Rooibos for Runners

A few weeks ago Miss Milia and I went out for one of our usual runs in the jogger. Emilia was snug as a bug with her hat, mittens, sunglasses, cozy pink blanket, statue of St. Gerard (which she will not go without), and a tattered copy of the MiniBoden catalog. It was cold, but a gorgeously sunny day — perfect for running, really. And because of this, I opted for the longer (and much hillier) route; taking us past a beautiful view of the Space Needle, the Olympics, all of Bellevue and Seattle, and Lake Washington. It is so beautiful where we live sometimes!

Anyway, as I'm huffing and puffing along, and Emilia is singing away at the top of her lungs, I looked down at her wares and noticed that her hands were bare. Naturally I began shouting (over the top of both her music and my i-pod), 'Milia, where is your other mitten?' It was gone; she had tossed it overboard. That meant that we got to go back over all the hilly bits, nearly keeling over from exhaustion, mind you, so we could find it. On the bright side, we got to see that spectacular view once again, and I got to listen to Emilia say (the rest of the way home), 'Mia twerp!' Alas, she was right.

Anyway, as it turns out, I've got this absurd disorder (Or is it an ailment? Actually, I think they call it a phenomenon), where I break out into hives whenever I go running. This would not be a problem, as it were, if I were not a runner. However, I love running. It is one of those activities that helps me get through the day. And it is, hands down, the single best thing for stress-management. Plus, if you have a small penchant for cupcakes and the like, running a few miles may definitely be in order, if not necessary.

However, ever since I can remember, I have had this rather bizarre 'phenomenon' following me around. I even remember it happening when I would walk home from school as a kid. The absolute worst of it occured when we lived in Haddonfield, NJ. I remember coming home from work, changing, grabbing my portable cd player (I was at the height of technology with that thing at the time), and running 6 to 8 miles. But I would always itch...and terribly so. There were times I would come home so angry and literally crying from frustration; my legs swollen and bleeding because, of course, I would scratch. I couldn't help myself. The marks would stay on my legs for ages, too. Nasty, right? Not to mention it being the most annoying thing in the world.

It took three doctors to diagnose me — hives urticaria. And all I needed to do was take a pile of antihistamines and be on my merry way. The only problem was that I hate to take any medication unless I am on death's door; not to mention the fact that taking allergy medication makes your allergy problems worse once you stop. So what was I to do? I simply stopped running.

Sitting in Queen Mary's Tea Room a handful of years ago with a few of the ladies in my family, I sat looking at a little menu/leaflet on Rooibos tea. I discovered that Rooibos is a red tea that comes from Africa, and does not have caffeine. (Incidentally, I also discovered that it is heavenly when mixed with Madagascar vanilla beans. I found this out because I demanded that my niece Grace let me have a sip of hers.) Anyway, as we all sat and sipped our respective teas and filled ourselves with sweet thing after sweet thing, I read of the many benefits that Rooibos tea supposedly has. The claims ranged from clearing up eczema, preventing cavities, treating allergies, and probably fixing a rather surly disposition, to boot. Shocking claims, if you ask me. So naturally I bought a little bag of it on our way out the door.

What can I say? It works. This spectacular little tea works. I drink it all the time. However, I have since learned to buy it bulk, and I have found a great site where you can buy it by the pound. I used to buy it from Whole Foods, but they kept switching containers. I would get home with a bag full of Good Hope Vanilla that smelled strangely of Blackberry Sage or something. Yuck.

Anyway, all these years later I am still delighted with this tea. It works for me. I literally don't worry about itching while running anymore, whereas it used to consume my thoughts as I trudged along the pavement. Now I just worry that Emilia is going to throw all her little things overboard causing me to have to run an extra mile or so in order to fetch them. And as much as I like to run, I have my limits, for crying out loud!