June 01, 2013

Fish Fry

Thanks so much for the comments about Jerry reaching Lifetime--he loved reading them ;)  He's going to work on answering the questions many of you had, and I'll post those when he's done.

Last night, we went to my parents' house for dinner, even though Jerry and I didn't plan on eating (still full from La Pita and the frozen yogurt we'd had that afternoon). My parents are hosting a young man that they met through their church--he lives in Tennessee, but is here for a week or so visiting.

His name is Jared, and he's blind. My parents wanted us to meet him, so they invited us over for one of my dad's famous fish fry dinners, along with the pastor and his wife, and a few friends. I was a little nervous to meet Jared, because I don't know anyone who is blind, and I didn't want to be awkward in what I said or how I acted around him.

When I walked in and introduced myself, however, I was immediately comfortable. He is very friendly and funny, and had no problems getting around; I'm not sure what I expected, but I probably wouldn't have known he was blind if my mom hadn't told me ahead of time.

I chatted with him for a little bit, and he told me his story. He had a brain tumor when he was young (I believe he said he was nine years old). The doctors were able to remove the tumor, and it hasn't grown back or anything since; but he has some residual problems as a result of the tumor.

He said his hormones are a little out of whack, and his body can't get the signal that tells it he's not thirsty anymore. He said he feels thirsty all the time, but no matter how much he drinks, his body never recognizes that he's not thirsty anymore. As a result, he drinks upwards of seven or eight gallons of water a day!

He showed me a couple of cool little gadgets that he uses for daily tasks. One of them tells him what color things are. You just put one side of it up against something, and press a button; it will say "dark brown" (for my hair), or "light beige" (for the shorts I was wearing), etc. Another gadget tells him whether it's light or dark in the room; it makes a really high pitched noise if it's light, and a low pitched noise if it's dark, plus a whole range in between.

Jared said he would love to be a writer, and has written a couple of children's books, but they haven't been published (yet). I hope he's able to get them published! I talked to him a little bit about blogging, and that a blog about his daily life would be very interesting (to me, at least). I was pretty inspired by his independence. I think I expected him to be very dependent on others while staying at my parents' house, but he got around very well--he was even in charge of grilling the corn on the cob, and it was great.

Anyway, my dad is famous for his fried fish around here, and by the time dinner was ready, I couldn't help myself--I had a few pieces of perch. He and Jared caught the fish just hours beforehand!

I talked to Pastor Tony for a little bit about melanoma; my mom recently told me that Pastor had melanoma several years ago, and against all odds, beat it. My friend Sarah was diagnosed with stage 3C, which is pretty bad (a 5% survival rate). Pastor Tony said he was given a 1-2% chance of survival. He had a very hellish year of treatment, but he he's been cancer free for over 10 years now. It was good to hear his story, and it gave me some more hope that Sarah will beat her battle with melanoma.


I finally got around to writing up a training schedule for the Chicago Marathon. I'm going to continue running five days a week, with Wednesdays and Saturdays off. Long runs are still on Fridays. Basically, it looks like this:

Sundays- Tempo run (8:02-8:18/mi pace)
Mondays- Easy run (8:55-9:53/mi pace)
Tuesdays- Intervals (400's and 800's, hills and no hills)
Wednesdays- rest
Thursdays- Easy run (8:55-9:53/mi pace)
Fridays- Long run (8:57-10:16/mi pace)
Saturdays-rest

Because I'm not necessarily focusing on getting faster anymore, the paces aren't that important; but I usually try to run too fast, so I'm going to stick with a recommended easy run pace for most days that I run.

It's kind of crazy to think that in 133 days, I'll be running the Chicago Marathon with Andrea!

I have to admit, I'm WAY more excited to hang out with Andrea and her husband, Andy (and Jerry, of course) in Chicago, but the race should be an okay time, too ;)

16 comments:

  1. Wow, what an inspirational person! I would love to meet him.

    Just wanted to mention that you look gorgeous in your picture with Andrea!

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  2. I wonder if he had the same type of tumor I had - it was on my pituitary gland. I was very lucky to not lose my eyesight but I am also thirsty all the time and have to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

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  3. AnonymousJune 02, 2013

    I am now in training mode for Chicago as well. I do my long runs on Saturday mornings and did 12 miles today. My goal is to finish under 5 hours. (I'm not a fast runner). I think it's pretty cool that after reading your blog for so long that we'll be running in the same race (along with tens of thousands of others so chances of us running in to each other are slim). But I look forward to reading your training progress in the upcoming months as we both train for the same race! Good luck with your training!!
    Cat in texas!

