Hi readers– remember Sunday, when I wrote about my love and extreme sappiness about the Boston Marathon? Well, I’m not alone in having strong feelings for all things having to do with this event. Witness the hullabaloo around the following signs put up recently in Boston by running shoe companies. Here’s one advertisement ill-advisedly run by a company that rhymes with “Mikey”:
Red sign saying “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated,” Really, Nike? For shame.
Bostonians and visitors alike were feeling serious consternation and not keeping quiet about it. Yes, the Boston marathon requires pretty ambitious qualifying times (e.g. 3 hours for men ages 35-39 and 3:30 for same-aged women). But lots of people who enter are raising money for charities, so their finishing times are much longer.
Also, those who are not runners and who complete the race in wheelchairs or in cooperation with others on dual teams were also mentioned in comments. Don’t they count, Nike?
After realizing their bonehead mistake, Nike made this tepid statement of non-apology:
“We want more people to feel welcome in running – no matter their pace, experience, or the distance. During race week in Boston, we put up a series of signs to encourage runners. One of them missed the mark.”
Ya think?
Then their corporate sign-makers got to work and put up this more contrite version:
The new Nike sign, saying”Boston will always remind you, movement is what matters.” hmph.
Other shoe companies were not unaware of Nike’s gaffe. A company whose name rhymes with “basics” put this sign up in short order:
Purple-bluish sign saying “Runner, Walkers. All welcome. Move your body, move your mind.”
And that’s not all. The shoe company Altra put out an ad that led with “Run. Walk. Crawl,” and captioned a social post, “Go where you’re celebrated. Not where you’re tolerated.” Yes, I know that this is corporate piling-on for the purpose of rearranging market shares. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it, right?
Congratulations to all those who entered the Boston Marathon and who completed it, regardless of mode. And speaking of signs, if any of these corporate folks need some tips, asking the people at the Wellesley scream tunnel for advice. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy…
Signs saying “blink twice if you need Dunkin'”, among other things.
Tomorrow, Monday April 20th, is the 130th Boston Marathon. It’s a special day in Boston, roughly coinciding with Patriots’ Day, commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord, MA. We also celebrate the rides of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott from Boston to Concord (although Revere was apprehended by the British). Reenactors on horseback retrace the rides on Patriot’s Day and there are parades and reenactments of revolutionary things.
In fact, on one Patriots’ day, while I was cycling with a friend in Lexington, MA, we saw a lot of people on the side of the road. I said to her, “I think there’s a parade happening here.” She disagreed until we spotted a guy in Colonial garb clip-clopping down Mass Ave in our direction. We prudently and expeditiously pulled over to the sidewalk to join the rest of the onlookers.
These reenactors aren’t in Lexington, but the one on the left is riding down Mass Ave. in Arlington. The three riders on the right are playing Prescott, Revere and Dawes. It’s fun to watch them and the rest of the colonial pageantry.
But the main reason why there’s a bank holiday Monday in Boston is the Boston Marathon. Tens of thousands of runners, their friends and family and marathon fans flood Boston, roads are closed for the race, and much of the city stops what it’s doing to watch the wonder of the 26.2 mile (42.1Km) event.
I admit that I rarely head to the course to view the marathon in person, but I always watch it on TV. With coffee, maybe pancakes or an omelette and toast, I make sure I’m in place for the start (Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair and Handcycle at 9:06 am and 9:09am, 9:37am for the Elite men, 9:47am for the Elite women), and then do house chores with it going in the background. The Wheelchair Elites finish starting around 10:30am, The Elite men cross the finish line starting around 11:45, and the Elite women winner will cross the line by 12:10 or earlier.
It’s that women’s finish that always makes my heart swell and my eyes water. Every time.
I don’t follow professional marathon racing, so I don’t know much about the women runners prior to listening to the color commentators that morning. And I am not nor have I ever been a runner myself. But as they hit the 20-mile and head up Heartbreak Hill in Newton, I am glued to the screen. Watching their form, their speed, their demeanor– it just gets to me. In the best possible way. I’m cheering them, worrying about them, feeling sympathy for those running out of gas on the course, and anxiously awaiting the last push to the finish line on Boylston Street.
