My "C" Race

We're supposed to prioritize our races.

"A" races are the ones we really train for, that we want to do well at.

"B" races are ones we want to do well at, but know that these aren't our top priority.

"C" races are the ones where we know we're not going to do great, and we race for the experience.

I raced at the He Tried She Tried olympic distance triathlon.  It's a neat concept -- you are paired up with another person to race, and based on your combined ages and race times, this determines your award for the race.

Did I mention this race is in Michigan?  I thought it would be fun to do a race while visiting my parents.  And I was so grateful to have my parents cheering me on.  They hadn't been at any of my races since Ironman Lake Placid in 2010, where my Dad was convinced that every passing ambulance had me in the back of it.

I was jetlagged, having arrived in Michigan from California at 3 am just two days earlier.  I never quite got onto Michigan time and only had 4 hours of sleep the night before the race.  Since I didn't travel with my bike, I borrowed a bike.  It was a tri bike and the right size frame, and I am so grateful for being able to use it, but it is a lot heavier than Mr. Cervelo, my trusty grey speedy machine.

I think the swim went okay.  We swam in a nice warm inland lake that was 82 degrees, so no wetsuit was needed.  I practiced drafting and found a guy whose hip I drafted off of for the first quarter of the race.  It's a skill that my team has been working on in our open-water simulated practices.  An olympic distance race swim is supposed to be 0.9 miles -- this one was significantly longer, well over a mile, but that's ok.

I anticipated a really bad bike ride.  And, it was a tougher ride, with a heavier bike, that wasn't fit to me.  But somehow I averaged 17.5 miles per hour, which is only a mile per hour slower than I usually ride.

Unfortunately, on the run, I could feel my very tired legs.  The run had a lot of hills and some trails at the end. My 10k time was an hour and two minutes.  WHAT?!?!?!  Keep in mind I did the 10k run at San Diego ITU just a few months earlier in just over 51 minutes.  My legs were so heavy, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get them to go faster.

My finishing time was terrible.

Cool looking finishers medal.

Interestingly, though, my partner, who I met on race day, and I managed to place first out of three female teams with combined ages of 80-89.  I guess that's a cool accomplishment.

I think there's something to be learned even from the worst races.   I don't travel this far to most races, and now I know for USAT Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont next month that I need to get my rest and get used to the time zone.  I'm also glad that I decided to have my own bike transported to Vermont and not try to ride someone else's bike.

On another note, I really think Epic Races did an amazing job with this race.  It was so organized at registration, the course was incredibly well marked with volunteers at all of the important points, and aid stations on the run were well stocked with water, electrolyte solution (even though I think Heed tastes horrible), and Hammer gels.  And, at the end of the race, the selection of food was fabulous -- bagels, hummus (mmm I love hummus!), watermelon, pineapple, oranges, and cookies.  The finishing medal was pretty cool too.

Super fast dinner

This dinner took me less than ten minutes to put together.

Below is a squash salad, with zucchini and yellow squash grown in my garden, red pepper, tofu, and sweet and sour carrot sauce from Bolani that I bought at the farmers market today.

Then I made a lentil soup.  In the blender, I added veggie broth, lentils, a few leaves of kale, two tomatoes, and a couple leaves of basil.  I pressed the "Hot Soup" button, let the Vitamix work for about three minutes, and then I had soup!

Before:

After!!!

I had a half of a sweet potato with this, and a peach for dessert, both from the farmers market.

Where I'm at... and it isn't blogging!

I've slacked terribly in updating this blog lately.....

But, life as a multisport athlete has been exciting.  I just found out that I made the US Womens Masters Triathlon Team for the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2013.  It's one of those things I would not have imagined happening when I did my first triathlon seven years ago.

I have two races this month, a sprint and then an olympic distance race.  But, my big races are in August -- USAT Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont, followed by Bulldog 50K, my first ultra-marathon.

My next blog post will be of substance, I promise.  Here's a few topics I'm mulling:
-Is endurance sport training bad for the heart?  Oooh there's lots of good stuff here...
-I signed up for a 50 mile trail run.  Am I out of my mind?
-Or, what do you want to hear about?

Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon

The concept behind this marathon was cool:  Fast, downhill course, beautiful scenery, small race limited to 1000 participants.

In practice, there were a few things that could be tweaked to make the race better.

I came into this race in a rut.  My last half dozen marathons have all been between 4:11-4:18.  My LA Marathon in March was 4:11, but I felt like I had the training to do better.  Today was the day to prove it.

Race started at the awful early hour of 6 am.  I took a 4:15 am shuttle to the start line, where we sat in pitch darkness, while a couple of pickup trucks parked with their lights on to set up the start line.  It was quite eerie at that hour sitting by the side of the road, as there was no indoor shelter for us, and it was a chilly morning.

I must say, I was amused by the placement of the port-o-potties.  With my small bladder, I'm always observant of where they are set up.  Just off to the side of the start line was a row of five port-o-potties.  So, as racers lined up for the race, there were lines of port-o-potty users intersecting with the race start.  It was very interesting trying to discern who was in line for the port-o-potty and who was trying to gun it to the front of the starting pack.

Gun went off a little after 6 am.  The first three miles were downhill.  Then the next three were back uphill to the start, as we did a short six mile loop.  As always, a lot of people passed me at the beginning -- and I remember, they're either faster than me, or I'll pass them during the second half of the race.

In my LA Marathon race report, I talk about all the friends I had on the course.  Here at Ojai, there were only a couple people on the course from Fortius or LA Tri, and none of them were around my pace, and there were no familiar spectators, so I was solo.

Around Mile 4, I found a woman who was about my pace.  We started talking, and she and I ran together for the next 12 miles.  Stephanie, as it turns out, is my age, has run a few more marathons than I have, and is aiming for a similar goal pace.  So, we stick together and chat about everything from work and dating to silly things people do and wear in races, like a racer with his running number on his back, or a woman wearing a running skirt so low-cut that her butt crack was showing.

