Jack Layton... Gone

So so sad.

Liberals decimated. Now the NDP.

How to start running: put on your rat-iest shirt

Anyone familiar with dieting knows the high that people get just from the thought of starting a diet tomorrow. The notion that you will do something good for yourself tomorrow alone makes you feel good at least for a day.

However that same mentality is detrimental to running. Thinking that you will start running tomorrow may send you on a shopping spree. (Don't have a shopping addiction like I do? Skip to the next paragraph) Do not run out (no pun intended) and buy yourself some new running gear. Most importantly don't buy new running shoes. There's probably an old pair kicking around your house somewhere and if you use those you're most likely to find them comfortable enough to run in. Same for a t-shirt and bra (or no bra - if you happen to be of the male variety). Pull out those old shorts that you feel most comfortable lounging around in on Saturday afternoons in front of the tv. Why? Because these are precisely the clothes that you will feel most comfortable in around your neighbourhood. New shoes may or may not be the right fit.

Secondly, start slow. No one told me this, so in the past I would triumphantly leave the house at full sprint, dressed in my finest new work out threads and halfway down the block I'd be huffing and puffing, lungs burning, already giving up, wondering what went wrong. Now I never do that. The first time MSH joined me for a run (six months after I had started running) he was surprised at my super slow pace. I said "What do you want? We're warming up." Really, my non-warm-up pace isn't too much faster. Running is defined as having both feet off the ground at some point. As long as you're meeting that requirement you're running. You don't have to beat any records. (And, trust me, at first you won't, even if you try. No offense.) I started running on the treadmill at 3.9 MPH - you can walk at that pace, but I didn't want to walk, I wanted to run.

So here's your plan for starting to run:

Week 1: 3 minute warm-up at 3 MPH, Run at 3.9 MPH for 20 minutes, Cool down for 4 minutes at 3 MPH

Week 2: 3 minute warm-up at 3 MPH, Run at 4.1 MPH for 20 minutes, Cool down for 4 minutes at 3 MPH

Week 3: 3 minute warm-up at 3.5 MPH, Run at 4.4 MPH for 20 minutes, Cool down for 4 minutes at 3 MPH

Week 4: 3 minute warm-up at 3.5 MPH, Run at 5 MPH for 20 minutes, Cool down for 4 minutes at 3 MPH

Guess what? You're now a runner. Really. That is all it takes. You can take it from here. Trust me.

Running and the spare tire

My mother told me there's an old saying in India that a woman receives a new body once she gives birth. The thinking being that everything in a woman's body changes. As I mentioned in a previous post the 'new' body is treated with a lot of care. Supposedly joints are soft and bones are softened and one loses essential minerals. Essentially, it's as if both the woman and her baby are newly born.

To an extent I can agree with the above statement (even Western allopathic medicine concedes that women shed up to 10% of their brain cells during pregnancy), but I was not entirely in love with the old body's love handles. Having given up 17 pounds of said new body to running and breastfeeding I am very proud of my new body. Now, however to the point of this entry. Despite every effort from me to convince my brain that my legs are perfectly capable of carrying me as far as I need to go and there being no fathomable way in which I could ever utilize it, my body refuses to shed the spare tyre I've been carrying around since before Tara was born. In all fairness the spare tire is deflated and saggy... (sounds sexy doesn't it?). Not to be too disparaging of myself, when I meet someone new they're always surprised that I have an eleven month old baby. (Happy Eleven Month Birthday baby boy!)

If I am extremely careful with my diet and running... i.e. running 20 miles each week and skipping carbs for dinner, I wake up with a flat belly in about a week's time. Sounds great except that a week or so of this regimen and my willpower screams bloody murder and I end up making a beeline for every possible sugary carb in sight. And the 'binge' (not in a bulimic sense) lasts about three days by which point the sane me reigns in my willpower and I'm back to my spare tyre-y self. One cause of said caving of willpower could also be MSH's upcoming USMLE Step 1. He writes in less than two weeks and if I was a nail-biter I would have bitten them to the raw by now.

So how does one get rid of the spare tire for good? I haven't done found the answer, but if I was to pontificate I'd say that I keep up the running and not cut the carbs completely at dinnertime. Also, I should go easy on myself until after MSH writes his exam.

Teaching Tara Tricycle Tricks

Well, no, not exactly tricks... was trying to complete the alliterative title. Med Student Hubby (aka MSH) and I took Tara out to learn how to ride her trike and she despised it. She hated the whole experience from beginning to end. Not sure what we are doing in our technique but it sure isn't producing the 'Yay! Love it! Can't wait to do it again tomorrow.' results that we were hoping for. But like a good Asian Mother I will persevere whether she likes it or not the kid will learn to ride a trike.

Hot, hot runs

I ran 4 miles yesterday afternoon it was 90 degrees, 100 with the humidity. Today I ran 3.65 miles in 84 degrees and feels like 93. I am much slower in this weather so am curious if I will get any faster once fall comes...