Sometimes it’s a tight race to the end. Other times someone has pulled out ahead and is the clear winner coming out of the Kenmore Square tunnel at mile 25. Either way, I’m on the edge of my seat on the sofa.
When the women are in sight of the finish line tape, I always get choked up. Happiness, pride, inspiration (in a good way), relief– I have all the feelings. Every time.
I love watching the women run and finish the Boston marathon. Their race reminds me of how hard they have worked to get a spot in the marathon (women weren’t officially allowed to enter until 1972, although two women ran and finished in 1966 and 1967) and how hard they have worked to make their way as professional athletes.
Readers, do you have a special women’s athletic event that you follow, that makes you all teary-eyed and proud? I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, I’m getting my Marathon Monday breakfast all ready…
Is there any such thing as too much publicity? The current craze over the sexy-sweet-Canadian-hockey show Heated Rivalry is definitely putting that question to its test. My social media feed is full to the brim with interviews, photos, behind-the-scenes articles and loads of social commentary (most of it positive to the point of gushing) about this series that follows two young hockey stars as they explore their attraction into hookups in bed, matchups on the ice, and their deepening feelings for each other.
Everyone and their cousin has written about Heated Rivalry. And I think I may have read 90% of those articles. Including this one from the Guardian, which panned the series when they reviewed it in early December 2025 (shame on them for not having any artistic/cultural vision!). Here’s what a 64-year-old non-profit executive from Toronto had to say about the series in the article:
Mary, who asked to be identified only by her first name, discovered that a sexually explicit love story about two menwas “for her” after all.
“I admit I may have rewatched it more than once,” she said. “It’s super sexy. They’re fabulous to look at. There’s a huge amount of consent. I’d really like to get that back in my life – that feeling of ‘I can’t keep my hands off you.’”
Mary, I am 100% with you on this.
If you’re interested in an interview with Rachel Reid, Canadian author of the book (part of a series she wrote called Game Changers), you can find it here.
I feel compelled to add my own observations about what I love about Heated Rivalry, in part because my head is kind of swimming about it, and also because, as a part of the Fit is a Feminist Issue journalistic team, I’m committed to report to you, dear readers. So here goes.
NOTE: I’ll try not to drop spoilers here. But honestly, does anyone not know (or can guess) how this series plays out?
One: I love that the Heated Rivalry team isn’t budging on talking about the main actors’ dating or sex lives. The show is not about the actors; it’s about the characters. And the actors’ lives are none of our damn business. Talented and hunky veteran actor Francois Arnaud said as much in a interview with Andy Cohen. Good on you, Francois.
Two: I love that multiple languages– English, French, and Russian– in the show, are used in ways that feel authentic. There’s not as much French in the show as there is in the book (of course I’ve read the book by now; duh); many players switch back and forth between French and English, and I am guessing the author Rachel Reid gets this right. Shane, the Canadian player from Ottawa, speaks both English and French, and uses them often in the series.
But mainly, I love that Ilya, the Russian character, uses Russian and English in ways that reveal his personality. He struggles with English sometimes as a non-native speaker, but his playful mocking humor comes through clearly. And he uses Russian (WATCH EPISODE FIVE NOW!) powerfully and tenderly. My heart is fully open to Ilya.
Three: I’ll just mention this to avoid spoilers, but, from episode six, I totally love STUPID CANADIAN WOLF BIRD.
IYKYK.
I’m ordering one of these T shirts as soon as I finish writing this post. My friend Norah told me she saw one of the yoga teachers at our local studio wearing one.
Stupid Canadian wolf bird T shirt. I must have this. They also do mugs, if you prefer.
Four: the soundtrack is fabulous! It’s a combination of older and newer pieces, even using Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata as accompaniment to Ilya’s Russian dialogue in episode five (which you need to watch ASAP). I’m still singing along to this cover by Feist of Sea Lion Woman (spelled See-Line Woman when Nina Simone recorded it). I missed it when it came out, so I’m glad to hear it now.