We also encountered another runner named Tim, who apparently eats Cup O Noodles before every marathon.  He seemed to have boundless energy, joking around with people, dashing ahead, falling back, and just having a good time.  For some reason, I decided that every time I encountered him during the race I would refer to him as "Ramen" (noodles, right?).  He cheered us on and kept us smiling.

Aid stations were spread out, probably about 3 miles apart from one another.  The first few aid stations had only water and no electrolyte solution (ie Gatorade).  I do all my long runs with some sort of electrolyte, so I was concerned, but kept going.

Mile 11 -- port-o-potty stop.  Quickest pit stop ever, fortunately before one of the steepest downhills, so got out of the port-o-potty and made up time within a couple of minutes.

Mile 13 -- 1:58 split for the halfway point..  Making good time, feeling good, heart rate where it should be in the high 160's.

Mile 15 -- the worst smell of my life.  I think we were running through a sewage treatment plant.  The scenery along this path was horrible.  Oil wells.  Factories.  Yuck.

Mile 16 -- still keeping about a 9:15/mile pace.  Other than a mild aching in my feet, feeling good.

Mile 20 -- surprised that I was still keeping a 9:15 pace!  A little tired out perhaps, as we turn on to the beach path.

Mile 21 -- I see the finish line.  But we have to keep running all the way down the beach and loop back around to the finish line.  Dammit!!!

Mile 22.5 -- Side stitch!  The pain was terrible.  I slowed to a walk.  While I ran a bit ahead of Stephanie a couple of miles earlier, she caught up with me, and I forced myself to run.... briefly.  That didn't last, and I was again walking, doubled over in pain.

Mile 23 -- Aid station.  I figured my side stitch may have to do with being electrolyte depleted or dehydrated.  I grabbed two cups of Fluid (the electrolyte solution) and a cup of water.  I started trotting, jogging slowly, and within a minute I felt better.

Mile 24-26 -- through neighborhood and then along the beach.  Getting it done.  Pace a little slower, about 9:45/mile, but not terrible.

Mile 26.2 -- Finally!!!  4 hours, 5 minutes, 17 seconds.  A personal best by 6 minutes, accomplishing my goal for the day.  Were it not for my side stitch issues, I think I could have finished a couple minutes faster, but I'm still pleased.

Suggestions for Race Organizers:
--I love the Ojai 2 Ocean concept.  But how about a more scenic course?  I understand the convenience of a bike path, but Ojai is so much more beautiful than what we ran, I think.

--Better positioning of port-o-potties.  Not next to the start line.  Not good to mix up your start line and your port-o-potty line.

--Shelter at the start.  It was very cold at 4:30 am sitting on the road by the high school.  How about a couple tents?  Or let us into the high school gym to wait?

--Electrolyte solution at the first few aid stations, please!!!  Water only until mile 11 was not cool.

--I do love the green concept of the race.  Love the recycled steel medals that apparently double as beer bottle openers, and I do love the fact that I didn't get a plastic bag full of paper coupons that would have landed in my recycling bin.  Thanks for keeping it eco-friendly.

Soft- versus Hard-Sell

We know the facts -- a plant-based diet is so beneficial -- it's kinder and healthier.

So why isn't everyone a vegan?

When someone reluctantly admits he eats meat, we may think, he needs the facts.... NOW!  Tell him about how meat clogs the arteries, and plant-based diets reverse coronary artery disease.  Show him pictures of chickens crammed in wire cages, pigs in gestation crates, and cows hanging at the slaughter. And get him to a screening of Forks Over Knives..... STAT!!!

But, that approach can seem overzealous.  Overwhelming people with facts will not lead them to change.

I'm more in favor of the "soft sell" approach.

In my daily life as a cardiologist, I advocate a plant-based diet as a way to prevent and reverse cardiovascular disease in all of its forms -- to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, stabilize or reverse coronary plaque, reduce risk of diabetes, and so forth.  However, I recognize that not every patient who walks in my office is going to walk out a vegan.  In fact, most won't.

When I start talking to patients about diet, a reaction I often get is, "I'll never become a vegetarian."  And expecting a person who eats meat, butter, and cheese for three meals a day to give it all up isn't realistic.  But, I believe we can meet somewhere in the middle.

We can agree that this patient's diet and lifestyle habits have gotten him to the point where he is with his health, that years of animal products, fast food, junk food, lack of exercise, and smoking led him to his present disease.  We can also agree that in order to do better that some of those habits need to change.

Eat more fruits and vegetables.  Eat less meat and dairy.  Walk for a few minutes every day.  True, a plant-based diet is ideal, but let's start somewhere with attainable goals.  Maybe at the next visit we'll talk about taking it one step further.

I'm not going to say I haven't had patients go full-on plant-based at the drop of a hat.  Because I've seen it happen and I've seen the great results that come with it.  But most patients aren't going to do that, and we need to start somewhere.

San Diego ITU Worlds

I raced this weekend at San Diego ITU Worlds in the Olympic distance race -- 0.9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run.

The week leading up to the race was less than ideal -- the race was on Saturday morning, and at 2 am on Thursday morning, I was doing emergency angioplasty.  So, needless to say, I wasn't well rested before the race.  Then again, patient care always comes first.

This race was the triathlon club national race.  So, this wasn't a small race, and a lot of tough athletes showed up to compete.

Swim
My group, women 35-39, were the third to last wave of competitors.  Behind us were two waves of men in their 30's.  In other words, men to clobber us on the swim, so I was anticipating having rather aggressive men trying to get around me on the swim.

