Bloggers for Beka (Or, Kicking Crohn's to the Curb)

We all have those friends whom we can call at any time of the day if we're having a hard time; those friends will answer the phone and listen with a sympathetic ear.

Then there are those friends who will come over in the middle of the night to help you deal with an issue in person.

And then there are those friends, scarce in number, who will not only help you bury the body, but tell you the best spot to do so.

KIDDING.

Sort of.

Beka and Megan are in that last, rare class of friends.  Two friends who are so close that I can't imagine anything that could cause one to waver in her support and love of the other, even in the case of hiding the body of someone who had the temerity to say that Chili's is the best restaurant in Seattle.

KIDDING AGAIN.

Maybe.  I wouldn't risk testing it.

Beka has Crohn's; she can tell you about it here, and I think it's best that the words come from her, so please click over to understand what it's like to have Crohn's once the poop jokes have worn off.  While I firmly believe that humor is an important aspect of dealing, coping, or persevering through difficult situations, it can only get you so far.

Friends can get you further.

Last year, if you recall, Megan hosted the first Bake Sale for Beka, which raised funds for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, a group for which Beka will be running her first half marathon later this year.  This is a group that is important to Beka, and by extension, to Megan.  But in the last year and a half, these two women have become cherished friends of mine, and as such, the Foundation is important to me.  

So I am only too happy to participate in this year's Bake Sale for Beka, hosted once again by Megan over at Wanna Be a Country Cleaver.  While last year's event was a success, the sheer quantity AND quality of goods and goodies is staggering, and you will not want to miss out on getting your mitts on some of the amazing items up for auction.

For a preview and to become familiar with the rules and procedures, you can check out this post that Megan posted the other day.  The auction is live from 7AM PDT on Saturday, June 22 until 8PM PDT on Sunday, June 23 (that's three hours behind anyone on the east coast).  You can go directly to the auction post by clicking here.

For my part, I have donated a pan of homemade marshmallows in one of the following flavors (winner's choice): piña colada, lemon, berry, chocolate, or original (these are so good that you really can't call them "plain").

Adorable child filching your marshmallows not included

This is an entire 9x13 pan full of mallow heaven.  Gigantic pillows of gooey, sugary delights that go SO WELL with graham crackers and chocolate.  Or by themselves over the sink so no one sees the powdered sugar evidence (pro tip: wipe off your face when you're done).  But my recommendation is to enjoy them with friends.  After all, friendship is what is getting you this pan of mallows in the first place.

Sure beats having to hide a body in the middle of the night.

Streaker

If you've been a regular reader to his little hobby I call a blog, you'll know that I don't run without Zooey, my intrepid coonhound.  She is my constant companion on the roads and trails, and I hate having to leave her at home when I take off for a race without her.
But her being by my side means that when it gets hot, she gets hot.  And it's gotten hot.  We've already had multiple 100°-plus days, and some of those days have topped out at 110°.
Ick.
Yes, it's a dry heat.  You wanna know what else is a dry heat?  The inside of an oven, and no one decides to vacation there.
Annnnnnnnyway, in order to make sure that I can keep up the miles over the summer but also ensure Zooey's continued good health, I decided to start streaking.
No, I'm not running nekked - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (aka "the girls") would be all over the place, probably giving me two black eyes, if they didn't have support.  Plus we live down the street from the police station, so I'd probably have quite a bit of 'splainin' to do before I hit the first crosswalk (that would be quite the phone call home, hey?).  I'm just running every day - or nearly every day.  Think of it as a winning streak you can't lose.
Of course, I've decreased the miles on each run in order to make sure that I don't overdo it and end up with shin splints or tendinitis again.  I've been pretty careful, have added some new stretches, and just replaced my worn out shoes with my last two new pairs of my beloved Saucony ProGrid Guide 5s.  Aren't they purty????

I hope I love the Guide 6s as much as I love the 5s.

