So last night I was all motivated and whatnot to start running again.  I have an outfit all put together – lightweight pants with a running skirt that reaches 3/4 of the way to my knees, a lightweight long sleeve running shirt that covers the behind portion, and decent scarf.  Very cute, very sporty, quite modest and just begging to be taken out for a run.

I used to run in the mornings before work, but realized that there weren’t a lot of people out then, so it probably wasn’t safe.  So I had switched to running after work, going out around 6 pm.

Now this:

St. Paul police shot and killed a 34-year-old man who allegedly confronted officers with a gun Monday night. During the confrontation, a police dog was wounded, officials say.

Officers responded to a call at 6:12 p.m. that the man, Robert Jerome Jeske, was drinking and had a handgun in the alley behind the 1500 block of E. Iowa Avenue, east of Lake Phalen, according to St. Paul police spokesman Peter Panos. Callers reported that shots were fired while the officers were on their way to the scene.

Three officers found Jeske in the alley, where he confronted them with the handgun, Panos said. During the exchange, a police dog named Boomer was struck one time, and the officers shot and killed the suspect. Jeske, a St. Paul resident, died at the scene. Police believe he had been visiting acquaintances in the neighborhood.

Ya Rabb, can’t I catch a break?  Do you know how many times I’ve run by that ally?  Sure, there are more people out at 6, but apparently they’re drunk and have guns.

Sorry to go MIA.  I’ll respond to comments soon inshaAllah.

Happy 1430/2009!  As always, I make resolutions, but perhas this year, I can actually keep them?

Dunya:

• Walk every week day during my lunch hour, if even for 15 minutes
• Do ab exercises everyday
• Lift weights 3 times a week
• Only spend $20 on eating out each month
• Learn Caribbean and Vietnamese cooking
• Show Squeaky in the HHP category at a TICA cat show.

Akhira

• Complete the 40 grand and keep on going inshaAllah
• Never leave a salat without doing x amount of dhikr
• Learn a new ayah every week
• Leave ____ sin (sorry, that one’s private)

As always, inshaAllah inshaAllah inshaAllah.

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.

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*

…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.

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.
 

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

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.

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.

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 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

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.

So, I visited my parents this weekend.  And a few days before I went, my mom called me up and asked me if I’d like to work out at her gym on Saturday.  And not only to hang out at her gym, but to go hot tubbing after working out.  It’s like, umm, mom, you do know that my swimsuit is all hijabified right?  Well, no, I didn’t actually say that.  She knows I wear my splashgear suit swimming, and when I work out, I wear hijab.  The fact that she actually was ok being seen with me decked out in all my hijabi goodness is a major step in our relationship islam wise.  Since I converted, she likes to pretend it didn’t happen.  Hijab makes that hard to do.

On top of that, she gave me a gorgeous purple shayla scarf with embroidered swirls on it.  Dude, who are you and what have you done with my mother?

Of course, nothing can be perfect.  She did have to get in remarks about how muslim women have a higher rate of vitamin D deficiency since we cover and don’t get enough sunlight.  I countered with the fact that we don’t get skin cancer nearly as much as the rest of the population.

Ah family.  Can’t live with em, can’t live without em.

Via MMW:

Study week to discuss hurdles encountered by women in sports

Unfortunately there’s not much that I can find from a cursory google search.

Color me shocked…a (quasi) hijabi runner has made the yahoo news front page spread.  It seems silly to me that they would let her run in the multicolored under uniform for 3 years, but now that it matters to get into college, they’re going to have an issue with it?

Thanks to the wonders of google, I’ve found a bit more about about this running sister.

Washington Post article on running during Ramadan

Local Sports Pictures

MD Runners

I definitely like her earlier uniforms over the one from the yahoo video. The baggier jersey and shorts definitely make it a bit more hijab worthy.

thanks to Rebecca for the heads up on this story!

*digs around in closet looking for cheesehead earrings*

Ah, the travails of a hijabi Packers fan. 

1.  Tailgating severely curbed.  No brats or beer for the muslim football freak.  I found some decent brats at the halal grocery store, but nothing matches a Johnsonville brat fresh off the grill.

