I’m on a bike trip in Montenegro, trying not to think about the climate change of it all as I bake in the heat like Picard the time he lived a whole life in the blink of an eye (and played a fancy flute) on a dying planet
On Saturday, I participated in a couple of activities that fall close to the category of Elan’s Silly summer fun. But they also supported causes dear to my heart.
Swim: the day started with a 3.2 km swim as a swim angel for my friend Sarah from my master’s swim club at Bring on the Bay, an annual swim in the Ottawa River that raises funds for Easter Seals. This year, there were 651 swimmers. Swim angels are “buddies” for swimmers with anxiety, disabilities, or medical issues who want someone with them in case they need support.
This year about 20 of us were paired with a swimmer. A few more people act as “sweeps” available in case someone swimming alone needs assistance. It’s a great program and I benefitted from it years ago when I was anxious about cramping up following foot surgery.
Me in a white cap, multicoloured goggles and a swimsuit, with Sarah, who is wearing a red cap, black goggles and a wetsuit.Swimmers heading out into the river with their angels. Two of the sailboats, a kayak and SUP that mark the route and provide support are in the background. Sara and I are in the front of the group, on the left, closest to the green channel marker.
Sarah did great! She is actually a bit faster than me, but this was only her second open water swim and she had never swum this distance. She’s a musician, so my job was to be her metronome. I set the pace and she drafted behind me until we got close to the end. Then she moved up beside me so we could finish together. I was a good metronome: we finished within 3 minutes of the time I had predicted.
Bike: this was pretty straightforward as I biked to and from Bluesfest, a 10-day long series of concerts in Ottawa. Even though I have lived here for nearly 40 years and have been a commuter cyclist for 20, I’m still learning new ways to get around. My friend Florence showed me a couple of changes to the route I would have taken, which minimized car contact. 12 km done and dusted.
Run: technically walk, but 9.6 km worth of walk according to my phone app. This was the silly fun part. I’m a member of Bike Ottawa, a group that advocates for safe infrastructure for all people who bike. Every year at Bluesfest, volunteers run a free bike parking service to encourage people to bike to the venue rather than driving a car. This year, they parked their 100,000th bike. Any donations received are split between Bike Ottawa and Blues in the Schools.
The volunteers were a mixed group from teens through to seniors. The supervisors were dressed up in all sorts of bling for visibility. It works just like a car valet service, except we weren’t allowed to ride the bikes. We did get to admire some beauties though.
This was an incredibly smooth operation, but there was a LOT of wheeling bikes to their designated spots and retrieving them for their owners at the end of the night. We cleared out roughly 800 bikes, scooters and skateboards in about half an hour after the last concert ended.
A field filled with orange construction horseshoes, with hundreds of bike leaning up against them. A few volunteers in blue shirts are walking more bikes to their designated spot.
At their base, none of these activities was really silly, though I thought they were a lot of fun. So, because I can’t figure out any other excuse to share, here is a photo of my friend Gwendolyn and I, just after winning the teacup obstacle race at a friend’s 40th birthday party. The race involved running around a tree and then shooting a croquet ball through a hoop while holding a teacup full of water. Then you were blindfolded and turned around five times before being guided by your partner to pour your water into a container. The winning team was the one with the most water after each person had gone through the course.
Two white women, wearing flowered dresses and hats are standing in a trees park. One is blindfolded and holding a croquet mallet and ball. The other holds a teacup.
I usually like to listen to podcasts or audiobooks* to add some extra fun when I take Khalee for a walk. On challenging days, when my walk would be filled with unhelpful rumination, focusing on a different narrative is really helpful.
However, me being me, I end up overthinking everything, including the fact that I listen to stuff while I walk.
Would it be better to walk quietly and just observe?
Would walking mindfully serve the same brain-clearing purpose as immersing myself in a narrative does?
Khalee doesn’t listen to podcasts while she walks and she also doesn’t worry about whether it’s the right thing to do.
image description: A fairly close-up, top-down photo of Khalee, my light-haired dog, walking on some grass right past a large pink flower on a short bush. She is facing to the right and her head and shoulders are in the frame. The bush with the link flowers is to her left at the top of the image.
I didn’t know the answer to these questions so I’ve been choosing to walk without my headphones**every so often lately, just to see how I feel about it.
It turns out that I like it…as an occasional thing.
It’s good to take a break from my usual routine and I enjoy choosing to let my mind wander as I walk.
And it was interesting to realize that while I’m obviously more mindful while walking without headphones, it turns out that I am generally pretty observant on all my walks.
Even with my headphones on, I notice changes in my neighbourhood. I see different flowers and trees growing. I stop to take pictures.
For example, I had to stop and get a photo of these happy daisies when I saw them recently. Image description: at least a dozen daisies growing tall amidst some grass. The daisies have white petals and yellow middles.
