Coeliac Disease explained...
I've been delighted (and I have to say, rather surprised!) with the amount of people who have been reading my blog. Lots of people have been intrigued by the name of my blog and, as a result, I've had lots of questions about Coeliac disease.
The most common comment "Surely a little bit of gluten can't hurt!"
Therefore, I thought I would start today's entry by explaining exactly what Coeliac disease is.
Coeliac disease is a genetic, autoimmune disease. The only cure for which is a gluten free diet for life. About 1 in 100 people have the condition and, because of the raised awareness, more and more people are getting diagnosed every day.
When someone with Coeliac disease consumes gluten, ( found in wheat, barley and rye) their immune system reacts. This reaction causes the villi (small hairs found in the small intestine) to become damaged. These villi are vital because they aid the absorption of nutrients.
Every time I eat gluten by mistake, my villi are becoming more damaged and I am becoming more nutrient deprived. The main nutrient I am lacking is iron. I am anemic (and have been for many years). Once my villi have re-grown and healed from the years of gluten I have subjected them to, I should be able to absorb iron normally and should no longer be anemic. However, because my diagnosis was so late (Coeliac disease is most commonly diagnosed in children) and I was so anemic, I am currently taking iron tablets to give me an extra boost.
So to answer to the question - YES! Even the tiniest bit of gluten can be a problem for people with Coeliac disease. This means I have to be especially careful when eating out. I have been on a bit of a gluten free mission - searching out the best places for fellow Coeliacs to eat around Bristol. I will be sure to include any new discoveries each week.
Monday 2nd January 2017
It might have been a bank holiday but I had a few things to sort out at school so me and John were up at reasonable hour for a 6 mile recovery run at 9:11 min miles. Having not run long on Sunday meant that my legs were actually feeling rather good for a change!
Once everything was ready in school, we walked around the harbourside in the search of dinner. First stop - the Grain Barge. Unfortunately, they only had 1 gluten free option on the entire menu, which wasn't very appealing, so we opted for the Pump House instead. Although they didn't have an official gluten free menu, the very helpful waiter spoke to the chef and ticked and crossed items on menu for me. Was slightly concerned when I was told that an item containing barley was gluten free - oh dear!
I went for the safe option of sea bass - delicious. There were also two gluten free pudding options - this is a rarity as all cakes and pastries are out of bounds.
Tuesday 3rd January 2017
First day back at school today but luckily only an INSET day. I had a bit of a lie in as me and John had planned to run in the evening. A good first day back; I led some training to staff on the areas of grammar that my Year 6 children need to know by May. The session went well and feedback from other teachers was positive.
Running after work, the plan asked for 10 miles with 10x strides. It had been a while since I'd done a track workout (my favourite type of training session) so me and John headed down to the old Whitchurch track which we'd been using all summer. Unfortunately, it was all locked up for a change! Disappointing as I'd really been looking forward to it. With 6 miles and strides still to go, John quickly planned an alternative route and we continued. I hadn't done a session with strides before so wasn't sure if I'd like them. For those of you who aren't aware, strides are basically sprints for a short distance (100m aprox) with the aim of stretching out the legs and working on improving technique such as cadence (foot speed).
With 10 to do, I took the first one fairly steady and watched John sprint out ahead of me. Then my competitive spirit kicked in and by the time the second one came around, I had decided to really go for it and race him a little. For most of the efforts I was actually able to keep up which made a nice change!
For dinner, I decided to try an brand new gluten free recipe sweet potato recipe. It was quick, easy to make an very tasty - success!
Wednesday 4th January 2017
Wednesday nights are GWR club nights. The plan called for 14 miles so me and John ran to club to get our extra miles in. I was expecting a nice chilled run providing opportunity for conversing and catching up with friends. Yeah right! As soon as we left the club, the pace jumped instantly to 7:30mm ...not quite what I was expecting! Running in a group with with the Maestro, John, Woody and Dan meant that I was one of the slower runners so I prepared myself to dig deep - mission - don't get left behind. The next mile was downhill (horray) 6:49 mm still seemed slightly ridiculous though! The next few miles were around 7:30 pace. As soon as we reached the Portway, I watched Dan and John storm rapidly into the distance (show offs!) so I stuck with Woody and we did a couple of tempo miles at 6:55 pace. Thinking about all the mileage I still had to come this week, made me take the rest of the run at a more sensible pace. Total of 14 miles at an average of 7:54 mm.
Dinner tonight was another success. Stir fry with rice noodles and loads of veg. Quick and healthy.
Thursday 5th January 2017
An early start today. Out of the door at 6:30 am for a 5 mile recovery run. It was freeeeeezing. Glad I checked my phone before heading out so was well prepared with headband, (amazing how effective it is at stopping brain freeze) long sleeves and gloves. Legs feeling rather tired after yesterdays efforts (oopps) so a 9:20 mm average.
