bicycling with your family

As someone who’s starting a family very soon, I’m enjoying daydreaming about the ways in which Greg and I can keep bike-riding as our main source of transportation. We have been without a car now for about a year and a half, and have relied on our bikes, our feet, and public transportation for the bulk of our transportation. When necessary, we borrow or rent a car for a car trip. How cool would it be to have a family bike on which to do our shopping and transporting around town? Maybe a “mamachari,” a style of bicycle popular in Japan among domestic people that looks a little like this:

Or a less extreme model:

Mamachari bicycles have either front or rear child seats (or both) and racks and baskets for the bicyclist to use for carrying items as well. They are primarily “step-through” frames to allow for easy mounting, and apparently are sold very inexpensively in Japan as they’re so widely-used.

An American version of this mamachari is a bike modified with an Xtracycle. I look to my sister as a source of inspiration with this bike, because she often uses hers like a station wagon, transporting both of her children, ages 4 and 7, at the same time (the 4 year old in the bucket seat and the 7 year old sitting snugly on the wide, long board of the Xtracycle), or an abundance of material goods:

getting rid of your car altogether

I’m not going to be saccharine about this: not having a car does change your life and it does limit you. BUT, in most ways, the changes are positive. Numero Uno Positive Change of Not Having a Car: COST. A really nice bicycle might be an investment, but does it really compare to a vehicle that you pay off every month (along with gasoline, repairs, registration, city stickers, parking tickets, parking fees, moving violations, et cetera)? Of course not. Do I need to mention that bicycles have very very low recurring costs? Compare fixing a bike tire with changing your car tire. You get the idea.

Also, I find that I eat better when I’m not driving to the store or restaurant for my every whim (especially good since I’m pregnant). I don’t buy nearly as much stuff that I don’t need. And I don’t have to plan as much for exercise, because exercise is a natural extension of my existence. I mean, I’m not saying that bicycling to the store is super hard work, because it’s only a mile away, and a fairly flat mile at that — but it gets me moving when I’d otherwise be idle or passively pushing a gas pedal. Because as everyone knows, when you have a car, you use the car.

pregnant biking

I’m 33 weeks pregnant as of today, and I’ve sort of been waiting for the day when I can’t bicycle any longer, but it hasn’t arrived yet, and doesn’t look to be arriving anytime soon. Because I’ve been bicycling the whole time, I guess, my “center of gravity” has remained steady on my bike, so I never feel like I’m going to fall over. I play it safe though — I have a mountain bike with efficient but safe tires, wear a helmet, have safety lights, take extra time and care when mounting and dismounting, and lately, I’ve been riding a lot slower, just taking my time, not really thinking about how much further I have, but about how each rotation of the pedals is smooth and feels good, which it does.

Bicycling is an amazing exercise for pregnancy, along with walking and swimming. I feel like when I am bicycling a good amount (not too much, not too little, don’t want to overdo it), I have less back pain, I sleep better, and I have more energy each day. It is a wonderful way to manage the extra 22 lbs hanging on my body. And when you are seated well on your bike with a comfortable seat, it’s way more comfortable than a car ride!

back to bike-to-work week

So! With a few of these ideas, what will you do to participate in National Bike Month? If nothing else, be courteous and share the road with bicyclists! We are out there to make our lives better, our air (and your air) cleaner, our roads safer, and to just have a nice day smelling the roses (not just an expression for me right now, I really smell this huge rose bush every time I go into town) and stretching our legs!

Related posts:

1. The Arcata Bike Rally & a tale of bicycle traffic laws
2. Healthy Lunch for Work
3. The Benefits of Exercise

The rules of a streak are simple. Run at least 1 continuous mile every single day. A writer for the New York Times did a piece on her father who has run 2+ miles daily for 30 years. He apparently has a strange gait, and runs pretty slowly now, but he’s no worse for wear.

The 8th Day

I’ve been on my first running streak for 8 days now. But, today on the 8th day of my streak, I participated in the 6 Rivers Running Club hour long race. The race was held at the HSU track where I run several times a week already. How could I not participate? Yes, I could have run slower, and not as far… But, with an amazing 10 year old runner named RJ running a sub 6 minute mile, how could I slack off?

The Food

I ate oatmeal with lots of fruit and flax this morning, and brought some  sweet orange bell peppers, an orange, and some almonds to the race. I kept two almonds for luck, but can’t remember when I ate them. I was surprised no one gave me weird looks for eating a whole pepper like an apple, but they are so good. After the race I immediately devoured the orange, and tried not to be rude as I turned down cookies three times. Since I eat so little processed foods and don’t use salt, I get very little sodium. I’ve salted my dinner tonight, but it covers up the marvelous flavor of these orange peppers.