Some mornings are great.  I feel like I could run farther, even with the heat already starting to bear down at 5:00; we leave the house between 4:30 and 4:45, depending on how fast I get moving after my 4:15 and 4:15:01 alarms (the second one is Zooey making sure I'm up).  Some mornings, like yesterday, SUCK.  Zooey was restless until Husband got home, and he was at an event somewhat late, so she woke me up and then kept me awake with her pacing, whining, and having to go out to do absolutely nothing - twice - until he pulled into the driveway.  Holden decided he was going to sleep on my pillow, and while I normally love his purring, his subsequent decision to give himself a leisurely bath was, um... irritating.  HRH then got into the game by coming in around 2:30 needing a snuggle.  Normally I would love that, but I was already feeling so tired that I was dreading that alarm.
But I didn't turn it off, as sorely tempted as I was.  I got up, sucked it up, tied my laces up, and got out there.  Three miles later, I was ready to go back to bed, but I was glad I went.  Just like I always am.
The benefit of running every day is that I can be up, get my run in, and then have some quiet time to myself before everyone is up.  Or I can go back to bed for a nap, also before everyone is up.  The latter is generally my favorite this week.  But it's also allowed me to make time for some quick weight and resistance workouts for my legs and arms as well as ensure that I am continuing with my quest to do 100 pushups.  I kept on saying that I'd do yoga or other cross training on my rest days, but I found myself sleeping in instead; it seems so much easier for me to get up when I have to run (I only set my alarm on run days because Zooey has identified the alarm with "we're going running," and I don't want to have her howling at me to get her leash when I'm trying to do a set of skull crushers).  Now, I'm already up, so I have no excuse not to get that strength training in.
Thus far this month, I've skipped two days when Husband was out of town.  I suppose I could have run  when HRH was at school, but Zooey would have had to stay back, and once she realizes I'm putting on running gear, she works herself into a stage of excitement that Cesar Millan would probably tell me isn't healthy for her.  And we could perhaps have taken a quick mile around the neighborhood in the evening, but it stays hot well into the evening, and I didn't want to risk Zooey's paw pads getting burned on the asphalt.  And to be honest, it was only a week into the streak, and my body was grateful for the rest.  But by the time Husband got home and the weekend rolled around, I was anxious to hit the road again.
Yet another bonus - if I did my math correctly (always questionable), I should actually up my mileage from last month.  So if I can keep it up and bump up the daily miles just a little, I can make some good inroads in my goal to hit more miles this year than last, even with the injury breaks I had in the first quarter.  But let's not hold our breath.
For now, I'm hoping to be able to continue my streak until the end of the month, when Husband and I will be headed up north for a few days to celebrate our anniversary (we plan to do some hiking while we're up there, so maybe I'll count that).  After that, we'll have to see.

Three Things I Love Thursday - Favorite Apps

I make no secret of loving my iPhone.  It completes me.  It's the cheese to my macaroni.  We are basically soul mates.  And before you think that Husband needs to know about my overly abundant adoration toward my phone, please know that he has two of them.
My dad would have loved the iPhone and the technology behind all the apps that can be downloaded.  My phone has more memory than his last computer, and I take full advantage of it so I can spend my time checking Twitter all day playing My Little Pony with HRH creating interesting videos to send to my students and other important stuff.
While some of my apps are admittedly mindless fun (I'm looking at you, Bejeweled Plus), there are a few that I just cannot be without.  These three are my current favorite.

Drink Right
Between living in Arizona and running, I need to stay hydrated.  I had thought that I was doing a pretty good job of it, having a full glass of water at my desk almost all the time.  But I saw this one day in Apps Gone Free and decided to see how well I was actually doing.  Friends, I was sorely underestimating how much water I drink in a given day.
The Drink Right app uses the "equation" that your daily water consumption should be your weight in ounces divided by two.  So, if someone weighed 150 pounds, he or she would need to drink 75 ounces of water each day.  Additionally, the app does not allow a person to chug 32 ounces of water twice a day to get to that total; it is meted out throughout the day to ensure that a person is consistently hydrated (and probably not sprinting to the toilet for a marathon pee session).
The notifications are easy to hear, even when I have my phone on vibrate.  Sometimes, if I forget, which I do, it gets a little bossy, even giving me exclamation points at the end of its warning sentence!  Harrumph!  But thus far I've been able to manage to get my allotted water plus more each day.
For my purposes, I don't count the water I drink while I'm out on a run.  I figure that the water I drink then is rehydrating, not just hydrating.  And when I run now, in the heat of summer (even at 4:30 in the morning), it really should be more than the original equation.
Since downloading this app, I've noticed that I am less thirsty while I run.  I subscribe to the rule of "drink when you're thirsty," and I find myself reaching for my bottle a little less.  Bonus - I can have beer in the evening and still run the next morning without feeling like I want to die!  Hooray beer - I mean water (which is in beer, so hooray beer)!

