Black Bear Half Marathon Run Dump

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I made it…Bearly!

It’s been more than a week since the half marathon in Hendersonville. I am sorry I took so long to update, especially to those friends who funded my run. You’re going to hear all about it now!

Pic from my hometown on Sept. 27, 2024 stolen from Bluegrass Life https://www.facebook.com/bluegrasslife/

As you all know, our beautiful mountains took a hard hit from hurricane Helene in September.

The half marathon (that at the time I was pretty confident I was ready for) was rescheduled for a month later, on November 10. I was determined to show up for this race, even though I had lost a lot of training time to the circumstances. Come Hell or high water, and the Good Lord willing, I was going visit Hendersonville and turn out in support of this beautiful community. The people in these mountains, including myself, are in desperate need of a little normalcy and fun. So I bought a neat tee-shirt to express my feelings on the matter…

…and I toddled my slow, unprepared butt on down the mountains past Asheville to run that race!

There were some challenges, of course. There always are, right? But extra ones, this time. For one thing, I had only had four training runs between the day of the hurricane and the day of the race, a total of maybe 30 miles in the month. I spent some days shoveling mud, some days volunteering at donation sites, some days delivering supplies, and of course I still needed to take care of my own family. My community and family needed me far more than I needed to be out running. Don’t take this to mean that I was being some kind of hero or martyr. I did not do enough, and I’m not done yet! I truly wish I had done more even now, and there are a lot of actual heroes around here who deserve all the praise. I’m a very minor player, I promise. I’m only telling you this because that was how I’ve had to spend my time, rather than running. 

This is my shovel. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

For another thing, I apparently caught a bug of some kind. Maybe I poisoned myself mucking around in contaminated flood mud, maybe I was just stressed out, or maybe I caught what the kids next door had. Whatever it was, I had been feeling nauseated and unwell for the past two weeks, at that point. (I’m mostly better now!) I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish this run at all. I tried to keep upbeat about the whole thing, but I was feeling pre-defeated on the drive down.

Though it sounds ridiculous, the worst thing, the one thing in all this that made me almost literally cry?

I packed the wrong socks.

When I was packing for the trip, I honestly just couldn’t get my mind clear on what I was even packing for. Something about a race? Seriously? Now? I managed to grab most of what I needed. At least I packed the right shoes. But I forgot many of the obvious things that one would normally would take on an overnight trip: toiletries, pajamas, laptop, emergency cash. I just didn’t have my head in the game at all.

If you’re a runner, or you know a runner, you likely know what a sinking feeling I had when I opened up the bag of running gear that Sunday morning and saw that I’d grabbed toe socks instead of the conventional socks I normally run in. The only other socks I had were even less likely to benefit me, so I put on the stupid socks.

This was a “can I even make it?” kind of run. As you know, I’m not the fastest, nor will I ever hope to be. But I enjoy the mental and physical challenge of running. I did think there was a chance I’d be close to dead last under these conditions, if I made it at all. But I really didn’t want to have to write that up for all the friends who helped me get here, so I went out there determined to just puke and run, puke and run, if that’s what I needed to do.

Praise the Lord, I can actually say “Yes! I made it!” I came in 249th out of 289 finishers. I am not proud of this, but it is what I could do that day. I didn’t even puke!

First goal cleared!

Black Bear Finisher Medal and number bib

Half Marathon box checked!

I had some other goals that were a little less important on this run. But they were more firm, and honestly more likely to fail, I thought. I wanted to beat both my 5k and 10k personal bests in the first miles.

Second and third goals cleared, as well! This, I am proud of! Of course they’re not pro numbers, but they are getting better all the time, and I think I’ll have actually respectable speeds soon.

The one goal I did not meet, of course, was the half-marathon time goal. It was, in a word, abysmal. I had wanted to keep around a 12-minute pace for every mile, which would have put me around 2.5 hours at the finish. That was a modest goal, I thought. I do sincerely, and hopefully without fooling myself, believe that I could have done that back in October, when the original race was scheduled. My training was planned and executed well until September 27th.

I actually kept my planned pace pretty well–though widely varying between 10:30 and 12:30 each mile because I wanted to meet those early speed goals–until about mile 10, when my right foot started to feel the insult of having the toes wrapped individually instead of all in a bundle. I had no choice but to walk a good deal of the last 3 miles. I could still jog a little, but then I had to walk some more. I watched about 50 people of whom I’d felt confident I’d seen the last pass me. I was encouraged by many sweet souls telling me how great I was doing, but I was not. I was not doing great at all.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been that mad at myself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I know, it’s just an amateur race and I’m nobody to be taking anything that seriously. But this just sucked, ok? I am not angry at myself any more, but at the time, I just could not believe what I’d done there.

