It's been a while since my last visit to the sports chiropractor. I used to be a regular there with my string of random injuries, ranging from shin splints, to light plantar fasciitis, to strained calf muscles, and hips being out of place.

I used to attribute my injuries to the fact that I have minor scoliosis, and one leg longer than the other. While I do think that it plays a role, I must admit that low heart rate training has been eye opening, and has helped me realize that I was just pushing myself way too hard.

Sports chiropractors are awesome, and I always make sure the ones I see are skilled in ART. Active Release Technique. This technique can be painful at times, but I think it's very effective at breaking down scar tissues, and bringing more blood flow back into the area. I love it, and I think it really increases healing times. I also like that sports chiropractors can analyze your entire body, and find the root of the problem. For instance, your foot injury might be stemming from a tight muscle in your hip that might need some work on. There have been many times where the injury stemmed from somewhere much higher up on my leg that I had no idea was so tight.

My doc is Dr. Dade Donovan in San Mateo. I had previously gone to a different sports chiropractor in the city but wanted to find one closer to me since I had moved. Luckily Yelp steered me in the right direction, and due to his shining reviews, I decided to go see him. After a couple of visits, I realized that not only is he a great doc but he has the same subtle sarcastic humor that I have and we get along swimmingly. He's quickly become one of my all-time-favorite docs.

I am comfortable telling him that no, I didn't do your stretches you told me to, and yes, I did this really stupid run that probably broke me. In return, he's rarely surprised, and kind of tailors his treatments to my schedule and personality. Despite what it seems, I do take his advice, and have a high respect for what he has to tell me.

It had been several months since I last saw him due to the new diet and heart rate training, but I was still sheepish to admit that I'd taken such drastic measures. I had assumed that he'd be disappointed with me falling into diet trends, although I really felt like I did a lot of solid research before diving into this one.

When I confessed about what I've been up to, it surprised me that it was right on target with what he was going to tell me to do! He seemed kind of shocked, and had told me he expected my legs to be in much worse condition. He explained that my new diet was precisely what I need, and would keep the inflammation in my body down. Basically, I had been doing everything right! Once I opened up, it was like a flood of information coming out. I couldn't stop talking (anyone that knows me, knows that me talking non-stop is a RARE occurrence), and I wanted to tell him about every detail. It really has been life changing.

I just wanted to share that. I was really excited to get his stamp of approval, and it just encouraged me and made me a bit more confident in my approach to this 50 miler. :D I think the only nutritional tweaks I want to do is maybe cut down on my dairy and red meat, due to how it raises inflammation. I say this, but also steak is on the menu tonight. :| And I am also posting a picture of some provolone cheese chips I made. THEY ARE SO EASY AND SO GOOD. All you have to do literally is put the oven to 350, tear up pieces of provolone...any shape is fine, and slap those suckers on some parchment paper laid on a cookie sheet. I think a lot of cheeses will work, but I was really surprised with how good the provolone came out. But yes, going to try my best to ease off all the cheese, haha.

provolone chips with some pepperoni slices. 

OH! And this soup is SO GOOD. You all know how much I LOVE the crockpot, I think this is going to be one of my new favorites! I made it with spinach because we didn't have kale on board, but the kale would have been even tastier. Chicken, Sweet Potato and Kale soup! You might start to notice that a lot of the recipes I find are Paleo. Don't be afraid of Paleo. It's a wonderful thing, and probably one of the most nutritious and sane diets out there. If it makes you think of Crossfit, and you hate crossfit...you should get over the hate, because everyone I know that does crossfit has a six pack, so they must be doing something right. :|

 Ok, that's it! Fer real! I'm out!

Active Release Technique endurance LCHF low carb high fat recipes sports chiropractor tips and tricks

Sports Chiropractors - keeping things working smoothly!

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Happy week of rain for those of you in the bay area! Sooo much rain, after such a long period of NO rain. I'm still pretty ecstatic to see it, even if that means that drivers on the freeway go 20mph and I have to actually mow our lawn.

It was a wet run!

Unfortunately, all of my techy devices that I love to bring with me aren't waterproof. Actually, none of them are. I keep thinking of buying a waterproof phone case, but always fall back to a couple of zip lock bags in my semi-waterproof jacket. I also put saran wrap on my water-resistant Polar watch, because I just don't want to take any chances. It was pretty wet out today.

The run didn't go like I hoped. I felt like I was going a bit faster, and since I turned off the notifications to Strava, I dreamed of coming home and seeing paces in the 10 min mile range. I didn't get a proper warm up because it was SO COLD OUTSIDE and I stupidly wore these flimsy shorts and needed to get my heart rate up to stay warm. 

My high tech waterproofing

So the final pace average? About an 11:55 min mile. To give myself a bit of credit, I DID include about a .3 mile walk when I attempted to warm up. Still was pretty pathetic.

I also am still sore from horseback riding. :| 

I came home and reallllly wanted to give up. I am really losing my patience here, so I honestly don't know how long I will last. I am trying my best though. Hugs and words of encouragement are welcome, haha.

For those of you that have been running in the bad weather or nights, my boyfriend showed me quite a convenient trick if you have an iphone (a similar feature is probably available through Android, but I only have an iphone). You can go to the messages, click on "details" in the right corner of the person you want to message, and then click to share your location for either an hour, to the end of the day, or indefinitely. We use it for an hour or so, just to kind of keep track and make sure that everything is going as planned, and nobody is hurt. 

It is a nice feature if you want to keep an eye on a loved one, but don't want to be all creepy.

TJ's Salsa Verde!

Next up, is food! Today I have been RAVENOUS! Completely insatiable hunger all day. I think it's my body finally responding to the several day soreness from horseback riding. I keep eating and eating, and drinking a lot of water, but nothing seems to help. I came home to some chicken I made in the crock pot and just hovered over it and downed two chicken thighs in about 3 minutes. By the way, you've got to try this chicken. I forget where I initially found the recipe, but all you need to do is throw some chicken thighs in a crock pot and dump in a bottle of salsa verde! I put in about a half cup of water, just because my crock pot is huge and I don't want them to overcook. SO GOOD.

A bit high in sodium but I'm not exactly licking
the plate clean here.

Mmm so juicy and tender!

Soup made with our homemade bone broth!

Sorry for the terrible formatting, I still don't fully understand blogger.

You might see a pattern developing, but I am obsessed with our slow cooker. I swear by the thing, and I don't know why more people don't use them! Healthy and juicy meals every time with hardly any effort, and they're always hot and ready by the time you get home!

I even made bone broth for the first time in my life with our leftover turkey bones. I did it a bit spur of the moment, and as we were running out the door to catch a movie, I threw the thing in the crock pot with some whole carrots and onion, and filled it up so the water was to the top, and we just let it cook until the next day. My lovely boyfriend strained it, and it turned out so delicious and perfect! The only thing I'd do differently is put in a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in to leach some of the minerals out more.

Bone broth is wonderful for anyone, but can definitely benefit runners with the amino acids and minerals, and is great for your ligaments and joints. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make, and I'm definitely going to be making more soon.

I have another 5 miles to go tomorrow, so hopefully there will be less rain and more smiles. Oh, and while I work I have been drowning myself in podcasts from Endurance Planet. They are extremely informative, especially if you're interested in MAF training or a low carb/high fat diet. You can look up "maffetone" in the search engine, or I like to listen to nutrition advice from Ben Greenfield. Great stuff, and Tawnee is very informed and is a great interviewer that always seems to be asking the questions that I'm thinking in my head.

I LOVE FOOD low carb MAF recipes training

Some more food, and running in the rain!

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