Posts from the ‘Move’ Category

Jul 1

Double Dipsea

One of my favorite (and lately, one of my only) trail races of the year – the Double Dipsea – took place Saturday. A stunningly beautiful and gruelingly difficult 13.7 mile trail race, the Double Dipsea is one of three primary races that take place on Marin County’s famous Dipsea trail every year. The most famous of the three is the Dipsea, a 7.5 mile race that has been held annually since 1905, making it the oldest trail running event in the United States. For super aggressive runners, there is also a 28.4 mile Quad Dipsea race.

The Double Dipsea course starts in Stinson Beach, CA, runs to Mill Valley, CA, and turns around and heads back to finish Stinson Beach where runners often cool their burning calves and wash away the inevitable poison oak in the frigid waters of the Pacific. The terrain is serious – climbing and descending a total of 4,500 feet over uneven single-track footpaths. The heat can be unrelenting (it was this year). There are a few harrowing descents, made more dangerous by the elite runners bounding down them body lengths at a time, seemingly floating from step to step. Six hundred and seventy-one stairs descend into and out of the halfway point in Mill Valley, shocking first-timers and still surprising the veterans.

Despite all of this – actually, because of all of this – the Double Dipsea is a magical race. It’s a “handicap race,” meaning that everyone (regardless of age or gender) has a chance to win. Basically, the oldest women start first (about an hour before the race officially starts), and the 20- and 30-something men start last. While a 27-year-old guy won this year’s race, a 73-year-old man came in 12^th. It’s an amazing feeling to near Mill Valley – having traversed massive hills and soaked in sweeping views – and see the first grey-haired athletes running toward you, heading back to finish line. May we all be so lucky. This format makes it feel like everyone is in it together, reflecting the strong camaraderie that marks trail running in general — fiercely competitive and overwhelmingly embracing at the same time.

And so, I head back to the Double Dipsea year after year, lured by the history of the trail, the spirited volunteers, the friendly locals, a committed groups of friends, the challenge of the course, and the heart of the tribe who know and run it. Who’s in for next year?

Do you have a favorite race or event? When did you get hooked on it, and why do you love it?

Jun 26

Rolling On Down the Road

I drove past a shirtless guy today HAMMERING down the road with earbuds in and a toddler in his running stroller. Seriously, he was running like he was being chased by the mafia (or his wife trying to get him to do the laundry)…sprinting so fast that I wanted to buy his kid a helmet and a pair of wrist guards. I was both in awe and sort of terrified, wanting to applaud him and report him at the same time. This guy is obviously not alone — according to the Guinness Book of World Records:

The fastest time to complete the 10 km (6.2 miles) Pram Pushing race: 34 min 19 sec (by Russell Stokes pushing his daughter Paris, at the Sydney Striders 10k Race, Sydney, Australia, on 1 March 2008)
The fastest female time to run a half marathon while pushing a pram: 1 hr 30 min 51 sec (by Nancy Schubring (USA) at the Mike May Races Half Marathon, Vassar, Michigan, USA on 15 September 2001)
The male record for the fastest time to run a half-marathon while pushing a pram: 1 hr 15 min 8 sec (by Neil Davison (UK) who completed the City of Norwich Half Marathon, Norfolk, UK on 12 June 2005)
The fastest time to run a marathon while pushing a pram: 2 hr 42 min 21 sec (by Michael Wardian (USA) at the Frederick Marathon, Frederick, Maryland, USA, on 6 May 2007)

A 2:42 marathon pushing a stroller — seriously? And people are competing for world records in stroller pushing — really?

I’ve done my fair share of fast running with a stroller (usually when it was the only option or when I couldn’t quiet a screaming baby at 5am). And in those moments, I was overwhelming grateful to be able to get out the door at all; it was often the only chance I had at a real-deal workout. So I totally respect and understand sprinting stroller man…and seeing him reminded me that for every thing there is a season.

But as time has gone on, and the kids have grown tired of sitting for long periods of time and I’ve wanted to carve out workout time as “me time,” my stroller runs are now more about company and conversation. They’re about us, not me. We talk about the seasons and traffic patterns and how the flowers smell and how the neighborhood construction projects are coming along; and the kids ask questions like “why does that car have a blanket on it?” and “why did that guy walk when the light was red?” We look at the ocean. We figure out what we’re going to eat for brunch afterwards. We don’t count miles, we count park benches. We have low heart rates and high spirits.

I’ve learned to love these runs for what they are — family time. And save the sweaty sprints for the treadmill.

