FiveFinger Sightings in Budapest!
Well, seeing that my last post was back in June, I obviously didn’t spend my summer blogging like I thought I would. I spent the weeks touring around Hungary and my husband’s hometown, reading 10 novels and various nonfiction on my Kindle, running / walking, and eating so much home-cooked food I didn’t want to leave! I’ll share some thoughts here about these last two items.
Running / Walking
Once we got settled into my husband’s childhood home where his parents still live, I set out exploring the area to find running paths. Turns out there were a lot of options! I developed a 4 mile hilly loop that wove around the local University
as well as a 1.5 mile loop into downtown Gödöllő. 
Combining and/or doubling these loops gave me some great choices of distances based on how I felt that day. I enjoyed running in the mornings, with a half banana as fuel, and for a few weeks I maintained running every other day.
Never did I see anyone in Gödöllő or the surrounding areas wearing Vibram FiveFingers like I was, and I got a lot of pointing and stares. I swear one kid called me a “frog monster” in Hungarian. The neighbors were fascinated too, and I did a lot of modeling. Only in my last week in the country did two different men run by me wearing FiveFinger Sprints! If it hadn’t been raining and if they hadn’t been running briskly by, I would have struck up a conversation. Wonder if they were tourists too. I would imagine so, as most Hungarians seemed to prefer the other shoe fad, those shape-up style shoes with the huge built up soles. Tragic :(
One day as I was running fast on a downhill stretch by the University, my left knee started giving me the same pain that led me to ChiRunning (see chapter 4) almost two years ago. I should have stopped and walked, but instead I kept running, a little slower, and tried to use perfect ChiRunning steep downhill form, landing softly on the heel and rolling to the toe. It did help, but the knee hurt the next day upon waking and so I rested for a day or two. The next run caused more knee pain, so I gave up running and started doing fast-paced 4 mile walks in the mornings instead. That lasted for a few days and then we started getting really busy packing to come home. I think I’ll be ok to run again now so I’ll try it slowly soon. I know that I was stomping too much on the downhill, not keeping my feet landing behind my hips, and not absorbing the impact with my form as I got over-confident and ran too fast downhill.
The school year started on August 31, and I have first period prep, which means I won’t start teaching until second period. I’m toying with the idea of starting a morning run schedule, perhaps 2-3 days a week. Even though I’d have to be at school by the first bell at 7:50am, I wouldn’t have to get there by 7 like I used to, which would give me some extra time. What I liked about running in the morning in Hungary was that I felt the same each morning, having slept and digested all the food from the day before. Running in the afternoons last year, I would either be super tired from the day’s work, or get a stomachache from a late snack, or it would be too hot, etc. I think running in the morning will eliminate a lot of those variables, so I’m looking forward to trying it out. Maybe I’ll even get in a track workout at the school once a week, too.
Food, Food, and more Food
The subject of food this summer was ever-present. Some highlights:
1. Watching my mother-in-law grind fish heads (freshly caught and given to us by a neighbor) to make the stock for Hungarian fish soup.
2. Walking to the daily farmers’ market to get lacto-fermented pickles and sauerkraut for about 1/5 the price of what I buy here at the health food store. I came home and learned to make my own. So proud :)
3. Consuming large quantities of grass-fed organic raw milk, cheese, sour cream, butter, and cottage cheese from these cows 
4. Visiting the family friend beekeeper down the street and coming home with honeycomb
5. Finding snails tucked into the freezer section of a Costco-type grocery store (we did not buy them…)
6. Marveling at how orange the local lady’s eggs’ yolks were, compared to the ones we buy at our farmer’s market here in CA. I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture, but the bright orange yolk below 
(thanks FoodRenegade) is exactly what we were gobbling up at a fraction of the price of what we pay at our market in SoCal. And, the eggs we buy at the market look pale yellow, which shows the hens aren’t totally free to roam and eat worms and grass. I felt very disillusioned upon returning home, and am on a quest to find orange egg yolks.
7. Learning how to make raw milk kefir (notice the cream layer!)
and sourdough bread. Experimenting with properly activating the sourdough starter and making a loaf of bread in the gas oven took ALL summer, but I finally got a loaf I was semi-proud of. It was, as my father-in-law said, “nehéz”, or still dense in the middle.
Even though most of our daily meals were homemade, we still ate at restaurants a fair amount, and my stomach and digestive system started to get out of whack and needed a break from strange food upon returning home. I’m back on strict full GAPS diet now, and am not supposed to eat any grains. I was bending the rules with eating the sourdough bread, which when made properly can break down much of the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid in the flour, but it still has a lot of carbohydrates. So, for now I’m back to nut flours. Maybe will try it again in 6 months or so.
Hope you all had a great summer. Happy Labor Day weekend!
RACE REVIEW: Camarillo Kiwanis Club 10K
Official times and distance: 55:56 / 8:57 average pace / 5th in age group out of 9 women 20-29 yrs (It’s a small race!)
Wow, I did not expect to beat my goal by this much! I trained to run the race in less than an hour, and was aiming for 9:27 average pace. Yesterday I set a personal record, running faster than I did in any of my previous 9 races. Cool!
