Living Proof

So, to anyone who has access to the Lifetime Channel, I have a viewing recommendation. I had DVR'd their new movie a week or so ago and finally sat down today to watch it. Living Proof stars Harry Connick Jr. and a plethora of famous females in various roles. It is based on the book, Her-2, which I read in graduate school. Both the book and the movie describe the story of Dr. Slamon, a researcher and oncologist at UCLA who is working on what he believes can be really the first big breast cancer drug. Other than surgery and chemotherapy, there was nothing else doctors could do to help women with breast cancer. Dr. Slamon designed the drug, Her-2 neu (marketed as Herceptin) based on the theory that 1/3 of breast cancers express a protein called Her-2. It is a growth factor that aids the uncontrolled growth of the cancer cells. He thought that if he could grow an antibody targeted to the Her-2 protein, it would block the growth signals of the cancer cells. While it would not be a cure, this would be a treatment that would give women with Her-2 expressing cancers a chance. (Her-2 breast cancers are fast-growing and do not respond well to chemo- essentially a death sentence prior to Herceptin.) While I encourage people to watch this movie, definitely bring your tissues. The world of drug trials is not pretty and I found myself crying both when women succeeded and when Dr. Slamon had to inform some women that they couldn't be included in the trial. And of course, as a researcher myself, I cried when he finally succeeded. This is pretty much what every researcher dreams of- discovering or designing something that saves lives. So, if you get a chance- watch it. The science is for the most part given in simplified terminology, and obviously things are omitted in order to make it watchable and understandable to your average viewer. But, the way people came together to raise money, get participants for the trials, and get this drug approved really shows what is possible in cancer research (and other research for that matter) if we could all just work together for the common good.

Odds 'n Ends

Nothing major to blog on, but just a few tidbits that have come up over the past few days.

For starters, I tried my hand at red velvet cupcakes from scratch on Monday night. Dirty Girl and I have been getting together on Tuesday nights to watch the show House and she has been providing dinner and dessert. Last week I brought brownies in order to contribute something. This week, I saw a recipe for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and decided to give it a whirl. Aside from red food coloring on my clothes, the recipe was rather easy to make. The frosting would have been smoother if I had a hand mixer, but I managed to get it pretty good the old fashioned way. The only problem was the cook time. I put the first batch in for 20 minutes. I checked them halfway through and they looked not done. But, I wound up pulling them out a minute early when I smelled them burning. Just the bottoms, so if you pull that off, the rest is fine, but still 24 burnt cupcakes. So, I made a second batch. This time, I cooked for 15 minutes. When I pulled them out, I was disturbed to smell a little burnt-ness. Not all, but several had slight burnt bottoms again. I'm not sure how much more I could cut back on the cook time before the things don't cook all the way through. Anyway, I had 48 cupcakes with the majority burnt. I've given away most of the un-burnt ones, and am now left with the burnt ones. I guess I'll slowly eat them until they get too old. I hate tossing away food, but I can't give out the really burnt ones and I can't eat all of them. Oh well.

I was very happy to note that the hiatus for Diet, Schmiet is over! Loricious discovered that she could blog from work now. Her most recent blog says some very nice things about my determination to exercise. While I certainly like hearing that she admires what I do, there are times when I definitely feel that the admiration is unwarrented. I've been struggling with the workouts lately. I managed to get my long runs in for the marathon, but didn't really do much more. However, I'm kind of excited to get back to the basics with exercise. I don't have anything planned for the next several months as far as goals, so I can work out at my own pace and just do what I enjoy. If I feel like running 2 miles, I can. If I feel like running longer or just walking on a particular day, I can do that, too. I'm done with training plans for awhile.

There is a new book that I'm reading. It's called, "The World in Six Songs". I picked it up at Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks ago. The bright blue color actually caught my eye first, but once I read the summary I was hooked. The author, Daniel Levitin, has looked at music throughout history and feels that all songs can fit into one of six categories, Friendship, Joy, Comfort, Knowledge, Religion and Love. He then goes back through history and talks of how each of these categories of music has helped to shape human nature and history. For instance, in the chapter on friendship songs, he talks about percussion and how drumbeats were used to get a group of people to keep time. In modern times they keep a marching band in step. In ancient times, they kept slaves rowing at the same time or moving in the same rhythm to build something. He argues that without music, the pyramids may not have been built and empires may not have risen and fallen as they did. Very interesting stuff. Anyone interested in music would probably get into this one. I plan on picking up his first book, "Your Brain on Music" one of these days as well.

My final note today- I am very excited that I will be attending the New Kids on the Block concert tonight at the Bradley Center! I was lucky enough to get to see them at the height of their fame in 1990 at the same venue. Last night I located my old New Kids t-shirt (which may be the same one I wore to that first concert) and although it is a little yellowed from the years, it still fits. So, I will be reliving one of my favorite moments of my adolescence tonight.

