Meet Karen Meades, runner extraordinaire.

She is now training for the gruelling six-day, 300-kilometre Moose Ultra on the Bruce Peninsula starting Aug. 16. Then she heads for Cairo in October to compete in the 260-kilometre Egyptian Sahara Marathon, or ultramarathon — as anything beyond the normal 42.2-kilometre marathon distance is known.

Meades is often amused by the flabbergasted looks on the faces of people, men especially, when they learn what she does outside the office. She uses her experience in motivational speeches to inspire women to fulfil their dreams and realize there is no glass ceiling they can’t crack if they put their minds to it.

I like that. I don’t do anything half as crazy, but I sure like her approach. You go girl!

New mom qualifies for body-building competition 8 weeks after giving birth to daughter.

Wow. That’s impressive. Or completely nuts. I report, you decide.

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Tanya insists: I could do squats ’til I turned blue and I wouldn’t have a keister that nice. But I did fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans about 2 weeks after I delivered my daughter. To my boyfriend’s chagrin, though, it had nothing to do with pole dancing.

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Véronique adds: As a new mother who has been battling the prego bulge for almost 6 months, I feel like I must intervene! The pot belly as in “I was absolutely determined not to get stuck with that little pot belly like so many other new mums.” Well stop the presses: there comes a time in your reproductive life where it ain’t goin’ anywhere. I have toned up and lost weight and if anything, it’s made the pot belly look jigglier. My body is DETERMINED to look five months pregnant and I don’t think anything will change it unless I pull a Kate Gosselin and get liposuction in exchange for air time on my hit reality TV show. In the mean time, I am considering resuming eating dessert three meals a day — as nature intended — since cutting it off hasn’t made a dent. So there! If you were blessed by the Gods of good genes, enjoy it privately. Those of us stuck with the muffin top would be grateful. I’m looking at you, Tanya!

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to diminish this woman’s accomplishments. Indeed, when you are breastfeeding night and day, it is difficult to find the energy to train strenuously. It is also difficult to stick to a high protein, low-fat, low-carb diet since your tired, overtaxed, body is clamoring for MORE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIPS! NOW!!! So I give her two-thumbs up for self-discipline and an A for effort.

But I have to say that when you are cooking for a crowd day-in, day-out, and that crowd includes two high performance gymnasts, one jiu-jitsu fanatic, a growing 5 foot 10 teenage girl and a husband who runs and lifts weights regularly, “lots of protein shakes, lean chicken, salmon and egg whites” gets long pretty quickly. Unless you are willing and/or able to make two meals everyday, it’s not going to fly, you can quote me on that. Logistical considerations aside, what message would that send to the children, especially the dancers and gymnasts among them? Mommy won’t be eating the same food you are ‘cuz it will make her fat? I don’t think so. In my family, healthy eating is in but special diets are out.

Finally, my husband and I had a good laugh at a wedding last year because the groom had completed an Ironman triathlon. My husband said: “I used to envy guys like him. Now I just think ‘Imagine what I could do if I only had myself to look after.” Indeed.

If, like me, you came of age in the 1980s (ah, the 80s), you’ll remember this.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcSMDqXT52s]

Director John Hughes died today, age 59. RIP.

Public plan would allow abortion coverage:

WASHINGTON – Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.

Federal funds for abortions are now restricted to cases involving rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother. Abortion opponents say those restrictions should carry over to any health insurance sold through a new marketplace envisioned under the legislation, an exchange where people would choose private coverage or the public plan.

Abortion rights supporters say that would have the effect of denying coverage for abortion to millions of women who now have it through workplace insurance and are expected to join the exchange.

The latest shooting attack, in suburban Pittsburgh was, according to news reports, the work of a man who had blogged about his trouble finding a girlfriend and who had written publicly about his murderous plans on his blog. As a result, innocent women are dead. Did nobody read his blog? Did nobody think it was weird? Why the heck not?

Good news from Pakistan:

PAKISTAN has moved towards outlawing domestic violence when lawmakers approved a bill that will punish those found guilty of beating women or children with jail terms and fines.

Domestic violence against women is not considered a major offence in our society. I hope this bill will provide protection to our women against all types of violence in their homes and living places,” Ms Rehman said.

The law was passed unanimously in the lower house of parliament or national assembly today, Yasmi Rehman from the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party said, hailing what she called a “big day” for Pakistani women.

It will come into effect after the senate, or upper house of parliament, approves the law and President Asif Ali Zardari signs it into legislation.

Those found guilty of beating women or children would face a minimum six months behind bars and a fine of at least 100,000 rupees ($1,431.46).

Laws typically reflect a society’s predominant values (yes, I know; that means Canadians don’t care nearly enough about abortion), and I for one am glad to see any country go from “not a major offence” to “crime punishable by jail” when it comes to domestic violence.

Ha!

More than a third of working mothers want to quit their jobs to look after their children, research suggests.

A further six in ten would like to reduce their hours to spend more time with their young ones, the Government-backed study found.

Less than a fifth said they would choose to increase their hours if there was good affordable childcare available.

The findings fly in the face of Government claims that women would want to go back to work if they could find decent childcare.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Mothers disagree with politicians and child-care activists. How annoying for the child-care activists. I am positively loving it.

Frightening:

There are at least 13 million abortions a year in China compared to 20 million live births, according to the official China Daily newspaper.

That works out to one abortion for every 1.5 births in China. The comparable statistic in Canada is one to 3.66.

The number does not include abortions performed in unregistered clinics, nor pregnancies terminated by women who used the 10 million abortion-inducing, “morning-after” pills sold per year in China.

Paris Hilton wants young women to know: Don’t make a sex tape!

Paris Hilton wants to warn young girls from making “humiliating” sex tapes.

The blonde socialite was devastated when X-rated footage of her and ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon surfaced in 2003 and has vowed to stop other girls from agreeing to film themselves engaging in sex acts to please their lovers.

She said: “I want young girls to never put themselves in that situation I was in. Don’t ever let someone talk you into doing something you don’t want to do.”

Well, there you have it. Me and Paris Hilton, we agree on something.

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Andrea adds: Wow, that practically makes her a values voter. For her, anyway.