How do you feel about working out with your kids? Do you try to make family workouts challenging, or do you save the “tough training” for solo/grown-up time?

Jun 19

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At the Core

photo by anya quinn via flickr creative commons

Fitness magazines seem to include a piece on core strengthening exercises in every single issue. You know the drill – a multi-page spread featuring a 20-something-year-old woman in little shorts and a high pony doing a series of exercises on a beach or next to a worldly monument or in an exotic looking grass hut. After all, who wouldn’t want to spend their mornings doing plank pose in a little grass hut?

For those of us whose mornings look more like “get up and stumble to the coffeemaker, slurp down some coffee/check my email/start blog post/go for workout/race into shower/read books with kids/take kids to school,” there is no side plank and there is definitely no grass hut in sight. But this doesn’t mean we don’t need to work on our core strength. We all need a solid core in order to do everything from cleaning our houses to playing sports to having sex. So if you’re like me, and struggle to find focused time for core work, here are three simple ways to fit it in:

Just stand up straight. Seriously, just focusing on your posture can make a huge difference. Stomach muscles pulled toward the spine and tailbone tucked under. Yes, it’s easier than it looks.
Move during the day. Pick up toys off the floor. Reach for things on the top shelf. Work standing up. All of these little movements add up.
TRX, TRX, TRX. TRX is an amazing tool that works your abs while you work other muscle groups. It’s a great way to work your core while you work other muscle groups at the same time.

If you still need convincing that core strength matters, check out this article from Harvard’s Healthbeat newsletter. And if you’re a runner, here’s some great advice about core workouts for running. Oh, and if you can figure out how to make that grass hut thing work on a regular basis, please let me know how.

How do you keep your core strong? And how has having a strong core helped you in your workouts and in your life?

Jun 10

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Weekend Reflection: Five Things That Stuck Out

Life is full of transitions — big ones like getting married or having a child or starting a new job, and small ones like watching day turn into night and shifting from weekend to work week. These transitions are a great time to reflect — even if just for a few minutes — on what’s going well and what’s not. They’re a good time to check in about whether we’re rested or tired…energized or ambivalent…taking care of ourselves or not…and prioritizing the things that matter most. I consciously thought about these things for a few minutes as I drove to work this morning, taking stock of how the weekend went and what intentions I want to set for the week ahead. Here are some reminders I’m holding onto as the work week begins…

EXERCISE

Little Eyes Are Watching: Our 2-yr-old daughter was busily working on her own in the kitchen yesterday. I assumed she was “cooking” something in her play kitchen until she told me it was time to begin “spin class.” She told me she had water and pistachios ready in case we got hungry and thirsty, and she was ready to turn up the music and SPIN (note: she has never been to a spin class…she’s only heard me saying that I’m going to one…so her version of spin class was literally SPINNING, until I was sick and dizzy and ready to fall down). The point here is: as parents and as people…we don’t always realize how our behavior is impacting the people around us. If I had spent the weekend watching TV, my daughter likely would have organized a Downton Abbey marathon…not a spin class. Health begets health….something I posted about a few weeks ago in Cheering Us On.

FOOD

Deliciousness Can Be Easy: My mother-in-law was visiting this weekend, and she’s a great cook. What I love about her cooking sensibility is that she focuses on simplicity, and she proves that great cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. She made a beautifully seared prime rib, roasted potatoes and spinach and mango salad with seemingly minimal effort. No recipes required. I covered this idea of simple meals in an earlier post — 3-Ingredient Meals — and I love seeing it in practice. It’s a great reminder that time need not be a barrier to healthy + yummy cooking.

MIND

Technology is Complicated: If you missed it, this New York Times essay, “How Not to be Alone” is thought-provoking as we think about the role technology plays in our lives and how it can shape our behavior. Here’s a teaser that might make you want to take five minutes to read this: “I worry that the closer the world gets to our fingertips, the further it gets from our hearts.” If you’re interested in the conversation about technology and well-being, here’s an earlier post about the power of unplugging.

RELATIONSHIPS

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old: We spent time with three different out of town guests over the weekend (mother-in-law, old friend from Wisconsin, and old friend from Calgary), and I was reminded how important it is to invest in lifelong relationships. I know it’s cheesy, but I’ve always loved the piece about friends in that famous Baz Luhrmann “Sunscreen” poem/song: “Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.” Both new and old friends add huge value to our lives…and seeing old ones face-to-face is an important reminder that we need both.