I started near the back of the pack on the swim.  I should have started toward the middle, but since I waited until the absolute last minute to warm up in the water, I was one of the last women in my wave start to gather, and I didn't want to push people to get toward the front.  So, as the gun went off, I ran past a few women into the water and swam around several of them until I got to the right position.

The swim was a bit choppy, and there were some currents, and with the men starting just a few minutes after us, I constantly felt like people were swimming very close to me and past me.

Swim time:  34 minutes.  Slower than my usual time which is closer to 30 minutes.  I blame the currents.


Coming out of the water....

Bike
Toughest bike course of any sprint or olympic distance race.  The road conditions were less than ideal with plenty of potholes and cracks in the road.  We rode two loops up Mount Soledad (I think that's what it's called)!  It's a long hill with some really steep points.  I saw one woman climbing the hill on her bike topple over as she hit one of the cones on the side of the road.  I heard of a couple other bike accidents on the course also.

Most of my pictures on the bike were of me sitting upright, not on my aerobars, because I wouldn't want to topple over from hitting a pothole the wrong way.

Here, I think I saw the cameras, so I got onto my aerobars intentionally for the picture :)

Bike time:  1 hour 31 minutes.  Not so great.  Reflects the hilly course, and my general lack of focus on cycling this season.

Run!!!

My favorite part of a short race.  There were a few women in my age group who I was going back and forth with on the bike.  And on the run, I passed them for good within the first 2 miles.

This is my running game face.  It doesn't look very convincing.

And this is the fun picture:

I was working hard on the run, but I had a good time.  The run course was around Mission Bay.  We saw the residents in their beachfront homes drinking mimosas as we ran by.  I ran by one woman I knew, but didn't recognize until she yelled, "Shenkman stop looking at your watch and run!" and left me laughing for the next couple of minutes.  A crew of my team members were on the course near the finish line cheering us on, which is always awesome too.

Run time:  51:38 -- my fastest 10k EVER!

Overall time:  3 hours, 11 minutes.

30th place out of 66 in my age group.

The race reflected my relative efforts over the past several months.  Excellent run, decent swim, and not-so-fabulous bike.  Great race, tough competitors, and beautiful scenery.

What Next?

Having been a multisport athlete for a few years, I feel like I am still evolving.  I used to love treadmill runs.  Then I found myself enjoying road running.  This past year, I've been introduced to trail running.

Trail running and I haven't necessarily gotten along so well.  I've scraped up my knees and scuffed up my hands from a few falls.  On one trail run that I had intended to be out and back, I ended up completely lost, and were it not for the GPS on my phone, there would have been a search and rescue party looking for me.

But there are some real benefits of trail running.  The views are awesome.  The terrain is gentler on the joints.  And there's a certain sense of adventure to getting on trails.

I did my first trail race in January of this year, the Boney Mountain Half Marathon.  Then last weekend I completed the Malibu Creek Challenge 22K race, 14 miles with nearly 3000 feet of climbing.

Having completed both of those events, I have decided on my next challenge -- an ultramarathon.

I am now signed up for Bulldog 50K on August 25.  It's about 31 miles, basically two loops of the Malibu Creek Challenge, in August, in what could be 100 degree heat.  This is one of the tougher races, but I figure, go big or go home, right?

My Epic Vegan Seder Dinner

I hosted my second annual seder at my home for 25 of my friends.  Growing up, Passover was always a holiday to share with my family.  Living in Los Angeles, I know that there are others like me who don't have their entire family here and want a seder to attend.

A vegan seder isn't the most common occurrence either.  One vegan Jewish guest told me that she hadn't been to a seder in years because as a vegan she always found it uncomfortable.

That said, my guests were a mix of Jewish and non-Jewish, vegan and omnivores.

This is my seder plate -- painted by my 6 year-old niece Samantha.  Instead of a shankbone, I use a beet.  The shankbone represents the Passover sacrifice, or the tenth plague of the slaying of the first born, and a beet in its bright red color resembles blood.  Instead of the egg, I use a flower, which like an egg can represent birth and spring.

I had plenty of appetizers before we had our meal.

This is a "Mock Chopped Liver" from Debra Wasserman's The Lowfat Jewish Cookbook.

 Eggplant Caviar from The Lowfat Jewish Cookbook.

What seder dinner would be complete without Matzah Ball Soup?  This is my one blatant use of kitniyot, or beans, as the matzah balls do have tofu in them.  This recipe came from The Post-Punk Kitchen.  I've tried other vegan matzah ball recipes, and the matza balls fall apart.  If you have a good vegan matzah ball recipe that doesn't require soy, let me know.

 Dinner is served!!!!  With 25 people, we did things buffet-style.  The tray in the middle is Passover Apple Carrot Sweet Potato Kugel, which was the dish that by far got the best reviews.  Originally from family friend Roseanne, I prepare this every year and the recipe is here.  After grating up sweet potatoes, carrots, and apples, which can be done easily in a Vitamix, this is a very simple recipe.  I did not add sugar and I used about half of the recommended amount of margarine.

 Quinoa with Cauliflower, Cranberries and Nuts.  Quinoa is okay to eat on Passover, even for Ashkenazi Jews! 

 Mashed potatoes and cauliflower, courtesy of guests Warren and Michelle.  I thought I was eating mashed potatoes -- the cauliflower makes this a healthier dish with more fiber and nutrients.

 My dinner plate, with salad, Vegetable and Matzoh Casserole from Roberta Kalechofsky's The Vegan Pesach Cookbook, kugel, quinoa, mashed potatoes, and veggies.

Dessert!  No Bake Chocolate Matzoh Roll from The Vegan Pesach Cookbook.  

Chocolate brownies brought by my friend Debbie.  Basically, a chocolate brownie box mix prepared using flax seeds instead of eggs.

A successful evening!  I look forward to hosting another seder next year.

Passover is Coming!!!