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    1. We may be right on pace with you in Chicago!

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    2. AnonymousJune 04, 2013

      that's awesome! My first marathon was in 5:53 but it was cold and raining and miserable! Anything would be better! I am so motivated by you and luv reading your running experiences daily...so i feel like i'm training kind of along side with you...just in texas ;)

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  4. That's a very inspirational story about Jared.

    I also love that picture of you with Andrea! The marathon is going to be great :-)

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  5. Jealous of you and Andrea! Was hoping that would've been Jen and I for NYC! Maybe next year...

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  6. Thanks for posting this story about Jared. How cool. God is great!

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  7. Goodness! You really are tempting me sooo much to enter a marathon, but I am ridiculously nervous! It'll come..in good time haha :)

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  8. Very cool story! And I thought only us Wisconsin folks enjoyed fish frys! lol
    Sarah
    www.thinfluenced.com

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  9. Mrs. Katie, I'm 18 years old weighing in at 237 pounds. I just graduated high school about 2 weeks ago. Right now I'm fighting with myself on what I want in life. All I know is, I want to be skinny and free of my extreme high bloodpressure condition that I have that gets worse as I get fatter. My body is scarred from my shoulders to my thighs in stretch marks, so dark and red that it's like they won't ever fade out. I started getting them when I was about 13. Anyway, I want to desperately lose the weight, and feel beautiful like I felt at 200 pounds (which was just last year). I was wondering if you have any tips for me to get started... I live in the south where fried food is my worst enemy and I feel like I'm always on the prowl for what I'm going to eat next. My mind is constantly on food. I follow your blog, but if you could email me back, it would be greatly appreciated.

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    1. Hi Caroline,

      I was reading your post and couldn't help but nod my head and think, "Yup, I know what you mean." I love food. My day and night revolve around food. When I cook one meal i'm already thinking of the next. I'm 31 and have been this way my whole life, and it doesn't get easier. Between end of high school and throughout college I was pushing between 210-220 and just hated myself for it. I'm from the south as well (Texas), and we love our Mexican food out here. Anyhoo, I just wanted to say I know your pain. I see my stretch marks every day and would give anything to make them disappear. I did wonder when you said you have them from your shoulders to thighs if you have ever been tested for Cushing's? I know some people think, "Oh i'm just fat and that's why I have stretch marks," but some people who suffer from Cushing's get horrific looking stretch marks that almost look like claw marks all over the abdomen and thighs. It was just a thought. I thought I had it at one time, but my doctor says my thyroid levels are fine, even though I feel like something has to be wrong. I diet and exercise and no matter how much or little I exercise or eat, my weight has maintained at 180 for well over 5 years. It just refuses to go down. Now that I'm older, i'm more accepting of myself, but I would still like to lose the weight. I just wanted to say I understand where you are coming from and know your struggles. Just stay strong and know you are beautiful no matter what!

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    2. Caroline,

      I was all set to leave a comment for Katie on her post, but when I read your message, my heart went out to you. You sound like you feel things are hopeless, but honestly, you've done the hardest part already-- & that is to decide & to be ready to make changes. They won't be easy, but if you make 1 small change and then another small change after that they WILL start to add up. Loving yourself & accepting yourself may be the hardest changes to make, but once you start to do that, the actual weight-loss will seem so much easier. Can you find a buddy or someone who will always be there to listen to you & encourage you? Having that support is invaluable. Embrace your strength, Caroline. You CAN do this!

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    3. Caroline,
      Isn't it great to get such support around here? I love this community! Anyway, I'm not sure if you'll see this, so I'll send you an e-mail :)

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  10. How did you calculate the points for your chicken schwarma sandwich? I had one today (OMG DELISH) and I didn't pay too much attention to how much of anything was in it. It was in half a pita.

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    1. I pretty much just estimated it based on the ingredients. I got the chicken tawook sandwich, which is just chicken breast chunks (about 3 oz=3 PP), a large pita (about 6 PP), a small smear of garlic sauce (1 PP), and pickles (0 PP). So I guessed it was 10 PP.

      The shawarma may be a touch higher in PP, because of the dark meat and it's a little fattier, but you can just look up the nutrition info for shawarma and estimate how much was actually in your sandwich to calculate the PP.

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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