2.  Cheeseheads always look silly, but they look even more silly on top of a hijab.  Howeva, since I can’t really wear a cheesehead to work on Friday, I’m trying to work out a scarf dealy with my cheesehead earrings.  Unfortunately, all my turtlenecks get stretched out of shape after one time through the was, so they don’t really cover my neck when I tie my scarf up.  I’m going to have to find a way to pin it to the bottom of my scarf, creating maximum coverage, while still allowing the earrings to dangle down.

*continues to prep for Sunday’s game*

From the New York Times:

Dr. Morgan, who tested the method in research studies, said he was inspired by a story, reported by an anthropologist that, he suspects, is apocryphal. It involves Tibetan monks who reportedly ran 300 miles in 30 hours, an average pace of six minutes a mile. Their mental trick was to fixate on a distant object, like a mountain peak, and put their breathing in synchrony with their locomotion. Every time a foot hit the ground they would also repeat a mantra.

So Dr. Morgan and his colleagues instructed runners to say “down” to themselves every time a foot went down. They were also to choose an object and stare at it while running on a treadmill and to breathe in sync with their steps. The result, Dr. Morgan said, was that the runners using the monks’ strategy had a statistically significant increase in endurance, doing much better than members of a control group who ran in their usual way.

la…ilaha…il…Allah…la…ilaha…il…Allah…

Sub…han..Al..lah…Sub…han..Al..lah…

Despite the title, this article from the Guardian sadly does not speak about anything I didn’t already know re: muslim women and running.

I do find this hysterical:

At the Athens Olympics in 2004, women from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Somalia were present; most notable was the appearance of 18-year-old Rakia al Gassra from Bahrain who ran in the Olympic 100 metres with only her face uncovered.

…

At the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, last year, the Bahraini runner Rugaya al Ghasara won gold in the 200 metres. She wore tracksuit pants, a long-sleeved top and a headscarf emblazoned with a prominent Nike swoosh.

Umm, yes, hello? Ruqaya is “Rakia.” Do’h!

Ruqaya at the Asian games

“Rakia al Gassra” at the Olympics

In other, more self centered news, I got a new running shirt. I haven’t taken it out for a test run yet, but I’m quite excited – it’s long sleeve, but it’s incredibly light weight, specifically designed to wear in hot weather. Most long sleeve sports shirts are designed for colder weather, which makes them a bit heavy for summer running.

It’s a Men’s size XL, which nicely covers to my thighs, but unfortunately is hugely baggy and unwieldy at the top. Woh is me, won’t anyone design a modest tunic sports top for women? The stuff that’s out there is cute, but way to heavy and unwieldy to wear running. I’m almost convinced I need to learn how to sew, but I don’t think you can purchase the wicking material that makes sports shirts great for long runs.  Ah well, at least I can flaunt my Badger pride. On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin…

Among other questions, on the day of judgment, we will be asked about: 

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Judgment until he has been questioned about four things): his life – how he spent it, his knowledge – how he acted upon it, his wealth – where he earned it and how he spent it, and his body – how he used it.” (Tirmidhi, Kitab sifat al Qiyamah wal Raqa’iq)

Do I really want to tell Allah (swt) that I sat in front of the television, eating cheddar cheese popcorn, and ignored my body as my cholesterol and blood pressure sky rocketed?  Gotta get this booty in gear!

Still nothing of substance?  Bad bad blogger.

 Looking forward to seeing Anja’s sports collection.

Last night in my internet surfage, I happened upon a new online store that was geared towards the active muslimah. It didn’t have much yet – 2 shirts and a swimsuit – but it was only a few weeks old, and will probably put more up later. It looks like the stuff is from Indonesia, which is uber cool. The hijabi fashions there are awesome, but up until now, I hadn’t found any place online that sold them.

Only problem? I didn’t save the link, and my googling isn’t turning anything up. Dang!

However, in related news, it looks like the hijabi swimwear industry is taking off. I still *heart* my splashgear, and will most likely buy from them again once I loose enough weight (inshaAllah) to get need a smaller size. 10 pounds down, 25 to go!

Ok, I’m trying hard not to get tooooo excited here. As I’ve blogged about in the past, it’s a constant struggle to find modest clothes to run in. Finding a scarf that doesn’t overheat my head has been the hardest. I’m currently using a light cotton scarf that breathes, but it keeps all the sweat in, rather than wicking it away like specialty fabrics do. So at the end of a run, my head is soaking, yuck!