But I did finish. 

And after I finished, I showered, rested an hour or so, and then smashed this beautiful steak and eggs:

Don’t mind the green stuff. I didn’t eat that.

Thanks again, so much, for supporting this run, friends! I pray for each and every one of you to be rewarded tenfold for your generosity in giving to my gofundme. God bless your generous spirits! There will be more races!

Yet Another Update on the Black Bear Race

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Grrrrrr.

I just updated my previous update with some new information, to wit: (The) travel insurance was, as insurance usually is, too tricky in its terms to be of any use to me. While it would have covered my being unable to get there because of a hurricane, they refused to cover my not needing the room due to a hurricane. I have all sorts of words not fit for print right now. I’m out the money my backers sent me for the room, and will have to start driving around 4:30 a.m. to make it for packet pickup. But I will go!

I am incredibly sorry to all of my GoFundMe givers. I probably should have waited until closer to the race to book the room. Next time I won’t plan so far out. I will still be doing that race!

Black Bear Half Marathon Update

 

New Run Date!

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The Black Bear Half Marathon has been rescheduled for November 10th!

I said I’d do it, and I’m going to do it. Lord willing, etc., etc. I am under-trained at the moment because the hurricane aftermath made running just a little bit difficult. First, I didn’t want to sweat too much without showers available. Then I didn’t want to try to go fast on roads covered in debris and gravel. And then I just had to admit, when those excuses were used up, that my heart was just breaking for the people who’ve lost so much. I didn’t feel like running. Besides, there were better uses in the community and at home for my energy.

And then I caught a cold or something, I think while mucking about in flood mud. I’m on about day 6 of that, and feeling like I might be all better tomorrow. The very minute I feel like I can do it without setting myself back, I’m going to get back on the road again. I’m a little bit panicky, because I have less than a month to be ready for the challenge. Fortunately, it hasn’t been that long since I ran–only a couple of weeks and change, though it feels like a lot longer–so hopefully I haven’t lost too much ground.

Pray for me and wish me luck, friends! I’m already daydreaming about crossing that finish line with some PRs to brag about!

My GoFundMe is still up if you want to help pay for the trip! I am funded, as explained here, but could still use the extra scratch for training and travel incidentals.

Black Bear Half Marathon Funded

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Get ready, Hendersonville! I’m coming to run ya!

I’m tickled pink that 17 donors have made it possible for me to go to the Black Bear Half Marathon without dipping into the family funds. I felt a little bit delicate about asking, because it’s a want, not a need. But it’s something I want to do so badly that it is worth the hit to my pride.

I didn’t talk about it here when our septic system failed last year. We had a uniquely bad situation because of the age of our house and the steepness of our lot. It took nearly $30,000 when all was said and done. That’s not to mention the several months of having to dump used water outdoors, take very short showers, wash clothes at the laundromat, etc. Many of the costs were not in the repair itself, but in the things we had to do to adapt to the situation and clean up the lot afterwards.

Praise God, we managed to do it without debt and without losing our minds! But, as you can imagine, we’re still scrimping and saving to refill the hole that left in our emergency and other funds. That means we haven’t had much extra for unnecessaries like travel and athletics.

Your kind help means the world to me, friends! I will be praying for each of my donors by name during my run. If that sounds weird, you probably don’t run a lot. The mind goes all over the place. It’s part of why I run. I often use that peaceful time to talk to the Lord! I’m going to write their names down and pin them somewhere to my clothes so I don’t miss anybody. May the Lord richly reward their kindness!

If you’re feeling bummed that you didn’t get a chance to donate, there is still time. I’m going to leave this fundraiser open, because there is ALWAYS more I can do with it. I’m a sucker for technology and shoes, we’ll need to buy meals while we’re traveling, and GFM takes a fee off the top, so every little bit more helps keep my fun from burdening my family.

Thank you again, so much!

Your Kids Eat Carnivore, Too?

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Why, thank you for asking!

Yes, they are eating in a way that is known as hypercarnivore. But they are not hyper carnivores. They’re very chill.

First, let’s define that new word. The Carnivore Diet, the way I’ve come to use the term, is not exactly what we’re talking about here. Most of my children lack the gut damage and medical conditions that forced me to remove all plants (some of which I miss very much) from my diet, so we have a more relaxed approach to their food. But they’re still living the Meat Life™, and doing very well on it!

