Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 1

Here's the plan. My Daughter, Liz, needs to get back in shape after a prolonged sports injury. After consulting with her doctor, we decided to use the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program to slowly increase her strength and endurance. As luck would have it, I have a crowd of women who like this idea and who want to spend their summer "learning to run."

I'm going to post our training schedule for weeks 1 and 2 so that you can follow along at your own pace. I'll update the schedule every Monday for the remainder of the program.

My group is going to meet on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. However, they all have a copy of the schedule so that if they can't run with the group, they can run on their own. Consistency is very important. Also, according to the book, you want at least one day between training sessions and you want to make sure to begin each session with a 5-minute warm up and conclude with a 5-minute cool down. The Handbook has a number of stretching exercises for these 5-minute periods.

With that in mind, here is the schedule:

Week 1

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 12 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 11 times. 5-minute stretch

Week 2

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 11 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch


A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

Weekly Style News Reading

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Celebrity Hairstyle of the Month Agyness Deyn

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Getting Liz Back on Track...

Last fall, my daughter, Liz, suffered a sports injury that put her on enforced couch potato status. She's been bored, she's been very bored and she's itching to move. Happily, the last MRI showed that she's ready for action -- if she goes slowly.

My friend, Carol, found an interesting book called The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program at our local library and thought it might be just the thing to get Liz back on her feet. The basic premise is that you build up strength and endurance by alternating running and walking -- extending the running and decreasing the walking segments as the weeks go by.

I've told a number of people that Liz and I are going to spend the summer "learning to run" and to my surprise I had a bunch of women say that they wanted to join us. After a while, it occurred to me that some of you might want to join us as well. So, once a week for the next 13 weeks, I'll tell you what we're doing and if you're in the mood for something new, I hope you'll come along. You know, this would be a great activity for an Adventure Club! Everything is more fun when you do it with friends.

A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!


Photo credit: Abbie Mulvihill

How To Wear One Shoulder Trend Tops and Dresses

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When shopping for this trend stick with tops if you have a larger middle, and if your arms are a bit large try to choose a style that comes with one sleeve (shown below). Wear styles with ruffles to draw the attention upwards and dresses are a great way to show off your body and accentuate your curves while plain one shoulder tops are great for a summer's day. There are also many different flowly tops that show the one shoulder style and these look great on all body type. Look below to see some of the different styles.

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Margery Krevsky wrote a nice story about Alice and her three traveling companions for the Detroit News. To read the article, click here.



Image credit: SUMMER LANDSCAPE
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Life as an Ex Pat

It's not easy to pull up roots and set them down again in a foreign land but many, many women do just that. I thought you might like to get a perspective from several different international adventurers who are testing new cultures, new foods and new ways of life:

A Canadian mom with 3 preschoolers, writes about life in Cape Town, South Africa in "A Day"

A Canadian teaching English in China, Amy writes about "My Least Favourite Word"

An English woman re-rooting in California, Lorna writes about "How to be an Ex-Pat."

An American in Saudi Arabia, Susie writes "On Being Normal." (By the way, I'm happy to report that the KSA government has unblocked Susie's blog and Saudi citizens can once again read Susie's Big Adventure.)


If you're an expat and looking for kindred spirits, click here to visit Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. To read blogs by women from all over the world, click here.