Five: I love how this series and these young lovers are making me feel. About love, about sex, about evolution and acceptance. And all this at a time when things are really falling apart. It’s not just a respite; that it surely is. But it’s also offering a note of hope. Call me sappy and naive, but I’m loving the love on the screen and the love piled on by just about everyone who’s seen or read this story. Clearly we needed it.
That Guardian article I mentioned above is worth reading for its reporting on reasons why women are responding so positively to a gay male sex and love story. There’s lots for think about here, and I may write more about it. For the moment, though, I’m just going to bask in the feelings, deferring analysis until later.
Six: Heated Rivalry has me thinking I need to up my sexy time game. Watching this show, I’ve rediscovered all kinds of feelings that I tend to associate with my teenage years: head swimming with images, heart full to bursting, and loins fully activated. This was surprising but not at all unwelcome. By the way, I blogged about self care and solo sexy time here ten years ago. Maybe it’s time to go back to the store to see what new products they have developed in the meantime.
Readers, are you watching Heated Rivalry? What do you think about the show? What do you think about the media carnival about the show? I’d love to hear from you.
Oh, and here’s a super-cute Instapic of the actors hamming it up for the camera.
A friend posted this article about the Indian Women’s Cricket team winning the Women’s World Cup.
This AP photo of the women celebrating their World Cup win is from the India Today article linked above.
“Three years before this moment, back in October 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a bold and unprecedented move during its 15th Apex Council meeting. They unanimously passed a resolution to introduce pay parity between India’s men’s and women’s cricketers. For the first time, the women who wore the blue jersey would receive the same match fees as their male counterparts.”
“This triumph was not accidental. It was the result of a carefully constructed ecosystem designed to elevate women’s cricket from the fringes to the forefront. The BCCI’s [Board of Control for Cricket in India] equal pay decision was only one piece of a larger puzzle: improved facilities, better coaching structures, and the advent of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which gave Indian players consistent exposure to world-class competition. The WPL, in particular, provided an arena for rising stars to play alongside and against international icons, sharpening their skills and instilling the poise needed for high-pressure moments like a World Cup final.”
The article got me thinking about other low and middle income countries with powerhouse sports teams. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but discovered that Kenya has a national strategy and several funds (public and private sector) to support women athletes. Jamaica announced a fund to support women’s soccer earlier this year, just two years after the national team had to crowd-fund its way to the Women’s World Cup.
Most seem to rely on non-governmental funding, which is more about empowering women and girls rather than producing elite athletes. That is arguably a far more important goal. But as interest in women’s sport continues to rise around the world, I look forward to seeing other countries and corporate sponsors putting resources into equal funding for women’s sport.
I’m already a fan of the Olympics, where there are serious efforts to ensure gender parity in the competitions and on individual teams. Future games promise to be even more interesting, as the traditional dominance of countries that have (relatively) strong support for female athletes is tested.
I think about lots of things when I’m swimming. I think especially about comments on or by great swimmers and how I can incorporate that into my own swims.
Me in the centre, sharing a moment with swimming greats Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky – totally not a faked image at all 😁. Original photo is from Swimmingworldmagazine.com, from February 25, 2025.
It started a few years ago when someone told me to watch a video of Katie Ledecky breathing in freestyle. She barely got her mouth out of the water.
The last few weeks have been great for ideas from the experts.
First it was former Olympian Brent Hayden, who graciously provided a detailed answer on body rotation when I asked him a question about one of his posts that I didn’t understand. Seriously cool! And helpful advice that I am incorporating into both my distance swims and sprint practices.
Then it was a commentator at the Worlds in Singapore pointing out Summer McIntosh’s heels coming slightly out of the water when she kicked, showing her excellent horizontal position in the water. My swim coach has been trying to get me to do that for ages. I teach kids to do it in swim classes. But do I do it myself? Let’s just say I have been trying, and I’m more consistent when I entertain myself by pretending I’m swimming like Summer.
