Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone

New episode coming up on Monday

We're dusting off our microphones for a recording session tomorrow evening so will have a sparkly new episode for you on Monday. I will be grilling Carla for all the details of her half marathon triumph!

There's still time to hit us up with your news - you can pop a comment here, tweet sweetly in our virtual ears, or say hello on our Facebook page.

Good luck Princess Carla!

Hey troops, it's Shauna here. The big day is finally near for my partner in crimes against podcasting, Miz Carla – the Disney Princess Half Marathon is THIS SUNDAY!

I've admired Carla sticking with her training despite realising she is not exactly in love with the sport of running, but most of all I admire her madness in deciding to wear a tutu on Sunday.

Here's wishing her oodles of good luck for the race. We look forward to hearing all about it in Episode 10!

Ask Julia: What is the right way to run?

Linda had a running question for Ms Julia Jones:

I've been reading and watching You Tube videos on running. It seems there is a wrong way to run and a right way. They say once you start running incorrectly it's hard to adjust. What is the right way to run? Do you have any tips or links I can follow up on? 

Forwards! I say. But the wise Julia has a better answer:

I wrote a book in Italian on women's running and I just translated the first section: running style! The english has not yet been corrected but it's still readable :-)

Running Style – A first approach

One of the most frequent questions asked by beginners is: how should I run? A lot of people compare themselves to elite runners they see on television (no matter what the specialty is, from the 800 metres to the marathon) or to a friend that already runs, without realizing that the way they move is very, very different.

They want someone to watch them run correct any errors that they’re making. They want to know if their feet should be positioned further ahead or if their shoulders are too far back. They think that with a couple of suggestions and simple corrections they’ll be able to run perfectly.

Episode 09 - Food Glorious Food

Food! It's a topic close to our hearts. And our bellies.

Today we've got nutritionist extraordinaire Kathryn Elliott from Limes and Lycopene to answer your questions with her trademark jargon-free warmth and wisdom.

We discuss:

• How important is variety in our diet?
• Is whey powder a good source of protein compared to "real" food?
• How does grapeseed oil compare nutritionally to olive oil?
• How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
• Should I eat before morning workouts?
• What's the deal with Vitamin D?

Plus there's Greek philosophy, more tutu talk, a truly bumper edition of Blogger News AND a brand spankin' new segment!

(And a bonus really, really cheesy FM Radio-style transition after one segment. Mwahaha!)

Here's how to listen:

• Find us in iTunes
• Subscribe to the podcast RSS feed
• Download the episode to your computer (64MB, mp3 format)
• Listen right here in your browser:

Powered by Podbean.com

If you have trouble with the above, here is an alternative download link and another in-browser player below:

09 Food Glorious Food

Let us know if you have any problems listening - our technical support team is standing by!

Further reading from this episode:

• The wisdom of Aristotle
• Kathryn's scrummy Indian-style scrambled eggs
• Madhur Jaffery's Eastern Vegetarian Cooking
• Lucy's Nourish Me blog

Many thanks to our Blogger News contributors:

• Jenny of Australia
• Cat's Puke of England
• Renee of Cutie Bootie Cakes
• Dr Mo of Footdr69's Blog
• Kat of Kat's Adventures in Diet Land
• Mandy of Staying on Course
• Toni of Wicca303
• Mel of The Daily Mel
• Ron of Ron Is Getting Healthy
• Jen of Watch My Butt Shrink
• Kepa of The Fat Lazy Guy's Log (check out the video!)

Today's scurvy-free krautrock classic outro tune is Vitamin C by Can, as suggested by Dr G.

We are standing by for your news! Email us at hello@twofitchicks, pop a comment, tweet @twofitchicks or get in touch on our Facebook page. Many thanks for listening to the show.

Call for questions and a fancy Facebook page!

We're pleased to let you know that nutritionist Kathryn Elliott will be joining us for Episode 9, coming up on Monday February 22. Kathryn is the genius behind the wonderful Limes & Lycopene blog. She'll be answering listener questions about food and nutrition. So if you're vexed about vitamins or baffled by beans, why not submit a question?

You can pop a comment here, tweet us or leave a message on our brand new Facebook page. We set this up to make it easier for you to submit blogger news or questions. Just click on the big blue Discussion tab and join in!

Feel free to say hello and/or start new topics too. It'll be nice to get to know you!

Episode 08 - Your Questions Answered II

It's February which means we're already 1/12th through 2010, by crikey. So today we're tackling some more of your questions. Topics include:

• Food Journals: To log or not to log?
• Self sabotage
• Maintaining health and fitness while injured

Plus: Shauna pines for her missing 15 pound dumbbell and Carla talks tutus and gooey substances for her upcoming half marathon.

Here's how to listen:

• Find us in iTunes
• Subscribe to the podcast RSS feed
• Download the episode to your computer (49MB, mp3 format)
• Listen right here in your browser:

Powered by Podbean.com

And in case our podcast host craps it again, here is an alternative download link and another in-browser player below:

08 Your Questions Answered II

Please let us know if you have any problems listening - our technical support team is standing by!

People, places and random thingies mentioned in this episode:

• Carla shall soon be pretty in pink at the Disney Princess Half Marathon
• MizFit turns two
• Dietgirl turns nine
• Shauna yearns to be a maintenance machine like Diane of Fit to the Finish
• We wish Jen of Perfect in Our Imperfections a swift return to running
• And another plug for Julia's ace 5K training programme

Blogger news from:

• Jen of 266
• Nikki of Gettin Out There
• Daire of Love, Passion, Fury
• Nancy, a SparkPeople person

Today's not-necessarily-looking-out-for-your-best-interests outro tune is Sabotage by Beastie Boys.

