Month: October 2023

fitness

Remembering: My Loss and My Gain

amandalynnstubley
image of woman smiling at a camera while seated in a canoe on a lake. Behind her in the boat are 2 young boys in life jackets and a man. All are holding paddles

October is Pregnancy Loss Awareness month and I want to share the post below, of my own pregnancy loss. I originally wrote the post for my Facebook account. I am a musician and I have a pretty wide engagement with my community there. For that reason, when I wanted to let my broader community known about my experience, I chose to post my thoughts there. Samantha is my “friend” and my friend in real life too; she read my post, recognized that it touches on fitness, gender and reflection, and so encouraged me to share it here.

I am so glad I did. Talking about loss is scary and painful, but it can help to let the pain dissipate; writing the post below certainly did help me. I also found out just how many women in my life had experienced pregnancy loss. One of the saddest parts of my miscarriage for me was realizing how common it is, and how little I realized about that.

I am still sorry about that miscarriage, but my deep sense of loss has transformed into something much less painful and more… balanced? Somehow my loss feels like it fits into the hills and valleys of my life and I’m actually ok with it. I know when women have pregnancy loss at later stages that is far less possible… I am very grateful that I can experience it that way.

My Loss and My Gain: Killarney 2004/2016 (Guest post)
fitness

Freaky Friday the 13th

amysmithphd

Do you view Friday the 13th as a day of doom and disaster? Or is lucky #13 more your speed? Maybe you want to try your luck at a personal best or podium win at one of the many Friday the 13th races happening across the U.S.? A quick search told me about races happening in Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Maryland.

This CNN article provides a fairly in-depth look at how we’ve come to view Friday the 13th as unlucky. Personally, I’m team Lucky #13, and I’m not surprised to see the notation about the number 13 being tied to lunar or menstrual cycles (for many of us our menstrual cycles can feel unlucky or at least uncomfortable, but mostly they seem to raise speculation and fear in the hearts and minds of those who do not/have never menstruated).

Themed races are plentiful so it isn’t surprising to come across these Friday the 13th races. They seem especially plentiful when the date falls on a weekend and in the month of Halloween. We’ve covered Halloween workouts (here and here) and movement/activity in costumes (here and here) on the blog before. As October advances there are trick-or-treat, costume, and Halloween races and events in many communities.

Red tshirt reads "6.66 Devil's Chase Run Like Hell" with a race medal that looks like a devil and a race bib with number 280 on it.
Race swag: tshirt, medal, and bib

A few years ago I tackled one of these Halloween-themed races in Salem, MA called the Devil’s Chase, which is a 6.66 mile run (or walk in my case). The race’s tagline is “run like hell” and prizes are given to the 1st place “devil” (a devil costume is mandatory). In recent years they’ve added a shorter 3.33 mile distance called the Creepy Clown. The race generates a lot of attention in an already busy city with a lot of Halloween tourism. People come from all over in their best clown, devil, and other costumes. The year I ran it I started the race with festive devil horns on my head but eventually handed them off to a bystander when they started to annoy me after a few miles. I can’t imagine running in a full-body costume like many of the racers do.

How about you? Have you done a Friday the 13th race, ride or other event? Have you raced in costume for Halloween? Was it your lucky day… did you get a Trick or a Treat?

Amy Smith is a professor of Media & Communication and a communication consultant who lives north of Boston. Her research interests include gender communication and community building. Amy spends her movement time riding the basement bicycle to nowhere, walking her two dogs, and waiting for it to get warm enough for outdoor swimming in New England.

fitness

Possible Link Between Cycling and Dental Health

Diane Harper2 Comments

Doesn’t that sound all science-y and official? Fellow blogger Catherine Womack would be horrified, since my data set is just me, with nothing but anecdotal evidence.

I recently went to the dentist, who commented that I have a lot more plaque than usual. She said that a possible cause is mouth breathing (whether from allergies, snoring or something else), since that creates a perfect environment for plaque bacteria to grow. What had changed since my last cleaning six months ago?