I even tried to make my own al amirah out of an old running shirt, but alas, after I cut the fabric, I remember I couldn’t sew.

But, those days of worrying may be behind me. I came across a website from Canada this morning called Queendom Hijabs. According to their website:

We cater to the active woman, the one who runs the marathons, hits the gym, goes to school, holds her job, all while still looking modest and stylish. The focus is on function. We want each hijab to move with you without having to re-adjust and restyle.

Oooo, it’s almost too good to be true! The only thing I’m worried about is that they look kinda short, and I need a scarf that provides funner coverage in the collar bone area. Since I wear larger men’s shirts for modesty reasons, the neck hole is usually larger, and I have a hard time finding scarves that stay put and cover. But, I suppose I could always sew the neck hole smaller. Even someone who can’t sew couldn’t screw that up right?

*updated* I ordered this one:

Runner’s fit

Fits all
Modern crisp and clean
Light
Absorbant layer undeneath crown
Complements your sports clothing

Well, I’m not sure about the last once, since my pants are gray and my shirt is black, but it will definately lighten things up a bit.

I may also get this one that’s advertised as highly breathable later on.

I asked the site owner about the length of the scarves, and she said that they’re longer than they appear in the picture. It should be long enough to cover the top of the chest down to the top of the boosoms area, so inshaAllah that will be good enough to cover the large neck holes of my running shirts.

*happy dance*

Via Rolled up Trousers by way of Sunni Sister

Yet that’s not how the journalist at the local newspaper in Oxford, the Oxford Mail, decided to approach the issue. Her article was titled “Row over fully dressed woman in sauna”. The main interview in the article was with Ian Caldwell, the man who verbally attacked me in the lobby. There was no attempt to find out the full story. A so-called “Muslim community leader” called Taj Hargey called it “political correctness gone crazy”.

At no point had the journalist contacted me. She seemed to have decided to take a similar approach to the man in the swimming pool – talking about me, not to me. As did David Lloyd’s, which had backed up his story without consulting me. At no point did they bother to inform me, a paying member, that such an article was being written. I contacted the Oxford Mail, offering them my side of the story. I never heard back.

Of course, that would have destroyed the theme of the article. Nobody in Oxford would be interested in new swimming suits with hi-tech material, but a crazy Muslim woman jumping into a pool fully clothed and potentially suffocating in the sauna was much more interesting. Since when have facts been important to journalists covering stories involving Muslims?

Alhamdulilah, I haven’t had any international sensation news stories written about me when I go swimming at the local Y. Maybe someone will write one when I finish a marathon (currently training for a half, planning on a full in 2009), but I would hope they would have the decency to interview me. Heck, I hope they interview me.

I think I”m going to use the sauna this weekend at the gym…

Finding proper running attire for a hijabi is a never ending quest. Running isn’t a sport known for modest apperal. Runners tend to peel off layers as it gets hotter, ending up in short shorts and a sports bra. For hijabis, that’s not really an option, unless you’re running inside on a treadmill. And, I’m not a big fan of teadmill running. I prefer the great outdoors, and running in road races. Running slowly, I should hasten to add, but still running never the less.

I’m constantly adding and subtracting pieces from my wardrobe. This past weekend, I went running shoe shopping (yaay, new shoes!), and found what may be the perfect hijabi running shirt, at least for a person my size. It’s a men’s Mizuno Renegade VI XL long sleeve shirt, very very lightweight, in grey with green stripes. They had the same shirt in white with blue stripes, but alas, white tends to be a little see through. The best part is that it was clearenced. $19.99, huzzah! *side note* While searching for a picture to add to this post, I found a bunch more of this style. *must…stop…self…from…buying…more*

I like to shop in the men’s section for shirts instead of in the women’s section for one reason – fit. Women’s sports tops tend to be very fitted, tight across the chest, and stop above the hips. Men’s shirts tend to be looser all around, AND if you buy them large enough, they hang down to mid-thigh. If you’re like me, you’ll have to shorten the sleeves, but it’s better than running in a long sleeve cotton shirt. I’d been doing that recently at the gym. Yuck! The sweat clings to the shirt, you get stinky, and you’re never cool.

