Feminist reflections on fitness, sport, and health
Hello FIFI readers– I just bought an e-bike! After thinking and writing and talking about it for a couple of years, I finally took the plunge.
I’m just back from vacation, so the details and pictures, along with copious commentary, will be coming this week. In the meantime, take a look at my commentary from 2021 on a study of exertion on e-bikes vs. conventional bikes.
-catherine
Recommended Soundtrack: Robots by Flight of the Conchords, Mr. Roboto by Styxx, Robot Rock by Daft Punk
I purchased a rumba vacuum. Yes, I am very late to vacuum automation. It was only recently that a purchase like that was even conceivable for me, the cost wasn’t something that seemed achievable until now.
I have to admit it was the gentle cajoling of my sister that her robot did a great job and with the pets and humans in my life this would really help. She loved her robot vacuum and another good friend had offerd up her research and analysis. I was sold on the idea.
I named mine Romeo so that when it got stuck I could quip “Wherefore art thou Romeo?”. It’s the same reason our dog is named Lucy…”Lucy, I’m HOME!” I am a simple creature when it comes to comedy.
One night, as I was chopping vegetables for dinner, I couldn’t stop smiling as the robot whirred away down the hall. My beloved put the laundry on and the dishwasher was sloshing away at the lunch and breakfast dishes. I thought a lot about Hans Rosling’s great TED talk on The Magic Washing Machine.
He argued that liberating women’s time from manual house hold tasks led to better child development and education outcomes. If you haven’t heard his talks before I highly recommend them all. He passed away a number of years ago and his talks still hold up.
I know what it takes to wash clothes by hand without running water. Whether during long camping trips to military exercises where we were in the bush longer than I could stand the smell of my combats, grating soap, scrubbing with a washboard or on rocks then wringing by hand takes time. I still remember my maternal grandmother’s wringer washer in her yard next to the clothesline with the hose draped into it. We would tag team the wringing and hanging. It was an all day affair. Automation in clothes washing means a scant few minutes sorting and loading the machine then flipping the load into dryer. Folding takes mere minutes. The best part is not needing to mind the laundry, unlike in the wringer washer, so other activities can happen.
The same with dishes, loading takes a moment and other things can happen while the water sloshes around in the magic box. I find the same with my robot vacuum. It does a bang up job, far better than what I did. My floors are squeaky clean, I’ve raised my standards. Those standards had to be lowered before because I simply wasn’t able to get the cleaning done to a point where we were pet hair free. It seemed impossible.
So now I do spend some time managing the robot, figuring out how to optimize clean and keep out zones, designing routines and some maintenance. Overall though those tasks take way less time than the manual sweeping and vacuuming I had been doing.
Automation and task sharing with my partner and our youngest kid (who is 20!) have helped me find more time for reading, writing, drawing, making music and, hopefully, working out regularly.
I am spending a lot of time in the garden weeding, watering, pruning, planting, harvesting and, well, enjoying the beauty and bounty of my naturalized space.
Will automation allow me more time for working out? I don’t know but my house is the much cleaner for it!
Has automation of household tasks helped you do more things?
I shared the following article to Facebook, Finally, Women’s Running Shoes Are Being Made for Women’s Feet, not sure what to think about it.
On the one hand, what’s special or different about women’s feet? On the other, if all running shoes–even women’s running shoes–are based on models of men’s feet, that may be a problem.
I’ve written about gendered cycling shoes in this post here on the blog, Is women’s specific anything just a bad idea? What’s the issue? If women’s cycling shoes are narrower then some men, those with narrow feet, will end up needing to buy women’s shoes. Some women, those with wide feet, will end up buying men’s shoes. But, I asked in that piece, why even bother with the gendered labeling? Why not just call them wide and narrow shoes?
I love my Pride Hunter rainboots which come just like that, no gendered sizing, just wide and narrow.
I came to this point because I’m a woman who rides a men’s bike. A men’s bike just fits people with short legs and long torsos better. And guess what? That’s me.
And you know, I wouldn’t think it would bug me but it does. Each time I go to buy a bike someone in a bike shop, or a well meaning friend, recommends a women-specific frame. I have to tell them that it won’t work. As far as bikes go, I’m a dude since all women’s frame means is longer legs WHICH I DON’T HAVE. Grrrr. It’s a very minor exclusion in the grand scheme of things but it grates.
I don’t mind that the men’s and women’s bikes sometimes come packaged with different components and the men’s bike is the better deal.
What about running shoes? How different are men’s and women’s feet really?
