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Putting the Active Back into Your Social Life

December 8, 2017 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

[Week 6 of 12 Weeks to a Healthy New Year]

Why are people afraid to be active where other people can see them?

Are you afraid to let people see you move? I have observed that a lot of people are. For example, when I go dancing, the comments and looks on people’s faces tell me that they are think it would be too embarrassing to move around in front of other people.

It seems there are multiple reasons for this.

They think they will breathe hard and look out of shape
They think they will make funny motions with their body
They are concerned it will mess up their fashion statement
They want to stand out from the crowd

I wouldn’t bring it up, except that the same people seem discontent with their perceived options. So maybe if we put these options in perspective and tweak a few things, more of you will feel comfortable with getting up and moving in social settings.

The stamina concern

There is nothing degrading about breathing hard. All the best athletes do it. Breathing hard means you are stimulating your lungs and heart. True, some people will find the limits of their stamina sooner than others, but that is not a good reason to simply sit there the whole time wishing you could dance.

Moving your body creates heat, which the body needs to dissipate. If your body is healthy, it will do that by some amount of perspiration. This is not an indication of low social standing. There seems to be some lingering stigma with sweat, possibly a carryover from when it was thought that only people of lower social standing should do any sort of manual labor. It should not be humiliating to sweat in front of people.

Concerns about looking graceful or suave

The faster we move, the more we challenge our muscles to move in a fluid and controlled way. There is one good way to help with this; that is to exercise and strengthen your body regularly. Then you will have the muscle strength and memory patterns to make a greater variety of movements.

But there is also an element of getting comfortable being in front of others. The more you do it, the easier it is. The more you do it, the more you get experience with the thing you are doing and the more natural the activity becomes while in front of them.

Some people may make fun of you, but ask yourself why they feel compelled to do this. They could look the other way if they find it an unpleasant sight. They can go somewhere else if they don’t like the sound of your voice. So why do they choose to make fun? Because they have a perverted idea that by belittling someone else they will gain standing in the eyes of their friends. They might get a few laughs, but they have actually done nothing of substance.

In reality, most people will enjoy or be inspired by your participation in an active social event. Someone always has to be the first one. The whole group has more fun if just one person will put their ego aside and just have fun.

Fashion concerns

Have you ever looked at a photo and thought, “I wish I looked like that.” Sigh. But then you remember that to look “like that” you would have to hold still in a certain pose, with no breeze, in the best lighting. Forever.

Fashion is too often thought of as a 2-dimensional, static figure. And one that doesn’t perspire or move its face. People tend to dress for a look that has to be maintained, and is easiest to maintain by holding still. This is poor planning.

The best way to be fashionable, is to have an air of nonchalance. Good posture helps a lot, too. And smile. Other than that, fashion is something that everyone is always looking for.

If you want to look your best and have the option of moving, you need to wear things that

move with you
are not confining or tight
can accommodate perspiration
are comfortable
allow for cooling
allow you to use your feet without pain
let you keep your balance

Such attire does not have to look like you just came from the gym, although nowadays there are some very fun leggings to choose from. If you want to have the option of dancing, you might also consider a pair of compression shorts under a skirt. If you are going shopping at the mall, make sure your pants will let you do all the squats you need to to look at the lower shelves. If you are playing chase with the grandkids (we have a circuit in our house that is perfect for that), make sure your feet are allowed to provide good balance and traction with the floor!

Concerns that someone will look at you

There seems to be some conflict about this. It is like people want others to notice how great they look, but not stand out at the same time. They want to be unique, but blend into the crowd.

I understand that if we felt assured of positive responses, we might be less nervous about this. We are nervous for two reasons.

We have been critical of how others dress
We think people are looking at us more than they are

Even when people are critical of each other in these types of social settings, it is a superficial attempt to feel superior about their own choices. It is backwards. Ironically, such criticism is often aimed at those people whom they want to “bring down a notch” because they feel intimidated due to their own insecurities.

No one really cares how you look nearly as much as you do. Those who love you, love you regardless. Those who might be embarrassed to be seen with you are embarrassed for themselves. Those who gossip, gossip about everyone so it means very little. So don’t let people’s supposed negative looks or off-hand remarks influence you. Just get busy and show them how to have fun. Maybe they will forget their negativities for a while and join in!

