Sportsjab

Oh goodness, a girl after my own heart!

Muslim Women Remove Barriers to Exercise

love to run. Albeit, I run much slower than I used to, but I still find a morning run the quickest, most effective way for me to burn calories. I often run after Fajr before my husband leaves for work and can watch our children. It seems so trivial now, but one of the reasons that I delayed covering after converting was my concern that I would have to give up running.

The problem was not with finding modest shirts and pants. A few companies offer Islamic sportswear, but I prefer to wear loose pants and extra-large, long-sleeved shirts for men, both specifically designed for running and made out of fabrics such as Coolmax or Nike Dri-FIT. This material wicks perspiration away from the skin, keeping you cool and dry. It is far superior to cotton, which absorbs water and can become heavy when wet.

My problem was that I could not find a comfortable hijab. The Hijood is not yet available to non-Olympians (although the website states that it is coming soon!) And whereas the two-piece, tighter fitting, Al-Amira-style hijab seemed to be the best design option, they are made of cotton, polyester, or a blend — materials that make you hot and wet when you sweat.

In my search for the perfect hijab to run in, I discovered that necessity is truly the mother of all invention. When I could not find something suitable, I decided to make my own, even though I do not know how to sew.

My favorite “SportsJab” is the pink one in the picture. I bought a baseball cap made of this perspiration-wicking fabric and added extra cloth. I could not purchase small quantities of this fabric so I bought running shirts and cut them to a very simple pattern that I designed.

I then sewed the cut fabric to the hat rim. Although my hijab is not as aerodynamic as the one Al-Gassra wears, it is comfortable and cool and I dare say attractive. Many Muslim women I know have complimented it and want to know where they can buy one.

The point here is that clothing need not stop you from exercising whether you are an Olympian or just interested in shedding a few pounds and keeping healthy.

SubhanAllah, a sister after my own heart.  I attempted to make something similar, but apparently I am less talented than here.  I tried to cut up one of my old sports shirts to sew to a hat I bought at Target, but alas, halfway through hacking around with a pair of scissors, I gave up.

on wisconsin green bay style

bwahaha, I must have this abaya, in green. I can’t snag a picture to post here, but select green. Must…have…Green Bay Packers colored abaya! Top it off with a white scarf and a cheesehead, and I’d be set…well almost set. Just need to get to the head of the 20 year waiting list for season tickets.  Oh, and convince the husband that american football is exciting.

*goes off in search of a red and white abaya to wear to wisconsin games cuz they’re easier to get into*

Unfortunately…

…Sr. Ruqaya isn’t advancing to the finals.  She placed 6th in her heat, while only the first 4 advanced.

But, keep on the lookout for this talented sister.  She is steadily improving.  Who knows, maybe we’ll see her in the 2009 World Championship.

Ruqaya

Mabrook to Sr. Ruqaya. 

In Round 1 of the 200m, she ran 22.81.  3 women ran faster than her.

 In Round 2, she ran 22.76.  5 women ran faster than her.

The semi finals are scheduled for Wednesday.

I can’t seem to find anything solid.  about her best time in the 200.  According to her website it’s 23.19.  According to this french website, she ran 22.65 in Rome in July.  inshaAllah she can continue to push it, since the fastest time in Round 2 was 22.60.  She was the fastest in both her heats, so maybe if she’s running against faster women, it will push her faster.

Just a few bones I’ve got to pick with the caption people here.

 Hello?  Um, no she’s makin sajdah. 

Roqaya Al-Gassra of Bahrain kisses the track as she celebrates winning her women’s 200m heat of the athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Stadium August 19, 2008.REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (CHINA)

And this?  This is called dua.

Roqaya Al-gassra of Bahrain celebrates winning her women’s 200m heat of the athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Stadium August 19, 2008.REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (CHINA)

Her hijab looks different this time around.  I believe it’s ahiida’s hijood, which is confirmed via good ol Sheikh Google - Bahrain athlete to run in Aussie-designed hijab.  I hope this is a sign that ahiida is going to launch their athletic line soon.  It’s been on the website for years, but I think with the success of the burqini, it’s been pushed to the back burner.  I emailed the sister about it a few years ago, and she sent me a really spiffy little marketing picture with the sports clothes, but I haven’t heard anything since.
 

hijabis at the olympics

Homa Hosseini of Iran

Najmeh Abtin of Iran

Eman El Gammal of Egypt

Heba Ahmed of Egypt

And my favorite hijab-ed athlete:

OMG, I love her outfit *faints*

Ruqiya al Ghasra of Bahrain

Afghan Athlete Seeks Asylum in Europe

Mehboba Ahdyar was to be the poster-child for the Olympics but the 19-year-old Afghan runner ran away from an Italian training camp last week. She has since told her parents she is too scared of reprisals and plans to seek asylum in Europe.

