I Can’t Believe It’s Been 10 Days!

The last time I blogged was when I went running with my good friend Hiro. We went for a good 50 minute run from my apt to my parent’s house. Since then we’ve been out running many times, each time trying a different route. We’ve alternated 45-50 minute runs with a longer, more intense 70 minute run. While the pace has not picked up much, the miles have obviously gotten longer. We’ve been running after tarawih which usually do not finish until 10:45ish. By the time we come back, it’s usally close to midnight and then add to it a shower, late night snack (with proteins) and we’re talking about going to bed at 1 or 2 am. Oh well! This past wednesday Hiro wasnt available but Arif Shaikh went running with me. Now that we’re running after tarawih, he’s able to join us again. Woohoo! Him and I ran for 50 minutes which is amazing since Arif had not run for a couple of weeks.

My Diet Has Been Hard to Figre Out…

During iftar it’s hard to get picky with what I eat, considering that I am starving by then! and there are a lot of yummy dishes on the table. On the days that I run, I dont eat any meat during iftar because it takes longer to digest and I drink bottles upon bottles of water. I try to keep my body hydrated for the late night run. I havent lost much weight in Ramadan, maybe a pound or two. So far, I’ve lost about 27 pounds in total and I would like to lose 20 more lbs. It’s going to be harder to lose weight in Ramadan because of the irregular eating schedule and the slower matabolism, but if I could at least maintain my weight and maybe lose a couple of pounds then that will be fine insha’Allah. After Ramadan, I will have about 40-45 days to lose any extra lbs that I want.

Side Note: I’ve reached a little over 25% of my fundraising goal. I need to fundraise ~ $1600 more. You can help by donating here and since t’s Ramadan, insha’Allah you will get the reward multiplied many times over. Jazakum Allahu  khayran for your donations!

Green Means Go!

How often have you taken side streets for 4 miles and didn’t stop at a single light? Not one! I dont know about you, but I dont think I’ve ever had that happen to me. Well, this evening Hiro and I went for a 4 mile run after taraweeh. We wanted to try this new time because running before iftar seemed suicidal, not to mention unhealthy for muscle development.

We prayed at Masjid Omar behind Shaykh Mohammad Ibn Faqih and it was a great night praying behind him. Afterwards, we rushed to my home in Orange, changed, did some light stretching and started our journey towards my parents’ house in Garden Grove. Mapquest says it was 4 miles. I say it was more like 14 miles.

But anyways, unlike a pre-iftar run we didn’t feel as dehydrated and had a bottle of water with us just in case thirst overcame us. What almost did me in though was not the water, but rather the iftar. Although I had an iftar full of Carbs (I passed on the grilled chicken and kofta) it didnt seem like my digestive system had worked as fast as I would have liked it to. I definitely felt some indigestion during the run…ewww gross! but we kept running. Hiro was a few steps ahead of me of course and could have been more but then what fun is it if we didnt run together at the same pace. About 2 miles into the run Hiro made a comment that “all the lights are green”. I couldnt be any sadder. A red light means we could take a short breather but the lights had a mind of their own and they kept turning green, almost as if it were in spite.

Finally, yes finally, we got to a red light, but just as my luck would have it, it wasa time to turn left. We ran the entire way and had Hiro not been with me I likely would have changed course so that I could catch a red light. Anyways, long story short, 4.1 miles into our run we got to my parents’ house. My pulse was 100 after a 5 minute rest. Is that good? Who cares! This post is about red lights.

Now make me feel better. Please support my running effort and donate here. May Allah SWT reward you with endless bounties for any donation that you make.

Salaams!

Running Right Before Iftar

Yesterday, I ran right before iftar and it was extremely challenging. I am used to gobbling down tons of water, but this time I had to run the 40 minutes without drinking any. And of course, it was the end of the fasting day so thirst was at its peak and energywas at its lowest. Hiro didn’t seem to mind it as much, but man I was ready to drink out of a puddle .

On Tuesday, we are going to run after taraweeh. We should be better hydrated, have more energy, and our iftar should be digested by then. Besides, I think it’s a healthier and better time to run. My father pointed out that running with a dehydrated body can be taxing on the kidneys and the last thing we want to do is to damage our kidneys while doing something aerobic and beneficial.

Something Funny: I went to Mother’s Market to pick up some stuff from there for Iftar and they have this little deli section there. I started tasting things to see if I should buy them. About 4 or 5 samples into my Mother’s journey, I remembered that I was fasting. That was an amazing and unbelievable gift from Allah, walhamdulilLah!

