fitness · season transitions

Sunday snippets: little news items for your inspection

catherine w

It was bound to happen. The summer is coming to a close, and fall is on its way. School is starting or has begun for lots of folks in North America. My classes start Sept 7, so I’m cranking away on syllabi and course management site construction. Course planning is a fun and creative process, but inputting due dates, uploading files, adding in new content in digital form, etc. is very detailed work.

Since most of my limited attention span Saturday was spent on editing, renaming and reordering 44 files for my honors logic class, I’m going to offer you some fit feminist news snippets that don’t require in-depth attention. In fact, I think I’m doing a public service, as it will save you valuable late-summer time that you can spend instead picking flowers, floating in a pond, eating melon or peaches, or doing absolutely nothing.

snippet one: Saturday was National Dog Day (in the US, I think). Some businesses are making a play for our money by hawking dog-related items. But it’s a fine occasion for paying special attention to the dogs in your life. Here are some of my favorite dogs:

KIwi the Yorkie, my niece's dog.
KIwi the Yorkie, my niece’s dog.
Bailey the Golden Retriever, my sister's dog.
Bailey the Golden Retriever, my sister’s dog.
Dixie, the mixture of many things, my friend Steph's dog.
Dixie, the mixture of many things, my friend Steph’s dog.

Oh, and here are a few fun dog facts for you, in honor of the Dog Day:

  • Dog noseprints are as distinctive as human fingerprints. No two are exactly alike and often can be used to identify them.
  • The most popular dog breed in Canada, U.S., and Great Britain is the Labrador Retriever.
  • The most popular male dog names are Max and Buddy.
  • The most popular female dog names are Bella and Molly.

snippet two: long distance runner Mirna Valerio, also known as the Mirnavator, is now gravel riding and racing! She’s been hitting the off-road trails in Vermont and recently did a race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. You can follow her on Instagram, and you won’t be sorry you did. Here are some pics from Mirna’s summer:

Mirna on a gravel road in Vermont with her Salsa gravel bike (I have one, too!)
Mirna on a gravel road in Vermont with her Salsa gravel bike (I have one, too!)
Mirna cornering in the Steamboat Springs gravel race.
Mirna cornering in the Steamboat Springs gravel race.
Mirna wisely taking a break after all that activity in the prettiest hammock-outfit combo I've ever seen. The hammock is bright orange, pink, and green. Her leggings are pink, as is her hat. Her shift is bright blue.
Mirna wisely taking a break after all that activity in the prettiest hammock-outfit combo I’ve ever seen.

snippet three: exercise and creativity might be related, sort of. In this study published in August, researchers asked, “Does engaging in physical activity over an extended period (chronic) influence creativity? If it does, what is the duration of this impact?”

They tested their questions by dividing 49 school children into a physical activity group and a non-activity group and tested their creativity (using a blah-blah operationalized blah-blah test) before and after the 6-week experimental period. The physical activity group came out ahead in terms of fluency and originality in their creativity testing. So maybe this means something? Not sure. But maybe.

See you next week with a proper story of some sort. In the meantime, enjoy the last snippets of fun before September arrives!

Published by catherine w

I'm a feminist public health ethicist (yes, that's a thing). I'm interested in heath behavior change, particularly around eating and activity, and how things other than knowledge affect our health decisions.I'm also a cyclist (road, sort-of-off-road, commuter), regular yoga-doer, occasional swimmer and kayaker and leisurely social walker.

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