That’s not the behaviour of someone who is zoned out or too caught up in her entertainment to notice the world around her.
Waking loud (i.e. with headphones) or walking quiet (i.e. without headphones) turns out to be one of those situations where I can have it both ways.
Either type of walk is enjoyable and they both do me some good.
So I guess I’ll just play it by ear (ha!) from now on.
PS – What do you do when you’re walking? Are your headphones on or off?
*I have been having a great time listening to Ghostly Thistle’s fiction podcast The Antique Shop lately and I recently enjoyed Kate Racculia’s book Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts narrated by Lauren Fortgang.
**Well, headphone, singular, I don’t use two headphones while walking so I can stay aware of my surroundings. I only use two when I am wearing my hatphones – they don’t block out noise the way my regular headphones do.
Is there anything better than a gift that’s 1) unexpected; and 2) absolutely perfect? What a dynamite combo!
This week I met up with my book club to celebrate a friend’s birthday (not me; it would be weird to refer to myself in this way). We had a great time, and the birthday friend was gifted and carded and caked in fine fashion.
Imagine my surprise when my birthday friend handed *me* a present.
It was a late birthday gift (I turned 61 in April). Honestly, it’s my firm belief that gifts never come at a bad time, so I gladly received my present. And here it is: the perfect coffee mug for a cyclist!
Feast your eyes on this handmade white and light-yellow-green mug with a cobalt blue interior.And on the other side: a small imprint/pressing of a road bike. So small. So cool!
This is indeed a perfect gift for me. It checks many boxes:
handmade pottery
big enough but not too big
nod to cycling, but not in a screaming way
useful for my everyday life
in pretty colors that my friend knows I love
As important, though, my sweet mug gift avoids the pitfalls of weird, useless, flimsy or downright awful gifts marketed to folks who enjoy some specific physical activity. You know what I’m talking about. In case you don’t, here is what I mean.
scented candle labeled “squat because no one raps about little butts”. This is awful and I cannot lie.
women-specific tank saying “obviously not the instructor”. I recommend tying the shirt to the anchor in the photo and sending it to the bottom of the sea.
Pair of wine glasses saying “gym now” and “wine later”. We are all so over this, aren’t we?
I saved the best/worst for last: a painted, decorated rock with two cyclist figures glued on, with a personalizable plaque.
It’s fun to receive gifts that acknowledge something in my life that I love. I’ve received a bike pizza cutter, some gorgeous hand-made coasters that look like chain rings or cassettes, and of course bike chain earrings, to name a few. They all fall into the categories of pretty, useful, hand-made or otherwise very pleasing.
Not to be a grump about gifts– I appreciate that when someone makes an effort to give me something. It’s the sentiment that should carry the day. And it does. Unless I’m on the receiving end of that rock with the cyclists glued to it.
Readers, what sorts of strange, gaudy or downright ugly fitness-themed gifts have you received? Or, what are your favorite fitness-themed gifts? Please tell me– I’m so curious… 🙂
I’m at a 3 day workplace training session this week, on conducting workplace investigations. That’s one of those things we do often as university administrators but we get very little explicit training. This workshop is being conducted on campus but by a consultant external to the university. I joked that the first sign it was by someone from outside the university was the warning that we’d be greeted by jugs of still water to drink and that there’d be no caffeine until the break. Yikes! She also brought her own healthy snacks to give out. I may have mocked this–and I did bring my own iced Americano–luckily there is a Starbucks on the first floor of the building–but they were yummy and vegan. She also included a 30 min resistant band workout in our day to keep us awake and alert.
I wasn’t at all sure how this would go, but in the end, I think she gets two thumbs up.
First, it was marked optional on our agenda and she announced that some people might prefer a walk in the fresh air for their active break. So there was a ‘no shame’ way out.
Second, the instructor was live on Zoom so that encouraged active participation. It’s easy to ignore a recorded work out video but harder when it’s an actual person in real-time.
Third, the instructor did a good job of giving a range of movement options and avoided the language that some are harder or better than others.
Fourth, we were sent a reminder email that mentioned the physical activity and suggested we wear comfortable clothes. I did note though that the presenter of the workshop wore a dress with heels and changed for the workout.
Overall, I liked it and felt better for having done it.
Getting some movement in during our workshop
So if that’s a good example of working out at work, what’s a bad example? How about When the CEO Wants You to Work Out With Him? One of our bloggers commented, “Someone on LinkedIn touted it as a good thing that a CEO mandate weekly workouts with him. Didn’t want to comment there. So copying here to say, uh, no. Give people time to exercise sure but mandate they workout with you and your Type A vibes. Nope.”