Ways to have active social fun

Dancing is an obvious choice. Find a pub that features good live music or hire your own band.
Singing gets the blood circulating and invites drama. Go out for karaoke or go caroling.
Playing some instruments can take a fair amount of energy and be very social. Invites some friends over to a jam session.
Shopping can cover some ground, especially if you dress right. Put some miles in while visiting, finding gifts, and admiring beautiful displays.
Festive exhibits are often places to walk and see people. I know I am looking forward to the Idaho Botanical Gardens Christmas aGlow. Maybe you have something like that near you?
Some games can be active. Old-fashioned charades is one that can be most fun when people move more.
Get together with friends to prepare for a party or decorate. Turn on some music and most people will move faster!
Go for a run or a brisk walk with a friend. Chatting will help you relax into it. Being able to chat is a good sign that the pace is a healthy one for you.
Hunting is one of my husband’s favorite social activities.

Concerns about exhaustion

There are times for quiet visiting or scrumptious food. You don’t need to always be moving and you need to figure out when to rest. However, social events don’t need to always be sedentary, especially when you want or need them to provide active opportunities.

You may need to adjust your regular exercise routine to accommodate active social events, but, really, isn’t that one reason for exercising? So that we can have fun in different ways when we want to? What active social events are you going to try this season?

Don’t Let Your Health Goals Get You Down

November 30, 2017 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

[Week 5 of 12 Weeks to a Healthy New Year]

How goals can be like good friends

Goals should be like friends. You should pick them wisely. They should be something that you like to be around, that encourages you, and that comforts you.

A good friend helps you keep perspective when things get rough. He or she knows just what to say when you are making a mistake or forgetting something important. When you make your goals, you should create friends for yourself.

Too many people treat goals like enemies – something to be conquered, something in the distance waiting to crush them. Enemies are something to be avoided, and certainly not trusted.

You want your goals to be something you look forward to spending time with. They should always be beckoning you with a cheerful, “You can do it!” They should greet you with a, “Good job!”

Designing friendly goals

So how can we design friendly goals?

Make sure the goals are suited to you. You need to have things in common, like schedule, body type, and priorities.
Have goals that aren’t always gossiping about other people. Your goals need to be about your improvement and satisfaction, not constantly comparing you to others. Comparison for positive example is one thing, but if it is discouraging you, then don’t do it.
Find goals that are reasonably flexible. Good friends know there is always some give and take. Things come up that we have to attend to. Misunderstandings need to be worked out.
Choose positive goals. It wears a person down to be thinking negatively. Instead of a negative goal like “not be so tired all the time,” think in terms of “I want to have fun hiking with my family.”
Build depth of meaning into your goals. Instead of the one-dimensional “I want to firm up my abs,” think of filling out the goal with things like, “I want to have a stronger back, I want to be able to feel more confident when dancing, I want to wear a bikini on my next trip to the beach.”
Make goals that have a strong element of fun, both in the journey to them and at the result. Be ready to mountain bike some great trails during the summer or prepare to be able to garden to your heart’s delight in the spring.
Design your evaluation to provide positive feedback. Avoid telling yourself, “you should have done better.” If you always do that it is setting yourself up for failure and it can discourage you from further goals. We can almost always do better, but we need to give ourselves credit for the progress we make first. Only after we have done that is it time to set new goals.
Pick time frames for your goals that are a balance of giving you enough time to make some progress, but not so far out that that they seem irrelevant. Experiment with time frames if you need to. Like any friendship, spending time together is important.
Don’t make goals you have no intention of keeping. We all have those acquaintances who say they are going to call, but never do. They never really become friends, no matter how friendly they act when you see them once in a while.

You are never too old to make goals

Making goals is the beginning of creating a plan to get you the results you want. We all have limits and we all have opportunities. We all have physical strengths and weaknesses. We all have likes and dislikes. Be honest with yourself and you will make better goals. Better goals means goals that you are more likely to reach and rejoice in. Reaching your goals will provide a good foundation for the next goal.

We are never too old to make goals or enjoy progress. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just continue being an example of the results of well designed goals and you will probably inspire people of all ages.

When Are You Too Old to Run Hill Repeats

August 24, 2016 by Laura Blodgett 1 Comment

I would have to say you are too old to run hill repeats when you are too old to dance. And, yes, that was a trick question. When are you too old to do anything? Most people limit themselves much more in their heads and by inactivity than by actual physical limitations.

Now, I’m not advocating that you go out and run hills when the most exercise you’ve had regularly is walking around in the grocery store. I’m not even saying it is a good idea to run hill repeats when your main exercise is swimming or yoga. Those are fine exercises, but they don’t condition your body to running.

