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.