Month: May 2024

A view of the ocean from a green tree-lined coast in Rhode Island. Courtesy of Catherine. Getting creative about workouts
fitness · season transitions

Getting creative about workouts

catherine w

Like a bunch of the FIFI bloggers and friends, I’m in a Facebook count-your-workouts group (224 workouts in 2024). As of today, I’m at 75 workouts, which is rather far behind many of the folks posting in our group. It’s been an emotionally taxing semester teaching-wise (I promise, no more complaining about students). However, it is now well and truly over.

The nail part of the "OVER" memo feels especially satisfying.
The nail part of the “OVER” memo feels especially satisfying.

Since the end of semester, I’ve given myself some time for increasing my level of activity. I’ve dabbled in dog walking, gamboled through gardens, restored my self through gentle yoga (enhanced with more sound bathing, which I highly recommend) done more yoga and stretched some at home.

Speaking of gardens, you might check out the Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, that I explored last week with my friend Melanie. However, if it’s too far to swing by, here are some highlights:

This topiary chair is not meant to be sat on--trust me.
This topiary chair is not meant to be sat on–trust me.
A cute is still-a-bit-thin beaver topiary.
A cute if still-a-bit-thin beaver.
These peonies aren't topiaryish, but they wowed us with their bright magenta petals and yellow middle part (I'm not a gardener, okay?)
These peonies aren’t topiaryish, but they wowed us.
A pair of bears– teddies, I think.
No one knew that this was– I thought maybe a peacock, but another woman thought whale.

While I’m still metaphorically catching my breath and ramping up for a more active summer, I’m trying to work in more varied active pursuits. I mentioned in a past blog about my garden membership with its reciprocal agreements with other gardens. That’s low-key outdoor and social fun, which checks a few boxes. I have plans to see botanical gardens in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

I’m also getting some informal weight lifting in by helping a friend who’s moving by packing and getting rid of excess stuff (taking it to charity outlets). And, I’m volunteering for my church’s annual sidewalk sale next weekend– hauling stuff to the sale, and then at the end of the sale, hauling unsold stuff to charity places.

You may wonder why I’m doing these sorts of activities instead of just cycling or swimming or kayaking, etc. Why do I feel the need to get creative instead of straightforward about workouts?

Yeah. Well, the deal is that I’ve felt pretty depleted and at times downright wrung out by life in the past six months. There’s no dread secret cause, just a variety of events ranging from local to global that have made me feel very downtrodden (I’m sure you can all relate). And I’ve found that even with the aid of sunshine, warmer temps and gigantic magenta peonies, I can’t go from zero to cycling/swimming/etc. immediately. It’s going to take a little time to get back into the swing of moving in the ways I love.

Enter creative and functional and beneficial workouts– combining helping with social interaction while working up a little head of steam seems to be just what I need. Next week: coffee bike ride with my friend Pata. And, I’m starting an herb garden, although not in the shapes of animals. You can’t do everything.

Readers, when you’re moving from blah to Rah, what do you do? What kind of transitional creative activities do you do? I’d love to hear from you.

fitness

Plogging in the rain …

marthafitat55
Image shows a blue surgical mask discarded by a roadside. Photo by Dim Hou on UnsplashThis

This post isn’t about mask-wearing. Now that the snow is long gone in my part of the world and the spring winds are blowing freely, there’s lots of garbage floating around. Part of it is because we don’t have enough garbage cans along our sidewalks, parks and trails. Part of it is just sheer rudeness by people who feel it’s okay to throw their refuse to the four winds.

A friend always takes a bag with her on her walks to collect garbage. She feels she is doing her part to make her neighbourhood cleaner and greener. If she was running, we would call it plogging. About a year ago, I wrote about plogging as my new activity: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2023/05/20/plogging-in-the-spring/

My partner gave me a garbage picker-upper after I saw how much he had cleaned up on his walks.

If you haven’t tried plogging, give it a go. I wrote about the origins here: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2018/11/16/plogging-your-way-to-health-and-fitness/

It’s always good to leave a space better than you found it.

feminism · fitness · stereotypes · swimming

Grandmothers as Athletes: How About We Just Call them Athletes?

Diane Harper

Sam recently wrote about Amy Appelhans Gubser, her amazing swim and the way it was portrayed in the media. TL:DR it was bad. Lazy journalists treated it as a “human interest” story about an overweight grandmother who miraculously did a long swim.