Another thing I am not saying is to go do hill repeats (or speed intervals) to an extreme beyond your current training level. That is how you hurt yourself and discourage yourself. What I am saying is that hill repeats are completely possible, rewarding, and even to some extent fun if you have been running regularly, even if you are old enough to have grandkids.

My husband and I added hill repeats to our running schedule a few weeks ago. There was no high pressure, although we are preparing for a half marathon September 24. While I knew that it would require some dedication, and be quite hard near the top of each repeat, I also knew that no matter how I “felt” I did, I would gaining strength and increasing stamina.

As I’ve said before, my husband coaches me a lot, so he made a plan and I, having done similar workouts with him before, set my own limits. We decided to run:

1.5 to 2 mile warm ups before the hill repeats, along the same lake side road that we’ve used for speed interval workouts
run 4-5 times up a convenient hill, which is a two-tenths of a mile
slow-recover run between hill repeats, down to the bottom with a extra few yards added for the interval recovery at my request
1 to 1.5 mile cool down after the hill repeats

When I indicated I might try to get in my normal 6 miles for the day, I was advised it would be better for my body if I put in those couple of extra miles the next day after a rest time. I did that and found it did not adversely affect my long run on the following day. In fact, it probably helped keep my legs loose.

My goal in running the hill repeats was to keep a speed that pushed me significantly, but I could come close to keeping for the whole hill and for all repeats. By adopting this approach,

I was not as overwhelmed,
I was able to let my form develop in safe and useful ways, and
I gradually, although very slightly increased my interval hill repeat speed up until the last interval. Even the last hill repeat was very close in time though.

At first, I didn’t want to time each hill repeat, but my husband encouraged me to. He was right that it was inspiring and motivating. I was able to see how perceived effort was sometimes different than timed outcome. For instance, the first hill repeat each day tends to be on the slightly slower side. Also, it was always nice to get to the top and find that even though one of the last hill repeats felt slower, it wasn’t.

My Garmin watch is very easy to use for timing and resetting after such intervals. While I use it for that, my Strava app keeps track of my total distance. We are planning on making “our” hill a Strava segment for the fun of it. If no one else finds out about it for a while, maybe I’ll have the record for a bit?!

One very nice thing about that particular hill (on Tio Lane in south Nampa) is that it is on the end of a country road. There is barely any traffic, although the last time we ran it there were some trucks involved in harvesting the field along it. Thankfully, the trucks were not there long, as the smell of diesel was going to be a problem for me.

Another hill that is convenient for hill repeats is the one on Sunnyridge Road. It is shorter, but steeper than the Tio Lane hill. I have run the Sunnyridge hill as part of a several mile run many times, but I used it for hill repeats today. Because it is so steep (it is not uncommon to see cyclists walking their bikes up the last bit), I made no attempt to run up it fast. I did repeat it 6 times, and by the last time, my calves were feeling crampy. Maybe after I do repeats on it a couple more times, I will start timing myself. I could also make a segment out of it and look at my results on that after the fact.

For the record, I wore my Luna sandals for all of these hill repeats. The roads there are sharp chip seal and gravely.

I guess I have verified that I am not too old for running hill repeats. And it probably helps my dancing! I danced for quite a while on a recent Saturday night. I got lots of questions afterward from women who wanted to be able to dance with the same energy. A couple of young women made sad faces when I pointed out that running 30 plus miles a week is one thing that *gives* me energy. It seems that even young people seem to think that certain levels of activity are beyond them. Maybe they will discover how to gradually increase their exercise capability. Then, when they are old like me, they can dance the night away!

If you found my post encouraging, please share it!

Where to Go Running Barefoot and Dancing in Palm Springs

January 3, 2016 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

Part One – Running Barefoot

I had expected a resort town with a reputation such as Palm Springs has to have a more developed system of walking or biking paths. However, neither visual reconnaissance or internet search revealed anything other than sidewalks designated as such pathways. Doing an internet search specifically for running routes showed unappealing road routes that others had run.

There quite a few trails on an Indian reservation just a couple of miles outside of Palm Springs proper. When we were there, there weren’t so many hikers as to make a trail run difficult. I also saw some bike paths in adjacent cities. But we were staying deep enough in Palm Springs that the drive to those for a morning run was too inconvenient.

A couple of Palm Springs activity websites said there were paths, which upon investigation turned out to be sidewalks. Some of these were on the wide side, while some were double, creatively intertwined side walks with painted labels. I decided to try a barefoot run on them.