PURPOSE

The Power of Focus: I don’t have any weekend revelations about purpose to share — after all, it was just a weekend! But I did do a bit of thinking about focus. We went to a park Saturday that’s famous for kite-flying, and I loved getting lost in the moment while watching the colorful kits swirling in the air (similar to the Hockey Moments I covered a while ago). Our lives have the potential to be totally absorbed by distraction, making focus elusive. Jonathan Safran Foer quotes Simone Weil in the loneliness essay I mentioned above: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” This is so true…generosity to others…and to ourselves. This leads to my intention for this week…FOCUS. Less email, more making stuff. Less breadth, more depth. Less interruption, more impact.

What’s your intention for the week? And does it stem from something you did, read, heard, or realized this weekend?

Jun 3

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Strength in Numbers

A few weeks ago an old friend came over for dinner, and on the way out the door he asked if I wanted to join him for an epic cycling event he was doing the first weekend in June. Loving the idea of something epic…and totally ignoring the fact that my training schedule has been far from epic…I paid my $60, signed up, and entirely put it out of my mind until Saturday night when panic set in and I wanted with all my might to bail on the 5am wake up call and sleep in, eat bacon and eggs with my family, and read the Sunday Styles section.

I’m quite sure that the only reason I got to the starting line was because I knew my friend was going to be there. And I’m even more sure that the only reason I finished the 200km ride was because he and a bunch of his friends from SF2G (the “San Francico to Google” cycling group) encouraged me to stick with them, ever-so-patiently waiting at the bottom while I slowly white-knuckled the harrowing descents, and re-grouping at the top of each of the massive climbs. Yes, the scenery was beautiful and the challenge was invigorating, but the camaraderie made the ride. These people (literally) pulled me through a windy patch, told me what to expect as we climbed, and had a can of Coke waiting at the top of the last climb. They were optimistic and welcoming and fun…inseparable in my mind from the ride itself.

This is just one example of impact training/racing partners and groups can have. There’s tons of research supporting this idea that exercising in a group pays off. A few years ago, The Economist covered a study finding that training in a synchronized group may heighten tolerance for pain due to the simultaneous endorphin release caused by exercise and collaboration. A 2009 University of Pennsylvania study found that exercising with a partner boosts weight loss. And for people who can’t find real-life training partners, the fitness industry is going very social very quickly (I covered this a few months ago in my post “To Track or Not to Track“).

Without a doubt, training partners and groups make workouts better. They make them more fun. They make us work harder. And as was the case with me yesterday, they can even help us do things we likely couldn’t/wouldn’t do on our own. So how do we find these magical people? Here are a few simple ideas:

Find a formal group. Pick your sport and then visit a local store related to that sport (i.e., local running store or bike shop) and ask them if they lead or know of any good training groups
Create your own group. Link up with a partner or group through your gym (people who run on treadmills probably also like to run outside)
Be friendly at the finish line. Talk to the people who finish around the same time as you in races/events; if geography is in your favor, you already know you have a partner who is the same pace
Post an ad. I know this sounds like a total stalker move, but I met my favorite training partner of all time and still one of my dearest friends (see former post “Curtis Camp“) when I posted in a mother’s group in search of an early morning running partner
Just say yes. Even if you feel nervous about joining a group for a run/ride/swim/row/whatever, if someone invites you, say YES. Ignore the self-judgement (“I’m too slow for them”), and just go. Almost without a doubt, it will beat working out solo

So if you’re needing motivation, a challenge, or simple a bit more fun in your workout, the answer might be calling a friend…or a even a stranger.

Have you ever trained/raced with a friend or group who pushed you harder than you would have ever pushed yourself? How did you find that person/group, and what made it such a great fit?

May 28

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The 4:1

Pumped to have a long Memorial Day weekend at home, between Friday and this morning, I got my workout on. This translated into running 33 miles, doing a TRX class, and taking a spin class…which was awesome (and a lot for me these days). This then translated into me wanting to sit in a chair all day today to avoid using my aching muscles…which was NOT awesome. As I sat down to write about rest, I remembered a study I covered a few months ago reporting that the magic number of workouts per week is four…for exactly the reason I experienced today. Study participants who exercised more than four times per week were more likely to spend their non-exercise time sitting and resting than the other groups.

I’m not sure that my magic number is 4X/week, but I am 100% sure it’s not 7X. We all need rest. Not “sit around and watch cartoons all day” rest, but a physical and psychological break from a formal workout. Since having kids, I’m not super proactive about planning rest days (they almost always seem to happen naturally), but I do try to keep loose track of workouts and take a day of rest after four days of medium/hard workouts (I call this the 4:1). Beyond knowing that I followed this plan for three months during the Blue Planet Run without a twinge of injury, I also like it because it’s easier for me to remember than some elaborate schedule. It isn’t perfect…and sometimes it ends up as the 3:1 or the 4:2, but it’s something to aim for and it’s a good reminder to take time to pause…rest…sleep late…stretch…relax…re-set.

