There Goes Tokyo, Gluten Free!

A week off, itchy feet, the world as my oyster. I didn't even have to spin the globe to know where I wanted my finger to land. Tokyo it was. It was big, it was sensory-overload, it was difficult as hell as a coeliac but did I ever love it.

I love sushi. So I essentially survived off nigiri and sashimi the bulk of the week, particularly when I had my friend, who lives locally, show me around and translate on my behalf. The presentation goes above and beyond anything I've ever experienced in what is essentially a casual dining atmosphere. Korean BBQ was also a pleasant surprise as meat and vegetables can be ordered unmarinated and unseasoned (or even just salted) to be grilled on your table's own grate. I've never before enjoyed such a broad selection of mushrooms and the array of meat was decadent. Vinegar used in sushi rice runs the risk of having barley in Japan, which depressingly raises a red flag over everything but I never had an issue with nigiri and sashimi. Just avoid the grilled eel (unagi).

Shōchū was my drink of choice, sweet potato shochu in particular if anyone is taking notes. A distilled beverage that works well on its own on the rocks or with moxers. Mixed with chilled green tea, I found an unexpectedly satisfying cocktail. Kirin make a hard cider (/cidre) that is readily available in most bars.

Staying in an Airbnb apartment granted me access to a kitchen, which was handy for eating in when I wanted. I had packed some gluten free bagels, seed bars, cereal, and pasta from home mostly because I was marathon training even on holiday (Yoyogi Park!) and I snack like a fiend and I dreaded deciphering ingredient labels in the grocery stores. That being said, grocery shopping itself was shockingly expensive in Tokyo anyway, dairy, fruits, and veg in particular.

But I survived. And I frakking loved it.

It certainly does not encapsulate a tick mark beside Japan on the bucket list without venturing outside the city "limits" but with only a week, and the instinct that I would want to come back for more (spoiler: I was right), Tokyo gave me more than enough to keep me busy for the week.

Oh, and bring a bottle of your own gluten-free soy sauce from home. And then return with a bottle of shōchū.

Brighton Marathon 2015

Ran 26.2 miles for charity, raising funds for Coeliac UK. Ran those 26.2 miles as a personal challenge and resolution for 2015. Ran 26.2 miles in under 5 hours.

The Brighton Marathon was a brilliant experience. Stayed at The Neo, a boutique B&B in Brighton, suavely neo-Baroque, with an excellent DVD collection, and offering up both a comfy B and a scrumptious B, going the extra mile to get in some gluten free bread for me. Just around the corner from the Brighton Centre for the Marathon Exhibition, which featured a wealth of products and knowledge. Finally got around to trying the Beet It shots, havibg drank Beet It juice to start my day nearly every morning for the last year.

The run itself on the Sunday was very well organised, offering up an intoxicatingly fun atmosphere at the start and keeping me perfectly hydrated along the course, under crisp, sunny skies. Maybe a bit too sunny, but on behalf of the rest of Southern England, I wasn't complaining.

The course had a couple of segments that did double back on themselves, which was a bit tedious but always much easier when running the backtrack. After looping Preston Park and running through town, you're taken along a brilliant stretch out east along the shorefront towards Rottingdean and back. It helps that I am so naturally drawn to the sea so found the sights and sounds immensely soothing. We were rather lucky with the weather as Monday saw Brighton blanketed in a dense fog. I think I passed along the northern side of the Finish line as Duncan Maiyo won and there I was, half way through. We ran through some residential areas, always great to see the locals making thousands of strangers feel beyond welcome on their doorsteps. The last stage of the Marathon is looping through the industrial area out west along Basin Road, a somewhat grim place for people to hit their walls. But thanks to a second Lucozade Elite Running Gel, was able to soldier on without stopping (save to wave to a fellow Coeliac UK runner). The last 2 miles saw some amazing and much welcome support along the promenade and back up along King's Road to the Finish.

Ran 26.2 miles, loved it, and am already contemplating when I might do it again.

Two words

Menstrual cup. Tried it a year ago based on recommendations from two dear friends and I never looked back. The Femme Cup was a perfect match but everyone is different and it's not surprising that some women don't find the right fit on the first go. It takes some getting used to but as someone with a heavy flow, I can attest to its comfort, cleanliness, and utter convenience. I have never slept better whilst on my period. The menstrual cup also enabled me to get through 20 mile training runs without a hitch and it will do so again on the big day this Sunday in Brighton. I can feel it coming; particularly strong sign was on my evening run home, all I could think about was hummus. The 3 mile runs home will be perfect to keep the legs loose this week. Female runners, two words. Menstrual cup.

20 Mile Breach

That next 20 mile run I mentioned in my previous post? It happened. So many weekends in a row of intense mileage and surpassing previous distance records, but I think I hit a bit of a mental block this time around. Not a physical wall per se but I know my bluntness around mile 17 when I uttered something along the lines of never wanting to run again was just a sign of dehydration; I know why fluids are imperative. I know my body, I believe it can go all the way, and I know my mind, too stubborn to quit. Wate, a running gel, and more water, and away went the haze of disillusionment and I powered on for another 3 miles.

