There’s a certain kind of fun that comes from doing physical activities in urban settings. I posted last week about my Charles River swim, a once-a-year event. Anyone who knows how to swim can do this.
However, most urban swimming events are only for open water swimmers. Not just anyone can do these swims. You need both open water swim experience and speed. The Statue of Liberty swim is one such event.
People swimming in the Hudson River around Liberty Island.A map of the Statue of Liberty swim: with the current, but with other currents and swells to battle. Not an easy swim.
This website offers links to other New York area open water swims.
There are also Sharkfest swims in a bunch of cities, including Boston, where I have once provided kayak support for swimmers. They are not for people who just to dog-paddle happily in a harbor; they’re point-to-point or circuit swim events for people who can swim 1 mile in 40 minutes or less (which I’m certain isn’t me at the moment).
What I want to do is just enjoy taking the plunge in a city, hanging out in the water, swimming in a leisurely fashion, taking in the scene. Here’s what Paris is doing this summer:
Temporary floating structure and enclosure for swimming and hanging out on the Canal D’Ourcq in Paris.
There’s an article about Paris and its relationship with urban swimming here.
Oslo has its own urban open swimming and hang-out area for summer fun. Check out this youtube video:
Check this out to see all the ways Norwegians enjoy this urban sea space.
Denmark and Australia have also mastered the art of urban sea pools.
Aarhus, Denmark pool.Infinite Bridge for pedestrians and swimmers, also in Aarhus.Wylie’s baths at Coogie Beach in Sydney. I swam here!
I wish we had these modes of access for swimming in North America. Yes, there are some swimming pools and swimming holes. But swimming pools are not all open because lifeguards are scarce, and swimming holes require private transportation, which lots of people don’t have.
Yes, the world has so many problems. Most of them are much bigger than access to swimming. But I do believe that life would be sweeter if we had more places for common splashing and sunning. Are you with me, people?
What do we want? Swimming access!
When do we want it? Every summer!
I’m two days in and thought I’d report on how things are going. Lol.
Mostly I’ve been responding–deleting emails from Fluevog and text messages from TomboyX, my favorite shoe and underwear companies respectively. I’ve unsubscribed from mailing lists. I’ve taken the Poshmark app off my phone.
Friends have been asking if I stocked up at all. I did make offers on a bunch of stuff I liked at Poshmark and had some of those offers accepted. I did buy a number of good quality black and white t-shirts, some new underwear, and bras. In the bra case I was replacing the underwire version I’ve rejected during the pandemic.
Have I been tempted to buy anything?
Not really. I went on autopilot registering for an upcoming cycling event and put the event jersey in my shipping cart. But by the time I checked out, I remembered, and took it out. Bike jerseys are among the last thing I need. I think I own about 30. Last I counted that was 31. See Old shorts, thinning lycra, and too many bike jerseys.
Tour de Norfolk bike jerseys
We parked outside my favorite consignment store in Guelph today and I did consider the sale rack. But I resisted. I didn’t even go in and see if any of my stuff had sold.
I’m still undecided about a friend’s upcoming wedding. I said I’d make an exception for unexpected big events. I think though there must be something I already own that I can wear. Time to try on all the dresses that I reject as being too dressed up for work.
For those of you who are doing this challenge with me, how are you finding it so far?
Health Canada recently announced that manufacturers will need to put front-of label warnings on packaged foods that meet or exceed a certain percentage of daily maximum recommended amounts of salt fat or sodium. Manufacturers have until January 2026 to begin labelling, but we could see the changes sooner.
Various products with examples of how the new labels will look.
Why?
The percentages vary depending on the kind of food. The labels don’t tell you how high any of the ingredients are. Is it over 15% for general packaged food? 10% for things like cookies, pickles and breakfast cereals? Or 30% for things like frozen lasagne or pizza?
Nicole and I had different responses to the news. My mind went immediately to questioning why a new label is needed, and whether people would, or could change behaviour.
Isn’t the information on the back label sufficient? It is certainly more comprehensive. A 2019 meta-analysis of 60 food label intervention studies shows that simple labels seem to be more effective, so maybe that’s why the new labels; however, the evidence wasn’t super strong.
The study also noted that many barriers exist to consumers responses to labeling, such as limited awareness, attention, understanding, attitude, acceptance, usage, or other challenges such as price, taste, and culture. That’s a fancy way of saying there are societal/structural issues including a lack of nutritional education at home/school, food deserts, and the need for high calorie options when on limited budgets (Boost is my go-to for people living on the streets).
The study did indicate that food labeling effectively reduces consumer intakes of total energy and total fat while increasing intake of vegetables (but not by very much, and there was little study on long-term behavioural changes). It had little or no effect on behaviour around did not significantly alter intakes of carbohydrate, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, or energy consumed.
However, food labeling influences industry responses related to product contents of sodium and artificial trans fat. I’ll take that small win. Sodium and trans fats are the two things I care about most when I look at labels. More studies are needed to assess the effects of labeling on other dietary targets, disease risk factors, and clinical endpoints.
Bottom line for me, though, is that I look at only some of the things on a label when comparing products when I intend to buy. Nothing on the label will make me choose not to purchase it (I do have the privilege of cooking many things from scratch), If I have decided I want chips, I won’t look at the label at all. It’s the same with calorie info on a restaurant menu: I may choose a salad with my burger instead of fries occasionally, but that’s as far as it goes.