Early on Saturday morning it was Katie Ledecky after her amazing 800M swim in 8:05 (I’m happy when I do 400 in under 10 minutes). In a post-swim interview, she said she has really been working on her kick and it is paying off. Me too Katie, me too. Also me – time to review those YouTube videos on how to achieve an efficient two-beat kick like hers.
After watching the swimming on Saturday, I went to the lake for a little swim with friends. They are both faster than me so I was pleased that I was able to stay close. I worked hard, but at the end I ran out of steam and finished third. Did I laughingly compare myself to Summer McIntosh as I got out of the water? Yes, yes I did.
The lake where I dream of swimming like an Olympian.
The title of this article about Canadian ultrarunner Stephanie Case winning a the 100 mile race Ultra-trail in Snowdonia, Wales, on May 17, six months after giving birth, really gets my goat.
The article itself is just fine. It talks about how 42 year-old Case took three years off from running and this was her first big race since then. It’s honest about some of the challenges she faced both with her body and with managing the logistics of feeding her baby. Case talks about the importance of supporting new moms, and allowing them the space to pursue things they love, while also recognizing that stories like hers risk setting impossible standards for women.
Case did a truly remarkable thing. She ran 100 km in a little over 16 hours, starting a half hour behind the elite runners in the first wave. She did it a mere six months after pregnancy and birth, something that can be really hard on a woman’s body.
Ultramarathoner Stephanie Case takes a selfie while on the trail in northern Wales.
But would there have been the same attention to her story if she had been using formula, as many women do for all kinds of reasons? Somehow I doubt it. I still see way too much “breast is best” social media shaming of women can’t or chose not to breastfeed. Full disclosure: I am very much in the “breast is great if it works for you and your baby, but fed is best” camp. Formula was invented for a reason, and millions of children are alive because they had that option (especially in countries with access to clean water and good quality formula).
Still, if a stupid headline is what it takes to highlight the accomplishments of an amazing woman doing a really hard thing, I’ll swallow my grumpiness and celebrate her.
CW: some of my recommendations talk about body size, weight loss, fat phobia and weight discrimination. But luckily not all of them…
I love listening to podcasts in the car during my commute to and from work, and especially on long car rides as I go visit friends and family. Here are a few I’ve really enjoyed this year:
Weight for it— One of the panelists on the above-mentioned podcast is Ronald Young, creator and host of the podcast Weight for it. If anyone you know is fatphobia-skeptical, play them 5 minutes of this episode and they’ll be cured forever. It’s about weight discrimination by the airlines and airline passengers. I wrote about this abomination on the blog a while ago here. But you can listen to Ron and also Aubrey Gordon (host of great podcast Maintenance Phase) here: Into Thin Air
Field Trip— I blogged about this podcast last summer while I was driving to and from western New York State. I loved it so much, it convinced me to plan a trip to see nature in Florida this winter. And I did– I’m going to see manatees in February! More on this later. The episode about Everglades National Park is my favorite (obvs) but all of them are great. They illuminate the complex history and rich experience to be had in national parks.
Tested podcast by the CBC–this podcast six-part series is about sex testing in women’s athletics. It offers some historical information and tracks the stories of some elite female runners whose biology conflicts with (outdated and false) views about what women athletes should be. Definitely worth a listen.
Wiser than me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus–I’ve only listened to a few episodes of this podcast, but I’m lookin forward to hearing more as I travel for the holidays. In eachof them, Julia has long, satisfying conversations with older women who have important, funny and insightful things to say. From Nancy Pelosi to Jane Goodall to Patty Smith to Billie Jean King, there’s an interview to suit everyone’s interests and tastes.
Readers, do you have any favorite podcasts you listen to and swear by? There are so many out there, I’d love to hear what you’ve found.
You are the people who don’t take advantage of your glide in breast stroke. Who walk in the lane rather than swimming. Who do some sort of head’s down dog-paddle. Or who do very short strokes and over-cross your arms in freestyle. Or who don’t follow every movement in aqua fit class. Or take it easy instead of pushing yourself throughout.
