My Health Journey

Almost Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Butternut Squash with Shiitake Mushrooms and Sage Mashed Yams and Beets (with milk and butter optional), dressed with Maple Syrup Braised Brussels Sprouts with Paprika (butter optional) Boiled Red, White, and Blue Baby Potatoes Cabbage Salad with Lemon Dressing Roast Leeks, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Garlic Ingredients Two-and-half hours later Ingredients The first eight ingredients are from my local  farm CSA , all seasonal and organic. Brussels Sprouts Yams Butternut Squash Carrots Beets Cabbage Garlic Leeks Baby Potatoes Shiitake Mushrooms Tomato Lemon Grated Kashkeval Cheese (optional) Butter and Milk (optional) Salt, Pepper, and Paprika Fresh Sage Olive Oil Maple Syrup

As the heat and humidity of summer abated, I am catching up on my steps. Good season to enjoy the outdoors. Scattered maple leaves

Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients: 1           Butternut squash 2-4         Peppers (Mix sweet and hot peppers. Jalapenos are good, but for a milder flavor, I used a red poblano pepper, with 2 banana peppers to give the flavor of Jalapenos) ½             Onion 1              Lime 1 can      Coconut Milk 2 cups     Apple Cider 2-3          Bay Leaves                Salt, Pepper, Turmeric, Soy Sauce, Olive Oil, Butter. For garnish:Scallions and Cilantro (Chopped) 1.       Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 2.       Cut Butternut Squash in half. Scoop seeds out with a s...

For the last two months, the unbearable humidity stopped me running. Instead, I focused on the corrective exercises in the book  Anatomy for Runners . Those exercises aimed at strengthening my glutes while stretching my hip flexors, letting me swing my legs back further than I did. In other words, they aim to take out a lifetime of sitting postures out of my gait. The nice weather this week afforded me to test my (partially) corrected body on a couple of runs. My shadow running. The stance of the legs has improved. As can be seen from the shadow picture above, my legs project equally front and back from my hips. My upper body posture needs some work, but the key is the leg stance. Previously, I would run largely by thrusting my legs forward, one at a time. My legs extend too far to the front, causing me to hit my heel more, probably contributing to my recurring plantar faschitis. Further, only one leg's muscles are used at any one time, and my center of gravity (cg) wobbles a...

With the weather cooling down yesterday, I took my daughter out on a rowboat. It was a beautiful day. Not too hot, not too cold, not to cloudy, not too sunny, a few sprinkles of rain, ... Since my daughter is only 8 years old, I ended up doing all the rowing. I don't row much so found it much harder to move and control the rowboat compared to a paddle boat. My left arm was hurting until I realized that the oars had slipped through their rings and thus weren't of equal length. After correcting their alignment, the rowing became easier.  I ended up rowing steadily for 2 hours, with only two short breaks. That's the same length of time it takes me to run a half-marathon. I fully expected my back, chest, and upper arm muscles to be sore and hurting. Thankfully, that hasn't materialized (yet). After getting back home I was exhausted, energy-drained, and starving. Practiced yoga at night to ease the tension in my neck, accentuated by the need to constantly turn my head...

For 36 hours on Monday and Tuesday, we were drenched by the remnants of hurricane Florence. Intermittently, walls of water fell from the sky. I was awakened at 2 AM on Tuesday morning by a flood alert in my area. Suddenly and ahead of the schedule, on Tuesday afternoon, the storm blew over, the sun peeked at us, and the humidity began subsiding. I had to go outside. Though I had worked out in the morning, and was somewhat exhausted, I had no power to resist the inviting sunshine after days of gloom. I headed over to the nearest lake to watch the floodwaters rush the dam.

I have practiced yoga on and off for decades, having participated in classes and also on my own with the aid of books. When I started running, I wanted to continue my yoga practice, but in a way that is complementary to the running. I found this book called Yoga for Runners, by Christine Felstead to be really helpful. Like other yoga books, it illustrates many yoga poses. However this books goes beyond many yoga books I have seen in several useful ways: It is organized by muscle group. Each chapter opens with a section illustrating and discussing the different muscles and their relation to running, followed by yoga exercises aimed at strengthening and stretching those muscles. The book indicates the exact benefits of each pose. The section on "Restorative Yoga" teaches a number of poses where the body is supported to allow for deeper relaxation. I use some of these after a race or a particularly hard workout to reset my body. It has two tables on injuries: one ...