I will be making my second annual vegan Passover seder this Friday.  So far, there will be 25 guests at the seder table.  I'll post pictures and tell you all about it once it's done, but in the meantime, here are some previous Passover meals and celebrations:

2011

2009

2008

2007

Eggplant and Matzo Meal Pancakes

And... why a vegan Pesach isn't that hard.

I went to images.google.com and entered the phrase "vegan passover".  Five of the first 21 pictures that came up were from my blog.  Wow, I think that almost makes me an authority on vegan Pesach!!!

LA Marathon -- With a Little Help From My Friends

Today was my twelfth marathon.

My athletic bucket list has just about everything checked off.  5K in under 28 minutes -- check.  Half Ironman -- check.  Olympic tri in under 3 hours -- check.  Half marathon in under two hours -- check.  Podium finish in a local race -- check.  Ironman finisher -- check!!

But one item remains on the list -- Qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  So, I take my running seriously.  I've been dutifully doing my runs as prescribed by my coach.  I go to track once a week and push hard.  I even do my yoga, which I don't entirely love, but know will make me a stronger runner.  But that BQ time (Boston Qualifier) remains elusive.

While my training was on track, my sleep last night was poor.  Before my next race, I will remember to turn my phone off before I go to bed.

 My Race Bib

Having good friends made this race the success it was for me.  My friend Kiki was kind enough to drive me to the start line at Dodger Stadium at 5 am.  Since she would be spectating in Westwood around mile 18, I gave her a bag of Gu Chomps (fast-acting carbohydrate) to hand off to me if she saw me during the race.

The weather for today was projected to be terrible, similar to last year's race.  I was layered up, with gloves, arm-warmers, hat, and tights.  But, just before the race started, the sun came out.  No one expected sun today!!!

In the first mile, which initially was a shuffle as we all piled onto the race course, I saw a sign that read, "Go Vegans!"  Obviously, that got my attention.  Holding that sign was my friend Lawrence Ziese:

I'm not sure where the nickname "Sensational" came from, but I'll take it.

Miles 1-3 were more downhill than uphill.  Miles 4-5 were the biggest hills on the course.  Miles 6-8 took us up Sunset, onto Hollywood Blvd.  Around Mile 8, I saw my friend Trey, gave him a high-five and kept going.  I was on pace at this point and felt good.

Still feeling good, at mile 11 I saw teammate David Wachtel.  He was kind enough to take my gloves and arm warmers.  He was also filming with his IPhone.  He asked me if I had anything else I wanted to say, and for some reason my response was "Booyah!"  Endorphins clearly do not make for intelligent speech.

Onward.  Miles 11-14 took us through Hollywood, past Grauman's Chinese Theater, down the Sunset Strip..  The wind was pretty tough at times.  Then we turned onto San Vicente, a nice downhill, and then right on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, with great entertainment, including cheerleaders in drag.  Mile 16 took us through Beverly Hills, and Mile 17 was down Rodeo Drive.  Again, I saw Lawrence and his "Go Vegans!" poster.

Shortly thereafter, I saw LA Tri Club friend Byron Lea. Last year, coincidentally I was running with him for about four miles -- he was out doing a training run, and I was running the race.  I ran into him last weekend and jokingly suggested that he should be on the course so he can pace me for a few miles.  He asked where would be ideal and I suggested that the second half of the race would be good.  Now I didn't expect him to actually take me up on this.  But there he was, in his shorts and running shoes, waiting for me!

So I had Byron with me for miles 18-22, through the rest of Beverly Hills, Westwood, and through the VA.  I let him do most of the talking since I was tired.  He reminded me what was coming ahead, to shake things out, be ready for a hill, and so forth.  Having someone with me kept my mind off the pain.

At mile 18, at Santa Monica and Westwood, as expected, there was Kiki with my bag of Gu Chomps screaming some words of encouragement.  The Chomps definitely hit the spot.

Miles 20-21 traveled through the VA Medical Center, my least favorite part of the course.  It's boring and it's uphill and at that point I just can't see that I am going to finish this race off.  My pace dropped off here.  Big time.

Byron left me at mile 22 as I turned onto San Vicente in Brentwood.  Running alone again, this may be where I "hit the wall".  Nothing in particular was bugging me, but I was just tired out.  I struggled just to keep a 9:45-10:00 pace.  I ran up the short hill, and then "everything was downhill", or so they say, because when you've run 23 miles and have three more to go,*nothing* feels like it is downhill.

The next few miles, we were battered by strong winds.  Mile 23 was my friend Carol with a bag of frozen grapes that absolutely hit the spot.  Miles 24-25 had a few other LA Tri Club friends to cheer me on.  Then at mile 25 was the turn onto Ocean Blvd for the final stretch.  I gave everything I had left of my tired legs.  My calves were starting to cramp up, an issue I've never had before in a race.  At Mile 25.5, Fortius team members Kelly, Cynthie, and Bodie were cheering loudly for me, but at that point, I was so spent that I think I tried to smile but nothing happened, and yet I was so grateful for their encouragement right then.  At mile 26, I saw Fortius teammate Hans, yelling for me as I headed toward the finish.

Finish time:  4:11:36.

And finally, a huge thank you to Lisa, my ride home, who surprised me with coconut water, blueberries, and a granola bar.  A perfect post-race snack!

This was my personal best by a minute and 17 seconds.  But, I am disappointed in how my pace dropped off.  Next marathon, the phone will be turned off at 8 pm, and I will be better rested.  In the meantime, I will train like hell, drop the 5 pounds that I need to lose to make me faster, and next time, at the Ojai 2 Ocean Marathon in June, I will kill it!

Red Meat Increases Mortality

There's been a lot of buzz lately about a study that came out this week demonstrating increased mortality associated with eating red meat.  The more servings of red meat consumed, the shorter your life span.

