Skinny & Happy

Turns out I can't stop losing weight. I'm down to 111 lbs, 9 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. Clearly the oatmeal diet works. And apparently breastfeeding does make weight loss easier. We ate lots of rich food in Washington DC (stayed at a wonderful B&B), ate out (actually all really healthy food), but when I was hungry for a snack, I ate oatmeal. I ended up losing 2 lbs there. And I continue to wake up lighter every day.

Not a bad problem to have, but I am a creature of habit (as you may have noticed). Now that we're back home, I can't get myself to stop eating my oatmeal, acorn squash, sprouts, tomatoes and lefse. I have been adding TVP to the oatmeal, which helped with the protein situation. And supplement bananas, apples, tofu and cottage cheese as needed. But there just aren't many calories in those. And, of course, I should mention that breastfeeding burns 500-700 calories a day.

So how thin is too thin? I think I'm actually where I want to be, but don't want to stop the diet! The thing is, I pride myself on being a strong woman who can run ultras and swim miles at a time, but I like the fact that I'm losing weight without trying. And SR is giving me tons of positive feedback (no one minds being called "gorgeous skinny b####"). Although he does find all the oatmeal and gords a bit weird.

Dare I say staying at a healthy weight is as challenging as losing weight? At least I find this to be true while I'm breastfeeding. So now that my BMI (18.2) is underweight, I've probably got to stabilize, but I still feel healthy and strong. And the lighter you are, the faster you can run, to a point. From the information I found on the internet, Paula Radcliffe's BMI is 18.0, so I probably don't want to be below that.

Stay tuned, I'll hopefully end up staying at this weight, which seems about right for me. And if you're feeling adventurous, try the oatmeal diet and let me know how it works for you.

Washington DC

We went to Washington DC last week for the national internal medicine jeopardy competition. SR was on a team that represented our state. Since I have known SR, he has impressed me with how quickly and accurately he remembers medical trivia and eponyms. Am I possibly the only woman out there who is turned on by this? :) I guess it runs in his family as his dad was actually on Jeopardy in Denmark and won.

Sadly, SR's team didn't get to advance to the second round. But that didn't stop us from having fun in DC.

Kanlaya Thai

The White House

Looking like normal tourists

Of course our trip involved a lot of running. On the second morning, we took a running tour starting in Rock Creek Park.

To The Potomac

And of course it wouldn't be a vacation if we didn't have a photo of us staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

We did make the mistake of driving 16 hours there. The poor Bois. 3 month olds don't get excited about road trips like the young adults of America and Europe who fancy themselves wandering and spontaneous. He's looking a bit haggard here.

And he's got parents who both like to steer the ship, chose the route and plan the day.

But somehow we made it through the trip still in love.

And we were so proud of how little we spent. Plus, the car ride lent itself to many Danish lessons for me and French for SR. I want so badly to speak Danish like I speak English, but of course that takes some work if you live in an English-speaking country. Oh, how I adore challenges.

And I would be lying if I said The Bois didn't have a good time. At least with his dad.

Running Song of the Day: Désenchantée by Mylène Farmer

We are on a little trip to Washington DC. Can't spend the last night writing, though. I'll just say we're squeaky clean after our family bath. I'll write and post pictures when we get home.

50k Relay Win!

It's fitting that the first win I mark in my running book is our win. This 50k relay consisted of a 13 mile technical, hilly part in the woods (which I ran) and an 18 mile double loop on wide open land (which SR ran). There were mixed, male-male and female-female teams.

The weather was a perfect47 degrees with no wind and not a cloud in the sky. We could see the flawless reflection of houses and sky on the lakes in the area. We drove quite a while to get there with step-daughter and The Bois. We had to stop for a bathroom break just before we arrived. Step-daughter is not crazy about going in the great outdoors. The Bois was the only one smart enough to wear a diaper.

Upon arrival, we saw the ultra running types warming up and chatting next to cars with license plates such as TRL RUN. As seems to be the norm with longer races, there were people from all over the US.

I made the strange decision to wear a brand new pair of trail running shoes. My left leg had been bothering me so much on Thursday that I had thought I couldn't run the race. I didn't run on Friday so I had no idea if I'd be able to run at all. I made the decision that new shoes would mean pressure on a different part of my foot and therefore potentially less pain in my leg. Plus they were cool-looking shoes.

50kers and 50k relayers all took off at once.

I realized quickly that my feet were going numb. My shoes were too tight! I just kept running on the stumps thinking it would have to get better. And after the first mile it did. Amazingly, my left leg felt almost normal.