Ever since my hip flexors were really hurting during my last half marathon back in October, I’ve been training at a faster running speed, because it means I have to lean more from my ankles and not lift my knees up from the hips. I think that paid off yesterday.
I started the day the way I normally do for a big morning run. Got up two hours before race start and ate a cup of homemade yogurt with blueberries, chia seeds, 1/2 banana, coconut milk, honey, and two dates. YUM. I’ve found this breakfast to be sooo sustaining on runs because it has a great mix of natural sugars for quick fuel and fat from the yogurt for endurance. If I give an hour to digest I never get cramps or feel heavy from it.
The race was only about 20 min. from our apartment so we left at 7:20 for an 8:00am race start. Probably less than 200 people registered for the whole race, and I knew there would be plenty of close parking and a quick package pick-up. I had time to do my ChiRunning body looseners and run up and down the parking lot a few times to loosen my feet up. It was about 45 degrees outside, so we runners were all bouncing around trying to keep warm in our shorts.
I started out as slow as I could with the rush at the beginning, about 9:00 min/mi. Then I backed down to 9:30 and held it there for the first 2.5 miles. I was trying to run at a good clip but not too fast because I wanted to save energy for the big hill at mile 3. It’s the steepest, longest hill I’ve run in a race, and demands a lot of focus. I made it up nicely using the ChiRunning hill technique, seen here in another short video clip of mine.
After the uphill, it was all moderate to steep downhill from mile 4.5-6.2. I think this is what allowed me to finish with such a good time. I played with the “runnable downhill” and “non-runnable downhill” techniques described on pages 180-185 of the book ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer (click on the ChiRunning widget to the right to check it out).
The race was a big success in really all aspects. I beat my goal, my dad won first in his age group and I didn’t get any blisters or cramps. It was a small community race with no time chips, medals, or fancy prizes, but all the important aspects were solid. The course was well marked, and there were volunteers everywhere with stop signs and helpful directions, water, or just a smile and a cheer.
And, before I go, I must thank my wonderful husband for riding along on his bike to videotape and photograph my race and for putting together the awesome video above. Enjoy!
Comments/Questions? Use the “Ask” button down at the bottom right.
Year 2011 Resolutions
Is January 23rd too late for a New Year’s Resolution blog post? I don’t think so! Well, here goes. Even though my job and relationship status stayed the same (love my husband and teaching high school English and Spanish), 2010 was a huge year for me, personally. Some of the highlights:
1. I transitioned into ChiRunning in the winter/spring
2. I transitioned into minimalist/barefoot running in the summer/fall and bought my first pairs of Vibram FiveFinger shoes.
3. In June, at the suggestion of my wonderful, supportive husband, I started this blog, AllisonsBigToe.com. In learning to navagate the social media world, I inspired others and have also been truly inspired myself by all your blog posts and tweets on subjects that interest me.
4. In April and October, I ran half marathons without injury, the furthest distance I have ever accomplished.
5. In November through the end of the year, I transitioned my diet and lifestyle to the Gut and Psychology Syndrome nutritional program (which encompasses a grain-free diet and detoxification).
2010 was a year of self-discovery, research, and healing.
This year, 2011, I resolve to surge forward and seamlessly blend my athletic form and healthy lifestyle to make my body an efficient machine. I want to be able to say at the end of the year: “I don’t suffer from any health problems at all, and I have more energy and look more beautiful than ever before.” In March I will turn 29 years old, and I want the last year of my 20’s to be the year in which I set my body up for a lifetime of good health. I want to create a health and fitness routine that will significantly reduce my chance of getting cancer or other terminal illness in the future. This involves continuing to make changes in almost every aspect of my life, including but not limited to: sleeping habits, how I brush my teeth, sunlight intake, what cleaning products I use on my body and in my home, what, when, and how I eat, and how and when I exercise (including warm-up and cool-down practices).
So, all that said, last night I took the plunge and registered for the 4 mile Goleta Superbowl XLIV Run! It’s a plunge because I’ve run maybe twice in the last two months, because I just recovered from a flu that had me in bed for 5 days straight with a fever, and because this will be the first formal race that I’ll run on a grain-free diet. But I did this Superbowl run with my husband and friends last year, and it was really fun; the course takes a nice loop through the streets of Goleta (city near Santa Barbara) and then through Lake Los Carneros Park. I also want to try out the course in my Vibram FiveFingers, because last year at this time I wasn’t yet enlightened about the benefits of barefoot running :)
Thankfully, even though I haven’t been running recently, I did keep up my 10 minutes a day morning workout throughout the holidays, and this helped me to build some muscle strength. This morning I felt strong enough and decided it was time to start running again.
After slurping a spoonful of raw honey and doing my ChiRunning body looseners, I ran about 2 miles, maybe a little bit more; I didn’t take my Garmin with me. My first impression: tiring! Today is very windy, hot, and dry; a type of weather we usually get in Southern California around October, not the end of January, and it made for a difficult transition back in to running for me. Having to battle the wind back was not very fun. At the top of a hill after about a mile and a half I stopped and walked for a bit because I could feel my heartrate was too high. Then I ran the rest of the way home on slightly wobbly legs. I guess I can’t expect too much considering a week ago today I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs without stopping twice (darn that flu virus!). I plan to run twice more this week, and then attempt the 4 mile distance next weekend, just to make sure I’ll be able to run it the weekend after without stopping. I have confidence it will all go well, and then I can spend the rest of the day being lazy and watching the one football game a year I ever see.
