The view from my handlebars... A glimpse into the mind of a working mom.
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2025
How I weaned
I had no plan so I signed up for a marathon. I figured my milk production would decline automatically as the demands of my training increased. I asked my son when he would stop breastfeeding and he said when he was 10 or so. So that was all I needed to hear to realize that it would have to be initiated by me. About a month before my marathon was our last feed. It came and went with no ceremony. Kiddo just realized that there was no more milk. Then we celebrated the marathon together. It was his first night away from both of his parents (he stayed in a hotel with his grandparents). It was the week he turned 5. Any way you do it is great as long as it works for your family. It does sound a bit extreme in hindsight but somehow in my mind it made total sense.
Monday, April 7, 2025
sweatpants
I'm thanking the inventor of sweatpants today. It's interesting that sweatpants' history dates back to runners in the Olympics in the year 1920. Sweatpants became a staple of the American wardrobe during the global pandemic of 2020, a century later. I would love to see a historical photo montage of the evolution of running warm-ups. Instead, here is a historical montage of my sweatpants. These stoned sweats were bought in the aughts after Juicy Couture popularized the bejeweled velour tracksuit. I remember I wore them until they had massive holes everywhere.
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| Victoria's Secret Pink with Rhinestones on the Butt circa 2008 |
The new sweatpants I got from Target, as a Valentine's gift to myself this year, are of the brand Universal Thread. I bought them in 4 colors. The green ones say Kindness. The blue ones say Perfect As Is. The red ones say Love. The pink ones say, "it's a good day to have a good day."
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| Love |
One sweatshirt I got this year was a different brand, Grayson/Thread, and it is pilling. It's not as heavyweight. Another sweatshirt I got is the brand Wild Fable, and it is holding up better after many washes. I love the message, too: keep dreaming. It is 80% cotton and 20% recycled polyester. I got a sweatshirt last year made of 55% Cotton, 45% Recycled Polyester. Women's Hooded Love Sweatshirt - A New day™. I love the coral logo but it's been hard to keep it clean because it's cream-colored. But the point is that it's been durable and I've worn it A LOT.
I do remember these pink sweats, which I wore last time I was running long distances. They were pretty thin and I probably mostly slept in them, and I definitely wore them until there were massive holes in them. This is my sister and it was probably the only time in my life where we could wear the same size.
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| Old Navy? Sweats circa 2010 |
I don't know why I feel the need to justify these purchases, maybe because they were expensive. But with sweats, I don't buy them often, and I wear them out until it's unsafe to wear them in public because the inner thigh gets holey. I was reading about all the clothing that was donated during the wildfires in Eaton Canyon and Malibu. There were SO many clothes, and because consumers buy clothes so often, the donated clothing was almost new. Unfortunately, what people who were displaced by the fires needed was more toiletries, cash, or food. Some of the donated clothing was probably sent for recycling. So it's interesting that stores like Target use recycled polyester in their new clothes.
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| Perfect As Is |
I feel like I'm driving so hard right now. Like I'm using every possible minute in the day. The semester is wrapping up in some sense, or the home stretch will be a change of pace, but it's not over yet. The track suit was launched in 1939, which included matching pants and top. Adidas adopted the tracksuit in 1967, made from nylon instead of wool. RunDMC's 1986 music video really launched the Adidas tracksuit as a staple of the hip-hop scene.
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| My Adidas 2020 |
I get up early, go for my run, do my strength training, or vice versa. Then I go to work. If I have time to grab a shower, I do, get the kiddo ready for school, and walk to school. I am getting a lot of miles, which is good. I'm having trouble getting in all my nutrition, though. And hydration is the worst. I'm pretty much unable to keep up with this. I've had these blue sweatpants for a long time, but I can't wear them to work because the flared leg drags on the ground. But the waistband is super wide and stretchy and it has a real working drawstring.
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| Dec 2020 Pandemic Xmas |
I joined Run Fit Mama in a 30-day program called Royal Core. It's kicking my butt in a good way. I asked my chiropractor if I should consider a breast reduction, and he told me to consider instead being mindful of my posture for 30 days, and then we'll talk about it.
