Gluten-Free? Me? No way! (Or so I thought!)

It’s quite fashionable and trendy to eat a gluten-free (GF) diet these days. Fashionable, trendy, and EASY. Wifey and I went on a cruise a few weeks ago and there was an entire section of the buffet labeled “Gluten-Free.” Granted, most of the items on the buffet were obviously and naturally free of gluten like meats and potato and they also had some kind of bread but the point is, even a major cruise line is jumping on the GF bandwagon. And why wouldn’t they? Almost 1/3 of Americans report being GF! If the United States has 320 million people, 106.667 million of them report eating GF even though CeliacCentral.org estimates 1/133 people have celiac disease (CD), which equates to 1,418,671 people who need to eat GF. 

And need to they do; CD is a genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. 

CD can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases. Ugh! So clearly it is imperative that some people eat GF, but I found myself rolling my eyes at everyone else who was eating this way just to be trendy.

  

I choose to be vegan for a plethora of reasons. However, as time goes by, I see that the ethics of a plant-based diet is my primary motivator. I don’t eat animals because I don’t want to contribute to their suffering. I’ve always been an environmentalist and science clearly shows a plant-based diet is better for our planet. Yes, I realize I’m talking about the trendiness of a GF diet when it is clear veganism is also, thankfully, trending now. 

This is my blog so I guess I can overtly favor one thing (diet) over another, right? My point is to show that I have made a decision to eat a certain way and have my reasons yet I found myself wondering about the sense behind the GF movement. After all, eating GF doesn’t benefit other sentient beings or the planet.

Is GF a marketing gimmick used to sell us certain foods at a higher price? The economic factor is definitely part of the puzzle but so are cognitive biases which power the economic machine: the availability heuristic, the availability cascade, the social desirability bias, and the bandwagon effect (I am clearly experiencing the bias blind spot effect so no need to comment about that. Ha ha). As I first stated, it is first and foremost a social trend. It is cool to be, or at least claim to be, GF.

If you didn’t know by the name of my blog, I like to run. As a population, runners are notorious for having higher rates of anemia than the average Joe. I am no exception. My blood work often shows me flirting on the edge of anemic red blood cell count. Recently, I also displayed markers indicating possible CD. I discounted this possibility, mainly due to my disdain at the thought of having to join the hoards of those eating GF and also because I was not experiencing any symptoms (symptoms include: bloating or gas, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, itchy skin rash, tingling/numbness, pale mouth sores, joint pain, delayed growth, poor weight gain, thin bones, infertility, headaches, depression, irritability, and discolored teeth).

I visited with a gastroenterologist and scheduled an endoscopy to take a gander at, and biopsy, my duodenum. 

To make a long story short, results showed I have asymptomatic CD! Whaaaat??? Ugh! What now? Now I have to make drastic changes to my diet as limiting food containing gluten and derivatives is not enough; even the smallest amount can damage the villi in the intestine. To be honest, the diet is easy. Finding options that are both vegan and GF can be a little trickier but there are still a ton of delicious, nutritious, and satisfying foods I can eat and enjoy. The main struggle I have is being “that guy” who asks about GF options. But if worrying about other people’s opinions of me is my biggest challenge, I’d say I’ll be just fine.

On the bright side, I’ve found GF products that I would not have taken a look at before my diagnosis. 

GF Chex cereal is amazing (and rightly falls into the vegan junk food category) and is a perfect dessert! The only big changes I’ve made are with grains. Although oatmeal is technically GF, it is a rotation crop therefore can be contaminated with wheat, etc. There are certified GF oat options but the recommendation is generally to steer clear of oats for the first year after diagnosis, introducing them again only after giving your intestine time to heal. Oh boy! I used to eat a lot of oatmeal! With this in mind, I wanted to replace it with something. That something is quinoa; it is the perfect replacement even though the consistency is quite different! Change is good, right? “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” ~ George Bernard Shaw.

I’ve not only changed my eating habits, I've also changed my perspective. I’m now a plant-based GF foodie and I accept my GF brethren for whatever reason they choose to live GF. Do what makes you happy and healthy, peeps.

GOOAAAALLLLLLLs......can make all the difference!

Runners are, generally speaking, a pretty successful group of individuals. Yes, admittedly there may be a slight bias to that statement, but I stand by it. Setting goals is an important part of getting anything done. This applies to most things but i'll try and keep it running related. Goals really help when training for a specific distance or time; without them, our workouts lack structure and focus. Goals provide motivation and direction. They help us get up early and get out the door or to log a run after a long day at work (something I am not motivated to do). Most importantly, setting and working towards goals is fun! Achieving one's goal is also fun but it's the process that matters. It adds another level to your workout instead of just floating, aimlessly, through life and mindlessly logging miles without direction. It seems like a safe assumption that most runners are goal setters in some regard, however, I think many of us could use a little more focus and direction with our goals.

A goal ought to be both specific and measurable; an ambiguous goal will not allow you to plan the specific actions needed to meet the goal. E.g. Bad goal: I want to run faster. Good goal: I want to run a 4:00 marathon!
There is a goal setting sweet spot that runners should consider: Goals ought to be hard enough to attain that they encourage one's top performance but not so hard that they're inconceivable. For me, It would be not be a good goal to want to break 2:00 in the marathon; training, body type, orthopedic threshold, and the time commitment needed, make it an inconceivable goal. Oh, and the fact that it has never been done (yet) is a small limiting factor for this recreational runner!

