Something is working.

I don't know what it is, but something is seriously working. I'm two weeks out from the Revel Marathon and despite a bit of fatigue this week, everything is clicking. My last 20-miler on Saturday was downright enjoyable and the monster speed workout on Tuesday (10x1000m + addt 4 miles) felt manageable. My legs didn't fall off, so I'm going to consider it a success.

Most interestingly, I did something I haven't been able to do for the last four marathon training cycles: lose weight. In the past, my weight would hover around the same number for the duration of training, and then five pounds would vanish (unhelpfully) in the week AFTER the race. I've never been able to manage diet + training = weight loss, despite my best attempts. Those long run promote serious hunger, and after you've logged 16-20 miles, it's hard to say no to the occasional treat. We are only human, after all.

I weigh myself once a week, only on Fridays, and record the number. I have been doing it for years; it's especially helpful when looking at the big picture. Imagine my surprise when today yielded a whopping eight pound loss since mid-March. It was a number I haven't seen since the first Bush administration (i.e when I was 15). I'm officially at race weight two weeks early.

Um...where did it go? This is no water weight/bowel movement weight loss; it's legit. How is this happening - is it the coconut oil? The insane amount of bananas I consume? (I'm officially a banana hoarder; more on that in another entry). Interval training? Logging fifty-plus miles a week probably isn't hurting things. And then, as I stared dumbfounded at the scale, I noticed my reflection in the mirror and saw...lines on my tummy. Like, the good kind. I knew I had muscles in there somewhere, they've just never come to visit before. Whoa. I thought ab definition was only reserved for elite athletes and males under the age of 25. Sadly, this will not result in a Instagram duckface bathroom selfie (sorry, that's just not my jam) but I'm pretty excited about this discovery. The quads continue to grow in size (thank you, eccentric movement), but everything else appears to be shrinking. Praise everything!

They always say abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym, and to that I say: chocolate chip cookies are too! But let's make the good kind of cookies - the kind that taste good and don't contain all the things that are going to cause you to carry extra weight, especially in the mid-section. I stumbled upon this cookbook in early March and cannot say enough good things about the author and her recipes. Over the last few weeks, "Cut the Sugar; You're Sweet Enough" by Ella Leche has helped me indulge in the occasional sweet treat without blowing my training, especially in those crucial post-long run hours.  She uses natural, unprocessed sweeteners that essentially trick your taste buds into thinking you are eating the real thing. Everything from blackstrap molasses, coconut palm sugar, maple syrup, and raw cane sugar is noted, along with their Glycemic Index rating with comments about the flavor, benefits and bottom line. Best, almost all of the recipes are gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and sugar-free or low-sugar. They taste so good, I don't know why you'd ever consider eating something loaded with processed sugars, saturated fat or dairy.

It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle, which means in order to be successful, I have to learn new ways to prepare old favorites. What is more favorite than the chocolate chip cookie? The recipe below drew rave reviews, including from my own child and husband, my two toughest critics. My friend Krista couldn't believe it when I told her they are mostly made from chick peas (all hail the mighty chick pea!). Pair one or two with a cup of rooibos tea and enjoy the perfect evening snack. Or better - make your own almond milk, and channel your inner 8-year old. Milk and cookies! (I ate the second-to-last photo while editing this entry).

So thank you, Ella Leche and your awesome cookbook (order your copy here!). Everyone else, enjoy!

Gluten-Free, Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from "Cut the Sugar; You're Sweet Enough" by Ella Leche)

1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup almond butter
2 tablespoons rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 sea salt
1/4 cup organic maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or better yet, vanilla paste)
1 bag vegan mini chocolate chips (I like the "Enjoy Life" brand)

Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking liners.

Like all good vegan cooking, this employs the "dump and blend" technique (very easy to master): dump all the ingredients except the mini chips into a food processor and blend. Occasionally scrape sides of the bowl. Blend, baby, blend. Within two or three minutes, you'll have a nice soft mixture. Transfer this into a new bowl and let it cool. Very important! If you mix in the chips now, the batter will melt them. The batter is warm from blending. So pop it in the fridge for about 10 minutes before folding in the chips.