The Hour Race

The first lap was a lot of fun, everyone was chatty and friendly. I was running too fast, but everyone else seemed so strong and fast. I was floating. My first three miles were too fast. I was nervous, but everyone around me was running so fast, it was hard to slow down. Going past 3 miles was strange…. The fastest I’d ever taken a treadmill was 7.0 and that was hard. And, I ran faster than that for 5+ miles before my mind started to shut down. By the end of the 7th mile I was dead. One of the fast runners who lapped me many times held up 3 fingers and shouted, 3 minutes left! So, I ran a lap and a half in three minutes.

Nothing hurt. I couldn’t breath, but I felt great.

When I stopped running I was actually surprised to notice the people in front of me weren’t running anymore, and I was hit with a wall of pain almost instantly, my left thigh was on fire and I could barely stand on my calves, let alone walk!

RJ passing people who both out ran me

The good news is I can still walk, the bad news is, tomorrow’s run is going to be extra, extra hard. I’m still questioning my sanity on this streak business. To make matters worse, the Avenue of the Giants Marathon is in 3 weeks. I was hoping to complete my first marathon, but with all this streak running, I’m probably going to compete in the half marathon or 5k instead.

The Beautiful Streak

The beauty of a running streak is that you never have to ask yourself if your going to run today. The answer is always an unquestionable yes! I’ve never run more than 5 days in a week before, so we will see how this goes. Next time, I’ll best 8 miles.

Related posts:

1. Running Raw
2. Running with Cerebral Palsy
3. Inspirational People with Cerebral Palsy

Home from boot, my brother showed me a series of exercises called the Daily 16. It is a series of warm ups, stretches, core calisthenics, and cool down exercises. The program used to be called the daily 7, but the new marine daily 16 program incorporates exercises for every major muscle in your body. You don’t need any equipment to do any exercises, and they are a safe, effective full body work out.

When you begin you’ll start just by doing the exercises, but as you get more comfortable with the exercises, the marines do what’s called a double. They mix running or hiking in with the exercises. So you go through the warm up exercises, then go for a short slow run. Then you stop, perform an exercise, and then go back to jogging. After a short jog, you stop and do another exercise. The exercises are your breaks from running, and running is your break from exercise. You end the workout with a jog and your cool down exercises and stretches. I’ll walk through each of the exercises in the series, and provide links to the very little information that’s available on the Internet about this exercise program. While the program was designed to turn boys into physically fit soldiers, the program works remarkably well for people of all ages and fitness levels. It’s fun and entertaining.

The marine corps provides a rough PDF file explaining each of the exercises: Marines Daily 16. The next post will follow shortly.

Related posts:

1. 100 Pushups: How Many Can You Do?
2. Running with Cerebral Palsy
3. What Goes in Our Daily Oatmeal

Exercise not only makes you feel great, but it makes you healthier too. So, what are you waiting for? Take the push up test, and give the program a try. Of course, careful reading will reveal that the program’s goal is pretty much impossible for most people. However, don’t let that dissuade you. I’m giving the program (and the sit up, squat, and a pull up program) a try myself, because my gym closes for 2 weeks over Christmas. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m starting at 60 push ups, so hopefully I can make it to 100. Hopefully I can get several of my friends to try it with me!

Related posts:

1. Marine Daily 16
2. The Benefits of Exercise
3. My Exercise Story

Unfortunately, most news media coverage of Laroque reaffirms meat industry propaganda about being vegan. Statements by the press about Laroque having a nutritionist are quickly interrupted to mean being vegan is difficult and only for the rich. However, being vegan means you have more nutrients in your diet than ever possible while eating meat and dairy. The sad truth is that it’s the people who eat out of bags or at McDonald’s that need nutritionists. Reading the news coverage reminds me why I feel compelled to write this website. Being Vegan is not hard, its not expensive, and you don’t need anything meat has to offer. Least of all Cancer and Heart Disease.

Nothing provokes anger quite as much as challenging people on their fundamental beliefs. One commenter to the Laraque article actually spoke briefly about starving people in Africa to justify his own meat consumption. While starving people all over the world would be happy to have anything to eat, it’s Vegans like Georges Laroque and all of you that are making a difference in the World. Meat production is an extremely wasteful, inefficient process. The less meat we eat, the more food there is for everyone.

Related posts:

1. The Friendly Vegan
2. Everyone’s talking about Red Meat
3. Preventing Heart Disease

tim doesn’t eat protein

In one of his video’s Tim comments on his “lack of protein. ” Any educated vegan should know that they get enough protein because protein is in everything. However, Tim who doesn’t eat legumes, seeds, nuts or soy openly admits that he completely defies the protein myth, and he’s got the athletic ability to prove athletes don’t need protein. He is the counter example that disproves the belief.

John Robbins is also a tri-athlete and every time someone like Donahue asked John about how athletes could possibly survive on a vegan diet, John gave the simple answer that he is a tri-athlete. What’s great about Tim’s work in promoting a healthy plant-based diet, is that Tim has both the nutrition knowledge and an amazing athletic gift to make a great role model. Tim is proving everyday that he can out perform younger meat-eating athletes.

running on candy

I particularly liked his video on the Sears tower race, where he takes second place in an amazing feat of athleticism. In the post race interview of the winning athlete, the 22 year old kid admits, while laughing, that he ate nothing before the race but a Snickers bar. The kid is an amazing talent, hopefully Tim’s example will rub off him because there’s no telling how great the young man could become if he weren’t racing on candy bars.