I re-examined the vitamins I'm taking and took out all the ones that were there to support breastfeeding.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0039UT7DE Menopause vitamins
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K1YVMZG Magnesium deodorant
As of today, I've been taking the Menopause vitamins for a week. Unfortunately, it hasn't been an instant fix for all my symptoms. Besides sweatpants I'm living in jumpsuits. They're not as easy to use the restroom in, but they are extremely comfortable. All these things I can throw over running tights or bike shorts so that I can stay cozy all day at work, and throw in a workout midday if needed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGXVQKBT Muchpow Women's V Neck Sleeveless Jumpsuits Spaghetti Straps Harem Long Pants Overalls With Pockets (XX-Large)
$26.99 army green
$19.99 purple
I think I might be outgrowing my Latched Mama era, my Kindred Bravely era, as well as my LuLaRoe era. I don't need nursing bras anymore, but I'm not sure what my next era will be. Sports bras I guess?
Monday, March 24, 2025
Albert is 5
Party theme = along the boulevard. Albert's favorite fast food. Fast food five. Five fast foods. I admit. I went overboard. Here is the invitation. It was the concept that I came up with in February when we started freaking out that there was no party theme.
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| The Invitation |
Stuff to fit the restaurant theme
Dry-Erase markers $24
Menu Covers $26
Guest Checks $6
Goody Bags for School and YMCA and party guests
Doughnut sticker sheets $8
Doughnut sticker rolls $8
Sweet stampers $10
Party favor bags $8
Stuffed doughnuts $26
Target $89.67 for batteries, goody bag treats, coffee, creamer, kitty litter
Smart & Final $113.92 for goody bag treats, coffee cups, plates, tablecloth
Decorations
Balloons $16
Filling balloons $8
Michael's $25.25 for poster boards
Play food
Burgers (2) $24
Ice cream $13
Coffee station $27
Doughnut station $30
Real food
Pizza $23.97
Burgers $84.84
Doughnuts $46
Ice cream $59.98
Dry ice $50
Ice $13
Lowe's $61 for an extra table
It was all for $802. We had corporate logos featured, but I think Albert actually really liked it. He would say, "Wow, that's like what we have at home." When he saw the logos of real restaurants, he would say, "That's just like what you made, Mommy." I'm not big on "corporate," but I do know that kids like food that is easily recognizable. I brought the poster boards to CSUN and used the projector to trace an outline of the logo. Then I brought them home and painted in the colored parts of the logos. I got balloons that fit the theme to make it like the signs along the boulevard, especially like Ventura Blvd where there is a giant hand for a car wash or a giant donut for a sweet shoppe.
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| Real Coffee Bar |
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| Pretend Coffee Bar |
The kids started playing with the play food immediately. It was like they knew what to do inherently. There were 5 stations and about that many kids. The kids liked making coffee for the adults, and I think it was a novelty that the real food matched the play food. When your kid would take your order, you didn't know if they would bring you real food or pretend. The play money and cash register were also pretty fun. The kids played with everything and took turns like champs. I think there was enough overlap and familiarity among the kids that they were not weirded out by each other. Nobody was excessively shy. They rode their wheels up and down the alley, especially after eating ice cream and donuts.
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| Real Ice Cream Bar |
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| Pretend Ice Cream Bar |
We decided that the mini cones were such a hit that we could have had twice as many for the same price. It was the only thing that ran out. The mini cones from Baskin Robbins were nearly $2 each, while the cones from Trader Joe's were about $0.50 each. We could have created a stand to hold them upright ourselves out of cardboard, but that's how you learn. The dry ice was too much. We got 20 lbs. It took forever to melt even in direct sunlight.
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| Real Donut Bar |
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| Pretend Donut Bar |
Albert was having fun being a DJ and showing off his new CD player and dance moves. I did a good job of not cleaning too much and just letting the house be as it is to normalize the reality of parenthood. I noticed many of the kids we invited are only children. And I was surprised to learn that I'm older than the other moms by about 5 years. Mike is older by more than 10 years. So we are more settled and chill. I also let them know that Kathleen is my sponsor, so we're in the program. My sobriety journey has been as crucial as my PhD or my marathon training to shape my character. So it's okay to let people know about it. There was a moment when the kids wanted to play inside with Albert's trucks. And jump on the couch. I hope the other parents thought it was a worthwhile day and playdate.