How important are rest days to you as you’re planning your workouts? Do you schedule them in or let them happen?

May 23

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Car-Less Fitness

My car puttered to a stop this week, turning out to be in dire need of a new alternator. Unfortunately it conked out while we were out for dinner, meaning Sean and I had to schlep our kids and ourselves a few miles home on foot in the near dark. This sounded something like, “Carry me. Put me down. Pick me up. I don’t want to be picked up! Where is our car?” But, the silver lining of being car-less for most of the week has been better integrated fitness (not exactly workouts, but definitely fitness). Here’s what it looked like:

Monday (5 miles of running): Ran 2.5 miles each way to volunteer at the kids’ school and get back to work. I stashed a t-shirt in my son’s cubby in the morning so I’d have something dry to put on when I got to school, and I took an awkward “French shower” in the ladies room at work when I returned. This only took 15 minutes longer (total) than driving, including the “French shower.”

Wednesday (15 miles of biking): Biked the kids (and 2 lunchboxes, 2 sets of sheets, a change of clothes, and a computer) in the trailer from home –> school, school –> work, work –> school, school –> doctors’ appt, doctor’s appt –> home. Listened to giggles in the trailer the whole way (except for when kid #1 was squashing kid #2’s head into the side of the trailer), and someone at work commented that the flag on my bike is “cute.”

Thursday (6 miles of biking and 3 miles of jogging): Biked to/from work (6 miles) and jogged 3 miles to pick up the car at the end of the day. That 3 miles — which I never would have done otherwise, since I ran this morning — actually cleared my head after a long day. I came home happier and more relaxed than if I would have cruised home with the A/C on listening to NPR.

This teeny episode of forced bike/run commuting was a good reminder of how easy it is to make simple changes that lead to a more active day. I’m not sure if I’ll ever adjust to the French shower, but the fresh air in my face and the sun on my back mid-day definitely make it worth it.

What’s the last workout you fit into a crazy day? Would you rather integrate exercise into your daily routine or carve out time for dedicated workouts?

May 9

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The 7-Minute Workout

The New York Times just posted a short article about high-intensity interval training (HIIT) –something I’m always interested in learning more about because it’s so effective and efficient. The article shares the findings of a study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal, which concludes that 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair, and a wall constitute a HIIT workout and just take seven (uncomfortable — at a level 8 on a scale of 1-10) minutes. And according to the study authors, these precious seven minutes “produce molecular changes within muscles comparable of those of several hours of running or bike riding.” Seriously?! That’s AMAZING, totally defying everything many of us grew up thinking about exercise (i.e., more = better).

We all have at least seven minutes. In fact, I’d argue that we all have at least 28 minutes and could do this workout multiple times during the day. Yes, a long, luxurious workout beats this any day, but time is a scarce resource these days. And if I can get seven minutes, I’ll take it — in the gym, in the garage, in a conference room with the door closed, or in the parking lot waiting to pick up my kids.

Are you into HIIT, and if so, what’s your favorite workout/class? And if you haven’t tried it but would like to, check out my earlier post on Tabata and my friend Karisa’s simple-but-super-tough home workout.

May 1

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Trusting Our Guts

This morning was one of those mornings when I felt like I’d run a marathon before I even left the house. Jolted out of a dream at 6am by the sound of two sets of feet running full tilt into the bedroom, I went through the usual motions – brew coffee, give breakfast options, cook breakfast, start making lunches, set table, serve breakfast (my kids are still too little to make their own breakfast). As soon as two steaming bowls of oatmeal were on the table, a three-alarm tantrum began. “I don’t want oatmeal…I want eggs! I want eggs! I want eggs! I know I didn’t say it, but I want eggs. I WANT EGGGGSSSSS!” This went on for twenty solid minutes, at which point my son finally bellied up to the table and said he’d finish his (then cold) oatmeal if I’d make him some eggs once his bowl was empty. Impressed by his problem solving, I conceded, knowing that I had 25 minutes to shower, get dressed, get them dressed, finish the lunches, get my work stuff together, COOK EGGS, and get out the door. Needless to say, I’m lucky my clothes matched.