“Shoes are designed around foot-shaped molds called lasts, which dictate the fit and feel as well as the aesthetics and proportions. For a long time, those lasts were based only on molds of men’s feet. But “female feet … are not algebraically scaled, smaller versions of male feet, as is often assumed,” a study in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association declared way back in 2009. As a result, more and more brands started using female lasts based on the mold of a woman’s foot. For what it’s worth, some have opted for unisex lasts—an approach Katie Manser, the Supervisor of Research Operations at Heeluxe Footwear, an independent shoe research lab, dismisses. “There’s no such thing as a unisex foot—it’s anatomically a man’s foot or a woman’s foot,” she explains.”
But again, I’m not sure this gets it right. There may not be a ‘one size fits all’ foot but it seems unlikely all women have similar feet, or that the difference between men’s and women’s feet will be larger than the differences between different women’s feet.
The article I shared goes on to describe all of the different ways in which women’s feet differ from men’s but in each case there’s likely lots of variability between women. Also worth noting that some women were assigned male at birth and lots of people don’t identify as male or female at all.
In the end that article acknowledges that it’s not really about gender, it’s about variety and fit.
“The more knowledge you have about your body, the more empowered you are to make a decision regarding what you put on it. At the end of the day, the best shoe for you—no matter your gender—is the shoe that feels most comfortable on your feet. “
And with that, I think we can all agree.
A lot of my work overlaps with quality improvement processes. The most common question we look at: what small changes can we make to get better results?
Lately, I have been thinking about this concept in relation to another concept — tiny habits — which we have chatted about here on the blog. If you work in the business sector, you might know this idea as marginal gains.
It’s an idea that comes up in lots of training programs for elite athletes. When I first took up running, my goal was about speed. I started slow and kept being slow. Yes, my overall fitness got better — lung capacity improved, for example — but I didn’t make any significant changes in my speed. Long after my knees gave up the ghost and told me to try something else, I realized I had been chasing after the wrong goal.
Rather than speed, my focus should have been on recognizing the significant gains I had made on endurance and recovery. I might not have been the speediest, but by the time I stopped running, I could go on a 10k run and finish feeling pretty good physically (except for my knees; they hated it).
When I decided to make fitness a key component of my life vs an end goal, I didn’t set out to apply a QI approach to my training. In thinking back on various blog posts I have written about focusing one issue or another, I’ve come to realize that I was applying the concept of marginal gains to my fitness work.
I’ve taken on tiny habits to increase activity, sleep training, hydration, tracking, and active rest. When I look back at the past five years, there is a difference. I’m eating less meat and more legumes and grains (thanks Meatless Mondays!), I’m drinking more water, I notice when I fall off my sleep training wagon so I get back on more quickly), and I am doing more to reduce stress and have fun.
The biggest gain came with consistency. All these tiny changes done regularly have made a significant difference. Is there still more to do and improve? Yes. Most definitely. And I will keep on, one tiny change at a time.
MarthaFitat55 lives and works on the east coast of Canada.
On a recent Sunday I was doing two things I rarely do: 1. watching pro golf on TV, and 2. complaining loudly at the TV. Why I was watching golf (the 2022 US Open, final round), I’m not really sure. But I do know why I was complaining.
I was complaining because the broadcasters were making comments about the bodies of the pro golfers as they teed off on the first hole. One player was described repeatedly as “baby-faced,” another was “slender,” and a third was “sturdy.” Maybe it was just a lazy start to the commentary, but with all the history and statistics available to discuss, who is served by this body talk?
Televised commentary on athletes’ bodies is a much more prevalent issue for women, one that creates a double standard to boot. As Kathita Davidson notes, descriptions of male athletes’ bodies often reinforce perceptions of strength, athleticism, and performance. In contrast, the descriptions of women athletes’ bodies are often hetero-sexualized in ways that undermine their athleticism. As well, non-binary gendered and intersex bodies are the almost nearly always the subject of controversy and discrimination.
Body talk happens in the media at all levels of game. In the last year, two commentators were fired for making disparaging comments about high school basketball players’ bodies. At the 2021 Winter Olympics, there was pressure to focus on sports appeal and not sex appeal of the athletes. Not long after, an Olympics figure-skating commentator was fired for a degrading remark about a female Canadian figure skater (though it was about her personality, not her physique).
Focus on the bodies of athletes is not only a frequent issue but a problem, as Christine Yu observes:
Aerobic capacity, power, strength, muscular endurance, biomechanics, strategy, tenacity, and good genes—none of which are necessarily visible to the human eye—all determine an athlete’s ability. And yet, especially with women athletes, appearance often becomes the sole focus, even when it has nothing to do with performance. This overemphasis on what athletes look like is damaging on both an individual and a cultural level, and it’s time to reconsider how we talk about their bodies.