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| Pizza Play Kitchen |
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| Pretend Burger Bar |
The three medium pizzas were good. People did eat almost all the cheese pizza. We had only 3 pieces left. The cheeseburgers were good, but expensive. We had only 4 leftover out of the 24 that we ordered. The kids ended up asking for milk, which we had. I set out 5 and there were only 2 left at the end of the party. We set out about 36 water bottles and there were about 18 leftover.
I think people appreciated the goody bags. I tried to have a mix of sweet and salty. Nothing chocolate. No nuts. And something non-food that isn't just garbage. It's challenging. Albert was really specific about what he wanted in there for his friends. He wanted pretzels or cheese balls. We got cheese bunnies instead. He wanted gummy bears, we got sour patch kids. He wanted ring pops. He wanted good candy, like starbursts. He is so generous. His after school teacher made him pass out the goody bags himself. I don't know about his classroom teacher, but he didn't have too much trouble giving all that stuff away. I know he really likes getting goody bags on other kids' birthdays.
- One https://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2021/03/i-have-1-year-old.html
- Two https://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2022/03/february-2022-thoughts.html
- Three https://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2023/03/post-birthday-blues.html
- Four https://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2024/03/pirate-life-4-me.html
After his birthday parties 2, 3, and 4 were like destination parties, I said last year that the next birthday party we would have would be at our house, which we did. I was tired of parties at public parks where it seemed like random kids would join, eat the food, and try to steal the presents. I had planned to give away the food menus with worksheets inside, but I forgot. It would have made more sense to go with the dry-erase markers in the goody bags. But it's okay.
Guest List
Kathleen
Christoph
Harvey
Carissa
Husband
Declan
Lee-Ann
Boyfriend
Heinrich
Frederick
Larry
Victoria
Sarah
Stephen
Samantha
Anthony
Mika
Lucas
Emma
Eli
Kayla
Mike
Albert
I tried limiting the guest list to just 5 kids, following the rule of thumb that you invite the number of kids that your child is in age. The reason is that more kids is more overwhelming and although I wanted to invite everyone in Fit4Mom and everyone in Albert's class, for a house party in our somewhat small house, that just wouldn't fit.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
26 days until the marathon
I wanted to write a quick blog about how I'm feeling. Just one long run left before the marathon. I feel ready. I know what I'm going to wear. I know what I'm going to eat. I have my pace in mind. I've trained to climb the hills of the course. I'm done listening to doubters (including myself).
I've had aches and pains in this journey. I remember one of the first things I felt was foot pain, like October or November 2023. I felt like I had a stress fracture in one foot. I remember googling "obese running problems" to see if there was any correlation between weight and running and foot injuries. What I found was that it was actually inversely proportional. Heavy runners tended to run slower and have fewer foot injuries. Lighter runners tended to do too much speed work too soon and get stress fractures. So I kept plodding along.
I don't know which of my runners it was that asked me, don't you have any injuries? and I remember saying, no because I do the proper stretching, strengthing, and rehab. But that's not entirely true. I got a mean case of shin splints around May and June 2024. It hurt so bad even to walk. I think it was probably muscle weakness in the calf that caused it. And I continued to stretch, and do strength exercises, and work through the pain, and buy new shoes! And more calf raises. And curtsey lunges without putting weight on the back leg.
I guess it was about a year ago that I went in and got assessed for new shoes. I was probably following a 5k training plan back then and didn't really look like a serious runner. Those shoes worked well for me and I ended up getting three more pairs of that style. I got reassessed last week and they recommended a pair of New Balance. More lightweight, more cushion.