Once we ascended a steep climb into the woods, I felt like a gazelle,young and strong and free. I smiled to myself as I jumped over and around rocks and roots, sand and pine cones.

SR, step-daughter and The Bois drove around to meet me at 5 water stations! SR kept telling me I was the fourth woman and I could take it slower. He seemed to think we would win even if I had a bad day.

I continued to pick up speed and passed a woman and two guys after the half-way point. At the end of my leg, I ran with a guy who is a running coach in Colorado. After he joined me, he said, "I kept trying to catch up to you so I could tell you that I think you have talent for this. You are going so fast and it doesn't look like you're working at all." I smiled. Of course, if I really had talent, I'd be the first woman, but anyway... I talked about running that very trail pregnant and and he talked about overcoming ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) recently. He was 51, used to be sponsored by Nike (!) and had bounced back to racing again.

We talked about getting old. I told him that stiffness was one of the wost diseases of the elderly. He looked at me and smiled. He said he told his clients to visit nursing homes and observe: "you don't have to be immobile just because you're old" he said.

I finished as the 3rd relay woman and received The Bois reverse baton from SR. He took off after calmly explaining The Bois was in dire straights and needed some milk.

I sat with step-daughter and breastfed The Bois. Many people looked and smiled. Luckily there was no problem with the milk supply this time.


By the time SR finished the first loop, he was ahead of all the relayers and 50kers.

I sat and talked and played and had a great time with step-daughter. SR came in 16 minutes ahead of the next relayer. We won with a time of 3h59 minutes on the dot.

The first 50k finisher came in not too long after SR. He was a very large man, very strong, who was from Germany. It looked unreal that this Arnold Schwarzenegger-type (pre Governor days) would win, but win he did.

We had BBQ and received our awards and all went home happy.

I got my first mother's day present from step-daughter and could hardly fight back the tears. We really mean a lot to each other now. There is no turning back... and I am so happy about that.

Feeling weak

On Monday, I returned to the oatmeal diet (see Postpartum Diet & Fitness post). And boy does it work. Yesterday after my run I weighed 51.1 kg or 112.6 lbs. I am almost 8 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. Of course I am thrilled, but feel sore everywhere. I thought it was just my legs from the race, but then I went swimming today and my left arm felt sore and lame. Another sign that I am not getting a well-balanced diet is I am getting sores in my mouth. Add to that the continuous bleeding I'm having from the IUD and you'll understand why I'm not myself.

We have a 50k relay coming up on Saturday. We will be passing of The Bois off as a baton (reverse baton). I am worried though about how weak and sore I feel, so I am going to eat a big proteinous dinner tonight and start adding textured vegetable protein (TVP) to my oatmeal.

Obviously some other things are missing from this crash diet, so I will need to modify. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Just got back from a bike ride with The Bois. I'm trying to return to a car-free life. Now that the weather is nice, it should be easier. Last year I went 6 months without filling my car with gas (before I met SR) and I'd love to be able to do that again. Ideally, I'd like to live completely off the grid, but that would not be easy, especially when it comes to convincing the step kids. I do contemplate what the world will be like in a few short years when we can't travel by car, when our resources have run out. Of course we talk about alternative energy, but the world is going to change dramatically as fuel runs out.

I've been slowly weaning myself from buying new things (craigslist makes this much easier), but there are certain things it's hard to go without buying new (running shoes for example).

In other news, The Bois has begun to laugh like a little sheep.

He is being held here by a friend who we call Magma.

(You're probably thinking I bought his outfit new, but I haven't bought any new clothes for him... again, craigslist is great!).

Finally, the blog has become even less anonymous. Today I was sitting in an auditorium at the hospital before SR gave a Grand Rounds presentation and one of the residents shouted to me "SLG, my wife loves your blog! She was so upset when you made it private!" I got incredulous and intrigued looks from the many members of the audience, some of whom may be reading this right now.

Bike riding song of the Day: Indianer by Danser med Drenger

Half marathon 3 months post-partum

Yesterday SR and I competed in a half marathon in the area. I was so nervous about it that I didn't want to say much in the blog beforehand. It was a rainy, windy, cold, muddy day. But that didn't seem to deter many people; there were over 350 participants.



We ran in a team for our hospital. I lined up next to a teammate, a competitive runner I was friends with from medical school. I have a secret long-standing goal of wanting to beat him in a race (little did I know today would be the day). SR, of course, lined up at the front. He was, after all, the winner of this event last year.




