my own peaceful existence that I am enjoying so much.

Going up to Horsetooth today brought me a sense of calm and being on the right path.

I heard from a magazine editor across the pond yesterday, she was interested in publishing my review of The Summit Seeker, so it should be appearing in Barefoot Running, a UK-based online running magazine. It's always nice to hear from someone who likes your writing, or artwork, or creative works.

The weather is supposed to hold for a couple more days and then we're supposed to get a COLD front next week that will drop the temperatures into the below zero Fahrenheit range. Time to get tough again. No excuses. Next time I go up to the reservoir, there could be a sheet of ice over the water. Fortunately, our winters here are short.

One month until spring!

Sunday Morning Rock Repeats

Did it. Two Rock Repeats this morning. My Sunday morning worship of the holy Horsetooth Rock.

I might not be able to walk by Tuesday, but it needed to be done. I haven't been up there in forever, the most hill running I've done this year has been the 10 mile out and back on Centennial Drive at Horsetooth Reservoir.

Dragging 130 pounds of body on a 5'1" frame up and down the Southridge Trail service road was slow and it kicked my butt. I could feel every last ounce of extra weight clinging to my body.

It was a cool morning and it rained in between my two trips, for about 15 minutes. Just enough to cool things off as the sun was starting to warm up the trail. Probably a good thing to send the snakes back into hiding.

On my way down the second time I ran into a Pearl Izumi teammate, Kristel Liddle, she was running up with her husband. We stopped and talked for a minute. I also ran into one of the doctors I used to work with in ICU, he was on his mountain bike.

There's nothing like a good quad bashing to remind your body that it needs work. I could already feel them turning to jello on my second trip downhill.

It's the last day of June, which means the end of the fiscal year for some businesses. It's the end of my fiscal year too, I'm starting out with a new contract effective yesterday. What contract am I talking about?

I have a plan. I have got to rid myself of this lead brick I'm hauling around. I made a contract with myself to get rid of it during the month of July. I started yesterday, a couple of days head start. Except I cheated and had a beer late last night. I won't be drinking any more beer for a while though.

I'm probably going to be a bitch, and I fully expect to feel like crap running for the next 30 days but I can't stand it anymore. I weigh too much and it's too hard to move. I have a plan to deal with it and I'll share it on the blog here after it's done. It's one of those "don't try this at home" deals. I have a plan for how to get through the work days too, those will be the biggest challenge since I'll be in need of brain fuel.

My 2008 Badwater crew member Nick Clark finished sixth at Western States on a hot day. Still waiting to hear how another Fort Collins resident did, Alex May. Last I heard he was still in the race and making the cutoffs.

This cool weather and rain we've had the past two days has been a nice relief. Meanwhile all the hot places like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Death Valley are nearing record temperatures. I'm enjoying the cool air, but I still wish I could go to Death Valley!

A Good Day for Snakes

I took this picture of a 4 foot bull snake on my run this morning at Horsetooth. If you look at about 2:00 from the shadow of my head, you can see the snake's head.

Yesterday and today I had decent runs. They weren't fast, but I felt better. I was feeling like crap for the past few weeks. Finally I decided to take a day off Friday and we went up to the cabin and hiked with the girls. Then Saturday I had a slow, but decent run where I felt stronger, on the Power Trail.

Then this morning I went up to Horsetooth Reservoir and ran hills, pushing a little harder over the tops, just a single out and back on the road to the north dam, about 10 miles. I felt so much better today, and the pace on the hilly run was faster than I've run all week, by a lot. I don't know what got into me, but maybe I'm finally turning the corner.

It was a gorgeous day at the reservoir. I got up there a little late but it wasn't too hot. Perfect for snakes, and people, too. I carried one water bottle and that was all I needed.

Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary and it's also our ultrarunner friend Kirk Apt's birthday. Happy birthday, Kirk.

My Cholesterol Experiment: Case Study, Preliminary Results

I seem to have survived running hard yesterday at the Houska Houska without any ill effects. So far...

This morning I had to forego my morning coffee and go over to the lab to get my blood drawn after a 12 hour fast. I was getting my lipids re-checked, and my TSH too. I went into the Express lab at 6:40 am and it was hopping in there. Everyone must have waited until after the holiday.

After that I went back home and had my coffee, and felt much happier. I took Iris for a brief run, and then went up to Horsetooth. It was my first hill workout in way too long. Can't even remember the last time I purposely ran hills. I'm slower than a snail, but at least I got up there and did it.