I remember it must have been around October or November when I started having pain in my psoas. Or hip flexor. I ordered a dance warm-up that I thought would help. I asked on the Coach's chat for the LA Roadrunners and they said it was most likely a weak muscle. And that the solution is not more stretching or foam rolling but more strengthing. So banded marches it is. What I ended up doing is attending Fit4Mom Stroller Strides classes and then swapping out the exercises I should be doing for my rehab and running strength instead of whatever the instructor tells us.
I don't know what day it was but one morning it was really cold. I had some knee pain. But I put on my knee-high leg warmers and ran anyway. As long as my knees were covered, it was okay. If the leg warmer slipped below the knee, it hurt a bit. I'm guessing it was Lassen (January 30th). Adding speed and treadmill and hills at the same time. Probably too much.
I would love to write more about how I'm feeling, but I have to run to class. Enjoy this Venn Diagram I made about the similarities and differences between Motherhood, Marathoning and Teaching.
Friday, November 8, 2024
Moving On
It's hard to move on from such a disappointing election outcome, but c'est la vie. It didn't come as a surprise. I took a mental health day on Wednesday and then cried my way through the day on Thursday at work. I wrote up a special rant during kiddo's nap that I don't mind sharing here. If I had a daughter, this is what I would let her know.
Oh, how I wanted to be a man. If you can't beat them, join them. But they don't want to let you in the club. You're not welcome. You're not one of them, the good guys, the old boys club.
Being born a woman was a series of disappointments. You'll never be as tall, fast, strong, smart, capable, free as a man. And by the way, you'll get hips and breasts in a very painful adolescent transformation. And you'll be bleeding one-quarter of each month. And you'll have to pay for those tampons. No, men don't have to go through this. And you'll be responsible if you get pregnant, so you'll have to pay for birth control, which may ruin your chances of conceiving later on in life when you're ready to get pregnant. Without information on these long-term side effects, you'll have to make these choices alone at age 15. After taking this form of injectable birth control so you wouldn't forget to take it and accidentally get pregnant for 11 years, you'll be told that no person is meant to be on it for that long and certainly not for 10 years.
Then, when you are married, and you can't wait a moment longer to get pregnant because your eggs are nearly all rotten, you'll bear the guilt of infertility. You'll AGAIN take all the hormones to produce a final clutch of eggs. You'll take methylprednisolone, which will make you feel crazy. You will relate to American Horror Story - Delicate, except without the power of witchcraft. You'll be a pincushion for months. You'll put in messy suppositories. You'll take pills, too. Your child's father will have to make absolutely no lifestyle changes. You'll look back on the last decade of trying to conceive as a failure on your part, God's way of punishing you for being a bad person and undeserving of motherhood.
Then pregnancy! Your partner will never understand what it feels like to be literally connected to the fetus. Your breasts will undergo another painful transformation. While puberty makes you a target of the male gaze, pregnancy is a leveling up from maidenhood to matron. You are no longer of aesthetic value to society. Your girlhood is spent, and you no longer have the power of allure.
You will turn inward. You will be responsible for paying for the prenatal vitamins. You may have to manage extreme hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy. You may get gestational diabetes. You may have to work right up until your due date. You might have to go back to work right after delivering the baby. There are so many shitty parts of pregnancy, it's all your burden to bear. Men will never understand.
Then you'll deliver. You'll have to learn how to breastfeed. You'll fall off of a hormone cliff that nobody warns you about. You'll be in more pain than ever in your life. Nobody will explain anything to you. You'll be alone with your pain and confusion, postpartum anxiety, and intrusive thoughts. Nobody will follow up with you. There will be no assistance in healing your body despite being cut 7 ways to Sunday, from hip to hip.
You'll learn too late that there were things you should have been doing in the two months after your C-section that would have prevented scar tissue. But nobody told you about that, and anyway, you will be too afraid to touch or look at your scar because it reminds you that you weren't able to give birth vaginally because male surgeons are in a hurry to cut. Hospitals only let you labor for 24 hours, even though birth can take much longer. You'll work on strengthing your pelvic floor with so many Kegels before delivery and then learn after the fact that you should have been thinking instead of being flexible instead of strong. You will have high levels of relaxin circulating for 1000 days, or however long you breastfeed or however long it takes for your period to return, but that's different for every woman, and you have no control over that. You may be encouraged by friends to see a pelvic floor PT, but you won't be encouraged to do so by your doctor, so you will be uncertain whether it's covered by your insurance.