The gun went off. As I started running, I just kept thinking about how I needed to keep a 7:08 pace the whole race. That was the fastest we figured I was capable of for 13.1 miles. I ran the first mile in 6:45 and felt really good. Somehow I believed I could keep it up. The second mile was even faster. It was a straight path over mud and bridges, mud and bridges. The miles flew by at first, but then I slowed down to a more than 7 minutes per mile pace. My knee started hurting and I found myself just wanting the race to be over. The knee has really been bothering me since the ultra 3 weeks ago. But, it wasn't just my knee; I was tired, really tired.

Aren't these races supposed to be fun??? Two women passed me. I was crushed. I kept telling myself to try to enjoy the race and do my best. But I wanted to get to the end to see SR and get home to see The Bois. I put the same Nik og Jay song on over and over to put myself in a trance, trying to go the same speed until the end and not get passed by another woman.



I finished in pain, in 6th place. 3 places higher than last year! I guess I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good time.








My time was a minute and a half slower this year: 1h36m on the button, but it was most likely slower conditions. I was shocked to see the male winner of the race two years ago come in right behind me.

It took me a second to remember what I was doing and where I was. I realized SR would be around there somewhere. Then I spotted him. Step son and step daughter were there, too along with their mom. They got to see their dad win the race. SR seemed happier about that fact than about actually winning the race.

The most amazing part of the race was that someone found our camera at the end of the trail, where it had been sitting for a week (we thought we had lost it). They turned it on and saw a picture of SR, knew who he was and handed it to him.

On the way home, SR mentioned he was disappointed in both of us. His time was also a couple minutes slower than last year. He's the only person I know who would be disappointed in himself after winning such a big race. And he said he thought I could have gotten second. He just pushes both of us because he believes we can do well. And it makes us train harder. But all I knew was I was worn out; it was the ultra three weeks ago, the weight loss and, of course, The Bois. But, in the end, I'd be much more worn out if I didn't have the joy of running.

We gathered The Bois from the babysitter and went to take a nap. SR fell asleep immediately. I was so exhausted but buzzing from the race; I couldn't sleep. I just sobbed. I don't really know why.


I did think about how much I like ultras in contrast to half marathons. Today I missed the long, meandering trails through beautiful landscape. Maybe I'll focus more on ultras in the future (I've always felt I'd be more cut out for those) . We actually did just sign up for the 50k on Angel Island by San Francisco in July. Needless to say I'm excited about that.

sealegs grandma

****before I start the post, I just want to say thanks for all the info generated about the bike trailers; I respect how all of you mothers and non-mothers out there feel about putting an infant in a bike trailer. I don't want to convince anyone out there to do it if they are not comfortable with it. Without research into the safety of this, it's difficult to make a recommendation either way. I put my recommendations in the last post about safety for those of you who do want to use the trailer in this way. Of course, if you live in a state with helmet laws, you will be breaking the law if you do it (because you certainly should not put a helmet on an infant), and I don't encourage that! So, Nancy #1, you make a good point.****

So, I am sad today because SR is gone. This is the first time we have been apart for more than a day since July (when I was in Residency in Oklahoma) and I just hate it. We made a little pact back then that we wouldn't ever again be apart from each other for more than a day. Well, I had to take ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) renewal and he had to take ATLS (advanced trauma life support) and the courses were in different cities, his lasting two days.

Every time the phone rings, I think it's someone calling to tell me he got into a car accident.

Before he left, we just stood there kissing on the stairs, not wanting to say good-bye. And as he was getting into his car, we gave each other a look. A look that said we love each other and there is nothing more important.

My mom sort of witnessed all of this. She has been here helping out with The Bois. She said for the first time last night: "I have it straight in my mind now, that you are in a better relationship with SR than you were with ex-husband. You wouldn't have had any trouble being away from ex-husband for days at a time."

In fact, she loves SR. She said "He cooks, he cleans and he's great with kids... what woman wouldn't love that???"

Perhaps that's when it got a little weird. Later when she heard the phone ring, she got all giggly and said "I bet that's SR!" She answered it with a mischievous school girl voice "Hello?"

"My lady?" SR said, thinking it was me. And my mom had to hand it over.

SR and I do joke about my mom and his friends flirting with him, loving his suave foreign doctor ways and his great cooking. But it's all in fun. And I think the truth is my mom and her friends are just glad to see me so happy.

All that being said, my mom is questioning SR's idea of the two of us taking The Bois on a trip climbing and camping on Mount Whitney (highest peak in lower 48). She has nightmares about it, in fact. I honestly know nothing about taking infants up to high altitudes. I'll have to (of course) do some looking into it before we commit.

The perfect father.

The mischievous grandma.

The young revolutionary.