Here’s my current running outfit:

Lycra Al Amirah in black or grey from HijabWorld – while the lycra is much better than cotton (wet soggy mess), it’s still a little hot. I may expirment soon with wearing a buff as the underscarf part

Mizuno Renegade VI shirt

Black and Grey Capris from Target. Because I have such short, stubby legs, at my current pants size, capris are as long as regular pants for me. inshaAllah when (if) I lose weight, I’ll fit length wise in regular sports pants.

Aaaaand, my new babies, my new shoes – Mizuno Women’s Inspire 3. I *heart* them. My feet *heart* them. My toes *heart* them. I picked out my last pair of shoes myself. Baaaad idea. I didn’t know anything about overprotinating, supinating, support, control, and whatnot. I picked out what was comfy on the clearence rack of DSWs. If you’re considering running, do yourself a favor and head over to a specialty running shop. Have a knowledgable salesperson fit your feet and get a shoe that supports your foot type. Your feet will thank you.

If anyone out there is a hijab-ed runner, drop me a line. I’d like to find other muslimahs out there who run.

A word of advice:

Never make up a dozen prayers in a row and then go out for a run. My thighs still hurt 2 days later.

My mind works in weird ways.

I wish I had read this piece from Umm Zaid that has the most important piece of advice a convert can ever get. Astaghfirullah, being regular with salat is not something that has come easily to me. But, alhamdulilah, I finally buckled down last night and calculated all the prayers I need to make up. If you’re not regular about prayers, sit down and figure out how many you missed. You’ll probably be shocked at how quickly they add up.

So, after maghrib, I made intentions to make up one missed maghrib prayer. After that one, I was starting to get in a groove. So I did another…and another…and another…

And this is where my mind starts working in weird ways. After quite a few rakat, I was starting to feel a burn in my legs. After the prayer, I headed off to the Y to run for awhile. While I was chugging along, I thought “I wonder what kind of exercise benefits we have in salat? It’s a little bit of strength training and stretching, with all the prostrating. I wonder how many calories one burns?”

I tend to obsess about things. My current obsession is fitness for the love of fitness. So naturally, I’m now obsessing over how many calories one burns while making salat, lol.

My legs are really tender today. I know it’s not just from running, since it hasn’t hurt like this since waaaay back when I first started running in 05. The combination of salat and running was an excellent workout. What a wonderful extra benefit we get from worshiping our Lord!

Please excuse my self centered moping post with a lack of much real islamic content.

I’m moping today. I went to the doctor for what I thought was a follow up appointment in regards to my allergies and whatnot, and low and behold, I’m diagnosed with asthma. Dang. I went from no medicine at the beginning of December to a whole cupboard full today. I can’t keep track of a pair of mittens. How on earth will I not lose 2 inhalers?

Also, even better, it’s triggered by the cold. Good thing I live in Minnesota, eh, cuz we never get any cold here. I suppose it could be worse. It could be exercise indused, and that would suck. Alhamdulilah, I can keep up my exercise (lost 4 pounds since I was at the doctor’s in mid December, subhanAllah). The doctor even said that it may increase my exercise capacity! I have this dream of running a marathon some day (hijab and all), but I’ve kinda hit a wall at 3 miles. I hope that’s been due to my breathing issues and not just the fact that I’m not an athlete. inshaAllah these inhalers will be a blessing and help me push for my goal of 26.2 miles.

I’m planning on doing a massive overview of the burqini coverage that seems to be all the news rage this last week. I did get my own swimsuit from Splashgear earlier this week, and I’m lovin it. I did laps on Tuesday and I’m planning on swimming again tonight. I’ll do a full review of that too.

But now, I’m just going to mope.

Oh, and from “Reflections of Pearls, a concise & comprehensive collection of prophetic invocations & prayers” compiled by Inam Uddin & Ubdur-Rahman Ibn Yusuf, this supplication:

When feeling helpless regarding a matter:

The water is calling. I can’t wait to go swimming.

I’m excited to see that Sister Aheda’s Ahiida swimsuits are getting lots of press. The most recent article is found in the January 9th ediction of Christian Science Monitor, and is about Aussie hijabi lifeguards.