Then, the pressure to be a good mom will descend on you and weigh you down for the foreseeable future. Everything wrong with your child will be blamed on you and not the child's father. Every time your child does not fit the norm, you'll be shamed if you don't immediately make it your foremost project to fix. Your colleagues will think you are unprepared while you exist in the fog of mombrain. You will search for the right words, which will elude you, while your newfound sense of superhearing and empathy will remain underrated. Your career will stall. Your male colleagues will think, she used to be so sharp; what a shame, she really let herself go. You'll hear phantom crying, even when your baby is only 2 feet away from you on the other side of the shower curtain. You'll have the strangest night sweats, engorgement, cravings for bacon and chocolate, and the worst body odor of your life. After 7 months, your hair will randomly start falling out.
Then, after adjusting to the demands of breastfeeding and nightmares and teething and toddler tantrums and potty training and picky eating and learning to read and self-feed and self-dress, finally, the little person doesn't need you as much anymore, which is kind of a heartbreak in itself, then you arrive at perimenopause. You'll take supplements you would have never considered before. It's not like you are trying to be eternally youthful. You're just trying to get through the day and night with less pain and suffering. You take pills to address clogged milk ducts, muscle repair, milk supply, mood, bone density, hair, teeth, nails, connective tissue, and cartilage. Should you be taking more? Less? Who knows? Because there are no studies on women. There are not enough women who engage in extended breastfeeding in their 40s. Your menstruation is not well understood, nor is the transition to that third life era -- crone. And the responsibility of knowing about it and doing the right thing, taking hormones or not, is All on you. Your husband will not know anything about it, nor will your doctor. 4 out of 5 professionals will tell you that you are just depressed. The one that takes you seriously will ask for an exorbitant fee to even begin to help you put the pieces back together again. Your insurance won't cover it. Again, the financial responsibilities will be all up to you.
And by the way, you'll be paid less than your male colleagues. And men will get jobs they're underqualified for. Their competence will be accepted with a handshake while you run uphill to prove yourself even though you'll never be considered good or worthy.
I feel so sad and powerless. I was so hoping that one woman could step into her power today. That I might be able to say, as a woman, is that I am equally likely to become president or CEO or tenured professor or marathon finisher. Thank God I still have my running to keep me sane. I can just keep my head down and keep falling forward. I can make my home a happy and safe one. Will there be a women's march again? Will there be a march for science? Will there be a resurgence of black lives matter? What good did those marches do last time? When will we ever have representation that understands what women go through? I don't care if you're a brother, husband or father. You will never know what it's like to walk a mile in our shoes. Sharing this for the daughter I'll never have. I don't know what it is about this election defeat that is causing me to live the entirety of my trauma again. Maybe it has something to do with being grabbed in the pussy -- AGAIN.
Oh, how I wanted to be a man. If you can't beat them, join them. But they don't want to let you in the club. You're not welcome. You're not one of them, the good guys, the old boys club.
Being born a woman was a series of disappointments. You'll never be as tall, fast, strong, smart, capable, free as a man. And by the way, you'll get hips and breasts in a very painful adolescent transformation. And you'll be bleeding one-quarter of each month. And you'll have to pay for those tampons. No, men don't have to go through this. And you'll be responsible if you get pregnant, so you'll have to pay for birth control, which may ruin your chances of conceiving later on in life when you're ready to get pregnant. Without information on these long-term side effects, you'll have to make these choices alone at age 15. After taking this form of injectable birth control so you wouldn't forget to take it and accidentally get pregnant for 11 years, you'll be told that no person is meant to be on it for that long and certainly not for 10 years.
Then, when you are married, and you can't wait a moment longer to get pregnant because your eggs are nearly all rotten, you'll bear the guilt of infertility. You'll AGAIN take all the hormones to produce a final clutch of eggs. You'll take methylprednisolone, which will make you feel crazy. You will relate to American Horror Story - Delicate, except without the power of witchcraft. You'll be a pincushion for months. You'll put in messy suppositories. You'll take pills, too. Your child's father will have to make absolutely no lifestyle changes. You'll look back on the last decade of trying to conceive as a failure on your part, God's way of punishing you for being a bad person and undeserving of motherhood.