(or you can add the chocolate when it's still warm and you'll have chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Not aesthetically pleasing but extra tasty!)

Once the batter has cooled and chips are folded in, drop the batter on cookie sheets in rounded tablespoons. The original recipe says it will make about 12 cookies; I squeeze out 36. Tiny cookies are more fun to eat and have less guilt. Smush each cookie down with a tiny bit of water on your fingertips to give it more of a cookie-shape (it will not spread once in the oven.)

Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let them continue cooking for another 8 minutes on the sheet. Let cool on a baking rack. They will last for 3 days or in the fridge for a week. These are SUPER soft cookies so handle delicately!

Nutritional info per cookie:

Cal: 74
Fat: 4.1g
Carbs: 8.3g (5g sugar per cookie)
Protein: 1.7g
Fiber: 1.4g

The good kind. Obvs.

When people say they want to eat more fat, I worry that they hear "YES! More french fries!" Fat, one of the three macro nutrients (the other two being protein and carbs), is critical to our overall health, but it's the kind of fat that matters most. There are four kinds: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans fat, and saturated. Pick your fat wisely.

Let's talk about the bad guys first. Trans fat, particularly artificial trans fat, is scary. These are fat molecules that have been twisted and deformed during a process called hydrogenation. This makes the liquid fat more stable with a longer shelf life -- great for long-term storage but terrible for your health. That vegetable oil sitting quietly in your cabinet may out live you. These fat molecules raise LDL (the bad cholestrol) in your blood, increasing the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. No amount of trans fat is safe. This kind of fat is used in fried foods, refined oils, solid fats (margarine, shortening), most packaged snack products (chips, cookies, crackers), pre-mixed baking items (like cake mixes, brownies, etc), and anything containing the label "partially hydrogenated." Avoid at all costs.

**Interesting note: you can actually create a trans fat by overheating it. Olive oil is a great good fat (see below), but once it reaches a certain temperature, it converts to a trans fat. For cooking, either use water (which works just as well) or an oil with a higher smoking point, like grapeseed. When good fats go bad...drama in the fat world. Never a dull moment. 

Next up: saturated fats. Unfortunately, research is still inconclusive as to the risk v. reward of saturated fats. Found mainly in full-fat dairy products and animal proteins, some say saturated fats are necessary as it is linked to lower levels of obesity and better weight control. Others claim that saturated fats raise cholesterol and the risk for heart disease. Dr. Timothy Noakes, one of the most famous doctors to write about running and a personal hero of mine, did a full 180 on the role of carbs v.  fat in runners' diets. The man who coined the term "carb-loading" by encouraging athletes to stock up on carbs pre-race was famously filmed ripping that very section out of his 940-page tome "The Lore of Running." One of the pioneers of the fat-adaption diet, he now suggest fat - including saturated fats - are a critical fuel source in endurance athletes. Carbs bad, fat good.

For me, I dunno. I don't consume animal or dairy products, so I don't worry too much about my saturated fat intake. But I think a diet high in refined carbs, particularly sugar, combined with the consumption of saturated fats minimizes the healthy benefits of the fat. (I'm coming to believe more and more that sugar, especially refined sugar, is the true enemy in our war against obesity. But that's a whole 'nother entry.) If you do eat meat and like dairy, figure out what works for you. If you are not losing weight or feel bloated with poor/slow recovery, consider eliminating it for a brief time. See what happens. I'm a firm believer that everyone is different and our bodies respond to the same foods very differently. I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon a diet choice that works well for me. My tummy is happy and my numbers are on pace - but Brian would die a slow death eating the foods I eat. We are just different. Do a little experimenting to see what works for you. 

Now let's talk about some super stars:  mono- and poly-unsaturated fats.  Monos, like avocados, olives, nuts, and natural nut butters seeds, tend to benefit insulin levels and control blood sugar. They also aid in hormone production (necessary in men, but crucial for women), vitamin absorption, and raise levels of HDL (the good cholesterol). Who doesn't love an avocado? Try it on toasted Ezkeil bread with a dash of sea salt and a squirt of lemon juice. I'm allergic to peanuts but don't have issues with other nuts, so almond butter is a staple in our house. I'm not proud, but on tougher training days, I've been known to just take a spoon to the jar. I know, so shameful. But so delish.