But you show up every single session and do your workout, whatever it may be. Already I recognize and expect to see you when I’m lifeguarding.
If I were you, I would welcome coaching or lessons because improving my strokes and speed are constant goals. But you seem happy to be moving through the water, and that’s the important thing.
You demonstrate discipline I don’t have, just by showing up every day.
Older women smiling and laughing during a water aerobics class. Photo from oldldadygains.com
When I am coaching writers or storytellers, I remind them, over and over again, that their stories matter. Not only is it important for all kinds of stories to be told in all kinds of ways to reach all kinds of people but individual stories hold universal relevance. And communicating a universal idea through one person’s story helps an individual reader or listener to connect with it in a deeper way.
In her book, Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes And The Road To Title IX, Sheri Brenden clearly helps the reader to make the connection between the experiences of individuals and the bigger story of the changes that were needed to help pave the way to improve girls’ access to sports (and all the related opportunities) in Minnesota.
An image of the cover of Sheri Brenden’s book ‘Break Point: Two Minnesota Athletes And The Road To Title IX’ that shows the title in white on a grey background on the right side and two black and white photos, on the left. The top photo is of a young woman playing tennis and the bottom photo is of a young woman running in a race, both photos are from the 1970s.
Break Point recounts the stories of two high school students, Peggy Brenden (the author’s sister), a tennis player, and Toni St. Pierre, an endurance athlete, who couldn’t test their skills in competition because, in the absence of girls’ teams, their (very reasonable!) requests to compete on the boys’ teams were determined to be against Minnesota State High School League rules.
While the two athletes didn’t know each other, their lives were connected when the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union agreed to go to court to fight for the girls’ right to compete in their chosen sports. While Brenden and St. Pierre hadn’t set out to be trail-blazers (they just wanted to compete), when they won their case they did indeed blaze a trail for a new conversation around girls’ sports.
I really enjoyed seeing that conversation develop throughout Break Point. Sheri Brenden is an engaging writer who manages to be both matter-of-fact and friendly, whether she is recounting the ins-and-outs of a court case or describing her sister’s ‘Kill ‘Em With Cool’ tennis style.
Brenden did a great job of showing how the ‘small’ story of two girls who just wanted to compete in their respective sports is really the big story of how everyone deserves the same opportunities in sports, in work, and in every other aspect of our lives.
So, if you are interested in the history of girls sports, the application of Title IX, or if you want to see just how pervasive the myths and prejudices that attempt to limit women’s participation in sport can be, give Break Point a read.
*****
While things have definitely changed in the over 50 years since the events in the book, women are still dealing with blatant discrimination disguised as concern for women’s safety and we are still being asked to be patient and wait for equality (as if it will just naturally develop over time…sigh.)
I have to say that seeing that the same arguments, in slightly different form, have being going on my whole life has only made me more determined to stridently oppose them.
Back in May, Sam and I both wrote about grandmothers as athletes in the context of an amazing marathon swim by Amy Appelhans Gubser. At the time, Sam’s son Miles told her “All your athletic achievements could be so much more impressive if I had a kid.”
I struggle to think of myself as an athlete, despite all the positive self-talk. It is getting harder now that I’m retired and we are living through a miserable wet summer that has me unmotivated to go outside. And now I am about to be a grandmother.
A young couple standing on a dock at a lake. The man has one hand around his partner, and the other on her belly. Both are smiling.
I’m thrilled, but also wondering what that will do to my self-image and the preconceptions of people around me.
Will I continue wanting to do my own fitness things or will I turn to a pile of granny goo who just wants to play with the baby whenever I can? How can I adapt what I enjoy doing to incorporate the little one? When I do those activities with a baby (or toddler or child, eventually) will I still be seen as an independent person or just an extension/caregiver playing along? Will it matter what other people think, or can I be comfortable in my own skin?
In other words, can I be a little bit like Amy Appelhans Gubser, even if I never do an amazing marathon swim?