Then pregnancy! Your partner will never understand what it feels like to be literally connected to the fetus. Your breasts will undergo another painful transformation. While puberty makes you a target of the male gaze, pregnancy is a leveling up from maidenhood to matron. You are no longer of aesthetic value to society. Your girlhood is spent, and you no longer have the power of allure.
You will turn inward. You will be responsible for paying for the prenatal vitamins. You may have to manage extreme hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy. You may get gestational diabetes. You may have to work right up until your due date. You might have to go back to work right after delivering the baby. There are so many shitty parts of pregnancy, it's all your burden to bear. Men will never understand.
Then you'll deliver. You'll have to learn how to breastfeed. You'll fall off of a hormone cliff that nobody warns you about. You'll be in more pain than ever in your life. Nobody will explain anything to you. You'll be alone with your pain and confusion, postpartum anxiety, and intrusive thoughts. Nobody will follow up with you. There will be no assistance in healing your body despite being cut 7 ways to Sunday, from hip to hip.
You'll learn too late that there were things you should have been doing in the two months after your C-section that would have prevented scar tissue. But nobody told you about that, and anyway, you will be too afraid to touch or look at your scar because it reminds you that you weren't able to give birth vaginally because male surgeons are in a hurry to cut. Hospitals only let you labor for 24 hours, even though birth can take much longer. You'll work on strengthing your pelvic floor with so many Kegels before delivery and then learn after the fact that you should have been thinking instead of being flexible instead of strong. You will have high levels of relaxin circulating for 1000 days, or however long you breastfeed or however long it takes for your period to return, but that's different for every woman, and you have no control over that. You may be encouraged by friends to see a pelvic floor PT, but you won't be encouraged to do so by your doctor, so you will be uncertain whether it's covered by your insurance.
Then, the pressure to be a good mom will descend on you and weigh you down for the foreseeable future. Everything wrong with your child will be blamed on you and not the child's father. Every time your child does not fit the norm, you'll be shamed if you don't immediately make it your foremost project to fix. Your colleagues will think you are unprepared while you exist in the fog of mombrain. You will search for the right words, which will elude you, while your newfound sense of superhearing and empathy will remain underrated. Your career will stall. Your male colleagues will think, she used to be so sharp; what a shame, she really let herself go. You'll hear phantom crying, even when your baby is only 2 feet away from you on the other side of the shower curtain. You'll have the strangest night sweats, engorgement, cravings for bacon and chocolate, and the worst body odor of your life. After 7 months, your hair will randomly start falling out.
Then, after adjusting to the demands of breastfeeding and nightmares and teething and toddler tantrums and potty training and picky eating and learning to read and self-feed and self-dress, finally, the little person doesn't need you as much anymore, which is kind of a heartbreak in itself, then you arrive at perimenopause. You'll take supplements you would have never considered before. It's not like you are trying to be eternally youthful. You're just trying to get through the day and night with less pain and suffering. You take pills to address clogged milk ducts, muscle repair, milk supply, mood, bone density, hair, teeth, nails, connective tissue, and cartilage. Should you be taking more? Less? Who knows? Because there are no studies on women. There are not enough women who engage in extended breastfeeding in their 40s. Your menstruation is not well understood, nor is the transition to that third life era -- crone. And the responsibility of knowing about it and doing the right thing, taking hormones or not, is All on you. Your husband will not know anything about it, nor will your doctor. 4 out of 5 professionals will tell you that you are just depressed. The one that takes you seriously will ask for an exorbitant fee to even begin to help you put the pieces back together again. Your insurance won't cover it. Again, the financial responsibilities will be all up to you.
And by the way, you'll be paid less than your male colleagues. And men will get jobs they're underqualified for. Their competence will be accepted with a handshake while you run uphill to prove yourself even though you'll never be considered good or worthy.