From the Infogalactic entry for hypercarnivore:

“A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some examples include felids, dolphins, eagles, snakes, marlin, most sharks, and the GAH children.”

I may have made up part of that definition.

My kids are more carnivore than even that, though. I guess about 90% of their food is meat, fish, dairy, and eggs right now. One of them is almost 100% carnivore due to IBS. A few of them don’t tolerate dairy. They all know their own unique quirks, and as long as they eat their meat, I’m flexible on the other stuff.

I posted a meal plan a few years ago when someone asked if I fed my kids a carnivore diet. I had not yet fully applied my new way of thinking about food, and the family were still eating a high-carb (by my current lights, anyway) diet most days, though I did consider it to be carnivorish. Even then, I think it met the strict criteria for hypercarnivore. It didn’t meet my current standards, but we were moving in the right direction.

These days, my children eat all of the meats, and a limited selection of fruits and vegetables. I allow fruit once a day, and a sweet potato every now and then, but other than that, high-carb foods are out. As much activity as these children get, the amount of sugar in what I do allow them is still very low. Seeds and nuts are allowed, but limited. Grains and beans are not in our pantry, but at church functions, or friends’ houses, we will make a few exceptions for the sake of being social. Gluten is verboten, no matter where we are. Likewise, seed oils.

Parents, you don’t have to feed your kids junk food and “kid food”. They don’t need to eat what everybody else eats to be happy. In fact, what nearly everybody else’s kids are eating is making them unhappy. I was just making lunch for my family after a busy school day, and it was 2:30 p.m. before I got it on the table. We do that almost every school day, because I have seven children to homeschool, and we don’t want to interrupt our school day with food. We’re concentrating–something that a whole lot of people are unable to do simply because of their food choices.

How many Standard American Dieters, even if they try to keep it clean, organic, and “healthy” can say that their children go until 2:30 or even 3:30 in the afternoon without begging for food and getting hangry? Because my children are on a low-carb diet, they have very steady blood glucose, and very steady moods. They have breakfast at 7:30, and they are finished eating until whenever the food can be ready. They are extremely flexible, and I never hear a word about how late the food is.

When I think back to how hungry my children–especially the smaller ones–used to be between meals, and how cranky they would get, I am appalled that I let it go on that way for so many years! I just didn’t realize it could be any other way. I’d have to give them a snack mid-morning just to hold them until lunchtime, usually at noon. Then they’d want another snack while dinner was cooking. Nowadays, nobody is ever hungry around here at noon!

I thought 3 big meals and 2 snacks a day was normal! While it is common, it is not normal. It is a highly disordered food culture that has children eating every two and half to three hours, right up to suppertime, and sometimes even another snack right before bed. We still have three meals, most days, but only two of them are big meals, and the third will be a quick, small one of cold cuts, leftovers, and berries. Sometimes dinner (it’s called supper, if you’re one of ourn) is our biggest meal, but I usually try to do the biggest feed in the middle of the day, so we’re not eating a lot near bedtime. This meal timing helps our sleep, in addition to giving us extra time in our day to work.

Do you want to have hypercarnivore kids, too? I really think you should! Healthy kids are happy kids. Many, many of our family’s behavioral and supposedly untreatable health and brain problems just vanished into thin air with a better way of eating. I don’t want to talk too much about my kids’ personal challenges, but even difficulties as intractable as autism and IBS can be mitigated greatly with a high fat, low-carb diet. If you’ve ever been unable to get your child to smile and make eye contact with you, you know what it would mean to have those things all of a sudden. This is precisely what happened with one of ours! Please try it and see for yourself, parents! It’s worth the time and effort.

I would dearly love to see more children healed in body, mind, and soul.

If you’re trying to move your children to a more appropriate diet than the standard fare, it is wise to change diets slowly to avoid upheavals, both digestive and emotional. Take half a year or a year, not a month, to wean off all the bad stuff. Start with the worst foods (usually grains and added sugars) today, and eliminate the lesser offenders later, one at a time, after your child is used to thinking differently about food. It worked beautifully for my family!

Don’t fret about the time lost. Just work your way out of the mainstream food habits a little bit at a time.

Let me know if you have questions. I love to answer them, free of charge. I also offer half-hour coaching sessions via Zoom where we can talk about ideas for making your lifestyle healthier. Email me if you’re interested! My address is cindy at getalonghome dot com. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Eat in a Day

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Some of my recent carnivore meals

“Just eat meat” sounds like such a simple concept, but people often ask what I eat in a day. Here are a few of my recent meals. Most days, I have two or three meals. Some days, just one big one. Meat Life™ is satisfying!