The article was published in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine.  The study evaluated over 37,000 men and over 83,000 women who were enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) or the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), with up to 28 years of follow-up.  Subjects were asked about their consumption of processed and unprocessed red meat, fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, dairy, and fruits and vegetables.

One serving per day of red meat, processed or unprocessed, was associated with a significant increase in mortality, including all-casue mortality, death from cardiac casues, and death from cancer.  The risk increased with increasing consumption of red meat.

Image from livetherun.com

 The researchers suggest that 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% of deaths in women could be prevented  if everyone consumed less than half of a serving of red meat per day.

Is this surprising news?  No.  But it is one of the largest studies demonstrating increased mortality with meat consumption.

Dean Ornish wrote an excellent commentary.  He discusses the consequences of decreasing our consumption of meat -- not just improved health, but also more grain resources to feed the hungry, and less impact on our environment.

I also enjoyed Kathy Freston's commentary on the Huffington Post, "Meat is the New Tobacco."  It's an interesting perspective.  We now universally recognize that tobacco leads to illness and death.  Now we have strong data demonstrating that meat consumption has the same effect.

This is great motivation to encourage people toward a plant-based diet.  But, in the words of Dean Ornish, "We have a spectrum of choices; it's not all or nothing."  When you exclude some meat and animal products and include more whole-food plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole-grains, your health will improve.

Pan A, Sun Q, Bernstein AM; et al. Red meat consumption and mortality: results from 2 prospective cohort studies [published online March 12, 2012]. Arch Intern Med. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.2287.

Irony and Dog Bites

Earlier this week I posted about the joys of running with dogs.  Which makes today's adventure an odd turn of events.

This morning, I went running.  When my dogs see me put on running shoes, they get excited, wag their tails, jump and chase me around the house.  So, for my tempo runs, I'll take the dogs with me for my 10-20 minute warm-up, then put them in the house and finish my workout on my own.  And that's what I did this morning.

I started my tempo portion of my run, heading down the sidewalk along Ventura Boulevard.  I turned onto a side street and ran toward a man and his dog on a leash. I was at least three feet away, when the dog lunged toward me and bit my leg.

I stopped, stunned.  The older man holding the leash fell silent.  I looked down at my left leg, a couple inches below the knee, and saw the puncture wound of the dog's tooth.  It was a bit less than a centimeter wide, but there was some depth to the wound because I could see a couple granules of fat tissue.  Blood was flowing down my leg, and I used my black crop pants to try to blot the bleeding.

The man remained silent.  His dog stood still, perhaps even shaking a bit.

I said, "Do you see what your dog just did?  Do you see this?"

He finally said, "I'm sorry." 

My first thought was that I'd look odd finishing up my run with blood dripping down my leg, since ideally I would have had about another 30 minutes to go.  Then reality hit:  I should not be running with a dog bite, I need to get this wound looked at.

I didn't have my phone with me, which I often do since I do a lot of my running when I'm on call.  But, fortunately I have a good memory, and fortunately this was an honest man who gave me his real name and his real address, which I was able to confirm later on the internet.  In retrospect, it would have been good to have the dog's license number as well.  The information that I did obtain was useful for the report that I filed later that day to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.

I ran home, quickly showered, washed off the wound a bit, covered it in a band aid, and went to Urgent Care.  There, the wound was cleaned up well after some local anesthesia.

Since the Los Angeles Marathon is only 10 days away, I was worried that I might not be able to participate.  But, the physician recommended a few days off my feet for the wound to heal.

I worry about tripping and falling, twisting an ankle, or straining my IT band as the events that can derail my running.  I never thought a dog would get in the way.

Running With Dogs

I've never loved "recovery runs".  They're usually on days when I'm tired out from doing a long run the day before.

I've turned them into an opportunity -- to exercise my dogs.

I have two retired racing greyhounds.  This is Gold.  He is 8 years old.  Once upon a time, he chased a stuffed rabbit around a track.  Now he chases me as I shuffle through the neighborhood.


And this is Curves.  She is 6 years old.  She is a greyhound, but at her petite size of 51 pounds, she was never a racer.

These guys are 45 mile per hour sprinters who can catch a squirrel in my backyard (yes that's pretty gross cleaning up the mess).  But when it comes to distance running, I am a little faster than they are.  We're happy doing a 11-12 minute per mile pace.

We stop a lot.  We sniff and pee and poop on things (well, I don't do those things, but my dogs do).  We say hello to other dogs in the neighborhood.  And overall, we have a good time.

The dogs are great companions.  They get my mind off of worrying about my pace.  They remind me of why I run -- to escape, to feel good, to free my mind of stress and obligations.

And when they are exercised, they are happier.

 Here we are.  One big happy family of runners.

Electronic Medical Record

I have a new friend to carry around with  me at work -- my laptop computer.

For about the past month, I have been on the electronic medical record.  Rather than dictate my notes to a bank of transcriptionists in India, I type them.  Actually, it's more of a point-and-click system, but for many aspects of the note, I prefer to type.

On the first day using the electronic medical record, I wanted to crawl under my desk and hide.  My orientation had been at least four months earlier, and the technical support person on site was clueless -- I'd ask him a question, he'd stare blankly at the computer and tell me that he's "not familiar with this template"

The first few weeks of EMR (electronic medical record) were beyond painful.  At first, it took me far longer to complete a patient visit.  But, now I think it's faster than the previous paper charting.  I don't have to write prescriptions because if the patient's pharmacy is in my computer, I can fax a prescription right from the exam room.  As a patient talks, while I used to write down notes, I can type my notes, which don't need to be subsequently dictated because they are being typed directly into the EMR system.  And, rather than have a pile of charts waiting for me to dictate them at the end of clinic, it's easy enough to finish off a patient note at the end of the encounter with a patient.