Life on the run

We as a family have a lot of balls in the air right now. Hubby is getting ready to write the Step and is staying at his dad and stepmom's place in Michigan. I'm living at my parents' place with the kids. Tara is starting kindergarten in September, I'll be going back to work in October so little man will have to get used to being at home with his Nani all day and somewhere in between med student hubby (aka MSH) will start the beginning of two years in clinicals in the States. Tara has daily swimming lessons and I'm taking swimming classes as well. It's embarrassing and possibly dangerous to have two small kids on vacation near beaches and not be able to swim. We also bought a condo in Toronto which will be ready in a few years so there's been some running around for the paperwork.

First review / week after review Bikila LS Vibrams by minimalist running breastfeeding mommy and wife

After my awesome week long runs in my new pair of Bikila LS Vibram Five Fingers....... I have had to hang up the laces for 5 days so far. 'They' say you need to ease into running with minimalist shoes. I ran a half block one day. I was fine. So I ran a half mile one day the next week. I was fine. I ran three miles in my New Balance flat foot arch support babies the next day. No achiness-es, no pains, no problem. I went back to the vffs for a two-miler. Easy-peasy. I completed a week of runs adding up to 20 miles in the vffs and then came the weekend. Started off with weird little aches in my feet and my calves that have slowly transformed into very serious aches and pains in my feet, legs and back. (Seriously, I had to go see a chiropractor for an adjustment and everything). It's been six months that I took up running and I have never missed going for a run or some other form of exercise 5 days out of 7 and here I am not sure I'll make it out again before this week is out.

My initial review of my Bikila LS VFFs was: Awesome shoe - go for it. Don't start slow; they really are very intuitive on your foot and your body will ease itself into them naturally. Especially for a new runner my thinking was: a new runner has likely not been 'spoiled' (for lack of a better word) by the various mechanisms of today's running shoes. As for looks, a fantastic looking shoe. What a thing of beauty! I almost purchased the hot pink Bikila without the laces but they had a funny feel in the left pinky toe that I'm sure would have chafed/caused blisters over time.

But my my post one week review is as follows: Take your time. If you must get them on and get going right now (!) because like me, you don't like to wait, then do what I did except be prepared to take a week off. Otherwise, do one medium sized run in them each week for about four to five weeks and then you won't put yourself in any pain while your feet and running posture acclimate to the new sensation. Even someone new to running will need time for their feet to adapt to the new sensation of running with no support. Contrary to other runners' reports I have zero blisters.

One question often asked is: "Will I run faster in vffs?" The answer for me has been a resounding "YES!". So from that perspective alone I can't wait to get myself back into them. (err.. whenever that might be (really though that will likely be on Monday at the very latest based on how I'm feeling right now (I also have a stomach bug (great for weightloss - but I don't recommend it!) that I'm contending with otherwise it may only have put me out for five to six days))) Was that the right number of ending brackets? As you can see dear blog, I love me some run-on sentences and brackets!

Oh right, the mommy and wife part of this whole post: Tara has been told once again that mommy can't pick her up anymore because her entire body hurts. And little man has had to contend with milk that is probably filled with all kinds of stress hormones from my achy broken-ish body. And it's my nine year wedding anniversary but med student hubby is away studying for his USMLE Step 1. But that's a story for another day! G'nite!

Breastfeeding Runner Now

That's who I am. Since the middle of January I have been running. I can honestly say I have never been a runner or an athlete; only reason for me to run might have been to chase down an ice cream truck. These days I run about 20 miles per week or 20 mpw as we runners call it. <guffaw> Seriously though, I never imagined that I would be a breastfeeding running mommy. (Tip: If you are breastfeeding and exercising to lose weight - eat breakfast before you workout. The adage about getting the most fat loss benefit by working out without eating doesn't work if you are a breastfeeding mommy who has been nursing her baby throughout the night. I nearly fainted on the treadmill once.)

Today I ran 5.7 miles in 1:01, which is a pace of 10:42 per mile. It's not the best time in the world but according to my iMapmyrun in 2009 I was walking/running a 20 minute mile and struggled with 3 miles. After paying countless hundreds to gyms all over the GTA I finally found that my love is a pair of good runners and the open air.

For anyone out there that's wondering: yes, running works as weightloss, granted I'm breastfeeding too but I eat like a beast and I'm still transformed.

Here's the proof:

Before

After

Smorgasbord of blogging

Since last October the 10th of 2010 (my last post below), I have brought the kids to Saba with me, the little guy is almost five months and the little girl will soon be four years old.

Let me take a moment here, a mother of two - OMG - where does the time go??!?

Okay I'm back.

Saba is great, especially when I think of the -20 something temperatures back home while we lounge about in shorts and tees.

Oh... as usual the subject of the blog beckons.. this time for breakfast sausage and iPhone (not in that order).

It's been a few days since I posted so I'm not sure what I had in mind to post - with that title... but here goes anyway.

Everything on Saba is, well, different. The other day I paid for nectarines turns out they were apples... go figure.