8 AM on a November morning seems to be a good time to go for a run in Palm Springs. The weather was mild, but sunny. The traffic was minimal. It was too early for the downtown shops along Palm Canyon Drive to be open and I needed to pass through that section to make it to the so-called paths. There was no reason to stop at most side streets.

The main road I was looking for was E. Tahquitz Canyon Way (ETCW). It was about 1/2 mile from our lodging. It turned out to be a wide semi-residential road. While there were a few businesses scattered along it, most of the part I ran on was bordered by and gave access to quiet neighborhoods. For being as wide as it was, there were not many cars.

There were a couple of small patches of glass by vacant lots, but other than that, this stretch of sidewalks was clean and fairly smooth. It was very comfortable for my bare soles.

When I got about half way along ETCW (according to what I had seen on the map), it intersected with S. Sunrise Way (SSW). The description of the paths said SSW was one leg of the path system. I made a quick decision to turn right since ETCW had been so straight.

If I ever go back to this route, I will probably try staying on ETCW. SSW turned out to be where EVERYONE was. Driving, grocery shopping, banking, you name it. I was frustrated by needing to stop at multiple roads and driveways.

Then, I noticed that there were quite a few walkers on the other side of this busy street. After running through a sand lot due to lack of sidewalk, I found a signal and crossed the busy street. This turned out to be better, although still not as peaceful as the ETCW. Still, it was nice to be greeted by some smiling faces and use the randomly curvy sidewalks. In some places it split, one side labeled specifically for bikes. I came across a couple sections of broken bottles along this part, in spite of it being apparently in a high end area, but it was completely manageable and I passed through unscathed.

I had my Strava app monitoring me, so was able to check on my mileage. I was surprised to see I had run 3.5 miles at this point. It had felt relatively effortless. Maybe it was that my normal altitude is around 3000 feet above sea level. Possibly, I was just well rested. Regardless, I felt light footed this day. Because I had people waiting on me for the day’s activities, I turned back toward home base.

I think I saw three other runners that morning. All of them were my age or older, but it keeps getting harder for me to tell. I frequently don’t feel my age, whatever that is supposed to mean. None of the other runners looked like they were having anywhere near as much fun as I was. No one said anything about my bare feet.

As I re-entered the downtown touristy, small shop area, the cafes were busier serving breakfast and pedestrian traffic was on the rise. I had to stop for a red light at one of the last large intersections, and while waiting there a brightly outfitted, heavily make-uped woman in her mid 70’s approached me. She asked if I knew where such-and-such casino was. I must have looked as surprised as I felt at the question, because she got defensive and grumbled, “Well, you looked like you would know.” And walked off. All I can figure is that she thought someone running around like I was must know their way around town.

Part Two – Dancing

I was very interested in dancing while in Palm Springs. I love to dance, and all the advertisement of possible night clubs or pubs with dancing made it seem like we might find something good. We went out on a Friday night to choose a place.

Call it the story of The Three Dance Clubs. The first place was an open-air chic corner pub in the small shop area of Palm Canyon Drive. (Village Pub) We could see and hear the band from the sidewalk. They did not quite have the consistent rhythm for dancing, although they had potential. They just needed more practice and confidence. The overall ambience was friendly and inviting. We put them on the list for a possible return.

It was almost a mile walk to the second place, a night club with a more the mysterious entrance. (Zelda’s) The black curtained windows hid anything going on inside. It sounded like they were mostly playing rap music, and the patrons we could see entering looked like a cross between James Bond movie wannabes and 1930’s 20 something gangsters. The cover charge to even get in the door was more than we wanted to pay for further evaluation.

The name of the pub is behind the band on the stage.

Fortunately, we had passed another basic pub, or bar, on the road while walking. There was some excellent danceable rock-n-roll bursting out of it. I really cannot comprehend why there were not people dancing in the street. The four piece band was playing with the relaxed gusto of skill combined with love of music.

We went in to Palm Canyon Roadhouse and had the floor to ourselves. I was initially barefoot, but after several minutes the bouncer came over and insisted I put on footwear. Something about “glass all over the floor.” The floor was immaculate. One would have thought getting customers in their basically empty establishment would have been more important. It was the ONLY place in Palm Springs that made me put on footwear. Ruth Chris’s Steakhouse had even accepted me barefoot.

