By guest writer Michelle Sedas, CI-CPT.

Why do you exercise? What drives you to get out of your warm bed, in the wee hours of the morning, and lace up those kicks so that you can hit the pavement? What motivates you to plan your days so that you’re able to consistently spend quality time at the gym? What inspires you to get your body in motion while so many others choose to stay glued to their couches? Is it to burn calories? To reduce your risk for lifestyle-related diseases? To shape your body by building muscle? To counteract the daily effects of stress? While all of these are valid, solid reasons, my response to Why do you exercise? can be summed up with one word: endorphins.

Oh, how I love this word! Combining the shortened forms of endogenous (endo-) and morphine (-orphin), the word endorphin means “a morphine-like substance originating from within the body.” And, if I close one eye and squint just right endorphins kind of looks like dolphins—and any word that reminds me of those intelligent, gentle sea creatures is, quite frankly, a cool word. But, back to my point…

These brain chemicals, released during exercise, produce feelings of well-being, happiness, and euphoria. During my treadmill time, I often come up with exciting ideas, great plans, and thought-provoking insights. Immediately after I lift weights, I am often filled with a rush of happiness. And these good feelings can last for quite a while. In fact, a new study shows that after we exercise, we are in a better mood for up to 12 hours.

Like most people, I welcome these exercise-induced endorphin effects (try saying that three times fast!) And as a 33 year old who has struggled with depression for over 20 years, I crave those happy moments. Moments when my mind is focused, and I’m filled with energy, and I’m free. In my quest to determine my therapeutic level of exercise, I’ve come across encouraging research-based findings:

• The Mayo Clinic states that “doing 30 minutes or more of exercise a day, for three to five days a week can significantly improve depression symptoms.”

• A study by The Cooper Institute has shown that intensity or difficulty of exercise is a key factor in improving mild to moderate depression. 

• The Harvard Medical school reports on a 2005 study concluding that “walking fast for about 35 minutes a day five times a week or 60 minutes a day three times a week had a significant influence on mild to moderate depression symptoms. Walking fast for only 15 minutes a day five times a week or doing stretching exercises three times a week did not help as much.”

I’ve known for quite some time that for my mental health, exercising consistently with a moderate-to-high level of intensity is just as important as taking those two white pills each morning. But to see in black and white the scientific findings showing that exercise improves mood fills me with hope. So the next time you’re feeling a bit blah, a tad troubled, or even downright depressed, think about those endorphins and remember that an instant pick-me-up is just movements away. 

Michelle Sedas is an inspirational author, the cofounder of Running Moms Rock, and a Cooper Institute Certified Personal Trainer.

Here is what Jerri says about fueling your workouts…

Proper nutrition before, during, and after exercise allows a speedy recovery for your body.  

Before You Run:

Eat forty-five minutes prior to intense running or weight training.  Eating a light snack before exercise may increase fat-burning.  Your body prefers to use carbohydrates as fuel, so carb up!

For my early morning runs, I start with a simple carbohydrate: a banana.  On longer runs, set up fuel stations every four miles.  Andi and I lay out water along with bananas, oranges, or Clif Shot Blox.

After You Run:

Do not let more than forty-five minutes pass before your post-exercise snack. Without another snack, cortisol levels can rise and cause the body to retain fat.  Post snacks also help your body’s cells recover quickly.

Post workout meals should contain a small protein, carb, and a healthy fat.

Here are some suggestions: a protein shake (I like Jay Robb Whey Protein Shakes) with a tablespoon of almond butter and half banana.  Be Kind Bars, string cheese with a small apple, a handful of almonds and fruit, or may favorite, one egg with half cup of veggies.

You know your body better than anyone else.  What one person can eat before a run might make another person feel sick to their stomach. Andi can inhale a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of coffee before we run.  I’m good with a banana and nothing else. Try out different foods and see what works best for your stomach. Always practice your eating routine for at least a couple of weeks before a race.

Jerri

When it comes to conditioning, sometimes it is hard to know where to start. Running is so darned simple—it seems like a travesty to junk it up with fancy equipment or ridiculous fads. However, conditioning is not only essential for injury prevention, but it is the only way to improve your PR.

I have yet to find a running-specific workout better than kettlebells. These little beauties look like instruments of torture (pretty much true…) due to their bowling ball shape and density. Unlike regular free weights that require isolation of specific muscle groups, kettlebell maneuvers are dynamic, engaging multiple muscle groups at the same time. Since almost every physical act demands the coordination of multiple muscle groups, kettlebell strength has more realistic fitness benefits than dumbbells.