I have mild allergies. And I sometimes snore. Both those things have been true since I started seeing my dentist 30 years ago. Those can be eliminated as probable causes.

What has changed is the amount of time I spend on my bicycle, and the joy I get from riding. I have been a 3 season bike commuter for 20 years, but those rides were generally 5 km or less. I never rode for fun and rarely to do errands.

This year I have ridden my bike everywhere. My goal has been to use my car no more than once a week. I also ride just for fun, with various groups. Safer cycling infrastructure has turned my rides from harrowing to pleasurable.

I ride with a huge grin pasted to my face, just like one of my favourite Twitter cyclists, Miss Omar (@AuntieKay28). She has written about the joy, happiness and freedom she gets from cycling, and how it puts a big smile on her face.

Woman in a long black robe and bike helmet, holding up her black bicycle. She is near a cliff with water below, under a cloudless blue sky.
Miss Omar with her Brompton and a huge smile. Photo taken from a September 22 post on Twitter.

Since the plaque diagnosis, I have been trying to ride with my mouth closed, reserving big grins for pedestrians and other cyclists. But it’s hard because I’m smiling so much on the inside that it wants to break through to my face.

Diane Harper lives in Ottawa.

fitness

Building Strength in My Shoulders and Back – What?

Diane Harper

I have been dealing with a shoulder issue since at least this spring . At one point in September it was full-on frozen shoulder (or something that looks like it, since I don’t have a formal diagnosis). How could this be? My shoulders are super strong from all the swimming I do.

Since then, it has improved a bit but I still feel as weak as a newborn kitten after a short swim session. Really short, as in 400M or so, not even my usual warmup distance.

Dapne, my physiotherapist, has been helping me recover mobility for months now. She gave me some strengthening exercises that I mostly ignored for two reasons:

1) the stretching exercises seemed more important; and

2) I’m a swimmer who relies heavily on arms, shoulders and back to move through the water. I can swim for hours, and barely kick. How can I possibly need to strengthen those muscles?

This week she delivered the same message again, along with new exercises using a resistance band. I had to try them while she watched, instead of just looking at the little videos at home. Huh! I really do need to strengthen those muscles! That was hard work.

This has all been an interesting learning process. I know a few swimmers who have had shoulder problems but they were faster/worked harder than me. My assumption about my risk of similar injury was completely wrong because frozen shoulder does not appear to be triggered by exercise; whatever they suffered from was likely something different.

I also learned how great it is to have a good physiotherapist. I first went to physio about four years ago, after breaking the other arm. That was necessary and therefore acceptable. However, I struggled to believe that I “deserved” to see someone to help me address less specific mobility and strength issues. Physiotherapists are for athletes. Wait – I’m an athlete, albeit an older one.

Now I’m learning the importance of doing all the exercises I am given, so I can go from sad little Karen Gorney arms to a full John Travolta stretch. I looked it up – there are actually Saturday Night Fever shoulder exercises, and one of them is one I have been assigned.

Saturday Night Fever photo courtesy of Everett Collection

I’m going to have to reset priorities in order to fit them in. And I’m going to hate it. They are boring, as well as hard. But I am unstoppable and I want to get back to doing things I love.

A green cartoon T Rex dinosaur appears to be roaring while holding up to grabbing sticks that will allow it to reach things normally out of reach. Above it, in black capital letters, is the word UNSTOPPABLE.
An unstoppable dinosaur is ready to go plogging with Martha, despite its obvious arm issues.

Diane Harper lives and swims in Ottawa.

Next summer, planning early, bike packing close to home
camping · cycling · fitness · holidays

Next summer, planning early, bike packing close to home

Sam B1 Comment

I love camping.

I love traveling around on my bike.

I’m an aspirational bike packer. I’m spending too much time watching reels and videos of people bike packing in wild, beautiful places.

I’ve got a bit of an obsession with the Munda Biddi Trail in Western Australia. Now that trail has huts for camping, but being able to tent would give you more flexibility.

Munda Biddi Trail

I’ve been reading things like this beginner’s guide to bike packing in Japan and bike camping in Japan in a shoestring.