Taco Bell

I went out tonight with a friend. We headed over to UWM to see a play that another friend of ours was the assistant stage manager for. But, we had to get there early as we had not bought our tickets yet. So I wound up eating a late lunch, but then nothing before the show. So after I dropped my friend off at her place, I decided to grab something quick just to get a little something in my stomach. Unfortunately, at 10pm, your choices are a pretty limited as far as what's open. I opted for Taco Bell since I knew it was open late and is relatively cheap. I was rather surprised when I pulled up to see a new feature on the drive-through menu called the Fresca menu. They have 9 options on this menu that are all under 9 grams of fat. Great, but how do they taste. Well, tonight I played it safe and just picked up two Fresca Crunch Tacos. They each had 8 grams of fat- not great- and 150 calories, which makes for a 300 calorie meal- which is ok. Then to the taste. They are really good. The crunch taco is pretty much like a regular crunchy taco. Same shell. Same ground beef. Same lettuce. No cheese. The addition is salsa. Fresh salsa, with real tomato chunks, not like jar salsa. It has a little bite, but is not too spicy, which was good as well. I definitely think I need to try a few of the other options on this menu. Obviously I can't eat Taco Bell every day. 9 grams of fat is still quite a bit, but compared to other fast food options, this seems to be a good quick thing that can fill you up and not totally kill the diet. 

The Office Candy Dish

So, I've come to the conclusion that the inventor of the office candy dish must have been the Devil himself. Who else could possibly come up with something that brings so much temptation on a daily basis- under the guise of some neighborly sharing. We have a dish that sits in our office. Everyone kind of takes turns bringing in stuff to fill it. There's no list or anything, just every so often, you pick up a bag or two of some sort of candy to put in the dish. Typically it is filled with chocolate of some sort. We are big fans of Reese's minis here. And with Halloween approaching, everyone is getting stuff on sale and brining it in. Then there is the time during the day- usually mid-way through morning and again a few hours after lunch where everyone starts to get a little hungry. You'll see one person get up and grab something from the dish. Then someone else will think that's a good idea. Before you know it, we're all grabbing something from the candy dish. Also, we rarely grab just one. I mean, who ever heard of eating one Reese's mini cup? So you usually grab two. I had been doing pretty good with resisting the dish, but I've fallen back into the trap lately. I know I need to resist, especially since I'm still not working out, I can't afford to add those extra calories every day. I've been trying to chew gum when I get the chocolate cravings. It helps a little bit. But then I see everyone else grabbing the candy, and I just can't help myself. I think I need help. Of course, according to the Dove wrapper I got the other day, "Chocolate therapy is, oh, so good."

Yep, I'm a klutz.

As my director so eloquently put it this morning- she made it 26.2 miles running last weekend and she falls and skins her knee in the church parking lot. I was walking in this morning in my cute sundress (since I figure it's probably my last chance to wear it this year) and heeled sandals. Let me point out that I have never fallen in these heels before and really don't fall when I wear heels in general, so I don't think that really played a role in the incident. I was walking across the parking lot and someone said hi to me and I saw a car coming towards me. I was briefly distracted from looking where I was going and just tripped. I didn't really have time to catch myself, so I went down pretty hard in my right knee. I pretty much knew immediately that I had skinned it pretty bad. Once I got inside the few choir members who had seen me fall of course came over to see how I was. Yes, my knee hurt and was bleeding, but I got it bandaged pretty quickly, so that was fine. However, worse for me was just the embarrassment factor of having all these people know that I took a header in the parking lot. Once I got out of church, I was able to properly clean my knee and get it bandaged better. That was when I noticed that my knee was not the only casualty of the morning's spill. My left foot has a prominent lump on the side of it. Pretty much directly across from the arch, there is a big bruise and swollen area. It's a little stiff when I walk, but I think that has more to do with the swelling than any other damage in the area. At least I'm hoping that's the case. Anyway, I've been getting a little antsy with my first full week of rest coming to a close. At least now I'm forced to follow through on my plan to give myself two full weeks of rest. With any luck, after the week is up, the foot will be good-to-go back to exercising. And I am making a vow to pay more attention when I am walking through parking lots.

26.2

I completed my third full marathon this past weekend- October 5th. I ran the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee, which I chose because it was close to home- for the first time I was running a marathon after sleeping in my own bed the night before, and it was cheap- I think registration was in the neighborhood of $50 (although I could be a little off as I registered several months ago). Of course as per usual for me with these things, training started off awesome and then slacked a bit down the home stretch. I typically managed to get the running in, but didn't quite hit all my training runs in any given week during the last month or so, which means my total miles was down from what it should be. Now, I did complete a 20-mile training run prior to the race, so at least I had done some long mileage, but I wasn't feeling overly confident as far as training in concerned. The one thing I had going for me was that being in my home town, I am fairly familiar with the area and landscape that we were running. I knew a good portion of the run would be flat or downhill. I also figured that since I am very familiar with the roads we were running for the last 6 miles or so, that I would be able to envision the finish getting closer and keep myself going that way.

