bearing blog

Outdoor weather is coming back.

Here's a well-thought-out, specific guide to putting together a "ten essentials" daypack for hiking.

If you’re just getting into hiking, everyone is going to recommend that you pack the 10 Essentials when you go for a hike. Then they list about 30 pieces of gear that you should bring with you, but they never actually tell you WHAT to buy. If you find this frustrating or confusing, or worse, you’re going for hikes without the 10 Essentials, I’ve pulled together a few sample gear lists for different hike durations  (up to 4 hours and more than 4 hours) that I hope you find helpful. 

When you're hiking with kids, you might need a few extra essentials, but it isn't hard to extrapolate them from the listed "ten essentials."  Have adult medications in your first-aid kit, like ibuprofen or antihistamines?  Maybe you need the same stuff in liquid-dropper form for your little people.  And if your kiddoes resist plain water when they're cranky, you might need some drink mix powder just in case you really need to coerce them to hydrate.

In general, put together your emergency pack based on things that are likely to happen.  For example, I have already learned the hard way that if anyone in your party is hiking in newish footwear, it pays to dedicate some space in your first aid kit to blister care.

Strength training or no strength training?

Got a reader email this morning:

Maybe you've mentioned this on the blog at some point when I wasn't payingattention, but I can't recall seeing it.

Since I joined the Y  six weeksago, everywhere I go, I hear about the importance of strength training.How, with only cardio, people get skinny-fat and have high body fat percentages because they're burned muscle along with fat. Do you incorporate strength training into your workouts? How so?

So, my answer is "not really, but kind of sort of."  Here's what I wrote back:

One of the reason I chose swimming as my main form of exercise (besides the fact that, compared to running, it's more fun) is that swimming is inherently strengthening -- at least somewhat -- because you're always moving against theresistance of the water.

Swimming is not great cardio, and it's not great strength-training (it's probably insufficient for warding off osteoporosis because it doesn't load the bones along their lengths), but it's one of the few things you can do that combine both pretty well.

Like my reader, I have small kids and not tons of time.  At this time in my life I can't imagine going to the gym for "just weights." I feel like I need to do cardio every time I have a chance to go to the gym. So, the short answer is that I don't do *separate* strength training,but I always swim once or twice a week.  That being said, when I am ready to make weightlifting a priority, the first place I should start is in bone-loading exercises, because that's what my routine is missing.  (I do get impact workouts from running once a week.)

If you, like me, are attracted by multitasking exercise, there are at least two other things you can do at the Y that incorporate both cardio and strength training.  These are the kettlebells classes and the Body Pump classes (Body Pump is sort of aerobics-with-barbells).   Fitness Yoga is a fun entry-level class that is surprisingly grueling, even if it only uses bodyweight.  

Another alternative if you use cardio machines is to design a workout that incorporates weight machines and cardio -- either some kind of circuit training, or steal a little time from your cardio workout to use weight machines at the beginning and/or end. If I were going to go that route I'd probably sign up for a personal training session to help me figure out the most efficient use of my time.  I hear it is money well spent, and you may well be able to snag a free personal training session during member appreciation events.

If you want to read a really great site about strength training, particularly for women, I totally recommend Mistress Krista's enormous site at www.stumptuous.com . Very empowering, logical, evidence-based, and no-nonsense -- if you like the way I write, I think you'll like her, probably even more! Check out her articles on free weights especially, for example her series on the squat -- here's Part 2, "Why Squat?"

Side note:  Now that I've been over to Mistress Krista's, I feel shame at having neglected weight bearing exercise and must go flagellate myself, perhaps with a kettlebell.  Fortunately, I know darn well that I don't have time today, so swimming during my daughter's swim lesson will have to be it...

 

My gym bag.

A long time ago, when I was fairly new to regular exercise, I wrote a post entitled "My swim bag" in which I described, um, my swim bag.

After I finished taking a year of swimming lessons a few years ago, and started trying to swim for fitness, I only managed to do it a couple of times a month. Part of doing it more frequently has been developing a well-stocked, ready-to-go swim bag.

I started with the bare bones. My bag had

• one lap suit from the local sporting goods store
• one ugly old beach towel (I wanted one I wouldn't miss if I kept it in my bag), big enough to wrap up in
• ordinary Speedo swim goggles from the local sporting goods store
• one ordinary black latex cap from the local sporting goods store
• my YMCA membership card

This is, I think, the minimum that anyone needs to swim for fitness. About 2 minutes into my first swimming lesson, I discovered that the swimsuit I bought a few years back mainly because it flattered my figure was no good for lap swimming; it wouldn't stay put. So I bought a proper lap suit on sale for about $45. It took a few more lessons before I finally admitted that I would be more comfortable with goggles and a swim cap (if your hair is very short, a swim cap is optional). The towel goes without saying. My "Y" card represents, of course, access to a pool or body of water in which to swim.

As I decided I needed them, I acquired a few more things to stuff in my bag. Much would be good for any exerciser, not just swimmers. Let me stress, though, that none of this is necessary -- I could get a good workout with nothing more than suit, goggles, and towel.