First, the simplest stuff. Ground beef, cold butter cubes, and cold beef tongue:

I usually have a can of cod liver and a can of sardines for my 4:00 p.m. meal, if I’m eating more than one meal that day. My eating window closes around 4 p.m. on those days. Me 7 years ago would have gagged at the thought, but it’s a very satisfying way to end the day:

A gigantic ribeye with some butter my youngest son shook up for me from cream:

These bigger meals are almost always OMADs (one meal a day). Burgers, fried eggs, and a LOT of bacon:

My birthday meal this year, filet mignon with bacon.

This next was a fun one. Leftover carnivore waffles as bread for a ham sandwich. Mustard, homemade avocado oil mayo, and pickles made this a little fancy for me. On a normal day, it would have just been waffles, butter, and meat, which makes a fine sandwich:

Chicken nuggets, make with pork rind panko, shrimp, and melted butter for a light lunch:

An all meat diet sounds a little draggy, but I assure you, there are ways to fun it up and still stay within the parameters of what works for you! What works for me won’t always work for others, and many may need to be less or (rarely) more strict than I am. Shoot me an email (cindy at getalonghome dot com) if you’re interested in finding a way to make keto or carnivore fit into your lifestyle and serve your unique needs!

A great, BIG thank you: My next run is now fully funded! I’m super excited to be training for the Black Bear Half Marathon! If you feel sad because you didn’t get a chance to contribute, there’s still time to do that! Just click the big yellow ‘donate’ button below. I can always use more funds for more training, gas, or food! And taxes, of course. You know they’re going to tax me on this.

Thank you so, so much, my friends!

 

It’s a Trap!

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The Great Accuser is up to his games again.

Sometimes people share things on Facebook, and then I have a little rant in response, which few people see and even fewer care about. TL-DR, you know? But then I remember that I have a blog where I can put these things. Nobody much sees it or cares about it here, either, but it lives longer. Here’s a copy pasta from this morning’s rant, edited for blogworthiness:

Somebody on Facebook shared this quote today, and it is one I have ALWAYS HATED:

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Now, how could anybody hate such humbling, well-stated, Christian-sounding words? Don’t they just inspire you to live better? It sounds good at first, doesn’t it? Why, it’s even at the beginning of one of my favorite DC Talk songs! But then you think about it for a minute.

I’m not living for Jesus so that people can see me and think I’m a Real Christian.

I’m not living for Jesus because there is a single thing I can do for Him.

I don’t live for Him to convince others of His Lordship, though I hope I do.

I’m living for Jesus because He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That’s it. That’s my whole reason for bowing the knee to Him. He is everything, and I owe Him everything.

I hate gaslighting. I have never been subject to it, and people who use that tactic to control others hate me. It just doesn’t work. The downside to that is that I’m often a little too sure of myself. But a lot of other people don’t have that quality/failing, and I find they need to be rescued from Satan’s gaslighting from time to time.

Anytime somebody tries to put the blame for other people’s beliefs and actions on you, Christian, you are being lied to. They are lying because they don’t want to hear it. I’ve found over the years, that no matter what my message, only those who have ears to hear will hear it. Everybody else will have an argument, an excuse, and finally an accusation, to deflect the message. That goes for the Gospel, the Meat Life, Homeschooling, and everything else I’ve latched onto that I’ve tried to share with others, both on this blog and in real life. They will either hear it, or they won’t. The onus is not on me.

Anyone who denies Christ does so because he doesn’t want Christ to be Lord in his life. It is not because you are not a good enough Christian. There is no deed good enough that they will change their minds about you, and no sin you can commit that can make you blameworthy for their unbelief. Your human failings will not serve as an excuse when atheists have to stand before the throne of God and try to explain to Him why they rejected His perfect Son.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Their unbelief is on them, Christian. Not on you.

The first quote is from the Great Accuser, who would like to remind you of every sin that Christ has already put under the Blood. He wants you constantly worried about what the World thinks of you. It hampers your prayers with doubt to be constantly trying to measure up in the eyes of a never-satisfied world.

The second quote is from God’s Word.

God has made it plain to them. He is satisfied with you, Christian, because of what His Son did. Live victoriously, not in cowering fear that someone might find out you’re not perfect.

Things Carnivores Say

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That I have never experienced.