Related posts:

1. Streak Running and an Hour with the 6RRC
2. Running with Cerebral Palsy
3. Why Do Runners Eat poorly?

Recently, we watched a documentary about marathons and the Chicago marathon in which Deena Kastor talks about her foot injury and her recovery process. She mentions consuming lots of yogurt and cheese to get her calcium. Obviously she’s seen too many Got Milk? commercials because nutrition research has shown that eating dairy and animal protein actually causes calcium loss because the excess protein leaches calcium from your bones and causes you to urinate calcium.

Don’t take my word for it, go to your library and get Food Revolution by John Robbins. From page 94:

• Daily calcium intake for African Americans: More than 1000mg
• Daily calcium intake for black South Africans: 196mg
• Hip fracture rate for African Americans compared to black South Africans: 9 times greater.

The moral here?

milk  gives you hip fractures.

Related posts:

1. The Skim Milk Lie
2. Feeding a Resistant Young Child
3. Calcium Deficiency and the Diseases of Milk

The benefits of regular exercise:

• Increased life span
• Increased vitality and energy
• Decreased body fat
• Increased muscle mass and strength
• Stronger bones, joints, and ligaments
• Increased stamina and flexibility
• Lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes
• Lower cholesterol and blood pressure
• Reduced depression and increased enthusiasm
• Improved sleep and falling asleep faster
• Improved mood and enhanced self esteem

Everyone’s favorite reason to exercise:

• Bragging Rights about your personal fitness

Many of the benefits of exercise are also the benefits of a healthy whole-foods, plant-based diet. Combining a healthy diet with exercise will not only make you a better person, it will change your life.

If you really enjoy eating, then exercise is for you because the more you exercise the more food you have to eat. Whether you want to run a marathon, improve your self image, or just make yourself happy, exercise is the only way to go.  On days where I run until I can’t run anymore, or lift until I can’t lift another repetition, I am happier, hungrier, and more excited about life. Humans just are not meant to sit in offices or in front of TV’s all day.

Never have time to exercise?

Put on your shoes right now.

Run (slowly) around the block. Yes, you, right now. We both know you have the time because you just read this post. If you’re at work, take a “coffee break” and give it a try. If you’re in nice shoes, walk around the block quickly twice, or take your shoes off and go up and down the stairs a few times. If anyone sees you, smile and say hello.

Related posts:

1. My Exercise Story
2. Running with Cerebral Palsy
3. Marine Daily 16

That being said, I’ve learned a lot about exercise in the past few years, climbed one of the tallest mountains in the lower 48, and trained myself to run a 10k in an hour (not fast, but a feat for a computer programmer). I’ve read many books on exercise, lifting, and running from Gunner Peterson’s G-Force: The Ultimate Guide to Your Best Body Ever to the fun half-biography, half-diet and exercise Stallone book Sly Moves: My Proven Program to Lose Weight, Build Strength, Gain Will Power, and Live your Dream. I’ve learned the most important aspect of exercising well is to set realistic goals for yourself.

how I started

When I started exercising at the age of 24, I weighed 130 lbs and I could barely lift a 15-pound dumbbell. Sweat made my back itch; I hadn’t touched a weight since high school. After putting a weight bench in my bedroom and spending months weight training (and injuring myself twice), running around the block very slowly still caused me to keel over and die. Breathing hard made me dizzy. Yet, through stubbornness I still managed to stumble my way up and down Mount Shasta.

After my closest friend dragged me off the mountain and I spent 3 weeks recovering from my experience, I knew it was time to take exercise more seriously. I started reading every exercise book I could stomach until I managed to find a few great books. Most exercise books are really bad and extremely embarrassing to read in public. But, I always want to do everything well. So I hit the books.

By establishing realistic goals I’ve managed to gain 10 pounds, add 55 lbs to my bench press, and increase my cardio limit by 50 minutes. If I hadn’t taken up exercise at 24 by the age of 30 I’d have been a 120 lb weakling with 30 lbs of fat. Whether you want to gain 10 pounds of muscle, or lose 10 pounds of fat, given a healthy whole foods plant-based diet, and realistic goals changing your body is easier than you might imagine.

My goals for next week are to benchpress 135 pounds 5 times, squat 135 pounds 5 times.  Last week I pressed 135 pounds 4 times, and squated 135 3 times, so I expect to add 1 more rep next week, although I didn’t make it to the gym over the weekend due to school work and job searching.  Whether you can lift 50 lbs or 200, setting realistic goals will allow you to build self esteme and succeed at weight lifting week after week.

Related posts:

1. The Benefits of Exercise
2. Running with Cerebral Palsy
3. Streak Running and an Hour with the 6RRC