Mehboba Ahdyar was shouldering the heavy burden of overwhelming expectations. And in the end, it proved more than she could bear. The 19-year-old from Kabul was to be the only female athlete representing Afghanistan in this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Now the young woman has run away, leaving a training camp in Italy and telling her family she is applying for political asylum in Europe.

…

But being in the international spotlight had attracted the wrong kind of attention. Although Ahdyar always ran in a headscarf and wore long tracksuit bottoms she still received death threats from extremists who objected to a Muslim woman taking part in sports at all.

When she received visits from Western media earlier this year, her neighbors called the police telling them she was obviously a prostitute working for foreign clients. Her father, a carpenter, even spent time in jail until the issue was cleared up.

May Allah (swt) protect her and her family, and give her success.

swimming wee!

If I have one problem with my splashgear suit (which I love dearly), it is that chlorine is a bit hard on it.  Of course, I’m ultimately to blame, since I left it sitting wet in a bag for days after swimming once, which caused the chlorine to eat away at the right arm.  But, other than that, it’s been absolutely fabulous.

Now I can rejoice!  The next generation of splashgear suits are out, and the fabric this time around is advertised as chlorine resistant. 

Please note that Splashgear is in the process of switching from nylon/spandex to the chlorine-resistant polyester knit fabric for all of its stretch products. The Island shirt is the first product in our line to be made using the chlorine-resistant fabric. The Resort shirt, swim cap, and swim hood are still currently being made using the nylon/spandex fabric and will switch over in the near future. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this transition.

Time to start saving up for a new suit.

muslimah stepping up the fitness

Building Sisterhood

And Ibrahim isn’t most people’s vision of a personal trainer. An observant Muslim, Ibrahim hosts her classes in traditional attire, all in accordance with Islam’s decree that a woman show no more than her face and her hands in public. Today Ibrahim’s workout ensemble includes loose black track pants, a pink tunic and a flowered pink hijab, or head wrap, worn chicly with a matching pink baseball cap.

…

Ibrahim has become something of a poster child for a breed of Muslim women who are publicly defying the stereotypes of suppressed, submissive women of Islam. By entering the workplace on their own terms, as business owners, Muslim women are combining religion and profession in a way that forces clients to encounter them in a professional light. Even more surprisingly, many of these small businesses are popping up because of Islam, not in spite of it.

Now that’s my kind of sister.  Visit her gym’s page here, where you can sign up for her email newsletter.

Meh and Yaay!

Meh for this blog server.  Yes, it’s nice ya’ll are moving to a new server.  Yes, it’s nice that you’re getting more bloggers.  But what about those of us who have been around here for awhile?  Wouldn’t it be nice to give us dedicated bandwith, rather than let our blogs be down 9 times out of 10, and when they are up, everything is all messed up? I’m contemplating a move to wordpress.  *sigh*

Yay for women only gyms!  Turns out, lots of women like to work out in a single sex environment, not just muslims.  inshaAllah I’m going to be joining one tomorrow.  It’s not some Curves circuit only place.  No, it’s got cardio and weight lifting machines up the wazo.  I’m still on my runner’s high from this morning’s workout.  And I’ve reached a conclusion - I sweat a ton if I run while wearing hijab and long sleeves, and I sweat a ton if I run in short sleeves sans hijab.  Heck, I could probably run naked (not a pretty picture), and still sweat buckets.  Still, it is nice to work out wearing “normal” workout clothes.  I already have cute stuff picked out at Target to bribe myself as I lose weight.   My days of wearing bulky, oversized men’s clothes to cover the behind and hips are numbered.   Once I get within my normal weight range, I’m going to pair a running skirt with regular pants to cover the behind and hips area, and then top it off with a cute women’s cut long sleeve shirt.  Then I’ll look absolutely fabulous as I train for a marathon, rather than this fat chick drowning in clothes that are way too big as she waddles her way around the lake.  Ok, I’ll probably still waddle, but at least I’ll look awesome in the process.

+  + appropriate scarf = hijabi running diva

no boys allowed

I commented at Ali Eteraz’s blog about the women only hours at the Harvard gym yesterday, which got me wishing for a women’s only gym in my area.  There are curves here, but I really really really want a gym that is more traditional.  I’m so not a circuit workout girl.  I need my pool, my exercise classes, my treadmill and bikes, and my weights.  Yup, when this muslima works out, she works out.  Pump that iron.

Low and behold, via Umm AbdurRahman, I find out that there’s a Lifetime fitness women only facility in a neighboring town.  Score!  I emailed to get the downlow.  Is it really women only or do men wander through unannounced?  If it’s purely women only, I’m so there.  It’s a pricier gym than the Y, but if I could work out without my hijab, I’d be in heaven.

Granted, I still love running outside, which always requires hijab, but I’d love to be able to take dance exercise classes and lift weights without being put in immodest positions around men.