On my way home my phone rang and I didn't recognize the number, so I just let it ring. Plus I don't talk on the phone and drive, I have a hard enough time just talking on a cell phone...add driving to that and it would be a disaster.

When I got home I listened to the voicemail, it was my doctor's office calling with my lab results. Only 4 hours went by since I got the blood drawn. I was amazed, I thought I'd be able to see my results at work tomorrow before they'd ever call me. Then I thought, must be something really off, to call me back that fast.

But when I talked to the nurse who works with my physician, she told me my cholesterol was in the normal range now. I couldn't believe my ears. I asked her what it was. She said, "192." And that my triglycerides, LDL, and HDL had also dropped. The HDL I can understand because I haven't been running much, and that is very sensitive to exercise, but it's still 70.

When I had my labs drawn in March, my total cholesterol was something like 257. I remember the triglycerides were normal and the LDL was high-normal at that time. My TSH has actually dropped slightly, I thought maybe it went up because of the way I've been tired in the afternoons and gained weight so easily. Having a lower TSH might have something to do with the lowered cholesterol, but I sort of doubt it because I've been more on the hyper end of things before and never had my cholesterol anywhere near that low. So I'm pretty convinced it's dietary.

When I got my lab results back in March, my doctor mentioned that going gluten free had produced some dramatic results for other patients, and she knew I didn't have much room for improvements in my diet in general. I really do eat well, and I allow myself to indulge in bad things occasionally, but not regularly. Over the past 5 weeks I've been off the wagon somewhat, and over the last week I was extra bad with the sweets and ice cream, so I was a little surprised when today's labs showed what they did.

As we talked on the phone, I told her that I had only made two dietary modifications over the past 3 months: one was no longer putting half and half in my coffee and switching to soy creamer, and the other thing is that I've been avoiding gluten. I haven't been completely gluten-free, but I have been mostly avoiding wheat and sticking to corn and rice for the majority of my carbohydrates.

What I've done is avoid eating wheat. I'm not so strict about it that I scan labels of things like soy sauce, which I know has wheat in it, and I drink beer, which is not gluten-free either. I just avoid things that are made with wheat flour and have wheat as a major ingredient.

By avoiding things made with wheat I've found that helps me avoid the bloated feeling I get when I eat things like bread and pasta, and it also helps me eliminate a lot of bad foods from my diet: baked things, cookies, and other crap that I shouldn't be eating anyway.

I do eat dairy products, but not very much. I eat cheese and yogurt occasionally, and I do eat lean red meat more often than dairy. I eat a good amount of fat, but other than the infrequent red meat and dairy sources, almost all of my dietary fat comes from olive oil, avocados, and fish. Salads and fish are probably the most frequent things you'll find on our dinner table.

This is all really interesting. I'm curious to see what happens by next year when I get my annual labs drawn again.

It has never been my intention to promote a gluten-free diet, because if you're not celiac, and not gluten-sensitive, it can be an awfully inconvenient and expensive way to feed yourself. I think I might be a little sensitive to gluten, because I've noticed that when I eat certain things I get bloated.

Pizza and bagels are the worst offenders for me. I think they are often made with high gluten flour products. I don't know if it's wheat itself that's the problem, I haven't tried a lot of the other grains simply because I'm not a big fan of flour and baked things anymore.

I also have never been one to jump on the bandwagon with the latest dietary trends like Paleo or Atkins or whatever. I do like the concept of Paleo, and there are a lot of things wrong with the commercially prepared, processed foods abundant in the American food landscape. I probably eat closer to Paleo than anything, but I'm not strict about that, either.

One thing I want to avoid is going on medications for anything unless I absolutely need them. I already take two thyroid meds and I don't buy into the statin thing, being an athlete I don't want to cause muscular problems. Some drugs, for some people, are worth taking, but I'm not into tithing for Big Pharma when I don't need to.

But I was absolutely shocked and amazed at the results of my labs this morning. Time will tell if this is a lasting change, I probably won't have another lipid panel drawn until next spring. If this is a lasting change for me, worrying about cholesterol-lowering medications is not going to be an issue.

Time will tell and this case study will go on. I intend to stick to the dietary changes I've made, and see where that goes. Dropping my cholesterol by 65 points in 3 months without drugs, hell I should write a book...

cross-posted at Ultrahypo