Carnivores are always making fantastic claims about what the diet has done for them. And you know what? I believe every single one of them! How could I not? I make some fantastic claims for myself! I’ve healed my allergies (except to ragweed, which reigns champion every fall), asthma (even ragweed doesn’t bring that back), and eczema, lost 60 pounds, cured anxiety, depression, OCD, and a host of other problems! You can read the rest of the blog to hear about all of it. But there are some marvelous benefits that almost all carnivores say they have experienced that I, to date, have not.

I’ve been carnivore for seven years come November, so I’ve been eating this way plenty long enough to say for sure whether these effects are something everybody should expect. I say no. Some of this Meat Magic may pass you by, no matter what other benefits you receive. You may experience the following effects, and I hope you do. Practically everybody else seems to, but I have not.

Thing #1: Carnivores don’t fart anymore.

I hate to lead off with potentially embarrassing information about myself. I know it’s not ladylike, but I still toot. It does not smell bad at all. I never have gas, bloating, tummy pain, or anything like that. But air still puffs out from time to time, especially when I eat butter. In fact, it smells faintly of butter. Sorry if that’s tmi, but it’s true. Butter makes me fart.

Woman covering her mouth, saying oops, with a little green cloud behind her, indoors

Thing #2: Carnivores don’t get sore after a hard workout anymore.

While I am very glad for anybody who is able to say this, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), is not something I’ve left behind. I don’t know what this means for my health. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. But when I lift super-heavy, I still feel it the next day! I actually like that feeling, because it means I broke past my comfort barrier and really did something. Most people don’t like to be in pain, so I’m happy for those who can still walk upstairs and sit down without groaning the day after leg day.

But I just haven’t seen this for some reason. Still sore, and still happy to be that way!

Thing #3: Carnivores never miss certain foods.

You’d think desserts would be the hardest thing to pass up, having gone off the sugar, but the biggest struggle for me is to not put collard greens in my face. “Well, why not just have some delicious, good-for-you leafy greens then, you freak? You even cook it with bacon!” Because, my friend, something about fiber-rich foods makes my OCD come back with a vengeance! I like having eyebrows, and collard greens make me pull my hair. I know that sounds nuts, but it’s true, and I’ve cheated with leafy greens enough to know for sure that I can’t have that stuff. I do pick out the greens-flavored bacon and enjoy that, though. I can get away with that.

I’m sure other people struggle with certain foods, as well. I’m not above lingering over the dessert table to smell the delicious food, myself. I’ve just gotten used to the idea that these foods are a pleasant memory. I can miss them, but they are dead to me.

Thing #4: Carnivores don’t get sunburn any more. 

This, sadly, is another myth for me. I kept waiting for the day that I would be able to spend unlimited amounts of time in the sun without getting a burn, and it never came. Now, I always just burnt a little in the early summer, peeled, and then had a nice tan the rest of the summer. I never had a big problem with burning anyway. But I do still get a painful glow if I don’t remember to get out of the sun during the most intense hours of the day.

One thing I have noticed is that I don’t burn as much if I don’t sit still. Running at noon in direct summer sun? No problem. Sitting for the same length of time? Burn, baby, burn! So maybe the rest of those carnivores who are not burning anymore are just suddenly moving a lot more than they used to, dodging those slowpoke sun-rays!

Thing #5: The bugs don’t bite me any more.

I’ve heard so many people say the bugs don’t bite them anymore. As with all of these things, I believe them! They’re mosquito-repellent all of a sudden. What a blessing! Amazing things happen when you change your body chemistry so completely. But I’m sitting here scratching this very minute, and so are my meat-heavy children. I dunno. You can form your own theories about why that might be.

How about you, carnivores, and non-carnivores alike? Do you have any dietary expectations that haven’t quite been fulfilled by the way you’re eating right now? Comments are open, and I’d sure love to get something besides spam in here! Let me know!

Also, while I’ve got you here, I’m asking for donations to fund my next run. Help me get to the Black Bear Half Marathon:

 

Off The Races Again!

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With your kind help.

I want to run the Black Bear Half Marathon in October, but between needing to refill the hole in our savings after a MASSIVE septic system failure last year and having a number of young mouths to feed, I do not have the spending money required to make it happen. If you, Dear Reader, would like to help out, or feel like this blog has benefited or entertained you, and you’d like to support my endeavors in some way, I’ve set up a GoFundMe page to try to get enough money to buy shoes, entry fee, a room to stay in, and a little bit of tech for training.

Please pitch in only if you have a few extra dollars and it would make you happy to do so!