A great day at school with a theatre trip to the Tobacco Factory to see Cinderella. It was fantastic! Wonderfully talented actors and a modern quirky twist on the classic - would recommend.
After school I went straight to me Jules for my weekly PT session which comprised of:
squats while holding an extra large pizza sized and shaped 10 kg plate.
Raised leg shoulder taps
8 kg tube clean and press
Squat thrusts over tube
Squats while holding 2 x 15 kg dumbbells
Press ups
Split lunge jumps
ab twists while holding a 5kg medicine ball
Squats with a 40 kg bar
Floor mountain climbers
Jules informed me of the exercises, which didn't sound too bad - until he mentioned that I would start with 25 reps of each (with 30 seconds rest between each pair) followed by 50 (YES 50!) reps of each afterwards. 50 is a HUGE number and this was a really challenging workout. I pushed myself to the max and managed to finish round 1 in 12mins and round 2 in 26 mins.
After PT, we went to Pizza Express which I cannot praise highly enough for their gluten free options. They make their own gluten free base so you can chose from any pizza on the menu. They even make gluten free dough balls which, after the PT session, I felt I had earned.
Friday 6th January 2017
Today was supposed to be 12 miles however we decided to swap today's run for Saturday. After the PT session we (cough, John, cough) were feeling a little achy (for once it was me bounding off ahead feeling a little smug!) so it was a steady 5 miles at 9:47 mm pace - proper recovery.
Dinner was the 'Cox special' of mushroom and chorizo risotto. Delicious.
Saturday 7th January 2017
Saturday = Parkrun day woohoo!
Me and John were up at 8am for a quick jog around the harbouside to get out mileage up for the day. By the time we arrived at Ashton Court Parkrun we'd already covered 5.4 miles and were feeling in quite good shape to have a bash at a good time.
As soon as we started, John and Woody stormed off ahead (the Maestro was being sensible and taking it easy in preparation for our scheduled 20 mile run tomorrow). I felt like I was working hard on the uphill but still found myself dropping back more than I'd like so, on the second hill, I decided to pick it up and chase down Woody. On the plateau, I eagerly watched for the speedies to come past and was delighted to see John in 2nd place. Hoping to match his 2nd place I picked it up and caught Woody just after the turn. After some rain the past week, the plataeu was rather puddley. Now there are only two ways to tackle puddles (dainty avoidance or aggressively storming through). I was contemplating which option to take when Dan stormed past me, with huge bounding strides, directly through the puddles sending water splashing all over his 'friends.' Decision made, I too stormed through the puddles with the aim of catching (and beating Dan). By the last corner, I sprinted past Dan and (feeling rather smug) thought I'd beaten him. Unbeknownst to me, he was in fact biding his time and sprinted past me just before the line. Ouch. I wasn't too upset as chasing him down had provided me with my 3rd fastest Parkrun time of 20:20 and the position of 2nd lady.
After I finished, I walked to find John and saw he was looking rather pleased with himself. Not saying a word, he held up the finish token. WOW! 1st overall. Very impressive.
Sunday 8th January 2017
Long run day. The plan was to go out with Marcus and John for 20 miles. Marcus stated that he wanted to do 7:30 min miles (ouch). Not sure that I could sustain that, I was feeling rather apprehensive at the prospect of 20 miles lonely running on my own chasing down the boys! After the first two miles, (which might I add, I ran at 7:30 pace) they were already a way ahead of me. Thankfully, they stopped before the towpath and waited for me to catch up. Marcus then revealed that by 7:30 min mile pace, he actually meant 7:15 min miles (really ouch!). After some scowling and name calling, I agreed to their plan of me running on first to get a head start.
I decided to try and stick to 7:30 min miles and was rather surprised when I found the pace quite comfortable. My new mission was to hold off the boys for as long as I could. I didn't look behind at all - just kept going at a steady pace. Before I knew it, I had reached the first meeting point and was still in front! Mission achieved! I especially enjoyed the surprised looks on their faces!
The rest of the run continued in a positive fashion. I was able to sustain 7:30 mm for all flat or downhill sections and only dropped to 8:00 for the hills. By the time we reached the daunting climb of Bridge Valley Road, I knew I was on for a pretty awesome average pace so powered on and up the hill - only dropping to 8:30 average for that mile. The last few miles were a case of hang on and count down the miles.
I was delighted when I finished to see that my average pace was 7:29 and I finished the 20 miles in under 2 hours 30 (just) with a time of 2:29:34. I had definitely worked hard and I felt tired...but not shattered. This bodes well for future training as, if I had continued with that pace today, I would have finished the marathon distance in around 3 hours and 12 minutes. That is already under my target and it is only week 4 - rather exciting!
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