Oh and the day gets better! Hiro washed the dishes afterwards. Thanks Hiro! I will try and convince Angie that I did it, so let’s keep this our little secret.

My Running and Nutrition Outline for Ramadan

As my training for the Santa Barbara Newspress Half Marathon progresses, the miles will get longer and longer. And with the arrival of Ramadan, they will also become more challenging. First, I must maintain my running schedule while building up my stamina. Second, I must preserve my muscle tissue and avoid the loss of muscle mass. Third, keeping my metabolism from slowing down in Ramadan is vital, and lastly, I must continue to shed the pounds off in order for my body to have minimal wear and tear from running.

Now some people dont recommend you go on a diet while running, but I’ve found it beneficial. By losing 25 pounds, I have been able to take a lot of pressure off my knees and joints overall and my energy level has gone through the roof. My goal is to lose another 20 lbs and this will be difficult, but insha’Allah by continuing to eat healthy I can do it.

1. In order to build up my stamina, I will be running 3-4 times a week as recommended by experts. Saturday mornings are the team trainings and I will not mess with that. The first day of Ramadan happened to fall on one of those days and I think the training went well (I didn’t pass out).

During the week, I’ve decided to run immediately preceding iftar. This will give me enough time to get back home, eat, shower, and head out for taraweeh. I will be joined on the running trails by my good friend, Hiro. He’s a more experienced runner and will probably push me past any point of fatigue. Hopefully, I can keep up at his pace. It’s more fun running with a partner and so far, I’ve run twice with Arif.

There are other running options to consider if a pre-iftar run doesnt work. My concern is that by the end of the fasting day, there will be little energy for the run. So one possibility is to run immediately after breaking the fast. We can eat some dates and a powerbar, drink water or gatorade, pray and then go for a run. The only concern is that we will not have enough time for taraweeh. Another option is to run after taraweeh and while this makes a lot of sense, I’m not very crazy about running at 11:00 pm or midnight. Any thoughts about my running schedule?

2. Preserving the muscle mass is extremely important. This is accomplished by making sure that my body is getting enough calories and by fueling it with plenty of proteins. Every suhur, I will be eating Kashi Go Lean cereal. It is loaded with proteins and in addition, I will supplement my diet with a scoop of whey protein. This is a natural product and can be found at any grocery store. It was recommended to me by a vitamin and nutrition expert at Mother’s Market. It has very little fat or carbs and it is made up almost exclusively of protein. During iftar, I will eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, and insha’Allah this will be sufficient. My suhur and iftar will have plenty of dietary fiber and that is especially important for a sound diet and a healthy heart.

3. & 4. These two points are related. In my attempt to lose weight, I must refrain from eating too little. Doing so slows down the metabolism and will end up making me gain weight instead. Of course, during Ramadan your body goes into survivor mode and it automatically slows down your metabolism. By eating only twice a day, your body thinks that food is scarce. The plan is to trick your body into thinking that there is plenty of food and to keep it constantly working. This can only be done by waking up for suhur. Also, instead of having one large iftar, one must eat less at iftar and instead, have an early 3rd meal. Immediately after taraweeh I will be eating some fruits and vegetables. Now it’s not recommended to eat right before you sleep, but I doubt that I will be sleeping at 11:00 PM. I normally don’t get to bed before 1:00 AM so eating at 11:00 PM should give my body plenty of time to digest the food. I’m also looking for a low fat, low carb snack bar that I can have during the break at taraweeh. Any thoughts???

Peace!

P.S. If you have not done so, please help me reach my fundraising goal (or else I may not be able to run). Check out my fundraising website!

1st Day Running in Ramadan

The first day of Ramadan coincided with my Team in Training’s scheduled 50 minute run and I was very anxious to go through the run. It’s always challenging to run that long. I mean a 4.5 mile run is never easy so can you imagine how it would be without being able to drink water?

Surprisingly enough, it was not so bad. AlhamdulilLah, I woke up for Suhur and gobbled down cereal and milk, ate a slice of wheat bread with Humus, and drink a ton of water. My goal was to hydrate my body as much as possible.  I tend to lose about 4 lbs of water when I run for that long , so obviously, loading up on water before the fast was extremely important. Of course, I cant say that the rest of the day was easy. I was tired, thirsty, and hungry all day. But then again…so was every Muslim observing their 1st day of Ramadan.

