Grateful to reach the start line (and finish…and PR!) once again. A chest cold, newly-diagnosed exercise-induced asthma, and food poisoning a few days before somehow didn’t derail my race! 2:57:45 last Sunday. Looking forward to a break from the marathon distance, but anxious to do better next time.
Much love to my friends for the constant support during this build (@houstonharriers , @cookiecrewhtx , @hardlooprun ) and my family for coming out to watch!! Biggest thanks to @nicgrasty for coming on this adventure with me and cooking my PR pasta (my secret weapon 😋). And @theneffpace , thank you for your knowledge, guidance, and for challenging me during this build!! Lastly, thank you @bchunggrasty for your treatment plan for my breathing problems!!
Yes, it’s true 😢✨👇🏼
👩🏼⚕️IN CLINIC: What I say to young girls and parents to motivate them into doing sports:
“It helps with self-esteem and gives you a stronger self of belonging” (2 things that correlate with health outcomes and overall well-being!!!!) 👉🏼This is specially true with families from racial and ethnic minorities (and I am proudly one of them) 😍 👉🏼WHAT IS KNOWN: sport participation is key to empowering girls and women. The gender gap has existed for a long time (with boys sports participation being greater). It is slowly closing **YAY**. BUT it’s not the same for all girls. 👀👀 👉🏼Girls in immigrant families report lower rates of sport participation than boys!! ⚠️⚠️For those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, there are still many difficulties that exists: 1. socio-economic limitations 2. cultural stereotypes 3. Concerns on their appearance (hair, physical appearance)
🤓STUDY BREAK-DOWN
Sports participation among adolescents in high school in 2015 was greater for boys than girls (shown in previous studies). Team participation varies amongst race/ethnicity as well. Sports team participation was higher among non-hispanic white (60.7%) compared to Hispanic (40.7%) and Asian (35.6%) girls
📈Similar trends existed for boys but the differences between racial/ethnic groups were much larger for girls
👩🏽⚖️Policies and large-scale interventions are needed. But what can you do TODAY?
👩🏼⚕️🩺PEDIATRICIAN: talk about the benefits that go beyond the well known physical benefits of sports.
👯♀️EVERYONE: set the example!!! move in groups and welcome others :)
📖References
Simon AE, Uddin SFG. Sports Team Participation Among US High School Girls, 1999-2015. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2018;57(6):637-644. doi:10.1177/0009922817732145
Staurowsky, Ellen J., et al. Chasing Equity: The Triumphs, Challenges, and Opportunities in Sports for Girls and Women. Women’s Sports Foundation, 2020.
#girlsinsport #womeninsports #minorities #immigrants #sportsmedicine #equity #running #runner #health #movementmedic #pediatrician
Glucose and exercise 🧬👩🏽🔬🏃🏽♀️
🍭We always hear movement is good to regulate our glycemia (blood levels of glucose/“sugar”).
👉🏼But have you ever thought how? 👀
👉🏼One of the mechanisms: exercise makes GLUT4 (glucose receptors) more available in the muscle cells.
👉🏼This lets glucose enter muscle cells (where it is used) and blood glucose levels are regulated
👉🏼Chronic hyperglycemia (having high blood sugar for a long time) is correlated with negative health outcomes (ex. heart and kidney disease) so by including regular movement you can help control this
⚠️Disclaimer: This does not replace medical advice. Always seek professional care for an individualised treatment plan. Specially those with Diabetes type I need careful monitoring with exercise due to risks of hypoglycemia.
REFERENCES 📖📖📖
W. F. Boron and E. L. Boulpaep, “Medical Physiology: A Cellular and Molecular Approach,” 2nd Edition, Saunders Elsevier, Philadelphia, 2009
Richter EA, Hargreaves M. Exercise, GLUT4, and skeletal muscle glucose uptake. Physiol Rev. 2013;93(3):993-1017. doi:10.1152/physrev.00038.2012
WANT MORE INFO?? 📚
Visit the American Heart Association website: What is Metabolic Syndrome? To learn more
#exercise #exercisephysiology #science #runners #movement #sportsmedicine #pediatrician #diabetes #metabolicsyndrome #health #prevention #movementmedicine
101 SCIENCE LITERATURE REVIEW
PART 1 🔬🧫📄🕵🏻♀️‼️
2 basic things you should ALWAYS look at
👧🏼Population characteristics!! A study is not the same if its done in: adults vs kids, female vs males, athletes vs sedentary people
👧🏽Control groups: they are like the “baseline”. You want to know: what is the intervention or treatment being compared to?!
🏃🏽♀️👩🏻⚕️👩🏽🔬We are just 2 girls in science and sports who like long runs and science talks! Leave us questions and hopefully we can help with the answers 🩷🩷🤓 Study referenced: Ackerman, K. E., Singhal, V., Slattery, M., Eddy, K. T., Bouxsein, M. L., Lee, H., Klibanski, A., & Misra, M. (2020). Effects of Estrogen Replacement on Bone Geometry and Microarchitecture in Adolescent and Young Adult Oligoamenorrheic Athletes: A Randomized Trial. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 35(2), 248–260. /10.1002/jbmr.3887 One of the pictures from: Arias, F. D., Navarro, M., Elfanagely, Y., & Elfanagely, O. (2022). Chapter 31 - Biases in Research Studies. In Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (pp. 567-589). Elsevier. /10.1016/B978-0-12-819841-7.00031-9
#science #research #literaturereview #sportsmedicine #medicine #phd #runners #longruns #pediatrician #education #strava #stravascience
A lot has been done and there is a long way to go 💖👣🚀
Thanks to all girls and all women in all sports who remind us that chasing dreams 💭is not crazy - Its empowering 💥💥💥
#LeadHerForward ✈️
@womenssportsfoundation
#NGWSD #titleix #womeninsport #girlsinsports #sportsmedicine #movement #ngwsd2025 #movementmedicine #equity
Too many pics to post and I’m too shy to spam your feeds so here are a handful of cute pics from our first trip as a married couple 🤍
Thank you @travelw.tina for planning a wonderful and beautifully organized trip for us this winter!!
1-5: Como, Italy
6-10: Milan, Italy
11-15: Zermatt, Switzerland
16-18: Geneva, Switzerland
Meet @thushfia - she picked up running during her PhD. Now graduated (🧪👩🏽🔬) with a degree and 7 marathon medals!! 🏅🦄 !!
“I wouldn’t have been able to focus on my PhD and have a good finish if I didn’t have my outlet of marathon training” 🎙️
Love getting to know and sharing these stories: Every-day athletes doing extra-ordinary things!! Pretty inspiring no?
#girlsinstem #femaleathlete #phd #marathon #sciencegirl #marathonrunner #motivation #movementmedic #sportsmedicine
This wasn’t a PR day. I fought the heat, hills, and stomach for 26.2 miles during my second Boston Marathon. Diarrhea four times on course made me want to quit so, so bad, and I could tell I was getting really dehydrated. I walked into an on-course medical tent thinking I’d have my first DNF. Not sure if it was delirium but I turned around and decided to finish even if it meant hitting up every portapotty I saw. I did not fly all this way to Boston, drive 60 miles out to Bellville every weekend for hill training, and pay this $300 registration fee to leave this city without my damn medal!!
As soon as this photo was taken I was wheeled off to the medical tent due to shortness of breath and dehydration. This course eludes me but I’m anxious to rip it next year, hopefully with better fitness and weather conditions. 😤😤
It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but it was still a 27-minute course PR and my second fastest marathon (3:12…missed the current PR by 14 minutes).