Since I follow a lot of marathon swimmers and marathon swimming enthusiasts, the coverage I saw what quite different. Everyone was respectful (in awe) of what she achieved. No-one commented on her age, family status, weight or anything else. I assume it’s because women are very well represented in marathon swim records (which do not have separate categories for men and women) and extra weight may actually be an advantage when you are swimming for many hours in cold water. And they can understand just how tough that swim was, and that it wasn’t undertaken lightly by some kooky old lady who miraculously succeeded.

Here’s what Amy accomplished:

  • Golden Gate Bridge to SE Farallon Island
  • 47.7 km (29.6 miles) in 17 hours, 3 minutes on 11 May 2024
  • First to complete route in outbound direction (mainland to island)

That’s impressive all by itself, but here’s what her friend and fellow marathon swimmer Simon Dominguez had to say:

“I am still marveling at Amy’s swim. What some might not know is why this is such a difficult swim so I thought I would tell you.

28.5 miles of open water swimming. A long way but there are other swims of the same distance that are not nearly as tough. Why is it so tough ? (and thanks for asking). Because of the following:

The cold
While the temperature ranged from 48 to 57 degrees F, I know that it touched down at a low of 43 near the islands. 17+ hours of swimming in these temperatures should not be possible but were for Amy because of the work she put in training in very cold water for a number of years preparing for this swim. Also, you need to remember that the longer you swim, the more exhausted you get, the more you feel the cold. Add this to the fact that as you head out to the Farallones, the water temperature continues to drop so you get the double whammy of exhaustion and cold combining to make this an almost impossible undertaking.

The currents
While Amy whipped out extremely quickly at the start of the swim on a strong ebb, she then had to fight a flood. Amy told me that she got stuck in place for over an hour at one stage as she fought the tide. And it was near the end of the swim when she was the most depleted. Truly amazing.

Sea creatures
Luckily Amy did not encounter any men in grey suits but they are out there all year long. I have no doubt that she was watched while she was swimming. The Farallon Islands sit in the Red Triangle – the largest great white shark breeding ground in the world. Amy respects that she is a visitor in their world. This is not the first swim that Amy has done in shark inhabited waters.

I attempted this swim in 2015 and did not make it due to a shark encounter about three miles from the finish. I could not be happier that the first person to successfully complete this swim is the amazing Amy Appelhans Gubser. A fierce competitor who has no quit in her and who is the first person to put her hand up to help others in need.

I salute you Amy. I know you probably feel like you have gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. But your name will now go down in history as a true South End Rowing Club badass.”

Amy Appelhans Gubser showing off the badass T Shirt her husband brought her from Dublin, where he had been while she was doing her Farallon Island swim. Photo shared by Amy Appelhans Gubser on Facebook

Amy is well-known and respected as a long-time marathon swimmer. Her first major marathon swim was across the Strait of Gibraltar in 2015: 14.4 km in 4 hours. There have been many great swims since, and she was named one of the World’s 50 Most Adventurous Open Water Women in 2019 by the World Open Water Swimming Association.

But somehow all that pales in importance imparted to her status as a grandmother (sarcasm). Sam’s son Miles made me laugh by telling Sam “All your athletic achievements could be so much more impressive if I had a kid.” I have a feeling Amy would laugh at the absurdity of it too, secure in the knowledge that people who understand marathon swimming appreciate what she achieved.

fitness

Triple Threat Fitness

Sam B2 Comments

There’s lots of different ways of characterized kinds of exercise. 

I often think in terms of cardio, strength training,  flexibility, and balance. That’s a goal directed way of looking at it. 

But a recent article in my newsfeed, Your body needs these three forms of movement every week, organized exercise differently  into three different ways of moving. There’s everyday movement,  deliberate athletic training,  and social exercise.

“First is the movement your body is owed or requires every day, such as walking, stretching and bending. Second is athletic movement, which you can do a few times a week to improve your fitness or to train for a sport. Third is social movement that you do for fun or to connect with others, such as dancing or playing volleyball.”

It’s the third I’m missing at the moment.  As I start to plan my fitness future, I need to think about how to get that back.  I’m tempted by CrossFit because I love the community, but I’m worried about hurting myself.  Bike groups would be great if I could find one my speed! I think martial arts are still out for now.  Swimming is fun and social,  if I follow your advice,  and get out in the fall.

What do you think of this way of classifying exercise? Do you get all three in your life?

accessibility · cycling · feminism · fitness · inclusiveness

Motherload

Diane Harper

Motherload is a movie about cargo bikes and the people who use them. It’s going to be shown as part of June Bike Month in Ottawa. I won’t be able to attend, so I watched it on-line. Here’s my review:

Given that it is a self-funded documentary about an arguably niche topic, I was not prepared for a joyful, feminist movie.