So, if your goal is actually being strong as opposed to just looking strong, don’t waste your time on tricurls and military press. Hop on over to your local sporting goods store and invest in a kettlebell or two. A bell/ DVD combo (here it is for $50)is a great buy for beginners who need to learn the basic moves. Don’t be shy on the weight—the first few kettlebell workouts are brutal, but you will quickly outgrow a fifteen pound bell since you are using your entire body to fling it around, not just your biceps or delts.

Start with this exercise: The Basic Swing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0jalJ-3e7U

Now go get strong!

Who loves FREE STUFF? Today’s guest from Elite Feet Inc., donated my favorite running accessory: BLINKY LIGHTS. These lights clip to your shorts and strobe so drivers can see you in the dark. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to WIN!

The key to a safe summer run is WATER. Nothing is more important. Every year there are tragic stories about otherwise healthy runners (even teenagers!) who die of heat stroke or dehydration. Be smart Running Mamas, drink, drink, drink!!!

James Drain, C.Ped., is the owner of Oklahoma’s number one running store, Elite Feet. He also trains under the medical director for both the Memorial and Tulsa Marathons. Here is his advice on hydrating:

• Find out how much water you lose running by weighing yourself, going for your normal run, and then weighing yourself again. To stay hydrated, you must replace 80-100% of the lost weight with the right fluids.
• Don’t just drink water, because lack of sodium leads to muscle cramping. Drink ONE electrolyte drink (like PowerAde) to every TWO waters.
• If you stop sweating during your run, you are overheating. You need to cool down FAST. Move to the shade, drink water, hose off, or make yourself an ice bath. 

Signs of dehydration: Dry Skin, Dry Mouth, Dark Urine, Nausea, Fatigue, Head Rushes.

Seek medical attention if you or a friend experience: Muscle spasms, Vomiting, Racing pulse, Shriveled skin, Dim vision, Painful urination, Confusion, Difficulty breathing, Seizures, Chest and Abdominal pain, or Unconsciousness.

Running Mamas: Have you ever been overheated or dehydrated? Tell us your funny or frightening stories for a chance to win an awesome Elite Feet BLINKY LIGHT!

Contributor James Drain is a medically licensed pedorithist and master shoe fitter.  Inventor of eleven lace techniques used in pedorathics schooling and one  tape technique for shin splints taught in college and athletic trainer camps.  The orthotic maker for Oklahoma University and Tinker Air Force Base. Also a runner with  5- marathons 24- halves 2- 10ks 82- 5ks!!!

If you’ve granted your Mizuno’s a three-month sabbatical, HOLD ON GIRL!

Summer is the best time to lay a foundation for fall road races. Build your mileage slowly so you can upgrade your race distance when the season resumes. If athletic achievement isn’t enough motivation, how about the issue of, ahem, swimwear?

Saynomore.

Running in the off-season is a sweaty, smelly business. Because I love you so very much, I’m going to pass along a few tips to help you get the most out of your summer workouts. Check back each week for expert advice on hydration, fueling, cross-training and injury prevention.

Special guest writers include:

James Drain- medically licensed pedorathist, owner of OKC-based running store Elite Feet.

Jerri Wright- my beloved running partner and certified health NUT.

Michelle Sedas- Co-race director for Running Moms Rock, author of Live Inspired

Jerrod Wright, D.C., owner Wright Wellness

Now that the perfect running weather is upon us, let’s talk some half.  The half is my favorite distance because 13.1 miles is long enough to be really challenging, but short enough to train and be a devoted mama.  

There are many excellent training programs out there, but this one is customized for Running Mamas.  The programs I found in magazines and online seemed to target elite runners.  The mileage was higher than I actually needed to finish a strong half.  The key to a strong half is not running for a long period of time, but running over a long period of time.  If you create a strong base by regularly running, you can do a half.  Yes YOU!

Here is the Running Mama training plan:

Remember I am an expert on this subject because I have won tons of halves.*

• I run three times a week with only one long run: Six miles, Three miles, and one long run.
• For the long run, I start with six miles and increase slowly until I peak at ten.  Yes, I said TEN! 
• When you increase, don’t add any more than two miles.  For example, get comfortable with six, then move up to no more than eight.  Stay at eight for two-three weeks before you increase again.

I never run any more than ten miles because of the time and energy it takes.  I didn’t find that running higher mileage made me faster or better, it just made me tired and injured.  Now that I am responsible for little ones, being tired or injured is ridiculously inconvenient.   I want to finish a strong race, and be a great mom too.  It is possible.

Next week:  My secret tips for training and race day.  Shhhh… Don’t tell.

*No I haven’t.