I feel so sad and powerless. I was so hoping that one woman could step into her power today. That I might be able to say, as a woman, is that I am equally likely to become president or CEO or tenured professor or marathon finisher. Thank God I still have my running to keep me sane. I can just keep my head down and keep falling forward. I can make my home a happy and safe one. Will there be a women's march again? Will there be a march for science? Will there be a resurgence of black lives matter? What good did those marches do last time? When will we ever have representation that understands what women go through? I don't care if you're a brother, husband or father. You will never know what it's like to walk a mile in our shoes. Sharing this for the daughter I'll never have. I don't know what it is about this election defeat that is causing me to live the entirety of my trauma again. Maybe it has something to do with being grabbed in the pussy -- AGAIN.
A few sentiments that I've heard:
(1) She wasn't qualified. As if she hadn't just served as vice president for four years. And (nearly) every man elected president was someone's VP first—just look at my previous post. What more did she need to do?
(2) Men and women are reacting to the MeToo movement. They're tired of women calling them out for their bad behavior. They're tired of being politically correct. They don't understand trans people and don't want to. Gender pronouns? We don't know them. This is the empire striking back. But it's important to remember that a woman's place is in the resistance. I may have to rewatch that franchise to see how it ends.
(3) But is your life better now than 4-years ago, as if the last Trump presidency was a walk in the park. Everyone I know refers to 2020 as a "dumpster fire." It wasn't Biden and Harris that mishandled the pandemic so poorly. The insurrection of January 6th happened in 2021. So you can't blame the dumpster fire on Biden and Harris. That rests squarely on the shoulders of #45.
Also, Today marks 1700 days of breastfeeding. Nobody tells you it might go on this long, and there's no tutorial guide for stopping without causing more problems. And it's not all bad being a woman. There are some good parts. Fit4mom has been everything. My mom friends are a bright spot in the darkness right now. I'm going to attend Friendsgiving this weekend.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Consumables
In other news that nobody cares about except me... I made a list of the running shoes I've purchased and how I have evolved from Brooks Ghost to Brooks Ariel.
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2009/11/mission-inn-run.html
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2009/11/mission-inn-run.html
The internet says you should replace your running shoes every 300–500 miles, or roughly every 4–6 months if you run 20 miles per week. But it adds that heavier runners may wear out their shoes more quickly. I replace mine about every 200 miles because it seems like I start feeling the impact of running on sidewalks and streets around that time. It's not worth getting shin splints.
Shoes
- June 2019 silver ghost 11 = $99 via Zappos
- May 2021 grey pink blue ghost 13 via Nordstrom = $130
- Dec 2022 white black blue light ghost 14 via Zappos = $109
- Oct 2023 white purple coral ghost 14 via Brooks 178 miles = $98.49
- March 2024 black Ariel 23 via Fleet Feet Encino 250 miles = $160
- June 2024 grey green Ariel 20 via Amazon 194 miles = $92
- August 2024 grey pink sulphur ghost 14 via Poshmark = $45
- Sept 2024 grey pink Ariel 23 via Amazon = $119
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| I added wings and I only wear these for teaching |
I've written before about what qualities of sports bras are good for larger-chested women. I haven't written about how things changed when I had my son and have been a breastfeeding mom for several years now. The sports bras I like now have front-closure. They're very supportive but also very constricting. I can only wear them for a short time before they start to hurt. I recently added a few lighter ones from Freya active, which have a back closure. They're good for warm weather when I want something more breathable.
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2014/05/coolmax-or-dri-fit.html
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2022/05/month-of-mama-part-2.html
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2022/05/month-of-mama-part-2.html
The crazy thing is that the internet says you should replace your sports bras every 6 months to 1 year. That's why I have so many. But since I roll them up and put them together with shorts and a top, I like having many different ones. I feel like they can last longer if you have a larger collection to rotate through. Another great thing about the SheFit bra is that you can wear it as a swimsuit top. The straps are rigid due to the velcro, so they're not stretchy. They're not going to get "stretched out." So I do feel like they last longer. But they also feel very industrial.