My one complaint for this is that I can't customize it per day for those mornings I wake up super early (4:15) and those days when I'm lucky enough to not wake up until 7:00 (a luxury when you have an early-rising child).  I've played around with the time settings, though, and I think I've found a happy medium that doesn't have me drinking the second I wake when I'm able to sleep in.

Charity Miles
This is a brilliant concept.  I started running to raise money for the Colon Cancer Alliance in memory of my dad.  It's really what every run is geared toward.  So when I learned about Charity Miles, I was on board.
The idea is this: turn on the app.  Pick a charity.  Go for a run (or walk or bike ride).  Log your miles.
The miles you go earns money for your selected charity.  Yesterday, I ran a mere two miles, I helped send 4 meals to those affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma.  And all I had to do was thank the current sponsor and send out a tweet to spread the word.
It's a wonderful way to help those who are sick, who are homeless, or who are otherwise unable to help themselves by just lacing up your shoes and heading out.  Even if you're not a charity runner, this is an app that you can have on during a run with literally zero additional effort.

The app is a little tough to read when the monthly sponsor's logo is in the background, and it's hard for me to go back to see the impact I have made each time I ran, but I am looking forward to helping make a difference for so many wonderful organizations.

Run4Good
Saucony is my current shoe of choice (my Guide 5 was recently discontinued, so I have two more pairs before I have to decide whether the Guide 6 works for me or if I have to move on).  While I love the way the shoes feel, I also love Saucony's sense of corporate responsibility.
Run4Good is another app that can enable you to have a major impact with no additional work, even if you don't wear Saucony gear.  Each month, if the goal miles - thus far 10,000 miles per month - are met by the collective runners who use the app, Saucony makes a donation to its chosen charity.  The charities that Saucony features are dedicated to ending childhood obesity in America.  This month's charity is Twin Cities in Motion.  The collective has run 1,739 miles this month, as of yesterday evening.

When I first downloaded this, I forgot that I had it on one day until like ten hours later, so by the time I stopped the run, I had gone something like 50 miles (I was in the car for a while - sorry, GPS).  But I was able to delete that run so as not to cheat, even though I want each charity to receive the donation every month.  At this point, I have a routine at the end of my runs that include the systematic closing out of each app (I run with both Charity Miles and Run4Good in the background while I log my "official" miles on my NikePlus app).

Whether you're a runner or not, we can all benefit from being properly hydrated.  And for those runner friends of mine, even if you don't run for charity like I do, you can make a huge difference in the lives of others when you download and use Charity Miles and Run4Good.

Are you drinking enough water?  What are your favorite apps lately?

Favorite Food Friday - Black Rice Summer Salad

It might not officially be summer, according to the calendar, but once we hit 100° here in Phoenix, it's summer.  Period.

Summer means many things to many people: lemonade, picnics, maybe vacation.  A few of the things it means for us is "Ugh, what can I make that doesn't involve the oven?" and "I guess I can make something on the stove if it doesn't take too long."  

Of course, with The Husband working late some nights, summer also means for me "What is fast and easy and not that messy but that I don't have to heat up the house to make?"

Enter summer salads.

This particular beauty was inspired by Kat, who, for several days this past month, was texting us about her "regular" lunch of strawberry, mango, and avocado salad.  My mouth was watering, and I knew that would be a perfect starting point.  When I realized that I still had some delicious black rice in the pantry, I had a winning combination.