Poly-unsaturated fats include walnuts, seeds (pumpkin, sesame, flax), fatty cold-water fish, and non-GMO soy and tofu. These little dudes are the true superheros of the fat world. They contain high level of both Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids, considered essential because the body is not capable of making them on their own. While Omega-6s are usually easy to come by, as they are found in a wide variety of nuts and seeds, it's the Omega-3s we really want. The benefits of Omega-3s are astronomical: they act as a mood stabilizer, improve cognitive functioning, combat fatigue, decrease inflammation, and may prevent or reduce the signs of depression, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. If you told me I'd be happier, smarter, better rested and less crazy by eating one particular food, I would buy that food in bulk.

Which is essentially what I've done. That food? Flaxseed.

I put flaxseed in everything. I've gone through so many bags in the last few months, I can't even count. I will drop a tablespoon of ground flaxseed in my morning smoothie, sprinkle it on a salad, bake with it as an egg-substitute. I'll occasionally bring these flaxseed cookies to boot camp or baseball games and everyone goes nuts. The response surprised me - no one ever gets excited about vegan cookies. Usually you get a few polite comments and very few samplings. But these cookies? Magical. Maybe it's because of the mood stabilizing properties of the flaxseed - or maybe we are all just so hungry after boot camp, tree bark would sound tasty.

Bottom line: cookies make people happy. Flaxseed cookies? It's a one-two punch of awesomeness.

The other main addition to my diet is coconut oil. I was so hesitant to add this one, fearing the fat would make me, well, fat. But just the opposite has happened. My energy is up, my weight is down, and I'm leaner than ever. I've also noticed an increase in sustained energy to get through long runs - energy I've never had before. I ditched the sugary gels and instead am using homemade fuel made from dates, coconut oil, lemon and salt -- and they are truly amazing. Because coconut oil is a medium-chain triglyceride, once digested it goes directly to the liver to be converted to energy. Combined with the glucose from the dates, these little bites seems to be an energy-sustaining miracle. I'll also add coconut oil to my smoothie.

Even though my training is going well and I'm feeling good, I still wanted to double check my overall health.  Imagine if the mostly-vegan runner had cholesterol in the 200s and high triglycerides. All of this would be for nothing. So a few weeks ago, I did a fasted blood test. First, I don't recommend going to the track after fasting. I hit four miles at tempo pace before I hit a wall and limped home. Second, my age (37) has always been a scary one for me - my dad was 37 when he developed diabetes. It wasn't weight-dependent or Type II, it was genetic. His pancreas simply shut down. So this age has always been a nervous one for me (interestingly, my sister reported that same - thankfully, she cruised through her year with no issues). I'll do anything to save myself and my family from having to deal with an insulin-dependent diabetic; when he was sick, it was so stressful, particularly for my mom.

How did the blood test turn out? I'm happy to report my overall cholesterol is 168. My heart-healthy HDL is a very good 72 (anything above 60 is considered a negative risk factor for heart disease), and my "bad" cholesterol is 86 (which should be under 99). Triglycerides: 51. Boo-ya! (under 149 is good).

In short, don't fear that fat. In fact, embrace it - but the healthy kind. Stock up on flaxseed, throw out those packaged crackers, and eat some olives. And while you are at it, make some cookies for your co-workers or friends. They will be happier and healthier because of you!

Oatmeal Flax Spelt Cookies

Adapted from "The No-Meat Athlete" cookbook by Matt Frazier. Check out their website for more recipe ideas!

1 3/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut oil, softened
1/2 cup organic palm sugar
1/2 cup unrefined sugar (I like Turbinado Raw Sugar)
1 1/2 cups ground flaxseed
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried blueberries

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Mix together spelt flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat the coconut oil in a mixer until it's smooth. Whisk in the sugars, then stir in the flaxseed. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix until uniform.

Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in dried fruit.