Bras
Enell size 4 - high impact
🖤Black 2/18/21
💜Purple Reign 4/8/22
🏳️🌈Pride 2/14/23
💂♂️Black Camo 3/13/24
🌚Midnight Run 6/18/24
Shefit 3 Luxe - ultimate
💗"Confident" pink 2/18/21
💕Rose Taupe 2/18/21
🍉Watermelon tie-dye 4/11/22
🌷Pink floral 4/11/22
🎾 pastel lime 8/10/22
Freya Women's Dynamic Wireless Sports Bra 38J
🐆 Pure Leopard Aqua 3/13/24
🔥 Hot Crimson 3/8/24
What I like to do is arrange my running outfits with shorts, bra, and tank top in a leggings organizer so I don't have to figure out what goes together in the dark when I go out for my morning runs. I tried running without a tank top a few times this summer but unfortunately my light up vest band made a few chafe spots on my torso, which was no bueno.
I might as well toss the inventory of sunglasses into this post.
Zeus = white / purple BFGs
Donkey = orange / blue
Tats = pink / pink
Flamingos = pink / blue
Dinotopia = teal / purple
Kraken = purple / purple
May 2022
Falkor = blue / blue
Bourbon BFG = blk / org
Orange crush BFG = org / blu
June 2022
Onyx = black / black BFGs
Knock = brown BFGs
Bourbon BFG = blk / org
Nessy = teal / green
June 2023
Thorny = red / green / gold
Fireworkin = white / blue
August 2023
Flamingos = pink / blue
Dinotopia = teal / purple
May 2024
Bloody Mary = red/purple
Nessy = teal / green
The reason why I put these under consumables is that they break, get lost, get scratched or otherwise gifted to friends and family. The only ones I still have that are wearable are Bloody Mary, Nessy and Dinotopia. Fireworkin and Flamingos are scratched but I haven't thrown them away yet because they're cute and I let Albert wear them if he wants to. They're important because as polarized lenses, they protect my eyes from sun damage. And at $25 per pair, they're more affordable than shoes and bras.
I guess the final topic would by the CRZ Yoga shorts that I love. They're compressive in the midsection, which holds my FUPA from jiggling while I run. I get XL size with 8" length. I prefer the ones with the phone / wallet pockets on the sides. They're great for walking around Disneyland too. I've gotten so many compliments on them while in the parks. I had planned to wear them as swimsuit bottoms but this one pair started to get a hole in it so I tossed it in the trash. The last thing I need is to get chafing from skin rubbing while on a training run or during a race.
Why do I need so many? Well, I guess the answer is that you only need 3. One to wash, one to wear, and one for a spare. But in the case that I'm running or working out every day, I would need at least 5 in rotation to get through the work week. Considering some are wearing out, it's good to replace them. I used to have an IKEA Pressa which is an octopus with 8 arms. I would put my bra and shorts on the clips and hang the tank top over the arm. This is also a good way to dry them I guess after a run so they don't stink up your laundry basket. I prefer the 8" length over the 10" which feels hotter (not sexier) in the summer. Definitely was on the fence about the lighter colors, which do show the cellulite more. But those I tend to wear under a running skirt, so they don't show much anyway.
Of course, each skirt has a matching hat or visor, so I had to get a hat organizer. I was also amassing a large collection of headbands and friendship bracelets and it was hard to find the ones I wanted, so I got an organizing rack for headbands too. I have an organizer for my sunglasses and I actually love it. My husband made it custom for me when he had access to a machine shop in grad school. The Headsweats visors fit me too tight, resulting in a headache after just two or three miles, so what I do now is cut the elastic and sew in an extender. Some of the extenders are pieces of ribbon with reflective elements and other extenders are just elastic.
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| RIP Falcor and Two Tats |
I got the brilliant idea to train for the LA Marathon as a way to shed the post-baby pounds that lingered after breastfeeding. But I'm starting to realize that just like breastfeeding, some people lose weight while training for a marathon and some people gain weight. There's no guarantee that training for a marathon will lead to weight loss. And the truth is that I'm still breastfeeding. Not much anymore, not even every day, but we haven't completely weaned yet.
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