“Companies all around the world are focused on how they can better support the physical and mental wellness of their employees and prevent burnout. Some workplaces have even started offering days off just for mental health.At Nutrition Solutions this looks like paying their staff a little extra money to exercise. On Wednesdays and Fridays, every employee at the meal-prep company has the option to attend a free exercise class before the workday starts. For many, the incentive is hard to pass up.“If they come to those workouts, they are on the clock. They’re getting compensated whatever their pay rate is to be there,” says Chris Cavallini, CEO of Nutrition Solutions.”
How about you? What are your experiences with exercise at your workplace? Are there times when it feels good and energizing to move at work, or have your experiences been all about shame and feeling pressured? Let us know what works and what doesn’t.
A picture of me in 2019 at the MS Bike Tour wearing Garneau cycling shorts.
The last time I bought cycling gear was in 2018 or 2019. During the pandemic I cycled indoors and as my shorts and bibs wore out I really didn’t care to replace them. Who would see how ratty or see through? No one!
Fast forward to this year and I recommitted to cycling outdoors. I missed being in the MS Bike Tour. I wanted back on my bike but despite having many jerseys my shorts and bibs were all worn out.
Around Easter I took all my measurements and realized I no longer fit into Garneau gear.
Me, dressed in pink workout gear, being too big to find cycling shorts in Canada.
I went to the Internet to find any company that touted larger sizes for cyclists. Many have mountain bike shorts. The ones with a tight chamois shirt inside a baggier Bermuda style short. I wanted roadie gear!
I found an American company, Montella, that touted bigger sizes. 6XL! Surely that would fit?
The size chart lists women’s sizes from extra small to size six extra large.
I mean, my waist was an inch larger and my hips two inches but surely that would be ok? I should have realized the one inch increments on the sizes meant these are tight!
I picked some commuter chamois underwear and a full length bib. I like 3/4 to full length to keep my inner thigh and knees from jiggling.
A picture of Montella’s Pink Gel Padded Bib pants. They look super cute!
The package arrived just before I was going on a ride. I was so excited. I ripped into the bag and tried to put them on. I couldn’t even get the bib past my knees. Like. These were laughably too small. I tried the commuting underwear. I took a picture fit for only for a kinky Only Fans. Sorry. Too spicy for this blog!
I cried so hard. I shared my travails with our Fit is a Feminist Issue bloggers. Of course I knew about Fat Lass At The Back gear from the UK but surely I didn’t need to go across an ocean to find gear?
Well I did. The shipping was as fast as coming from the US. According to my measurements I could fit their biggest size 8 XL!
Me standing in my stairs sporting my capris length cycling pants and an MS Bike Tour jersey. I’m fully clothed in opaque Lycra! It’s a miracle!
I was super pumped to put on the bib, which the upper is like a mesh tank top. It doesn’t cut in or twist. Very nice design!
I’ve ridden with both the capris and the bib. I fricking love them! I love that they emailed asking how my fit was. I love that the thighs are opaque.
I’ve ridden a few times in both and I’m very pleased with the quality. I think I’m a bit shocked that my body is on the biggest size anyone makes. I’m plus sized but I’m not big, big. I still get a lot of size privilege as I can buy tops in the XXL range. If I needed to go bigger for jerseys or bottoms I would be shit out of luck.
I’m glad I found gear. I’m hoping that more companies will make bigger sizes. Plus sized cyclists are out here waiting to buy your stuff!
Maybe some of you have already seen this on your Facebook feed; a 15 km swim challenge by the Canadian Cancer Society to raise funds for cancer research.
A person wearing a red swim cap swimming in a lake with trees in the background.
I’ve been noticing it on my Facebook feed, and would think “maybe I should try to do that”. Really, 15 km in a month is what I normally do during the swim season. But I was starting to waver, thinking “oh, it’s summertime, I’m going on vacation” etc.
And then the Fit Feminists came to my rescue! Sarah VS commented on it. Diane Harper was interested. I thought it would be fun to track our swims together. Then I signed up! And Diane signed up! And now we’re both fund-raising for cancer research through swimming.
For me, there are several motivations for signing up. The first is that I’m glad this is a swimming fundraiser and not a running one. When you think about it, there are SO MANY running events that are fundraisers. The Run for the Cure. The Father’s Day Run for Prostate Cancer. And, of course, the Terry Fox Run. Well, I don’t run. It’s not often that I see a fundraiser that involves swimming, my favourite activity. What a great way for me to get involved in raising money for a cause!
The second is cancer research itself. As a health researcher (diabetes research, not cancer), I have colleagues doing some amazing research in cancer, especially in developing innovative imaging techniques to detect very early stage cancer. I also get to see how these techniques directly benefit patients. A recent study showed that the prognosis for breast cancer has dramatically improved since the 1990s. Research is saving and improving lives.