This salad is ridiculously simple, and it's easy to change up the ingredients as you have them.  And unless you want to add a sprinkling of feta (which I have twice in the five times I've made it), this healthy recipe is vegan as well as gluten-free.

Black Rice Summer Salad

• 1/2 cup black rice (you could probably sub any long grain rice if you can't get the black rice)
• 1 ripe mango (or a ripe peach/nectarine - also amazing)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 green onions (or a shallot or red onion)
• red wine vinegar
• olive oil
• salt
• cracked black pepper

Cook the rice according to package directions.  If you need to, drain out any remaining water before tossing with the onions, chopped fairly fine, and the oil and vinegar (to taste - I only used about 2 Tbsp of each).

Cut up the avocado and mango into bite sized pieces and toss in with the rice.  The rice should still be a little warm, which will make the avocado get a little melty.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately or chill for later - this recipe serves one as a meal or two as a side.  It's delicious any way you try it.

(Almost) Woofless Wednesday - My Baby's 5!

Sunday was Zooey's birthday; we celebrated by going for a 6-mile run, and after a nap she feasted on a dinner of turkey necks, sweet potato, and kefir with a sprinkling of olive oil.

The day we brought her home - July 2008

A wee pup and already with that naughty look on her face!

Just last week - my, how she's grown!

Stride Box - May 2013

This month, I received my inaugural package from Stride Box, one of the handful of companies recently popping up to send subscribers a variety of goodies each month.  I have a few friends who order Birch Box, which is the same concept but with makeup, but since I 1) rarely use makeup and 2) have gone all crunchy with my skin care routine, I knew that wasn't the route for me.  But Stride Box, created for runners, was right up my alley.
I signed up in April, but since that package was already sold out, I had to wait breathlessly until May.
The day that it arrived, HRH also received a sock monkey dressed as a chicken that plays "The Chicken Dance" from one set of grandparents.  Yes, they are in so much trouble.  No, they are not sorry.
But I'm pretty sure I got the better of the two packages anyway:

• Perfect Fit organic/vegan vanilla protein powder (there were a few recipes as well, and I'm looking forward to trying the strawberry smoothie suggestion)
• Jelly Belly Sport Beans (I've had these before; it's hard not to want to eat them like regular jelly beans)
• Just Great Stuff fruit bar (organic, gluten-free, and vegan)  in superberry + acai
• The Klitch footwear clip 
• Bottle Bright bottle cleaner (especially helpful for the dang hard water we have in Arizona)
• Vi Fuel vanilla endurance gel
• Bonk Breaker peanut butter and jelly Bonk Bites Bar
• Pro-Tec Athletics blister protectors
• Honey Stinger cherry cola energy chews

I've already had the fruit bar; I confess I had it for a snack rather than before/after a run.  It was pretty tasty, although it wasn't as fruity as I had expected.  The cashews (the first ingredient on the list, which I read after I plowed through the bar itself) definitely played a role in the taste.  I haven't broken into the jelly beans, but I know that I like them, although they aren't the best snack to have when it's chilly out, so they should be perfect for those long runs during this summer, when it will be hot even before the sun comes up.

I'm looking forward to trying the Vi Fuel; if I like it, I'll be curious to try their peach cobbler flavor.  I usually like the fruit flavors better than the vanillas or chocolates, which feel a little heavier to me.  Fruit tends to taste a little more "refreshing" in some way.  

This weekend The Husband and I are going on a hike up north, so I'll definitely be taking several of these goodies, as well as the shoe clip, to get through the day.  I'm sure I'll need some "candy" after having to deal with the water that we'll encounter, which is not my favorite (it's what stands in the way of me ever considering the notion of doing a triathlon).

I think the benefit of Stride Box is helping me break out of my routine and try new things without having to invest in large boxes of somethings that I may end up not caring for.  I'll be making a note of everything that I find awesome and everything that I find "meh."

Of course, now I just can't wait until next month.

Do you subscribe to a monthly package?  What have you gotten?  Do you think it's worth it?  

Woofless Wednesday - Send Help