There is quite a bit about the development of cargo bikes in the USA, with acknowledgement of the huge role cargo bikes play in everyday life in much of the developing world.

There is also plenty about the links between cycling, suffragettes and feminism going back more than a century. There is recognition of the inequitable access to transportation in the USA, and how cargo bikes could make a difference for poor and racialized communities, if cycling safely was possible.

But it was also a film with joyful scenes of kids having fun riding in, on or beside cargo bikes. My friend Cassie said her family had ordered their cargo bike before seeing the movie back in 2020, but it reaffirmed that decision! For her, being able to bike as a parent means freedom, reliability, physical and mental wellness, fun, and allows her to feel like she’s doing something to address the climate crisis. She just wishes more people had access to safe routes and could see cargo bikes as a possibility in their lives.

Though most of the cargo bike users in the movie live in places where there’s no snow, lots of people use them year-round in all weather, in Canada.

People with their cargo bikes at a recent event in Ottawa. Cassie is riding her cargo bike in the bottom right photo.

If you can’t get to a showing of Motherload, you can watch it here (free, with commercials).

The hand of Indian god Ganesh with an Om painted on it. By Sonika Agarwal for Unsplash. It’s World Meditation Day! Can I get an Om up in here?
fitness · meditation

It’s World Meditation Day! Can I get an Om up in here?

catherine w

In case you hadn’t noticed yet, May 21 is World Meditation Day. What’s it about, apart from the obvious? According to India Today, it’s just what it says: a time to think about pausing and existing in the here and now.

This day is all about encouraging people to meditate and showing the benefits of meditation to everyone. It’s a chance to think about how meditation can help us relax, feel better both mentally and physically, and connect.

The day focuses on the importance of meditation for keeping peace, clarity, and strength. World Meditation Day helps us take care of our mental and emotional health.

Meditation is a simple practice that can help everyone. By meditating, we can connect with our inner selves, become more aware, and manage our emotions better. 

Yeah, I can totally get behind that. In fact, I’ve sort of been preparing for today, using the ramp-up exercises from my Ten Percent Happier app. Last week, they started the big countdown with an activity for each day leading up to today. Here’s their seven-day list:

  • set an intention– it could be for more focus, or serenity, or gratitude, whatever.
  • take a tech timeout– set aside some time with no notifications or noise from phones, computers, etc.
  • eat a mindful meal– create a meal for yourself to be eaten without distractions, just noticing the food, the environment, and your own senses.
  • do some mindful listening– take some time to sit/stand/lie down/walk with a focus on listening to the sounds around you.
  • reflect on gratitude– think about what and who you are grateful for in this moment, in these times, in this life.
  • embrace simplicity– this isn’t about cleaning out your closets, but rather asking yourself what you actually need and bringing your attention there. This is my favorite one.

So, what am I doing for World Meditation Day? I’ve done my morning meditation, and will take some extra time to do a walking one. I’m dog sitting, so it may be combined with walking Dixie the dog. And I wrote this blog post to share with you the possibilities for today and other days moving forward.

I also wrote this post to share with you a picture of a cute frog meditating. Om.

A brass frog, serenely sitting with froggy legs crossed. By Soren Funk for Unsplash.
fitness · swimming

Does being a grandmother matter to your swimming ability?

Sam B3 Comments

One of the way we get ideas about to blog about is that outraged readers send us some of the things that outrage them. This past weekend many of you sent us this. It’s been shared by many feminist groups on social media.

Tweet reads, “Last week, a 55 year old, 200 lb grandmother was the 1st to swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon islands, a -30 mile journey. She swam in 43° water & it took ~17 hours. She was stung by jellyfish 20 times. It’s considered the toughest marathon swim in the world.” Comment below reads, “The fact that her weight is included but not her name is an interesting choice. Congrats to Amy Appelhans Gubser.”

________________________________________________________________

Most people were shocked that the tweet mentioned Amy Appelhans Gubser’s weight but not her name.

When I shared that tweet and the response on our Facebook page, many readers also pointed out that the “grandmother” identity is off-putting, too. We’re all pretty sure that men who achieve great things don’t get called “grandfather” in the headline even if they are, in fact, grandfathers.

The grandmother theme was pretty ubiquitous in the reporting of this incredible achievement.

I was impressed that in in my newsfeed at least Outside Magazine didn’t mention her grandmotherly status or her weight in the headline. She even got her full name in the title. Nice!

See here:

But then I clicked through and got this:

ARGH!!!