Nicole’s says her response was based more on emotion, but I think it is also super valid:
My main concern is this: As someone who has monitored what I eat since about 11, even though I feel I do it in a better way these days, if someone like me goes to have a bag of sour kids, by the time I have that bag in my hands I gave weighed all the pros and cons, I know it’s a bag of sugar and I don’t need to be reminded or made to feel guilty about buying it.
Also, in my disordered eating days, when I would binge, those labels wouldn’t have prevented that binge. It would have just added to my feelings of self-hatred, which I actually think was part of my intention with the binging.
Bottom line? The labels don’t seem to be helpful for consumers, and in some cases may be harmful. They do have more of an effect on manufacturers, who feel pressure to reformulate their products to reduce the negative perception of their products when information about salt, sugars and fats (especially trans fats) is out there for all to see.
Maybe there is a better way to get manufacturers to change behaviour? And maybe there is a way to improve education about, and access to, better food options? I can dream…
After 19 years of running, I earned a badge I would rather do without. I crapped on a run. It was as horrifying as it sounds. It wasn’t even a long run. It was a measly 5K.
Anyone who has ever trained for a long run or paid attention to running events, knows that “runner’s trot” is a thing. I’ve heard the “messy” stories of marathon runner’s crossing the finish line with, is that “dirt”, is that…”oooh”…
I’ve also experienced the scary urge to go. There’s typically a washroom close enough before it’s too late. I can’t recall a situation in recent years where it’s even been a threat. My routine-oriented self usually gets up early enough to have a coffee, maybe a little yogurt or banana, and let nature do it’s thing BEFORE I head out.
You can probably tell by the way I am writing this, that I don’t particularly enjoy talking about SHIT. And let me be clear, I probably don’t ever want to TALK about this in real life. For blog posts, I like to share stories others might read that will help them (a) from experiencing the same situation, or (b) if they have experienced this situation, know that they are not alone.
This dark morning started out in beautiful Victoria, BC. My last day there on a vacation. I headed out over the Johnson Street Bridge to a newly discovered path called the Galloping Goose Trail. The day before I had admired townhouses partway along the path that I fantasized might be a good place to buy an investment property so that I had a place to visit once in awhile.
Because I was on vacation, my routine leading up to this morning was different than usual. I do find that flying can screw up my system for days afterwards. I had consumed a huge muffin and shared a fibrous bar the day before. I had three drinks (a lot more than my usual one drink a month) a few days prior and was still feeling a bit more tired as a result. Drinking, even a little, can mess with my stomach. I had also been experiencing pre-menstrual symptoms for a couple days. I hadn’t had a coffee in my hotel room nor given my body enough time to “relax” before heading out. Nothing felt particularly ominous when I set out though. It wasn’t until about the 4th kilometre, which isn’t particularly far, that I felt the initial rumblings. By the time it was feeling urgent, I was in an area that was industrial, on a Saturday morning, when everything was closed and not a bathroom in sight. I seriously considered finding a discreet place behind a building a couple times. I may have balled my eyes out afterwards if this had been necessary. Not that what happened was much better. The thought of doing this was horrifying but it seemed like I might not have a better option for a bit.
I decided to walk back, being aware that walking can be better than running in these situations, and for awhile it seemed to be holding things at bay. Alas, by the time I was about 5 min away from my hotel, back near the Johnson Street Bridge, it was too late. And, I really had no warning or opportunity to find a place to squat. I will spare the rest of the details, both for your sake and mine. I texted my husband and said, “I have had a bad accident and I will need the washroom as soon as I get in and please don’t look at me!” He found this amusing afterwards, that I didn’t want him to look at me. Thankfully, there was no one to pass in the boutique hotel I was staying in.
Aside from the very humbling experience of crapping my pants, there were other thoughts going through my head. Sympathy for houseless people who must find themselves in such predicaments often, was chief amongst these thoughts. I know that the Covid-19 pandemic also brought to light the problems with lack of public washrooms in cities. I don’t even know what people do and I feel like I should look into what people are doing to try to fix the problems of accessibility. I was also grateful I was wearing 3/4 pants rather than shorts at the time!
I thought this was a good article about how to avoid runner’s diarrhea. Some main points:
pay attention to foods consumed that may be triggers (eg, according to the article, high fat foods are often triggers because they take longer to digest and can linger in the digestive tract longer. Then, when you start running, that not-fully-digested food could cause GI distress and ultimately, diarrhea,).
how food will affect you is very individual and it is important to know your own triggers. However, avoiding having too many foods high in fibre within 24-48 hours of a long run, seems like a good thing to try. Also, avoiding sugar alcohols that can increase feelings of bloating and gassiness.
dehydration can make matters worse. But, so can drinking too much water, too quickly. To avoid discomfort and cramps, drink small amounts of water consistently throughout your run.
become aware of washrooms on your planned runs. I think this is good advice, however, in my experience, even the best routes will have stretches without a washroom in sight. There may be bushes, etc., in an emergency, but if you find yourself in an industrial, pavement covered area, where nothing is open, I’m not sure there is much one can do other than plan to make it back to the nearest washroom, if possible.
Have you found yourself in this situation? Do you have tips for planning running/long hiking routes, etc. with bathroom access? Plans for avoiding finding yourself in this situation?
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Nicole enjoys running, HIIT-style workouts, strength training, yoga and walking 20,000-40,000 steps a day on vacation.