Christine Yu, 2020, para.6
The emphasis on appearance and physique can be damaging to men and boys as well. The American Addiction Center has an article of men and body dysmorphia disorder (BDD) that highlights bigorexia, combining the Latin -orexia (an appetite for) with obsession over the big-ness of muscles. This disorder causes pain, distress, and sometimes harmful physical and dietary changes, and men are far less likely to ask for help.
The pro golfers weren’t listening to the broadcasters’ body talk as they teed off at the US Open’s, and they might not have cared about what was said.
Still, thousands of aspiring male golfers were watching and listening to the televised patter about bodies that had nothing to do with the game. By drawing attention to who is slender, sturdy, or baby-faced, the broadcasters invited body comparisons and scrutiny—to no meaningful end.
So, ultimately this post is just a reminder to anyone who gets an opportunity to talk about any athletes in front of a microphone: Focus your comments on athletic performance, not on athletic bodies.
“All riders are expected to complete two back-to-back minimum 100km rides over two consecutive days (e.g. Saturday and Sunday) by this date.” By what date? By July 17.
The Friends for Life Bike Rally has its rules. I am sure they are good rules and they have them for a reason.
But here’s my reaction:
And truth be told I haven’t yet ridden 100 km in one go this year.
Yes, I’ve ridden 97 km and I was tempted to go all Cate-completist about it. and make it an even 100 but I didn’t. I wasn’t even exhausted but I was, as usual, done with Toronto traffic and all the red lights.
I have been doing back to back rides. This past long weekend I did 46 km on one day (Canada Day at Niagara Falls with Sarah) and 77 (with David) on another and then another 49 km (in Southampton with Sarah and her very speedy ZSUN teammate Nats).
But the astute mathematicians among you will note that that’s not 200 km over two days.
You can see my Strava profile here if you want to check up on me. Lol.
So what’s my plan?
I’m riding this Friday with Jeff, had planned on 70 km or so. I might ride with some GCAT folks on Saturday but that’s more like 60 km. Sunday there’s a wedding. So I don’t think it will be this weekend.
Next weekend looks good though. Sunday, July 17 is the Tour de Norfolk. We’ve committed to the 100 km.
I think I have a plan. We could ride 100 km in Guelph on Saturday and then the Tour de Norfolk on Sunday. Let’s hope for good weather and all going well we should be able to sneak in our back to back 100 km rides just under the wire.
Wish us luck and pls sponsor me here!
I went summer camping with 5 friends recently. We went biking, swimming, kayaking, and hiking—regular outdoor physical activities one might do while in The Nature.
During this time, I noticed how often we were up and moving around to do simple tasks and chores throughout the day, even when we weren’t out out doing the recreational exercise activities.
When we wanted to go to sleep, we had to put up a tent. When we wanted to make a fire but ran out of wood, we had to scavenge or head to the conservation office to buy more. When we wanted to brush our teeth, it was a walk or a bike down the path to the loo. Whenever I misplaced bug spray or sunscreen, I was up rummaging around to find what I needed.
Not everything was within easy reach when you are camping: there’s often a little added effort to find, get, or make whatever you need. Without all the conveniences of home, we were moving, walking, bending, and stretching in short bouts all day long.
Like most people, I often establish habits and use tools that maximize convenience and comfort when I am at home. How much more physical activity might add up in my days if I intentionally made things slightly less easy for myself? What if I chose to knead bread without the mixer, walk to my mailbox rather than stop after my commute home, use one tissue box at a time rather than plant them in many rooms of the house?
The animated Disney movie Wall-E tells a story of how, in the future, people have every luxury thanks in part to the machines they invent; consequently, they become totally inert and lazy. The moral of this cautionary tale is that excessive convenience and comfort will diminish our ability to think and act and move for ourselves.
Of course, my tent-trailer and Coleman stove camping experience was still relatively easy and convenient, but I realized that adding some purposeful inconveniences in my daily life could lead to a little more physical activity that I might not even notice.
What are some small inconveniences you maintain for a little more physical activity each day?
Just to be clear, I’m not complaining about the heat. We don’t get enough good weather here as it is. I don’t want to complain and risk a weather deity’s vengeance.
So, this is not a complaint.
It’s an observation.
I’m just observing that it has been especially warm and humid (for this part of Newfoundland) this past week or so and I am not acclimatized to it at all.
In fact, it often leaves me feeling a migraine is hunting me and it could catch me at any minute.
And that’s just about as fun as it sounds.
So instead of trying out new exercises or adding a bit more time to my usual routine, I’ve just been sweaticating.
According to the lexicon of my 9 year old self (and that self’s friend Rochelle) sweaticating is when you are so warm that everything you wear sticks to you and you mostly feel like lying around eating popsicles.