We're a fool for your news and questions! Don't be shy, kids. Email us at hello@twofitchicks, pop a comment or tweet @twofitchicks. Thanks always for tuning in.

Ask Julia: What do you think of barefoot running?

Another running question for dear Julia:

What's your take on barefoot running? Is there really any scientific evidence to support it?

Julia says:

When I was in high school in the mid 70’s I had a history teacher that was a recreational runner. He would go running every single day at lunch circling the perimeter of the football field, barefoot on the grass. After more than thirty years barefoot running has made a huge comeback in the States, mostly after the success of Christopher McDougall’s best seller book “Born to Run”. If you haven’t read his book yet, I highly recommend it. It’s probably the most entertaining book I have ever read on running, and I’ve read them all!

In the second week of my Base program I wrote a paragraph about the importance of using your feet while you run:

“Most of us think about our legs while running, but the one most important aspect of how well you run is how you use your feet. In running your feet not only land you as you “fly” through the air, they’re used to push you off the ground as your body is propelled forward. How you use your feet is going to determine how fast you run and help you fend off a lot of running related injuries. In fact, people that complain about knee problems when running are most often “shufflers”. They land flat on their feet, absorbing all the impact on their knees.”

What Christopher McDougall emphasizes quite strongly in his book is on how running shoes are now constructed to immobilize your feet rather than allow you to use them the way they were meant to function. With all the cushioning, wedges and “air”, we can now run with no pain, and that is not always a good thing. Your feet need to move and push and “feel” the ground so they know how and when to shift or change position based on what kind of surface they’re on. A good runner has good biomechanics while running, and that starts with landing properly on your feet and then pushing off with them.

That said, I am not ready to go out and run barefoot. I think there are many ways that you can rehabilitate your feet so that you are using them while you run without taking off your shoes. Read on for the list!

Ask Julia: What to do when running is a pain in the side

Today's running question comes from RunningStart. She asks:

When running, what do you do about the awful side stitch? You know. Where you get that pain in your side that won't go away until you stop running? When I'm running, my legs, my breath, and my head are all saying, "Keep running!" but my side says, "Oh! No! You'd better stop and stretch that out again." Please help!

Our running guru Julia Jones says:

In order to cure yourself of a side stitch, you have to first understand what is happening to your body. The pain you feel is actually caused by a spasm of your diaphragm muscle. The diaphragm muscle separates your lung cavity from your abdominal cavity and moves up and down while your inhale and exhale. So when you inhale (try this while you’re reading!) your lungs fill up with air and pushes your diaphragm down (see how your stomach pushes slightly out?). As you exhale your lungs contract and your diaphragm rises back into place. Now try that a few times: breath in and vision your diaphragm pushing down, breath out and see it returning back up.

While we run the rising and falling of the diaphragm is happening at a faster speed than normal with this added catch: most runners exhale when their left foot strikes the ground, while about 30% exhale when their right foot hits the ground. Why is this important? Most stitches occur on the right side, which is why a lot of people attribute a side stitch to a liver problem! As your right foot hits the ground, gravity forces your internal organs down also which in turn are attached to the diaphragm pulling that down too. So if you’re exhaling at the same time as your right foot hits the ground, your diaphragm is being pulled DOWN on one end just as you are exhaling and having it pulled UP by contracting your lungs. I know, you’ll have to read that over again to really understand what is happening. It’s like the diaphragm is being pulled in two directions at the same time and then... SIDE STITCH!

Also, please note that side stitches are exacerbated with downhill running, there's a lot more jostling happening with the diaphragm and those internal organs while you scoot downhill!

Now that you understand what is going on, here’s how to take care of a side stitch so you can start running normally again:

• Stop or slow down. Stop for a few seconds while you get your breathing under control. You can keep walking while you get your breathing in sync. If you have more running experience and the stitch occurs while running at a faster speed you can also try just slowing down.
• Push up on the right side of the diaphragm. Take your fingers and push right up underneath the right hand side of your rib cage. Just a gentle nudge will be enough to alleviate some of the pain.
• Take full, deep breaths. Avoid any shallow breathing, take nice deep, controlled breaths for a few minutes.
• Get your running and breathing in sync. Try exhaling when your left foot hits the ground. Once you have everything under control and you beginning running again, concentrate on exhaling every four counts when your left foot hits the ground. This should avoid any reoccurances for the rest of your run.

Two Fit Chicks - now loud and clear in Two Ears!

Oh people, never edit a podcast after midnight. Some eagle-eared listeners noticed that Carla's voice was only coming through one of their headphones. Turns out that I had accidentally turned the balance on Carla's track to the left. Whoops.

The podcast has now been corrected re-uploaded:

• All the links and in-browser players have been updated on yesterday's podcast post.
• If you're an iTunes subscriber, go into Podcasts then click on the Refresh button. Or right-click on Two Fit Chicks in your subscriptions list and select "Update Podcast".

Welcome, SparkPeople people!

Hello to any visitors arriving from SparkPeople today - thanks for dropping by. Here's some helpful links for you:

• Listen to our brand new episode: Getting STARTed 2010
• Find out more about your hosts, Carla and Shauna
• Browse through our episode archives
• If you're new to podcasts, check out our How To Listen Guide

We hope you enjoy the show if you have a listen, and perhaps we'll be hearing your news or question on the air in 2010!