Speaking of running gels, at the recommendation of a colleague, I've tried Lucozade Elite Running Gels, which have sat well so far. I suppose the way maltodextrin is processed is not dissimilar to distilled alcohols, so they are coeliac friendly as far as I can gather and, more importantly, feel. My initial intent was to run au naturel, with just water and maybe a 9 Bar (seeded bars of goodness, my go-to snack of choice) but as I increase mileage and approach the dreaded wall, I see the physiological benefits of the running gels so I might pack two in my back pocket on the big day.

Whey-hey!

My morning runs have morphed into evening runs. So instead of waking up in the dark to run 3 miles, I get home from work in the dark to run 5 miles. I actually rather enjoyed starting my day with a brief jaunt around the marina; by 8:30 am last Friday, I was ready to start my workday having already run 3 miles and found a new place to live (leaky ceiling, long story) but I cannot justify waking up even earlier to permit for the increased mileage.

My long weekend runs are still slated for a morning start but I almost always faff about for ages to the point that I am terribly annoyed when I get to Tower Bridge and it is chock-a-block with people and their selfie-sticks mid afternoon. One might think I am nuts for crossing at Tower Bridge but I really do love the loop down to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel and back home - with added loops around Southwark Park. My only other crossing option is Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is a carbon-monoxide deathtrap.

There has not been much on the gluten-free baking front, save for the fact that I started adding plain yoghurt to my bread mix as a substitute for about a third of the required water and the texture is remarkably better; the whey protein must truly help.

Reload

Millet, you are one thirsty grain! My new favourite weekend breakfast, and a brilliant substitute for anyone on the fence about oats. Toasted slightly to lend a wonderully smoked, nutty flavour, and then simmered in a 3:1 ratio of liquid to grains. I certainly don't have the patience to keep a mindful eye on the stove top for half an hour on a week day; it's amazing enough that I (aim to) make it out for three 5K runs at 6:00 a.m during the week. But I take the time over the weekend as it's effectively filling after a long run, being high in energy and iron. I'm probably not hydrating properly if the millet is drinking up more than I am.

Next step: brewing with millet!

The half to the whole

With the Ealing Half Marathon under my belt, I feel confident about the 26.2 mile run in Brighton. The Ealing Half was such good fun, with tremendous local support and a jaunt through quaint, somewhat rural bits of London like Perivale Park that I never quite realised were there. I ran the half at an arguably safe pace in light of the fact that it was much hotter than anyone could have hoped for but it's fun to look at the GPS data and see that the sign near the 2-mile mark before Aston Road warning of zombies behind me and safety ahead well and truly gave me a boost.

Having run the half and been quoted as uttering "I could do that again", I concede that I am aware that running a full marathon is not just a matter of adding a multiplier. The inevitable, infamous "wall" when your body is depleted of stored energy, for one, is an obstacle to prepare for, both physically and mentally. I do think the fact that I regularly consume as much as a bear going into hibernation is a good start. I've had the vague objective of hitting an average pace of 9 minute miles since I started running. I currently sit at about 10 minutes on long runs. I have been advised that focusing on the distance itself rather than time should be my motivation as a first timer so the pacing is more of a long term goal. My username holds no relation to pacing, but rather an obscure sci-fi reference and nod to a comment my sister made one night playing Rock Band. The fact that I can now use it as a drive to live up to my own name, as a runner as well as a nerd, is all the better.

Brighton Marathon 2015

I will officially be running the Brighton Marathon for Coeliac UK in 2015! A cause quite obviously dear to me, I will be raising funds to help Coeliac UK conduct research into this auto-immune disease and raise awareness in the community, food manufacturing industry, grocery stores, and commercial kitchens across the UK. In the two years since my diagnosis, I have seen impressive and reassuring developments in the manufacturing industry, with better labelling amd availability in shops but I do think there is room for improvement in the way of awareness in commercial kitchens and restaurants, which is part of what Coealiac UK strive to do.

Running the Brighton Marathon by the sea will be a great challenge. It will be nice to have a fonder memory of Brighton than the time a seagull knicked my ice cream; a right ninja it was, but I'd let my guard down. Brighton also has a wealth of gluten-free restaurants I am eager to try, and having recently watched Nick Cave's biopic 20,000 Days on Earth, in which Brighton features prominently, I have a comforting, albeit unconventional, soundtrack for the broadening training regime. On the calmer front, more gluten-free baking is on the horizon for fundraising ventures. If you'd like to donate, please do click through; you have my thanks in the form of words, sentiment and gluten-free baking samples if you so choose - provided you're within commuting distance of London, or Montreal over Christmas!

Cannelle et maudits raisins

There has been a small bag of raisins tucked away in my cupboard for a while. It was even moved over from the cupboard in the last flat. They go untouched as I resent the little frakkers with their ridged, dry exterior and unbearably chewy and unrefreshing flesh, often turning up uninvited or, worse yet, unannounced in salads or braised red cabbage or carrot cake (as if the latter is not sweet and moist enough!). But I had to use them. And I hold firm that the only marginally tolerable manifestation of the suckers is in cinnamon raisin bread, where the strength of the spice somewhat masks the monstrosities.

Out came the Bob's Red Mill sorghum flour (my new favourite gluten free weapon) to top up the standard gluten free white bread flour and within minutes, I had a sweet dough rising. I even squeezed in a 5 mile run (and vacuumed the flat) for good measure during the first prove. Dough rising, a process equal parts beautiful and mundane.

The patience paid off.

Gluten-free cinnamon and dastardly raisin rolls