Since my dear husband had gone to a lot of effort to take me out to dance, I acquiesced to him getting my Luna sandals from the car. He had to walk half a mile to where we were parked. After chewing on my frustration for a few minutes, I got back to dancing, which included a lot of sliding around on their very smooth floor. It would have been ironic to have slipped and hurt myself due to footwear, but I avoided it.

One of the band members gave me his card during a music break. The band does not have set members. Jos Burrell (link above), on the guitar, and the drummer, Chris Sigwald, are the core of the jam sessions at the roadhouse. That night there were two more guitar players, who also participated in the singing. I wanted to put them all in my suitcase and take them to Idaho with me! If I go back to Palm Springs, I won’t look for a place to dance, I will look for whatever form of this band is playing.

Dealing With Exercise Induced Muscle Soreness

April 28, 2015 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

Developing some exercise induced muscle soreness during the Emmett Sprint Triathlon 2 years ago.

By specifying exercise induced muscle soreness, I mean muscular discomfort or pain that is not due to injury or disease, but is rather from proper use of the muscles to a greater effort than they are accustomed to. Some people say that such soreness is because of injury or breakdown of the muscles because of some degree of overuse, but I will stick to defining injury as a condition that is a more obvious and debilitating; something that most people would easily describe as broken or hurt to significantly inhibit function until healed.

Exercise induced muscle soreness may be preceded by intervals of muscle exhaustion, but that is still not the same thing. If a body is used to higher intensity activity, it may not result in significant muscle soreness even if there are repeated periods of rest needed. I will give my dancing as an example. I can go out and dance vigorously for a total time period of 2-3 hours, needing only occasional times of rest when my legs communicate to me that they need a break. However, I do not usually have any sore muscles the next day, since this is an activity and intensity my body is familiar with. Thus, the build up of lactic acid from more anaerobic intervals does not necessarily cause muscle soreness.

Still, there is obviously something that is stressing muscles so that they register this common sense of soreness. The soreness can be oddly pleasant, if not too strong. Unfortunately, if a person has gone way past their normal threshold of activity, then movement of those muscles can cause great distress until they have had time to recover. This leads to the first way to deal with unwanted or even counter-productive exercise induced muscle soreness:

1. Make increases in specific activities gradually. Don’t let impatience or social pressure push you to increase your efforts with such unwise mantras as “no pain no gain.” That is one of the most injurious slogans anyone ever came up with. It is always better for the body to get stronger at a moderate rate. For one thing, pushing too much past former limits is more likely to lead to true injury, as exhaustion on many levels make it hard for the muscles to do what you are asking them to do.

2. After a training session that does work on expanding your limits, make sure to keep moving regularly, but somewhat gently, for a few hours afterward. This avoids painful stiffness from the muscles tightening up in response to the effort. It also keeps the blood flowing to the area to service the well-used muscles. They need circulation to recover.

3. Apply heat, as I discuss in this post about why I take warm baths and NOT ice baths after working out. Again, it goes back to circulation. The soreness may technically be inflammation, but inflammation is wrongly labeled as inherently bad. Inflammation is what the body needs to deal with things. On rare occasions it may require controlling, but if it is that bad, you probably need to rest and recover on a whole different level. On a side note, some people recommend Epsom salts for the warm baths, but I am skeptical of this being helpful. This article thoroughly explores why Epsom salt probably does not do what many people think.

4. Massage and use trigger point concepts to both increase circulation and release tension points that may have developed in stressed muscles. If you are constantly getting knots in your muscles in the same places, you might want to evaluate how fast you are increasing your effort or whether or not you are too tense while exercising.

5. Get plenty of sleep. Sure that may be different for different people, but schedule to let yourself sleep long and hard for you after a particularly challenging workout. Sleep is a magical thing that brings much restoration.

6. Do some light stretching. I’m not talking about bouncing or putting force on your muscles that might make them snap. Much like just moving in general, some specifically related gentle stretches done periodically can relieve some of the muscle tension and discomfort. If you already do something like yoga or gardening, think about making sure you get into positions that carefully stretch the muscles in question.

7. Do a relatively easy workout the following day. Unless you have really overdone it, a light effort is better than no effort at all, in my experience. It often helps if it is a different form of exercise, that works some of the same muscles, but in a way that relieves them of the full burden. For me, biking helps after an intense run day. Swimming is good both the day of and the day after a harder run.

These strategies, combined with the idea of slowly building my aerobic base, have significantly reduced both my overall muscle soreness and tendency to injure myself. I hope they do the same for you!

Putting the Active Back into Your Social Life