The cutest part of the day was seeing how much my mom was concerned with having healthy eating choices for me during Iftar. She made lentil soup and salad, and cooked the other dishes with no added fats. My wife also made steamed rice which is much healthier than cooking it with oil or margerine. Insha’Allah, tomorrow I will talk about my general plan for Ramadan.

Peace!

Someone Give Me a Water Bottle!

I ran and ran and ran this morning and when I finished the clock had been ticking for 46 minutes. I did not expect this. The most that I had run before was 28 minutes. This was such an amazing feeling. I could have run more but I  had reached my target and I did not want to push myself more than my body is ready for. Besides, I had to walk back home. :)

The double-breath technique must’ve been the key to this morning’s run. This was a new breathing technique that I tried and it did wonders. The added stretching also helped.

During my run, I had a small bottle of water but about 5 minutes into my walk back, I had used up all of it. It was scary because I had already been running/walking for close to an hour and I still had another hour or so to go. The sun was getting sharper and the trees were scattered so I could not walk underneath their shade. The whole way back I was looking for a source of water. There was a golf course but I did not want to spend extra time walking there in search of water. So I kept walking.

I contemplated asking other runners/bikers but I thought it to be a silly idea. Then I passed a homeless lady and I was like man, Im so thirsty I should ask her for a bottle of water if she had one. Of course I did not ask and I doubt that she had one anyways.

More than two hours into my running/walking journey I finally got home. When I did, I got on the scale and get ready for this… My morning adventure had cost me 4 lbs. This was all water weight loss so I drank water immediately.

This was a great day…walhamdulilLah!

Now…have you donated for this great cause? http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/sbhalf09/hlabanieh. Please do so now!

Today I Go Public!

 After several weeks of secretly training and dieting I am excited to say that my Team In Training (TNT) fundraising page is finally up! Let’s get this baby rolling.  Check it out here and PLEASE DONATE!

Quick update: After running more than 3 miles on Saturday and Sunday, I took Monday off to let my body recover and get stronger. It was difficult not running today because I look forward to it so much now. I want to go out there and run everyday, but I need to stay disciplined and stick to my training schedule.

That’s what coach keeps saying at least.

OC Fair 5K Race…

Today was an awesome day, AlhamdulilLah. I took part in my first running competition. My family and I went to the OC Fair for a 5k race that was being held on the last day of the OC Super Fair. There were people from all over So Cal and some of them were definitely not amateurs. There were runners and walkers. I count myself amongst the runners although at times I do have to take a breather and walk for a minute or two.

You will be happy to know that Abu Sumayyah finished the race. I ran the 3.1 miles in 35 minutes which is 3 minutes faster than yesterday. I was surprised because this was back to back days of running 3 miles and I thought my body would break down on me. But AlhamdulilLah, it seems like Im getting the hang of this thing.

I ran 28 minutes today, followed by a 3 minute walk and then ran the final stretch. My wife and daughter were waiting for me at the finish line. It was sooo cool. I received a medal at the conclusion of the race and I was so excited. I finally got to experience what they call a runner’s high. I’d heard of it before but this was the first time I felt it. I had so much energy afterwards and when I got home I was ready to run another 3 miles.

My training schedule this week calls for 4 miles of running. At my pace, this means approximately 45-48 minutes. Wish me luck! If I can do this, I will be about a third of the way through my training. The half marathon is 13.1 miles and so I’m still quite a bit away from that but I definitely am making progress wal hamdulilLah.

Wooohoooo…Go Team!!! (sorry still on my runners high)

My 2nd Day of Training Went Well…

We ran at Heritage Park (Irvine) today…Well, we started at the park but ran mostly on a trail nearby. Our training today included stretching techniques followed by 3 miles of running (eeeek!). I finished the 3 miles in 38 minutes. Man, I took about a 3 minute walk at the 21 minute mark and then I ran the rest of the way. It’s so much eaiser to run as part of a team.

There is a 5k race tomorrow at the OC Fair. I think I’m going to run in that. 5k is 3.1 miles and it would be nice to see how I do in competition and to get a taste of it. I think it might be hard since I ran today but I wanna give it a try. Make Du`a for me!

Cracked the 2-0!

I have been frustrated all week because I couldn’t seem to run during the week as long and as far as I did this past Saturday (13 minutes). On Tuesday I tried my best but I was only able to run for 11 minutes. Not bad, but still not good enough. Today, I noticed that stamina-wise I could run forever, but my body is still lagging behind. Anyways, I pushed myself and WOOOHOOOO…I ran for 20 minutes nonstop. Oh my God, I was sooo tired and sooo sweaty…ewww!