Well, my response to that is - HA! The joke is on me. The stretch of road from Silver Spring Road down to the Lakefront seems not so bad in a car- when you are running it, however, it is the longest and most boring area ever. Of course that is after already completing 19 miles that morning. My goal for this marathon was - I thought- rather simple. I wanted to break 6 hours. The last full marathon that I ran was the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati in May of 2006 and I completed it in 6:06. So, I figured that if I could beat that by a few minutes and break that 6 hour mark, I would be happy. The first 20 miles were great. Really. I was running my own race. I didn't try and stay with my friends who were taking a much quicker pace than I knew I could maintain. I just kept going at my own rate. I was running for 8 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. And I kept it up for 20 miles. My half marathon split was actually pretty good- 2:42, which is the fastest half marathon I've ever run. Even my 20 mile split wasn't bad. 4:24. Definitely slowed down in those 7 miles, but still should have been able to break 6 hours.

Then I hit "The Wall". Until I started running these long events, I had heard of the wall and thought that these people just obviously gave up at that point. Who trains for these things and then just stops and walks or quits altogether? Unless you have experienced this, there is really no good way to explain what the wall feels like. In my first full marathon- Disney in January of 2006, I hit the wall at about mile 18. Of course, I was competing in the Goofy Challenge, which meant that I had run a half marathon the day before, so my body was pretty spent. Mile 18 consisted of me trying not to cry and telling my running partner that I hated this. Finally, at mile 22, my body and mind, in combination, forced me to add a bit more walking. But, I finished. And I was pleased with just completing my first marathon. In Cincinnati, I felt great at mile 18, I even felt great at mile 21, despite some killer hills, but at mile 22, my body forced me to walk a good mile or so as the tendonitis that I had been fighting in my knee decided to flair up. Again, I made it to the finish, but had hoped to complete the run in a little better fashion. Now, this year was the year that I was going to keep to my 8 and 2 the whole way. I was going to keep going and not let anything get me to stop. Of course I was hurting prior to mile 21, when you push your body that far, pretty much everything aches at least a little. But, at mile 21, something in my brain just ordered me to walk. After going that far, there was no way I was stopping, although the thought did cross my mind. It was tough to keep going- getting passed by people now that I had passed a few miles back. Finally, after walking almost a full mile, I was able to start running again- at least a little.

My watch battery had run out a ways back and I was stuck with estimating the 8 and 2. Run for a couple of songs and then walk for one. Then it became, run to that fire hydrant, then walk to that stop sign. But, I kept going. Friends and family started calling to see where I was. I just kept telling them that I would see them soon. I finally saw the lakefront. Of course that meant that I still had another 3 miles to go. But I could do it. I got a little surge in me and thought I could run most of those last 3 miles and still break 6 hours. As I got to the base of the hill heading towards the lakefront, it started to rain. Just a little at first, but you could tell that it would get worse. Plus, the wind picked up, too. I was cold. And wet. I passed the mile 24 sign. The race volunteers were wonderful- still out there after all those hours, still cheering for you, telling you how great you looked (even though you knew you looked like hell). As I passed Bradford Beach, my running partner called. I told her I had 2 miles to go and would see them soon. I said I was hurting, but still going. I hung up the phone and suddenly I couldn't breathe. For the first time in my life, I had a full-blown asthma attack. It took a second to realize what was going on. I got out my inhaler (thank God I had it with me) and took a couple of puffs. I could catch a mostly full breath again. There was an aid station coming up, but I knew that if I stopped and told them what had happened, they would have made me stop. Dumb? Maybe. But, the lakefront, even in the rain was rather populated, so I figured that if I had more problems, I could easily flag down assistance. And I was so close. But, I had to walk again. Actually, I had to walk most of the last two miles. I was frustrated with myself and my body. I wished I hadn't walked so much earlier- then I would have a little more time now to work with. The rain had really picked up and I was thankful for my sunglasses, which were keeping my eyes shielded now. And hiding the tears I was fighting back. I was never so happy to see a finish sign.

Crossing that finish line didn't feel awesome or accomplished, it was just a relief. My official chip time was 6:06. Just missed. My friends and family were still there, even though my running partner had finished over 45 minutes before me. They all gave me big hugs and heading to the car, the emotions took over. Which brought on another asthma attack.

Now, 3 days later, I'm finally feeling good again. I had migraines for 3 nights in a row and I couldn't hold down food until monday morning. This one took more out of me than the others. Not sure why that is. I'm proud that I finished. I didn't quit. But, in the interest of safety, I'm going to have to carefully think about whether or not to do another full marathon in the future. I think some shorter distances may be called for at least for awhile. In the meantime, my training goal right now is to become the best couch potato I can be- for two weeks. Then I'll get back working out. Back to lifting and light running. Back to spinning classes and maybe even some swimming (I'd love to do a triathlon again next summer). And for one week, I am allowing myself to eat anything in sight. Big greasy cheeseburgers, onion rings, Doritos. Anything. Starting this sunday, its back to healthy eating. Re-evaluating diets, etc.