Eat the batter. Share the batter with your kid. There are no eggs - no risk for salmonella! Yet another benefit of vegan baking. Try to NOT eat all the batter. You got cookies to make, remember?

Using a greased tablespoon, drop cookie dough on to cookie sheets lined with parchment or liners. Smush cookies a wee bit. If you live in a dry area, smush harder. Those in humid conditions, your cookies may flatten naturally. (it all depends on the moisture in the air). 

Bake for 7 minutes, then turn the sheet. Bake 7 more minutes. Enjoy!

Makes 48-52 cookies. Try not to eat all 48 cookies at once. (Reinier, this is mainly directly at you).

Nutritional info per cookie:
- 80 calories
- 4.8g of GOOD fat!
- 1.6g protein
- 12.8g carb
- 1.6g fiber

...so good.

That late March marathon meltdown never materialized. I have yet to cry at the chiropractor's office. I haven't limped into Barnes and Noble, looking desperately for inspiration in various tomes from people who have run farther and faster than I could ever dream.

Unbelievably, I feel totally...fine.

My traditional roller coaster arc of training seems to be broken - and I couldn't be happier. We are sitting four weeks out from race day - four! - and this feels more like a merry-go-round. I've been pouring over my notes like a mad scientist, attempting to extract key variables that have caused me to turn this happy corner. Why has this cycle been different than previous ones? I like record-keeping, I like data, and I like patterns -- and this is what I came up with. This is what is working, so far...

Consistency
Obviously. But more so than just running, it's been a question of running when I didn't want to. Tuesdays and Thursdays are track days, meaning, I go to boot camp at 6am and then the track around 9am. I cannot tell you the amount of effort it takes to will myself out the door at 8:35am. The siren song of my bed, the computer, the shower, scraping dried Cheerios off the floor, cleaning the cat litter -- anything sounds better than pounding out a bunch of interval repeats amid 60+ zombie-like high school boys. Anything. During that walk up the hill to the track, everything in my body feels off. "This is the day I blow out my IT band." "That PF in my left foot is acting up again." "I didn't eat enough breakfast; I'm totally going to hit a wall." I mean, such horrible thoughts. I have to push myself through the two-mile warmup, the whole time giving myself permission to opt out at any point. Thankfully, in those first few easy miles, my body actually settles down and my brain shuts up. And the workout almost always goes fine. The bottom line: it's easy to talk yourself out your run. Don't do it. If you keep at it, consistency breeds consistency and ultimately, you'll get stronger. Don't skip 'em.

The Right Tribe
Yes, the usual suspects are still around, and for that, I'm eternally grateful. Running may be an individual event, but you will not survive alone. Recently, two new faces have popped up and they are AWESOME.

On a track day, I had 6x1000m repeats. It was whatever - not my favorite workout, but doable. Nothing to stress over. When I got to the track, my friend Bailey, tiny, blond and a professional triathlete, was already pounding out her own set of 1000s. Except she had 15 (!) to my 6. I half expected her to do her own thing, since she's so much faster than I am, but she immediately offered to do the sets together, despite our different paces. I cannot tell you how helpful this was. Yes, I was 5-10 seconds behind her, but her speed pushed me to work on my turnover and breathing. Not to mention, watching her knock out each set, one faster than the other, was so inspiring. I didn't know you could actually do that. But she did - with very little perceived effort. That day helped re-frame my speed work efforts and taught me I should be pushing harder in the last sets. Crazy helpful insights. 

And I happen to stumble upon a great long run friend -- also petite, just with slightly darker hair. Julie and I have been cranking out long runs on Saturdays for the past month, passing the miles chatting as we cruise down various highways in Southern Nevada. When I got super sick on our first 20, I told her to run ahead (I was overheating and really dehydrated). I limped through miles 16-17, mentally beating myself for being so dumb and not hydrating well the day before. Prepared to finish the run alone, I almost didn't believe my eyes when I saw her waiting at the stoplight for me. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes -- "If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together." She essentially saved my long run and didn't let me sink into the deep abscesses of my brain. That's a good long-run buddy.

During our next 20-miler two weeks later, we both crushed it. Easily. The right tribe is a critical piece of this puzzle.