While I enjoy the technology, I don't want to take anything away from the personal interaction with my patients.  I try to set up my computer so that it is not directly in the line of eye contact between me and my patient, and so I angle myself toward my patient, and slightly away from my computer.  I have had to learn how to balance the entry of data with making eye contact with my patients, and try to minimize the number of moments of awkward silence while I try to find the right place to point and click.


So, if you have an appointment with me, and you see me in the room with the laptop computer, please know that even though I may be typing, and pointing and clicking, I am listening.  Really.

Pasadena Rock N Roll Half Marathon

I've been suffering from a lack of confidence in my running lately..

Of my last three running events, two were terrible.  Long Beach Half Marathon was run as I was recovering from a stomach bug and I had the opportunity to meet the medical staff as I nearly passed out after the race.  Then, my performance at the Santa Barbara Marathon was dismal after having to skip the marathon that I had wanted to run the week before (Santa Clarita) due to a sinus infection.  I rarely get sick, so to get derailed from two races back to back was unexpected and disheartening.  Boney Mountain Half Marathon was a good race for me, but as I had never done a trail race before, I had nothing to compare it to.

So, heading into Pasadena Rock N Roll Half-Marathon this weekend, I was a bit apprehensive.  Having decided to dedicate the coming year to becoming a stronger runner, I wanted to prove that in a race I really have gotten better.  In order to run faster, I have been following Coach Gerardo's running plan, got back to my track workouts with the Los Feliz Flyers on Wednesday evenings, and have accelerated my usual winter weight loss of excess pounds that I tend to gain in the Fall "off-season".

So, better trained and leaner, I approached the start line.  I started with my friend Tom, who I've done several long runs with.  But, knowing he's a faster runner, I let him go at the beginning.

One of the runners in front of me had a shirt with a picture of a pork sandwich and the words "Runs on Bacon".  At that point, I had two thoughts:  1) It's a shame I don't carry business cards with me when I run because this is a man who just might need me in the future, and 2) I cannot let a man who gloats about his love of bacon to beat me.  So I passed him.  :)

Coach Gerardo gave me a plan of what paces to keep, to gradually get faster throughout the race.  This was going to be tough to stick to since there are so many hills in Pasadena.  However, it became a moot point when somewhere in the first mile my watch broke and for my pace displayed "3:00" per mile.  I was a bit panicked by this, but I thought back to my track workout this past Wednesday, where as a pre-race workout I ran three 8:30 miles with a short rest in between, to give me an idea of how I would feel on race day.

Miles 1-2 had some significant uphills.  I started feeling good around mile 3, which is where I spotted my Dad on the course.  It's rare that someone comes out to a race just to support me, so it felt good to see a familiar face.  Miles 4-6 were a little too fast, averaging 8:30 per mile, but I felt good.  I slowed a bit during miles 7-9, maybe to 9:00/mile.  Then I picked it up a bit, and as we ran the last loop around the Rose Bowl and the golf course, I charged it into full gear, huffing and puffing.

Ten more minutes of pain for the confidence gained from a well-run race.

Finishing time:  1:55:18.  My best half marathon time ever.  And on a hilly, challenging course.  Average mile splits -- 8:48 per mile.

What is coolest is that this race put into perspective for me how far I've come.  When I first came to LA almost 5 years ago, I remember posting to LA Tri Club's web page my big goal, to "Finish a 5k at a pace faster than 9 minutes per mile."  I have just finished a half marathon at a pace faster than 9 minutes per mile.  Wow!!!

This is exactly what I needed to give me confidence heading into the LA Marathon next month.

Me and Tom Ackerman, friend and long-run training partner.

Really, Paula Deen?

One of the most decadent chefs of the Food Network has recently announced that she's had diabetes for three years.

If you go to her web site, she talks about how she'd like to help her fans see "Diabetes in a new light."  Click on that link and it takes you to an advertisement for Victoza, the new diabetes drug that she is endorsing.

It's like me putting a cigarette vending machine and a hamburger stand in my waiting room, and then subsequently doing angioplasties on those patients.  But then again, unlike Paula Deen, I took the Hippocratic Oath to "Do No Harm".

When interviewed by Al Roker last week, she claimed, “Here’s the thing, you know, I’ve always encouraged moderation,”  But seriously, since when is a hamburger inside of a glazed donut moderation?  And does someone who proclaims that she can't live without butter or a deep fryer have the right to say she encourages moderation?

 This is moderation?   

from http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/16/10170320-did-paula-deens-diet-cause-her-diabetes

"Moderation" is about the biggest cop-out there is.  Who can't legitimately claim they eat "in moderation"?  Compared to a stick of butter or a tub of lard at each meal, anything is moderation.

What do you do if you're a chef who has earned her reputation as providing recipes for decadent food, and you yourself end up succumbing to one of the diseases that results from eating that food?  I don't know, but signing an endorsement deal with a medicine to treat type 2 diabetes is not the ethical answer to that question.

Devil in a Black Can

In my daily living, my habits are good.  I eat my veggies.  I exercise.  I don't smoke.  I manage my stress.

And yet, I was polishing off 4 or more cans of diet soda every day.  I wrote about my Coke Zero Habit a year ago, a habit that I've only had for a few years.

After my morning workout, I would crave soda.  Then midway through my morning clinic.  Then midway through afternoon clinic.  And then with dinner.  And then if I went out at night, another Coke Zero or Diet Coke.

It was all getting to be a bit much.

There are many reasons to stay away from it.  Diet soda may increase cardiovascular risk, it is acidic which is not good for the body or for an athlete who is training, it has no nutritional benefits, it can leech the bones of calcium, it deceives the body into thinking that it wants to eat more calories than it should, and as someone who has an annoying condition called interstitial cystitis it irritates the bladder and increases frequency of urination.