I know it seems like it ought to be in my wheelhouse but I’ve actually rarely been bike camping.

I have done trips where we carried all of our stuff and stayed inns and airbnbs. Jeff and I traveled around Manitoulin with the bike trailer staying in inns and motels.

I’ve gone bike camping in Newfoundland twice but both times we had other people carrying all of our stuff.

Sarah and I tried to go bike packing but in the middle of our plans the government closed up all the parks due to covid. Here was our plan but here’s what happened.

I think my only actual bike packing trip where we camped and cooked outside and carried all of our stuff was with Mallory. She planned the trip as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. She’s also been bike packing since then. I looked on in envy.

Ideally, I’d like to be able to fly places with my bike and camping gear and tour around as long as it suits. I’ve got Norway and Japan and Australia in my bike packing sights. But I think we should practice closer to home first. Lol. Get used to carrying gear on our bikes. Try 3-4 days at a time first.

What’s the attraction? Why not just bike from airbnb to airbnb?

I like independence and not having to commit or make definite plans and reservations. Also, lots of the places I want to visit the distances between places to stay are too big. In places like Scotland, also on my travel list, there are lots of hostels and places to stay reasonable distances apart. But that’s not true everywhere.

So the plan is next summer to head out two or three times and see how it goes. I’d like to do long weekend length trips. Are you an Ontario bike packer? Any routes you’d recommend?

More reading:

Best bike packing routes in Northern Ontario

Everything you need to know about bike packing

Loaded bike for bike packing. Unsplash.
Red Cape Season
fitness

Red Cape Season

Diane Harper

Early fall is when my ballet classes and master’s swim club start up again after a summer break, so it’s a joyful time of seeing friends again. It’s also when I try the to finish challenges that I have been thinking about since spring – I’m at my strongest after the summer, the weather is great with no bugs, and time is running out for this completist to get them done.

Late fall, when it’s rainy and dark, is much less exciting and then I am thankful the external discipline of formal classes to keep me going.

But I still need to move around the city, and I prefer to do that on my bike, if possible. The right gear to keep you warm and dry helps a lot. This morning I rode to the office through the drizzle, while wearing my bright red cycling rain cape. It made me feel like this:

A cartoon child wearing a red rain hood rides their bicycle with a little brown fog perched on the back. It is raining and the child is smiling. There is a Dutch phrase that translates to ‘‘tis always Big Ben wear”.

An undated ad for Big Ben rain wear by the artist Fiep Westendorp, courtesy of @CoolBikeArt1 on Twitter.

I am renaming cold drizzly fall. From now on, it’s Red Cape Season.

Diane Harper lives in Ottawa.

Christine and the Contrary Brain
ADHD · fitness · injury

Christine and the Contrary Brain

Christine Hennebury2 Comments

I wonked out my shoulder and my arm two weeks ago.

Khalee and I were out for a walk. She was cruising along sniffing every blade of grass, as per usual, when she noticed a dog on the opposite side of the road and decided to take a look.

She changed direction so fast that I didn’t have time to adjust direction. I swear, if she had more momentum, my whole right arm – and possibly my shoulder- would have detached and been dragged behind her on the end of the leash.

Luckily, my arm stayed attached but all my muscles on that side are really unhappy with me.

I’ve been taking it pretty easy exercise-wise while I recover from the strain.

I’m doing some low key yoga, lots of stretching, and some mobility exercises. And, of course, I’m still walking Khalee every day.

(I hold the leash in my left hand though!)

A light-haired dog is walking away from the camera down the sidewalk on a sunny day. 
Image description: Khalee, my light-haired, medium-sized dog, is walking away from me on the sidewalk on a sunny fall day. Her leash is visible on the bottom left corner (it’s in my left hand!) and to her right is some grass and there are trees beyond that.

So, I’m doing ok and things are improving but I am feeling rather contrary about the whole thing.

I’m not contrary about the injury – although that part is no fun- I’m contrary because I am suddenly absolutely compelled to start rowing again and to really dig into some upper body strength training.