In some ways, it seems worse than the “mother” designation. At least in my case becoming a parent, is something that’s about me. “Grandmother” just means my kids decided to have kids. Is the emphasis on the age part of being a grandmother? Or do you think there’s something special about grandmother in particular that makes her accomplishment so remarkable? It’s like age + gender + parental status all bundled into one identity.

I used to wonder if it got used in headlines because the women themselves talked about it a lot in the interview. But no, there’s no talk of how thoughts of her grandchildren kept her going through the night, no discussion of how she worried about sharks and not being there for her grandchildren. It’s just there in the headline. Otherwise, it’s all the terrifying details of marathon swimming that we talked about in our Saturday night with Nyad blog post. You know, the cold and timing the swim, and the support crew and the jellyfish.

Anyway, what an incredible accomplishment. I’m in awe.

A dog relaxes in an armchair while someone pats/scratches her neck. Christine and the Relaxation Conundrum
ADHD · meditation · self care

Christine and the Relaxation Conundrum

Christine Hennebury

When I teach writing, I remind people that writing often is a good thing because it helps make your writing skills more available to you when you need them.

And I often compare that situation to doing kicking drills in Taekwondo. The drills aren’t just about exercising/adding strength they are about making my kicking skills more available to me when I need them.

Over and over I have proven to myself that doing the thing often makes it easier to do the thing when I need/want to.

Soooo, why do I have trouble remembering that fact when it comes to relaxation exercises and meditation?

I’m not a stressball at the moment, nor do I lack opportunities for relaxation, but, I do feel that my base level of stress could be a lot lower.

And I have some small practices in place:

I do a very, very short meditation every day and I do a longer one on occasion. (Every time I do a longer meditation, I ask myself why I don’t do them more often.*)

And I have relaxation music/visualizations that I listen to sometimes and I have relaxing drawing practices that I usually only remember to do when I am already feeling a little frayed around the edges.

But, even though I know that doing important practices more often makes them more available to me, I don’t apply that rule to relaxation practices or to longer meditations. 

I know that if I practice relaxation exercises (visualizations, music, drawing) more often, I will have a deeper well of relaxation to draw from. 

I know that meditating for longer feels better in the moment AND brings me more ease overall.

I know that lowering my base level of stress will help me to be responsive rather than reactive when something goes awry. 

And, yet, my brain still manages to convince me that the practices are too long or too much trouble to do on a regular basis.

Irritating, hey?

So, Fit is a Feminist Issue friends, I officially declare that it is time for me to make a change. 

I am fed up with this flaw in my thinking and I am going to correct it.  

I am going to turn my relaxation/meditation practices into another example of skills that are available to me because I use them often. 

And I’m starting today.

Feel free to join me!

*I know that my ADHD brain is not a fan of starting something that feels like it will take a long time, even if I know I will enjoy it/find it useful.  Meanwhile, though, I figured out last summer that the effort to start a longer meditation is the same as the effort to start a short one but the longer one is more enjoyable. Did I remember that lesson? No, I did not.

cycling · fitness

How a changing climate is changing our exercise habits

Sam B2 Comments

I’m writing this from a cabin on the edge of Algonquin Park,  where it’s 28 degrees at the of May.  It’s hot here, and there are wildfires burning across Canada.

I’m thinking again about physical activity in our changing climate.  It’s not the first time.  See Cycling in the heat: Can we keep doing it? And I’m not the only blogger thinking about it.  Catherine wrote Climate change and physical activity: how to move now? Concern for the environment is behind lots of Diane Harper’s recent cycling posts.

Sun setting

It’s a wild,  unsettled,  and frightening time.

This week, two different stories popped into my social media newsfeeds about the effect changing climate is having on physical activity.

First,  there’s this: Extreme weather making it harder to be active

“Three in five adults in England say extreme weather has had a negative impact on their ability to be physically active, according to new research by Sport England.

The funding agency is announcing a new investment package “to help sports battle climate change” as part its first environmental and sustainability strategy.

A total of £45m will be used “to help more people get active in nature, restore flooded sports pitches and help sports clubs become sustainable”.

And then there’s this,  Climate change is a new hurdle for children’s physical activity levels in Canada

“With already low grades for children’s physical activity, climate change is emerging as a new barrier for children and youth to get more active.

For instance, the number of weather alerts in Canada is rapidly trending upwards, which could indicate an increased number of days where k”ids can’t play outside, recesses take place indoors, and sports and school days are cancelled.

Events like poor air quality from wildfire smoke, heat waves and heat domes are becoming more frequent during the summer, with climate scientists predicting they will only grow more intense.”

The connection between the health of the planet and the health of human beings got me thinking about one health approaches to the study of human, animal, and environmental well-being. 