The day progressed at a similar pace – albeit with rational grown-ups, not tantrum-y kids — until my meetings ended at 2pm. My brain was tired from work and my heart was still unshakably heavy from the seemingly endless morning tantrum, and I knew I needed a re-set in order to make the rest of the day productive. So I gave myself one. I laced up my running shoes and headed out of the office for a 40-minute loop in the sunshine. Transported by Pandora’s “Dance Cardio” station, my frustration quickly faded away, opening up space for new energy and fresh thinking. After just a few minutes of running, I was able to focus on what I needed to do in the afternoon. As my stride evened out, my perspective shifted, and I returned back to my afternoon workload in a much brighter place.

I bring this up because although I write a lot about (and wholeheartedly believe in) planning and thinking ahead and optimizing and being proactive, the reality of life is that gut feelings…reactions…instincts often trump all of those things. Structure and guardrails and commitments are there to guide us and remind us of what matters most and how we want to live. They’re there to push us to do things like wake up in the dark to squeeze in a workout or clean our veggies on Sunday so we don’t eat cheese and crackers for dinner every night. But life doesn’t always go according to plan, and spontaneous decisions are sometimes the best way to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves in the moment.

Today trusting my gut meant taking a run in the middle of a busy workday when the rational side of me would have said “you don’t have time.” Other days it means ordering take-out because I would rather spend time with my kids than cook. And sometimes it means letting my kids play on their own because I need to talk to my best friend on the phone. Being able to trust our guts and act on what they’re telling us takes practice and a few “wins” to show us that it paid off. Today’s run was one of my wins.

How do you make in-the-moment trade-offs that help you take care of yourself? When have you succeeded? Have these trade-offs ever backfired?

Apr 29

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Cheering Us On

“Girls don’t do those long races…just boys do,” my 4-yr-old son informed me knowingly as we drove out to watch my husband’s 50-mile trail (running) race this past weekend. I asked him why he thought that, and he replied, “if girls did them, you’d be running today too, mom!”

Flattered that he thought I might be an aspiring ultra-marathoner (which in case you’re wondering, I’m not) and relived that he’s not sexist, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Your dad’s insane…I’m not” didn’t feel quite right. “I don’t want to be arthritic when I’m 45” is probably a bit over his head, I thought. And “believe me, I’d much rather be on a trail than sitting in this car” sounded spiteful. So I settled on the truth. “Daddy loves these races, but I love other things. We both spend our time doing things we love…just because we choose different things doesn’t mean they’re only for boys or only for girls.” And on we went to the race, where we all cheered for every single “boy” and every single “girl” who came through the aid station.

My son’s question was important, both because of what he asked and what he didn’t ask. I’ve never heard him say anything like “why is daddy spending the whole day running? Why isn’t he with me?” He’s never upset when I head out for a bike ride or a yoga class…in fact, I often find my kids with yoga mats outstretched — practicing their own downward dogs — when I get home from yoga. Just as parents want their kids to be happy and free, I think kids…even little ones…want their parents to be the same. And even more, they are watching our every move. If we think running is cool, so do they. If we eat asparagus, the odds go up that they’ll give it a try too. If we play board games, they might opt for UNO over iPad.

This brings me to the next chapter of this blog. I’m going to start focusing content more narrowly on parents, and what they can do to hack their health and design the lives they want to lead amidst the emotional and structural challenges of raising kids. This is not turning into a parenting blog. It’s not turning into a family blog. It is a blog for the GROWN-UPS. There are a ton of amazing resources out there focused on taking care of your kids and families (and I’m not trying to undermine the importance of that in any way)…but this one is about taking care of YOU. It’s about staying connected with who you are at the core and what you care about most and what you’re working on in your life. It’s about the constant shifting of priorities that mark these years. It’s about the focus that brings peace, and the experiences that connect us.

I firmly believe that we can only help our kids become the best version of themselves if we are the best versions of ourselves. And when we’re doing those things, our kids will be there to cheer us on…just as we are for them. As I’ve said before, the kids will be alright.

P.S. If you’re not a parent, it’s my hope that you’ll still find lots of interesting ideas on this blog. Again, it’s a blog for the grown-ups, so if your “baby” is a company or a hobby or a sport or a book or a band, I encourage you to stay tuned!

Posts from the ‘Move’ Category

Double Dipsea

Rolling On Down the Road

At the Core

Weekend Reflection: Five Things That Stuck Out

Strength in Numbers

The 4:1

Car-Less Fitness

The 7-Minute Workout

Trusting Our Guts

Cheering Us On

Get Ideas In Your Inbox

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