I’m not actually doing those things yet because I’m not foolish enough to risk hurting myself further but when I envision my day, I keep imaging myself rowing or doing some bicep curls and it seems like a great idea…until I remember.

Of course, I could be doing lower body strength training or using the exercise bike but my brain doesn’t find that intriguing at all.

When it comes to expanding my exercise plans right now, it wants upper body work or nothing.

See what I mean?

My brain is just being contrary.

Now that I have tuned into that fact, I’ll work around it and do some extra squats or lunges or whatnot but I had to become aware of the contrariness before I could do anything about it.

fitness · holidays

Sam’s starting early and somewhat silly Christmas list

Sam B1 Comment

I am one of those people who is just a little bit challenging to shop for, I think. I’m lucky. Mostly, if I need or want things, I buy them. But I also know that gift giving is fun. And I do take breaks from work and ogle things on the internet.

Here’s some of the latest stuff I’ve spent time looking at, and lots of it is even fitness related.

🎄 Exercising My Demons Tank Top

I love silly workout t-shirts.

🎄 Hoka hiking shoes

Maybe these ones?

You’ll recall I went sneaker shopping after my first knee replacement surgery. I bought a pair of Hoka shoes for everyday (and a pair of New Balance hiking/trail shoes for walking Cheddar on trails.) All good except the Hokas are so much easier on my knees, I now want all of them! The ones I got were their athleisure shoe, “The Kawana is the perfect athleisure shoe for those who like the Hoka look but don’t run.”

I keep browsing their website and visiting running stores trying to decide what to buy next. I want both a hiking/trail shoe and a dedicated indoor only pair for the gym. Friends and family, if you spot them on sale, I’m a women’s 10. All the wild colours welcome. My first pair are black and white. Very comfortable and great on my knees but maybe a bit boring. I wear them a lot, most days since last September. Here’s 10 things you might not know about Hoka shoes.

🎄 I’m gearing up for bike packing next summer. I have rear panniers, including a new excellent one for commuting to work that has a shoulder strap for off the bike and a special padded spot for my laptop. What I want next is a bag for the top of my rear rack.

Maybe this one?

But my last Ortlieb bag kind of fell apart. It’s got a 5 year warranty but I don’t have the receipt and the stores I thought I bought it from don’t have a customer record for me. Puzzling.

🎄 While we are on the subject of cycling gear, for years I’ve wanted one of the Garmin rear lights that connects to your computer, notifies you about traffic behind you, and that brightens up when it detects cars. According to Garmin, “The world’s first cycling radar, Varia helps create a safer cycling environment by warning cyclists of vehicles approaching from behind up to 153 yards (140 meters). The radar tail light also warns approaching vehicles of a cyclist ahead.” There’s a fancy one that also records video footage. But I think I just want the basic one.

🎄 The media has been going on and on about the percentage of toys that are bought by adults for themselves. I’m not there yet but hey, I’d love some as gifts.

How about this great Lego Succulent set? Plants that will survive in my office!

🎄 A big part of what’s fueling the adult toy craze, is our desire to express our belonging to certain fandoms. Count me in, I’d like a Stevie Nicks Barbie please.

🎄 Finally, if you’re rich, and wondering what to get me for Christmas, how about a bike camping trailer for bike packing. When I’ve been trailer shopping, I usually think of tiny tear drop trailers to tow behind our small hybrid vehicle in which we could pack bikes and head south for the winter. But lately I’ve been seeing trailers that can be towed behind bikes, a home on wheels. Check out the Hupi Wagon. Yes, I’d need an e-bike but wow, this might be fun.

Hupi Wagon
charity · cycling · fitness

A November charity cycling challenge? Count me in

Sam B1 Comment

November isn’t my favourite month. But you all know that. September is back to school. October is all bright autumn colours and long sunny hikes and bike rides. December is the holidays. And then there’s bright snow and longer days starting in January. But November? Dark, rainy, gloomy, with none of winter’s redeeming features. I am always looking for ways to improve November. I’ll get my anti SAD lamps out. I’ll wear bright colours. I’ll cook fun food. I’ll look for good books.