There is a beautiful street at the end of our run, lined with tall trees.  When we round the bend to this last stretch, it is praying time.  There are no rituals to make God seem far away. Our hands can’t clasp, we can’t bow our heads, we can’t even close our eyes.  We are two friends talking to each other and to our God who is as close as our own breath.  Our prayers spout and gasp, but they surround us like little lamps, warming our insides with freedom and energy.   

There is no pretension.  Our confessions, our worries, the stones of our souls, they float off like bubbles as we stomp down the road. We pray for our favorites- Her Jerrod, My Greg, and the four babies between us.  We fight for them, with all the fervor our legs can muster.  We can’t help it, as we speak we run faster and faster, as if our effort is the measure of our passion. 

When we finish, we are breathless.  We have shown each other our ugliest, our best.  Like two lovely warriors we walk along, sweaty and peaceful, ready for another day.

I sputtered along as Emily’s half-hearted, second-rate running partner though our schedules were different now. Emily needed to run in the afternoon, the worst time of day for a baby. I couldn’t keep up while pushing the baby jogger, and I refused to dump a cranky infant on my husband the minute he walked through the door. Emily was my friend and it hurt to see the close of our era. We met to run here and there, but in the end, I casually drifted away.

For awhile I didn’t do much but gawk at my baby. I couldn’t be with him enough. I had no idea he would take over my heart, no my very being, with such ferocity. If I planned to do anything for myself it would not be at his expense. I hated to give up running, but in comparison, I really didn’t care.

Was there someone else as devoted to her babies as I was? Someone willing to run at odd times on low-energy, maybe even wearing mashed bananas on her shorts? To stick with it, I needed a different breed of woman. Someone whose legs only took her as far as two tiny arms could reach.

I needed another Running Mama.

I mentioned my hope to a few friends at church, and through a friend of a friend, I met my running soul-mate. When I found her, heaven itself burst into song and unfurled the rainbow of joy over my snot-crusted shoulders. Her name was Jerri, disciplined runner and mother of two.

I said “Can you be up by 6:00?”

She said “How about 5:15?”

I said, “I will cancel last minute if my baby is sick.”

She said, “Me too. Times two.”

I said, “Do you run fast?”

She said, “Let’s just stay together.”

Cue tears of jubilation.

Emily was greasing up the wheel bearings on the baby jogger a few days before my six week Dr. visit. Her optimism was flattering. I don’t know how she saw any hope at all, since I had been through six weeks of extreme sleep deprivation, raging mastitis, and accidental undernourishment (who had time to eat?). Miraculously, my Dr. sent me home with a clean bill of health, which seemed a little sadistic since I looked like a corpse compared to my former self. But apparently, actually being alive is not a prerequisite for caring for your newborn, or in Emily’s case, resuming an exercise regimen.

First hurdle: the baby jogger. When I put Toby’s eight-pound self in the seat, the shoulder harness hit him in the forehead. Uggh, maybe in a few months… I left him with Greg knowing this completely unnecessary stint away from home would cost my husband his Shalom for the next thirty minutes.

When Emily and I set out, my sports bra felt like a vice holding two leaky water balloons (which was reeeeeally ooky). “You can make it a mile,” said Satan, skipping off unencumbered. It was really hard. Really, really hard. I panted and wheezed and took it one mailbox at a time. It didn’t seem fair that I was starting over. I ran a half marathon the month before I got pregnant and now I was back at the beginning again.

I did make it a mile, but it was different. It took more out of me than my nursing and overtired self had to give. Something had changed in me — something deeper than my lack of fitness. At home, I stood over my baby boy, swaddled and beautiful in his Moses basket.

He would come first.

I liked the idea of shattering the plump, lumbering stereotype of pregnancy in lieu of svelte athleticism, but I didn’t have it in me. Running was so hard now, with the extra weight and nausea, and I sort of wanted to enjoy the break. Every day Emily would come over to yank me off the couch, and every day I would half-heartedly succumb.

In November she finally gave up. She bought a bright red jogging stroller for my baby shower and presented it with obvious hope. I still love that girl.

Christmas passed quickly for everyone but me. The hands of the clock seemed locked in place, though I watched them with fierce devotion. I read What to Expect, The Girlfriend’s Guide, and Pregnancy Week-By-Week until they were floppy and redundant. I surfed BabyCenter message boards and envied the women posting newborn pictures and typing out lengthy birth stories with obscene attention to detail.

The slowest increment of time known to humanity is the final week of pregnancy. While you are living it, tortoises seem to undergo a full life cycle. It is tortuously boring, turning you into a bloated whiner, compulsively devoted to your own well-being.

And then one day it’s over. Just like that.

Well, sort of…