What does it mean for me personally?

July and August used to be my big riding months.  No more.  I think I’m likely to start thinking of recreational cycling outdoors as a spring and fall activity. It’s getting too warm here in southern Ontario.

Currently, my summer cycling plans have a gap between mid-June and mid-August, and maybe that’s okay.

But while recreational cycling outdoors moves to the fall, I also plan to increase my bike commuting year round.  It’s never made sense to me to react to the heat outdoors by getting into an air-conditioned car. They’re part of the problem.

June is bike month here in Canada.  See you out there!

A bike on a gravel path

Just jog and smile
fitness

Just jog and smile

Nicole P,4 Comments

Recently, I wrote about how I had been experiencing vestibular issues that were interrupting my regular scheduled jogging. It was also making me walk with trepidation as the world did not feel stable. Not to mention what it was doing to my ego. I run, partly, for mental health. Was my mental health affecting my ability to walk and run? 

Today I had my first steady jog for over 9km. It wasn’t my fastest time ever but I was able to jog consistently and smile while doing so. 

What have I done since I started experiencing balance issues? 

I called in professional help. 

I spoke to my doctor about this new experience and how it seemed to be anxiety induced. We discussed options. We agreed, in my case, it was best not to avoid walking or trying to jog. I have a history of anxiety affecting others activities and avoiding those activities have just made it worse. I didn’t want this to happen to my experience with walking and running. We decided I didn’t need SSRIs for now. He agreed to give me a prescription for low dose Ativan, with a limited number of pills and repeats, in case I needed them for panic moments. I’ll come back to this. I had already been on a wait list to see an obgyn (or at least I thought I was but my dr hadn’t entered the referral properly). my dr sent a new referral to an obgyn so I can talk to them about possible hormonal causes. 

I started doing grounding and breathing exercises to try to calm my anxiety and to try and give me a feeling of stability when I went out for a walk or jog. 

I went to see a physiotherapist who ruled out specific conditions. All roads continued to point to anxiety induced vertigo and he gave me some balance exercises to work on and I have been checking in with him weekly. 

I tried to give myself a break. Even though I felt shook up about this new problem and didn’t understand why it had become a problem, all of the sudden, I told myself to get over it and be nicer to myself. 

I kept at it. I sang Natalie Merchant and Taylor Swift (yes, not sorry) and I listened to Julia Louis-Dreyfus” Wiser Than Me (if you haven’t seen it, she won a Webby for this podcast yesterday and in her acceptance speech she simply said, “Listen to old women, Motherfuckers!”. I agree. 

Some walks were better with mantras such as, “my feet are strong, my head is strong” and, “run towards the danger” (thank you, Sarah Polley), my old standby, “I am. I can. I will. I do. Envision. Thank you”. Also, just, “thank you”. I said that a lot. Thank you universe for this moment. Thank you to whatever is working – and whatever is not, too.

Some walks were still not great. After a week of much better walking, some successful, stop-and-start jogging, I was feeling better until I had a day with some “wonky walking”. I felt frustrated even though my physio had warned me this would be normal, it wouldn’t be a perfectly, linear, experience. I persevered and even that wonky walking day ended better than expected. And, two days later, I enjoyed a successful 4+km jog.

I will add here that out of the 10 Ativan tablets I had stashed in my purse, I have only used 2 and none this week. I didn’t want to have to rely on them to run.

I have also talked to friends about my issue. As with many things, when you start talking to friends, you will often hear that they have experience similar things. It’s helpful knowing you have good company. 

Also, I continued going to the gym. I felt fine at the gym. I tried to jog, even the short distance, to the gym, and celebrate whatever wins happened there. Before having vestibular issues, I wouldn’t have tracked such a short jog in Strava, but every little bit counts now. To me. Yes, I know. Only to me. 

At the gym, I continued to enjoy feeling strong and working out with friends. Yesterday’s conditioning workout included shuttle runs outside the gym, on the sidewalk. I was a little nervous that I would have a problem. But it was fine. I’m sure having my friend Laura next to me helped. I also think those shuttle runs helped me with my jog this morning. 

I got up today, had my coffee, completed my NYT puzzles, did a 10 min yoga for grounding and stability, added some alternate nostril breathing and set out. 

Instead of my usual, “you are strong” or “I am. I can..etc.”, I started out with, “Just jog and smile”. I kept repeating that. Maybe a fluke, but it worked. I ran just shy of 10km at a steady pace. There were moments I forgot I had a problem. Thank you. To the universe. Thank you. 

Nicole P. Is saying “Just jog. Smile. Thank you!”