I thought back to seven years ago when I went vegan.  My last holdout was my love of chocolate brownies.  Once I realized how silly that was, I ditched dairy and eggs and never went back.  (In the meantime, I have perfected my own decadent vegan chocolate brownie recipe.)

On New Years Day, I decided to do it, to give up diet soda.

That first day was tough!  I came home from a morning bike ride, and I wanted that black can!!!  I loved the fizz, the taste, the way it gave me energy.  All I could do to keep craving that can was to leave the house and go to yoga class.

And somehow, after yoga, I felt calm.  I didn't need the soda.

The next few days were tough.  I went back to work on January 3, and instead of my soda can, I brought a small thermos of mango tea.  That actually got me through my morning fine.

And on January 4th, there was one can left in my refrigerator.  I posted this picture on my Facebook page, with the caption, "Honey I miss you xoxoxo".

And here we are, on January 15.  No diet sodas for me since the new year.  And I feel good.  No more ups and downs in my energy level.  I don't have to use the restroom as often since I'm drinking less caffeine.

I think I've kicked the habit for good.  And I think I can stick with my no-soda lifestyle.

Boney Mountain Half Marathon

Today, I ran my first trail race, the Boney Mountain Half Marathon

I chose this event at the suggestion of Coach Gerardo.  I wouldn't have decided on my own to do a trail race.  My goal is to be a faster runner and eventually qualify for the Boston Marathon.  When planning my season of races, Coach G told me that by doing trail running that I will become a faster road runner.  So, while I feel a bit like Ralph Macchio's character in "The Karate Kid" blindly doing his wax-on wax-off drills at the behest of Mr. Miyagi to become a karate champ, here I am stumbling along trails to become a faster marathoner.

And sadly, stumbling is not an exaggeration.  I am not terribly coordinated., which has led to a number of spills while running trails.  This is why, in spite of my height at 5 feet 10 inches, I am not a skilled volleyball or basketball player.  In fact, were it not for the coordination that I acquired during my four years as a high-school cheerleader, I likely would not be able to walk and chew gum to this day.

On Wednesday morning, I took not one, but two, spills on Dirt Mulholland and the single track trails nearby., leading to a bruised chin, scraped up palms, a chunk of skin sliced off the tip of my right pinky finger, skinned knees, and a scraped up and bruised left thigh.

So, I approached today's race at Boney Mountain with some trepidation and yet with the advice of many trail-running teammates about how much I will love running trails, how much easier it is on the knees and joints, and all the beautiful scenery.

As I told people that this was my first trail race ever, I got a lot of reactions of, "You picked this one???"  If I'm going to tackle trails, I might as well do one of the toughest trail half marathons out there.  Go big or go home, right?

The gun went off shortly after 8 am.  Dressed in a tank top, hat, trail shoes, and most importantly, running pants to protect my knees, I took off with the crowd.  The first mile was on pavement, and was mostly downhill.  The second mile had a few rollers, and about that time we had some single track trails.  This means that you can't pass.  You're as fast as the person in front of you, unless he or she lets you pass.

Then at mile 3, we had our first real climb, which was about a mile long.  I held back -- I could have gone faster, but for a first trail race, and more importantly so that I didn't trip and fall, I didn't go too fast.  So, for much of that climb I was walking.  And then there was a nice downhill from there.  A lot of people passed me.  I was cool with that.

What I liked about this race is that people are friendly.  They aren't competitive.  It's like we're all out there to conquer the mountain as one big happy family of trail runners.

I would say that the race really began at mile 6, with four miles of a steady incline, over 1300 feet of climbing.  To those of you who don't run trails, the best analogy I can think of is Masada in Israel.  While on vacation, I'm the one who went ahead of my group, ran to the top of the mountain, turned around and ran halfway down, then ran back up, while others in my tour group struggled to just get to the top. Imagine three Masadas stacked back to back to back.  That is what miles 6-10 of this course was.

Again, I walked much of this, trying to be conservative.  A few people passed me, and toward the top, I passed a couple of them.  Those four miles of climbing were tough.  But, I felt okay.  I felt like I was exerting myself, but didn't feel like I was suffering.  Maybe that means I could have pushed harder, sure, but it means I didn't push too hard.

At mile 10, we started to descend.  Now, I'm not that confident about my footing on trails, so I let plenty of people run by me. My right iliotibial band, just above my knee, started to ache, but I was able to run through that.  Around mile 11.5, I tripped, landed on my hands and knees, and without missing a beat pushed myself up from the ground and kept on running.  I knew I likely scraped up my right knee, but I ignored it and pressed onward.

At mile 12, there was a little hill.  I ran about half of it.  And then the last 3/4 mile was flat to downhill.  As we made the last turn toward the finish with about 1/2 of a mile to go, I was hit with a headwind that must have been 40 mph.  Whoa!  But, I pushed through it, running for the finish line, where my friends and teammates greeted me.

That's me slapping a high-five to teammate Chris Fisher, who had finished so much before me that he had time to change clothes and come back to cheer us on.  Bodie Olmos and Mark Shainman were also waiting at the finish line.

Finish time:  2:42.  Well ahead of my goal of 3 hours.

Me and teammate Alison Chavez, who is far more experienced in trail running, and had run 11 miles of trails the day before the race.

I stopped at first aid and had the cut on my right knee irrigated.  It should heal okay, it's not too bad.  A teammate decided to take a picture of my booboo, but I will spare you and won't post it here.

Overall, a good experience.  I need to gain more confidence on trails, which may lead to me taking fewer falls.

Happy New Year!

I hang my head in shame.... it's been a month since my last post!

I'm on a little break from work, and will be back on January 3.  In the meantime, I'm relaxing, spending time with family, and doing some fun workouts.

With my extra time, I had the chance to try out Barry's Bootcamp.  It's a challenging aerobic workout that mixes in bursts of cardiovascular exercise with weight training.  Try it!