Here’s to an awesome year 2011!
Comments?
A glimpse into what I do for healthy eating. This is the first day of a week-long juice diet. See my post below for the full after-cleanse report!
Comments?
My Week-Long Juice Cleanse/Detox
Why Did I Do a Juice Cleanse / Detox?
I’ve been a healthy eater (organic foods, whole grains, no processed food or preservatives, a good amount of fruits and vegetables) for at least three years now. I knew I wasn’t putting in a lot of “toxic” substances to my body, especially because I also switched to natural shampoos, soaps, and sunscreen. But, my husband, who got me started on all this healthy eating, did some research and decided to do a juice cleanse himself. He liked the renewed energy it gave him. Based on my husband’s experiences, I set out to do a seven-day juice cleanse of my own.
I hoped that when I re-introduced food into my diet, I could choose to eat foods that would eliminate a variety of frustrating health issues I’ve had for many years:
- chronic yeast infections (Candida) that come from eating too many carbs and sugar
- gas / bloating at times
- allergies that persist throughout the year, regardless of season
- iron (hemoglobin) deficiency / anemia
Also, I hoped the juice cleanse would jump start my running and get me on a diet to make me more efficient in that area.
Types of Juice I Drank
It’s best to make all juices at home with a juicer, but I just didn’t have time, as I was working full time over the course of this juice cleanse. So, here’s what I did:
Homemade in juicer: spinach, chard, beets, carrots
Bought at Trader Joe’s in the refrigerated section: Very Green Juice Blend, Watermelon, Orange, Essential Greens Veggie Juice
Bought at TJ’s in non-refrigerated section: Garden Patch, Organic Apple Cranberry
How Much Juice I Drank
All day: ginger tea (tumeric, ginger extract, sometimes chamomile and/or raw honey)
Morning before work: Glass of Very Green Juice Blend or other fruit juice, and another glass of a mixture of carrots/chard/spinach/beets (process shown in video above)
Brought to work: three 16 oz. bottles. First had watermelon, orange, and apple/cranberry. Second had Garden Patch and Essential Greens. Third had carrot and Essential Greens. I put the bottles in a little cooler with ice packs.
Afternoon/Evening: usually 3-4 more big glasses of a combination of any of the above juices.
How I Felt During the Cleanse
Ok, full disclosure. I did a lot of research and decided to start the cleanse with a laxative called Magnesium Citrate oral solution which had been recommended by my physician. It’s what they give patients before a colonoscopy to clean them out. I drank the 10oz. bottle on Saturday morning, then just drank ginger tea the rest of the day to keep me hydrated.
On Sunday morning, I started the juice cleanse. I was quite hungry and a little weak Sunday because I hadn’t eaten anything the day before. However, Monday and Tuesday I felt a lot more energy. It was a very strange feeling to be hungry and tired in the body, but remarkably clear-headed and alert in the mind. My constant stuffy nose which I had always attributed to allergies went away, and I could breathe clearly. I started to develop a white coating on my tongue and teeth and a yucky taste in my mouth, which I learned was a result of the toxins being released from my body. Wednesday through Friday I marveled that even though I was hungry a lot, I didn’t get the headaches that usually came with the hunger. My body felt calm and relaxed.
I didn’t run during the juicing week because I didn’t feel I had enough calories for it, especially because my job as a high school teacher is quite exhausting anyway.
Results and Running
I wanted to know what foods I should re-introduce to my diet when I broke my juice fast, so I did a lot of research and found the following great resources:
GAPS diet
Raw Milk
Coconut Oil and Flour (found at my local health-food store)
Chia Seeds
I’m now trying to follow the full GAPS diet as best I can and bought the GAPS guide. The biggest step when re-introducing food was to cut out all cereal grains and sugar (only allowed is raw honey), and eat a lot of yogurt and raw or fermented dairy. Also, not to eat fruits at the same time you eat other foods, as they have different digestive processes. I’ve baked with coconut flour to varying degrees of success and am looking forward to trying almond flour. UPDATE: Made banana bread today with almond flour/meal and it was awesome!! Recipe called “Banana Macadamia Bread” from Kendall Conrad’s “Eat Well Feel Well” SDC cookbook, which I modified to use almond meal instead of the macadamias. I really recommend the cookbook, even for the paleo diet!
I ran two times last week, the first 3.5 miles and the second 4.5, eating a date and a little banana about an hour before. I also ate chia seeds during the day in yogurt or fruit juice. That seemed to give me enough carbs for energy.
So far I’ve been off the juice diet for a full week and love my new eating habits. My allergies are all but gone, which helps in my running. I used to have to carry tissues with me on every run, but now I hardly need them.
Other resourses on Juice Fasting here.
Have you ever tried a juice or other cleanse? Comments?