Once a goal is set, the next step is appropriate implementation intentions, that is, how, exactly, are we going to achieve the goal? This is an important aspect of goal setting theory and separates those who reach their potential from those who do not. E.g. It would be silly of me to make a goal to run a hundred mile race and then only focus on 5Ks leading up to it. It is probable I would not meet my potential in the 100m distance (This is where having a coach can be beneficial!). Make challenging and achievable goals; your performance will improve and you will move towards it. Motivation can be maintained, when your goal is far in the future, by making mini-goals that keep you on the right track. An example could be running a 1:50 half marathon before your primary race where you go for a 4:00 marathon.

The Reality of Goals

We all know how important it is to make good goals and how effective they can be. I always find it funny how, during a tough interval sesh or race, I will catch myself negotiating with my goals. That's why I like to set various goals to account for different race day variables. I use the "A", "B," and "C" goal format where the "A" goal is the primary goal if everything is perfect. My "B" goal is still a good goal and I'd be happy with it but I have fallen back on it because some element was not perfect. The "C" goal is the catch all. A lot of people put "finishing" in this spot but I still prefer, and recommend, having a quantitative goal. "Finishing" allows too much leeway in effort and can lead to slacking off the pace more than you otherwise might if you still have a time you can work towards.

Goals are your friend. They push and motivate you to be your best possible self. With them, you can become the best runner you can be. Without them, you're doomed to run aimlessly without the satisfaction of working for and achieving something. They are not totally rigid; they're flexible and can be reasoned with when absolutely necessary. Try it today! If you haven't set a goal for this summer's race season, do it. You'll be amazed at how your motivation increases and you have purpose and direction in your sport.

What are your goals for your upcoming races? Remember, letting others know your goals holds you accountable to work towards them.

Leaving the GPS

There have been several articles in various running publications about runners' reliance on their GPS (Click here for one published by Competitor.com). I will usually read them, contemplate them for a very short time, and move on. Why do I move on so quickly? I am one of those data obsessed runners. I can't wait to get back from my run and look at my stats: pace fluctuations, splits, and, when I'm wearing a monitor, my heart rate. It's a huge part of the fun. Furthermore, I get a kick out of seeing where I ran; that little map with the red line showing my course brings a little more brightness to my already amazing day! I'm really showing my simplistic tendencies! The thought of not tracking my run seems like it's wasted. That's horrible to admit and seemingly goes against my statement, in a previous post, that I'm intrinsically motivated to run. However, my Garmin/running relationship is what icing is to cake. Well, that's not entirely true; I prefer icing to cake so, to be truthful, that statement ought to be: my running/Garmin relationship is what icing is to cake; I'll always eat the icing but a little cake can improve it and add to it! Just to drive this analogy into the ground, I will eat icing without cake but I will not eat cake without icing! Done!

Anyway, what was this post supposed to be about? Ahh yes, going without a GPS for a change. Today was that day for me (Gasp). Well, sort of.

I ran a 10k this morning and although I wore my Garmin, I pledged not to look at it throughout the race (I still wanted the stats and the map!). I would not use it to set my pace.

Let me interject a short story: I arrived at the race site at around 6:10 for a planned 7am start. I went for a warm up, did a few strides and got back to the start area around 6:50am. The crowd seemed pretty thin. Where was everyone? I asked another runner and was met with incredulity as he told me the race didn't start until 8am. I was then told that it would be unsafe for runners to run in the dark! I guess I'm just a rookie who (obviously) can't follow directions (race start time) or understand basic safety procedures. I wanted to rattle off the many races I've run that began before sunrise and the plethora of races that last through the night, but I resisted. To fill the extra time, I went for another warm up run. I ended up running 6.29 miles before the race.

Ok, back to not using my Garmin. My plan was to run as hard as I could for the whole distance (I guess that's what racing is all about) without using my watch to keep pace. I had set a goal to go under 40:00 for the 10k which equates to a 6:26 per mile pace. I haven't run a 10k in years and had no idea how I would do. 40:00 seemed like a nice round number. The race started and a few guys took an early lead. After about 1/2 mile I could feel my heart beating and I wondered if I was going too fast. Nah, just hang on! The miles clicked by and I started to feel I was slowing down a lot. I knew I was not maintaining the same pace as in the beginning but I wasn't getting passed so I figured I wasn't completely doomed. The vibrating on my left wrist, a Siren's song begging me to look, came without fail every mile. I didn't submit to it!
As the finish line approached I saw, with amazement, 38 minutes was on the clock. I had run faster than I'd planned because I didn't use my Garmin to set the pace. Would I have been slower had I looked at my watch? We'll never know, but it was surprisingly refreshing, and freeing, not to glance at my wrist every mile (at least).
A bonus is that I was able to look at my data after the race. According to the Garmin, I ran 6.27 miles in 38:34. That's a 5 second PR!

Check out the pace and map. Aren't they fun to look at!