Foam Rollers and Epsom Salt Baths
If I could marry my foam roller, I would.

I am also unsure of the benefits of the ice bath. I don't know if my blood has thinned or I'm just a big wimp, but I cannot tolerate the cold anymore. Maybe I'm just 37 going on 77. Either way, dunking my body into a freezing cold tub just ain't gonna happen. I made an executive decision that the sufferfest must end somewhere. So I switched out the cold for warmth and viola! My suffer-meter has gone down. I also found these amazing scented bath salts (eucalyptus! Lavender!) on Amazon Prime and oh my heavens. Not only does it smell divine, but I can feel my muscles loosening and relaxing. With all of the downhill running we have been doing, I'm think the warm baths have played a key role in reducing DOMS. Plus, I smell kinda good too. Well, until the next run.

Perspective
It's easy to get overwhelmed by a training program. A few weeks ago, I was looking at mine thinking, "This is never going to happen. How am I going to get through this?" Cue Alex. In one of the most insightful comments ever, he told me I was approaching the big meaty weeks, with mileage in the low 50s, but it only lasted until mid-April. Really, just four tough weeks to get through. Then it's a smooth ride to the taper and the race. Four weeks sounded a lot better than seven scary weeks, and just like that, I felt better.  Chopping up the weeks, the workouts, heck, even the mile splits -- it's all about perspective. Kind of like chewing. You can't cram your whole plate of food into your mouth at once, so don't try to take on your entire training program. I stopped looking ahead after he said this, and guess what? Life got a lot easier. I started breathing again.

...yet a Kick in the Pants is Good Too.
I vacillate between fear and overconfidence. It's a weird place to exist.

A few weeks ago, there was a local race that offered cash prizes for the first three finishers in each gender. I was pretty sure I could nab some of that prize money. Kat was running, and I knew there's no way I'd finish ahead of her (even if she had a cold, a broken leg, or a monkey strapped to her back). But second place...I could do second. As we went through our warm-up, I felt good. Great, even. The wind was insane, gusting up to 35mph in some areas, but we'd all have to face the same weather conditions. That $50 or $100 could pay off the money we spent on Scotty's Easter basket. A bigger question: if I earn money at a race, does that make me pro?

As Kat, Alex and I finished our warm-up, I watched one of the best short-distance runners in Las Vegas trot up. She pinned on a bib. Hmm...Interestingly, she brought her mom, who happens to be a retired professional runner (like a legit pro runner, not like me in my daydreams.) Okay Kim, let's try for fourth place. Then, the world record holder in the masters 1500m arrived. Um...fifth? As we lined up, I looked to my right and saw two tiny little girls, no more than 15 or 16 years old, clad in purple, and I realized with a sinking heart: high school track stars. Dammit. 

Dude, just get in the top ten.

In the end, I finished eighth. All of the aforementioned ladies passed me, in addition to this fierce woman in a visor. It's okay. I didn't make any money but I learned not to count my eggs (or Easter baskets) before they hatch. And as Brian said later, it's probably best I retain my amateur status for now.

The Mighty Chick Pea
Food has played a critical role in this training cycle. I'm eating cleaner than ever, thanks to the book, "Thrive." A star player in my diet: behold, the might chick pea. It's everywhere. I freaking love chick peas. They are just so versatile. I just discovered a great new chocolate chip cookie recipe (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and no processed sugars) that uses the great and glorious garbanzo bean. Even my KID, my toughest critic, loved the cookies. I had to make Brian promise to never tell him the ingredients.

Beyond dessert, I feel like 30% of my daily conversations revolve around hummus. Who makes the best hummus in town? Do you make hummus? Do you boil the beans first?  At a recent kid birthday party, the mom knew of my love of hummus and actually gave me a whole tub to take home. My sheepishness of taking it was overridden by my love (and hunger) of the bean, so I put it in my purse without a second thought. I ate the whole thing later that day with some red peppers and sliced cucumbers.

Since food is such a big part of training and recovery, I'll post some diet staples (and recipes!) next week in the blog. Stay tuned! I hope these tips are helpful (and if not, than at least humorous).

Cheers to many more miles!