The only beef I have with the article is this:

The group’s trainer, Tony Coffey, says the burqini makes swimming more difficult compared with being dressed in a bikini or swimsuit. “It’s the biggest hurdle the girls face. But we can’t do anything about it, it’s part of the deal. They just need more intensive training.”

If someone is going to be a lifeguard, they better be a strong enough swimmer to be able to swim with some extra clothes. When I took lifeguarding training a decade ago, we had to swim for an entire hour, no stopping, wearing jeans and sweatshirts to prove our strength before they even let us into the class. And from what i understand, these swimsuits don’t drag a person down, especially if they’re a good swimmer. I’ll let ya’ll know when I test mine out (huzzah!).

Kudos to the hijabi sisters getting out there and getting things done. If you enjoy swimming yourself, please consider patronizing some of our entrapanurial sisters out there, like Sister Aheda or the Sister at SplashGear.

Predictably, I’ve made some goals to accomplish this year. In the dunya side of things, I’m eating breakfast at least 4 times a week, because, um apparently, it’s good for you. I’m also going swimming once a week, and to the gym 3 days a week. We get a deal at the local Y through our health insurance, but we have to go 12 times a month, or no deal. Thus, because I’m cheap, I’m forced to exercise or pay big $$$. Huzzah!

Slightly deen-y related, I’m in contact with the lady who runs the SplashGear website about getting some swimpants custom fit for my short stubby legs. She has been uber nice and responded to all of my questions with lengthy and informative answers. She gets an A++++ in the customer service department from me. Once I get the swimsuit and take it for spin, I’ll give a full review.

It’s been forever since I’ve gone swimming. I passed through the highest level of swim lessons our school district had to offer and passed the life guarding test at the youngest age I could take it. I wasn’t a particularly fast swimmer – I was on the swim team for one year before I figured out I was really really slow – but I could swim for hours without getting tired. I loved being in the water. Unfortunately, after I took a job as a lifeguard, I developed very strong self conscious feelings about how I looked in a swimsuit. I wasn’t fat. I was just a little on the chubby side, but all the other life guards were svelte athletes.

So, I didn’t sign up to lifeguard again. I stopped swimming. A few years passed, and I converted to Islam and after that, started wearing hijab. I attempted to go to sisters only swimming sessions, but whenever I went, no one else was there.

Hijabi geared swimwear has been popping up, and I’ve been looking for something decent. The turkish stuff looks a wee bit too much like a rain coat for me, while ahiida looks pretty good, but it’s really expensive coming from Australia. I do believe though, that I’ve come upon the perfect swimwear at the SplashGear website. I’m getting this outfit in black (I think), although I’m now wavering between that and this navy blue. Anyone have any thoughts?

Ok, totally deen-y, my goal this year is to learn all the surahs that MountHira creates tutorials for. I also have arabic on my plate again. I’ve dabbled in it before, taking a semester in college, and attempting to teach myself, but I’ve forgotten just about everything. inshaAllah husband will be helping me this time around

During the 2004 Olympics, there were a spate of articles about muslimah athletes competing in the games. One of those profiled was Ruqaya Al Ghasara, a Bahraini runner who ran wearing hijab.

Ruqaya continues to kick butt on the international level. She just won the gold in the 200 m and the bronze in the 100 m at the Asian Games.

I do wear hijab, but I don’t like to get involved in the whole hijab discussion that is popular in online and real world muslim circles. Scratch that, I enjoy discussion hijab styling and hijabi fashion, but I’m not one to get involved in the whole “must pressure all muslimahs to wear it and if you don’t, you suck” thing. I do, however, love to see a hijabi suceed. At a time when positive press for Islam is rare, the image of a hijabi blowing away the competition and then making sujood to thank God for her victory is a sight for sore eyes. SubhanAllah!
When I first started running a year ago, I searched high and low for other hijabi runners out there. I found a picture of Ruqaya from the 04 Olympics and pasted it to the door for inspiration. Now I have a ton of pictures to add, and inshaAllah many more when other muslimahs are inspired to get out there and just do it.

Iran’s Mina Porseifi Jahankhanomlou at the back of the pack of the 1500m finals. I *heart* her top. I’ve looked high and low for a slightly longer sports top and have always come up empty.