The third (why do I always write in lists?!) is personal. In 2005, I lost my dad to colon cancer. The research around that type of cancer has also dramatically improved survival rates. Drugs have been developed that treat colitis, the inflammatory disease that eventually led to my dad’s cancer diagnosis. And regular colonoscopies are truly saving lives. I will NEVER miss my colonoscopy appointments.
Another plus is this gives me a great reason to not accept ANY meetings between 11:00-1:00 in the summer, since that is now my dedicated swim time!
Swimming is my favourite activity. It just got more special.
I am obsessed with biking this summer, as you might have guessed from all my previous posts. This week I pushed myself a little harder out of my comfort zone: I did three long (for me) rides in a row, one of which was with a completely new group.
First up was the Ottawa Bike Social, which was about 16 km, plus 5 km for my usual commute to work.
The next night, I went to Vélo Friday, which was a younger and cooler crowd. We rode a bit faster, on a slightly hillier route with tighter turns, with music the whole way. The only song I remember was Murder, She Wrote, which made me giggle imagining how Jessica Fletcher, my fitness icon, would have enjoyed it. That ride was almost 21 km, with a stop for ice cream, which seems to be the traditional treat for all bike rides here.
Cyclists lined up in a row with their bikes with trees in the background. Five are black men, with two white men, one black woman and me, a white woman.
On Saturday, I joined the Critical Mass Ride with about 100 other people, then did some errands for a little over 33 km. It was hot and despite drinking what seemed like gallons, I clearly didn’t get enough liquids in me.
After a nap, I joined friends for a 3.5 km swim. I’m going to be a swim angel for the 3 km Bring on the Bay on Saturday and hadn’t done that distance in a while. It was great until my legs cramped up at the half-way point and I mostly did arms only for the rest. I could barely climb up the ladder to get back on the dock. But I did it! And once I had still more water, I felt good enough to bike home, and was perfectly fine the next day.
Lessons learned? Drink lots of water. Then drink some more. Break your rides up into manageable chunks. Rest between rides. Naps and ice cream are always awesome.
What about you? I would love to hear your tips for pushing yourself to do harder things, if that is something you do. Steady state or scaling back are also perfectly fine – no pressure.
I had my first knee replacement at the end of August 2022 and my second knee replacement April 11th, 2023. Now ten months later, I’m back on my road bike.
Saturday and Sunday Sarah and I rode our usual short 25 km Guelph loop. It’s the one I often ride before work in the summer. Of special note to philosophers, this route features Hume Road.
Hume Road
Sunday’s ride ended with a stop at the Good Games at the University of Guelph. It looked like a fun event for masters’ athletes. The sports are beach volleyball, pickelball, basketball, slopitch or a five or ten km trail run. For us, it was just a lunch stop at the food trucks after our bike ride.
Here we are on Hume Road again.
I’m hoping to get out most weekends and gradually increase my distance, as well as my speed.
I have been doing a short meditation (less than 5 mins) every day for almost 3 months now.
After each session, my app (Insight Timer) prompts me to journal about it and even though I haven’t gone back to read what each journal entry says, I know that today’s entry was a pretty typical one.
It went something like this “Hard to focus, kept getting distracted. Still worth the effort though.”
I’m not judging myself for not being “good” at meditation.
I know that bringing myself back to my breath over and over is good for me.
I know that the practice is the point.
Also, holding onto the habit of meditating, no matter how “successful” I have been, has been extremely helpful amid the emotional challenges of the past two months.
So, I was going to forge ahead with short practices and see what happened.
Khalee also does mindful meditation sessions but she doesn’t overthink them like I do. Image description: a photo of a Khalee, a medium-sized, light-haired dog sitting peacefully under a tree on a green lawn. Patches of sunlight are here and there across the grass. She is peaceful but alert with all of her paws folded under her body. This position is often described ‘being a loaf’ or ‘loaf dog’
Then I came across a program that involves longer meditations led by an instructor I enjoy.
And even though I was hesitant about my ability to do longer meditations, I decided to go for it and I started last week.
And here’s where we get to the mystery:
It is just as hard for me to convince myself to start a 12 minute meditation as it is for me to start a 2 minute one but once I get started…
It is WAAAAAAAAY easier to meditate for 12 minutes than for 2 minutes.
Not only do I feel better afterwards, I feel better DURING the 12 minute practices.
Mysterious, right?
Shouldn’t my ADHD brain be getting bored?
Shouldn’t it be HARDER to do a longer session than a shorter one?
Why doesn’t my brain want to peek at the timer every 30 seconds during a long meditation the way it does during a short one?
If the 12 minute sessions were guided meditations, my relative ease might make more sense but they aren’t guided, they just have some specific instructions for when thoughts arise. And those instructions don’t seem all that different than most standard advice about meditating.
Perhaps my brain likes the opportunity to try focusing over and over again in a longer time frame. Maybe my subconscious doesn’t think it is worth the effort to focus for just two minutes?