Popsicle lounging what I *feel* like doing but since I’m an adult (or a reasonable hand-drawn facsimile, at least) I know that lying around eating popsicles will eventually leave me feeling much worse.
So, while I have eaten my fair share of popsicles and I have done a nice bit of lying around recently, I have also been following my bare minimum self-care plan.
What does that look like?
Taking Khalee for walks after supper instead of in the late afternoon.
Doing some writing on my patio under the shade of a tree.
Yoga, stretches, slow-motion TKD patterns, and other low-key exercises outside once it gets dark.
I’m not following my ideal plan but I am doing what I can and taking good care of myself while (mostly) avoiding that predatory migraine.
How about you?
How are you taking good care of yourself these days?
PS – If things haven’t been going so well on that front, why not give it a whirl today.?
Start small, rest a little…maybe have a popsicle.
The biggest and best highlight of June is all the bike riding! So much riding! I soothed my bike rally jitters with lots of weekend riding, including an official training out to Musselman Lake and back. I’ve been riding mostly with bike rally teammates Sarah and David but also with Jeff when he’s in town.
We’ve also done some in person riding with our virtual cycling friends.
Last weekend a group of women from Zwift’s ZSUN team got together in the real world–more specifically in Burlington, Ontario– for a meet up and social ride along the lake front trail. Even though I ride with TFC I came along and crashed the party. Everyone was very nice.
All in all we had a lovely 40 km out and back, with dougnuts and iced tea after. Yum! Also, the rain held off.
I also reached the 222 mark in the 222 workouts in 2022 group. Wild to make the goal halfway through the year but I suspect things will slow down a bit after the bike rally.
The workout that did it was our Canada Day Bike Ride from Niagara on the Lake to Niagara Falls.
So far this year I’ve ridden 2787.9 kms. I’m ahead on my riding but behind on my bike rally fundraising. Small amounts help and if you have anything to spare for this very worthwhile cause I’d really appreciate it and so too would the people who are helped by the Toronto PWA.
The money raised goes to help people living with HIV/AIDS. People who need food, wellness care, peer support or just to be in a place that is welcoming and safe for them.
Donate here.
But don’t talk to me about writing. I’m very far behind.
Other good things in June?
We’re sailing again. Yay! Tuesday evening Snipe racing is back on the schedule.
My mother who lives with us got a new puppy. Blog readers, meet Chase!
I’m also getting new glasses, seems my reading vision has gotten worse during the pandemic.
I chose the clear frames.
Other good things? (I like June. Can you tell?)
University convocation was lovely. So good to be back in person again. I also love that we did make up ceremonies for those students who graduated during 2020 and 2021. My knees hurt from so much walking and standing that week but also my face hurt from smiling.
And then there’s Pride which wrapped up June for me with such warm feelings seeing so many friends again. The big parade was just too many people for me but truth be told it was likely too many people before the pandemic. What was best were the pride adjacent events, friends’ backyard BBQ s and dinner on patios three or four blocks away from the main event.
Wish me luck as I continue to train for the bike rally. And try to get some writing done, and get a reasonable amount of sleep. Will blog about the struggle later. Short version: Life is short. There’s so much fun stuff to do. Sleep is boring and so even though it’s my superpower again (phew, that’s back) now that the world has come alive again, it’s the last thing I want to do.
Zzzzz!
Mostly, these days, I don’t mourn the things my knees used to do. I’m forward looking, thinking about knee replacement and about long hikes. Also, dancing. I’m excited about having dancing in my future.
Running is a thing of the past.
Four years ago I wrote that not being able to run made me sad and I admitted that sometimes I cried about it.
Now, I am anticipating dancing. I think often about long walks. I can’t wait until I can sleep without pain. But running? Meh. I no longer cry about missing it.
Still, I’m shocked at how fast all this has happened.
A few people asked if I was doing the Pride Run this year. Nope. No more Pride Runs.
I remember getting the running reprieve from the knee surgeon when we first met. He asked how much I liked soccer and if I was okay with giving it up. I was. But running short distances fast? (Well, fast-for-me.) That could stay.
Here’s my Facebook status update from May 15, 2015, “Knee surgeon appointment was uneventful. As you might wish for with a knee surgeon. I don’t, as yet, even need any of the pre-surgical options. Keep doing physio, stay pain free, ride my bike as much as I want, keep running short distances (5 km) and revisit in a year. Bye bye soccer. But we knew that. And it’s fine to work on running 5 km faster.”
And here’s Mallory and me at the Pride Run 7 years ago.
What’s on my list of things that I can’t do now that I hope I can do in the future?