Happy new year!!!!

Not a Great Day at the Santa Barbara Marathon

My first question to the organizers of the Santa Barbara Marathon:  Where's my shirt???  You ran out of shirts, and your volunteers asked me for my name, bib number, and t-shirt size, and said it would be coming in the mail.  It hasn't.  Size medium in women's, please.  Thank you.

I was ready.  Or, better yet, I was ready to run the Santa Clarita Marathon the week earlier, but I ended up sick and missed it.  So I was still sort-of ready.

I signed up for the Santa Barbara Marathon three days before the event, knowing that I wanted to do a race with the fitness I had accumulated from months of marathon training.  Hence the high bib number of 1348, not otherwise accounted for by my name being at the end of the alphabet, and no name on my bib either.

Luckily, my friend Lenny was going to be running the half marathon, so I had a travel companion.

I stayed at a chain hotel in Carpinteria, the closest hotel that I could get to the race parking area, about 20 miles away.  The hotels were all booked up with race participants and the two hundred or so weddings taking place in the greater Santa Barbara area that weekend.  So I was stuck at said unfancy chain motel.  Cars on the freeway kept waking me throughout the night.  So, I wasn't terribly well rested.

On race morning, I parked at UCSB, then took a shuttle to Dos Pueblos High School, which is where the marathon started.  Unfortunately, the buses dropped us off a half of a mile away, which is a minor annoyance when you are running, oh, another 26.2 miles later that day.

Someone must have been reading the comments about the race because contrary to previous complaints of lack of facilities, there were more than enough port-o-potties, an important matter for someone like me who likes to empty her bladder three or four times before the start of the race.

With only eight hundred or so of us running the race, it felt a little silly to line up under a "Start" banner.  Nonetheless, off we went, to run a 9-mile loop around Goleta.  Boring.  Completely boring.  The first few miles were a slight downhill, then a slight uphill for the next few miles.  At mile nine, we pass the high school again, and I'm thinking, have I really gone anywhere?  I wasn't feeling terrific, perhaps a bit tired, and I was struggling to keep my mile splits at 9:30 per mile, which was my goal.  I was worried because my heart rate was staying in the high 160's, which I knew for me was a bit high.

Around mile 8 was a photographer.  I'm not sure what came over me, but I decided I needed an interesting race photo of me with my arms stretched out and my tongue sticking out.

In spite of not feeling awesome, I figured I'd stay the course.  Miles 10-12 felt like I was moving downhill, and after downing a Gu gel or two I felt a second wind.  I enjoyed all the locals standing out on the roads cheering us on.  I smiled and thanked them of course.  I was annoyed by the guy on a mountain bike who passed me within just a few inches, to then ride next to his girlfriend (presumably) for the next three miles, passing her food and water.  Granted, this girl wasn't going to win anything, and neither was I, but seriously, if we want food or water when we want it, we have to carry it with us, and I didn't want any near misses with this guy's stupid mountain bike crashing into me.

So perhaps my annoyance with Mountain Bike Guy was a bit over the top.  I may have been getting cranky because I was feeling tired and lousy.

The "wall" came around mile 16.  My mile splits had dropped off and I decided from then on that any time goal was out the window and I was going to ignore my Garmin.  The goal at this point was to put one foot in front of the other and run the rest of this race, avoiding the temptation to walk, and just get this 26.2 miles done.

The next 7 miles were no fun.  The scenery continued to be uninteresting for the most part.  And I maintained my fatigued shuffle of a jog, walking only through aid stations.  Then at mile 23 was a huge hill, which I managed to run up, or more accurately shuffle up at a whopping pace of 15 minutes per mile.  But the reward at the top of the hill was what a marathon based in Santa Barbara should be -- a nice view!!!!  The ocean!!!!  Finally!!!

I think the next couple miles were downhill, and were kind of pretty since we could see the ocean.  I slugged through, and finished as strong as I could.  One benefit of doing all these races is that I know a couple of the local race announcers through the LA Tri Club.  Tim Bomba was announcing finishers, and typically he'll give me a shout out, which is kind of cool, "Here comes Heather Shenkman, of LA Tri Club, cardiologist, so if you want your heart checked...." or something like that.  It's good to hear when you feel like crap, completely spent, and need an extra push to get across the finish line.

My finish time:  4:27 and a few seconds that actually put me closer to 4:28.  But let's round down and call it 4:27.  I feel better about that.

I believe that under better circumstances, I could have pulled a 4:05.  So what happened?  I have learned to never take a trans-continental trip within the weeks before a marathon.  I think that led to me getting sick  And I can't say I was completely recovered, even if it was a week later.  There was an extra week of taper and being sedentary, which may have helped an extra pound or two creep onto my frame.  The peak of my training was too far in advance of this race.  And then there was the noisy freeway in front of my motel.

I've learned my lessons, and I will continue on in my quest to become a faster marathon runner.  My next full marathon is the LA Marathon in March.  I have two half marathons in the meantime.

My suggestions to the people who run the Santa Barbara Marathon:
-Please make the course more interesting.  Goleta is beyond dull to run through.  Last I checked you have an ocean nearby.  Can we maybe run near that instead?
-Your volunteers are enthusiastic, along with the locals.  They couldn't have been nicer.
-Thanks for ample port-o-potties.  Really.
-More aid stations with Gu and food.  And how about some banana or orange slices at aid stations?
-More food at the finish line.  No, I don't mean places where we can spend money and buy lunch.  I mean, more than just orange and banana slices.  How about granola bars, fruit salad, something a bit more filling so we don't have to binge on food from the vendors giving out free samples?  Note to Pure Bar people -- thank you for letting me take 4 bars.  They were awesome.  I'm sold on them.
-Please send me my t-shirt, women's medium.  And that's how I'll start and end.