This year it seems I’ll also take on a cycling charity challenge, aiming to ride 150 in November for the Canadian Cancer Society. Here’s hoping it improves my mood. And if it doesn’t? Fine, I’ll have raised some money for a good cause. It’s also a cause that’s close to home. My father died of cancer in 2015. I had thyroid cancer some years ago. My mother had cancer in her younger years.

Bonnie Raitt plus Royal Wood and the band

But as Bonnie Raitt said at the end of her concert Thursday night, 1 in 2 Canadians will have their life affected by cancer. It’s close to all of our homes. When she said that, I was shocked. I’m shocked each time I hear it. I even Googled it, and the Canadian Cancer Society tells me, “Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada. Nearly 1 in 2 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and about 1 in 4 will die from cancer.”

So I’m riding my bike, sending some money their way, and hoping you do too.

Here’s the link to support my challenge. It only works for Canadians, sorry!

Together we are bigger than cancer

A pile of newspapers, tied up with twine. Body weight and the relationship with longevity in older women: looking beyond the headlines
fitness · research

Body weight and the relationship with longevity in older women: looking beyond the headlines

catherine w

At the very end of August, while many of us were heading to the beach or mountains or lake for a last hurrah before fall, and while others of us were frantically finishing up syllabi or purchasing back-to-school supplies and clothing, a big study came out, looking at associations between longevity and weight changes in women over 60.

What did they find? Well, it depends on what you happened to read.

If you looked at news stories, you’d see only this:

  • Weight stability in 60s tied to women's longevity

The headlines are true. But the headlines aren’t the main result.

Let’s look at the details of the study itself (I’m paraphrasing from the paper abstract below):

  • The study used data from the Women’s Health Initiative of 54,437 women, aged 61–81 years.
  • It examined associations of weight changes and intentionality of weight loss with survival to ages 90, 95, and 100.
  • Weight was measured at baseline, year 3, and year 10.
  • Participants were classified as having 1) weight loss (≥5% decrease from baseline); 2) weight gain (≥5% increase from baseline); or 3) stable weight (<5% change from baseline).
  • Participants reported intentionality of weight loss at year 3.

So the researchers are really looking at the issue of weight loss after age 60 vs. maintaining a stable weight. Why? Because many studies suggest a relationship between unintentional weight loss and mortality risk in older people. The researchers wanted to see if weight loss in general (including intentional) was associated with reduced chance of survival to age 90 or older.

Here’s what the news stories said:

[The researchers] found that the women whose body weight stayed stable over the years had 1.2 and 2 times the odds of surviving to 90 and beyond than those who lost weight.

Women who lost 5 percent or more of their body weight over the first three years studied had 33 percent lower odds of surviving to 90, 35 percent lower odds of surviving to 95 and 38 percent lower odds of surviving to 100 than their counterparts whose weight remained stable.

One factor associated with longer lives was whether a woman had intentionally lost weight. Those who unintentionally dropped pounds had 51 percent lower odds of survival to age 90 compared with others in the study. The researchers write that gaining weight over the study period “was not significantly associated with survival” to an extended age.

As the news folks say, this story buried the lede. The main result wasn’t that stable weights after 60 increase longevity, but rather than weight loss after 60 is associated with reduced longevity. And, unintentional weight loss was 3X more strongly associated with reduced longevity than intentional weight loss. Their study didn’t find any association between weight gain and reduced longevity. And finally, this pattern of results was similar across all BMI categories.

So, no matter the starting weight at age 60, losing weight was associated with reduced longevity to 90 or older.

One more important thing: these results are about associations found in large data sets. They’re not translatable into clinical advice for individuals. What the results do suggest is that prescribing weight loss for older women may not be productive for longevity. This news story did say that. Yay, Neuroscience News!

There’s a lot of science being done about aging bodies, weight and health. Some of it goes against standard clinical practice, so it’s important to keep up with new results and talk about them with friends, family and our healthcare providers. And we’ll keep you informed as best we can.