• A pair of "flip flop" sandals to get me from the locker room to the pool to the shower. It's safer to navigate the stairs (yes, there are stairs at my Y between the locker rooms and the pool) and shower room with something on your feet. Also, I can slip them on to pick up a child from swimming lessons without breaking the no-street-shoes-on-the-pool-deck rule.
• A second towel, one of those super-thirsty super-compact PackTowls, to help get my hair dry faster (or even to wear on my head out of the locker room in a winter hurry). I still use the ugly old beach towel too.
• A mesh hanging bag, full of all the stuff I need to shower and get presentable in the morning: shampoo and conditioner, facial cleanser, moisturizer, anti-perspirant, razor and extra blades, toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, and a handful of hair clips and a bandana for tying my hair up or back if necessary. If I was a makeup wearer, I'd have that too. None of this is actually necessary for most workouts -- a good rinse in the shower is enough to get most of the chlorine out -- but it's extremely convenient to have it, especially for early morning. Who wants to get ready twice when once will do? (A nice bonus: with all this stuff pre-packed, it's a snap to prepare an overnight bag on short notice.)
• A waterproofed workout plan:
  • The plan. It's a piece of paper on which I've written out the drills and laps I want to do in the order I want to do them. Ideally I would make a new one for each session, but it's good to have a sort of "default" plan ready to go. Mine is pretty simple and fits on a 3x5 piece of paper. Having a plan makes the workout more interesting, and more beneficial than just "oh, I'll swim for 40 minutes and stop."
  • The waterproofing. You can laminate the plan -- very effective but perhaps time consuming if you don't own a laminator. You can put it in a page protector -- not too bad but bigger than I need. You can put it in a Ziploc bag -- an excellent and easy solution. Or (my favorite solution) you can recycle old Tyvek envelopes: Cut them up and write on the scraps, wet or dry, with a #2 pencil.
• A one-touch lap counter. This little toy was a bit of a splurge, but I love it for timed workouts. I always lose count and then I don't know how far I swam.
• A combination lock.

All these things live permanently in the bag. When I get home from swimming, I take the bag right to the laundry room, where I either put the towels and suit into the next basket of laundry waiting to be washed or hang them up to dry and be re-used; the bag stays in the laundry room until the towels and suit are dry and I can repack it.

A lot of this is still true, but I thought it was high time for an update, seeing as now I am not just a swimmer but a runner, and I have been for a long time.

First of all, some time ago I upgraded the bag to a bigger one with multiple pockets. Now I also keep in the bag enough items to swim or run, so that either workout is possible wherever I go. The bag, therefore, contains:

• Running shoes. It's definitely worthwhile to have a dedicated pair of running shoes. There is a different pair that I wear with ordinary clothes for walking around (what they are, actually, is an old but still nice-enough-looking pair of running shoes). I run in cross-country flats now that I have switched to forefoot-striking.
• A complete set of running clothes, including socks, running bra, and clean underwear. I have two sets of running clothes so that one can be in the laundry while the other is in the bag, but I don't unpack one until the clean one is available; it's more important to be ready for a workout than to have freshly cleaned workout clothes.
• A set of headphones. I don't keep my iPod in the bag all the time, but I try always to have headphones. The treadmills at the gym have built-in TVs that take them. And if I think about it, of course, I can bring the iPod. Maybe someday I will have a dedicated mp3 player for the gym bag.
• Something to hold my hair out of my face. A bandana is the default choice.
• A "wrist wallet" to carry necessary items like a car key or cell phone.
• A couple of cold-weather items like a hat, a light hoodie, and a neck gaiter.

I still have it always packed with a complete set of toiletries, and because of this it doubles as an overnight bag -- I can even sleep in the workout clothes, or wear them the next day if I'm really in a hurry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hypothesis makes some sense to me.

For the amateur sports enthusiasts among us, here's an interesting article at WaPo about the possibility that panic attacks may cause numerous unexplained deaths in the swim portion of triathons.

The rate of deaths isn't large -- nine people in one summer, out of 243,000 competitors in a year.  But from the sound of the article, non-fatal panic attacks aren't rare in the swim portion of triathlons.  

In the swim event, a combination of stresses can lead to a panic attack (or something like it): the excitement of the moment, the chaos of swimming into and over other people, the chest constriction of the wet suit, the darkness and coldness of the water, competitiveness and the desire not to quit when friends and family are watching. On rare occasions this leads to drowning.

Discussion threads on blogs suggest that panic attacks are common even among experienced athletes, although apparently nobody in the triathlon industry has attempted to learn how common they are. Some coaches mention them, but many triathletes train without coaches. Race directors in general don’t name panic attacks as potentially lethal but manageable hazards, though they do warn about wet roads for cyclists and high temperatures for runners.

There are also some quotes from triathletes that support the hypothesis.

Every once in a while, someone who knows I like biking and swimming and tolerate running well will suggest that I try triathlons.  I have absolutely no interest in triathlons because while I love swimming in pools, I don't enjoy swimming in open water, and the idea of swimming in a crowd in open water is absolutely repulsive.  (I feel a little claustrophobic just sharing a lane with more than one other person.) So the idea that some people might suffer panic attacks doesn't surprise me.

(h/t the Agitator)

I don't wear makeup and I don't like makeup ads.

But this makeup ad campaign is pretty cool.  From Kara at Mama Sweat:

On a cold April morning I was in Central Park with about 10,000 other woman for the EIF Revlon Run Walk for Women and participated in the free makeover Revlon offered at the finish line. Who turns down a free makeover? I just filled out a short form about why I consider myself a role model, got my hair pouffed, then my photo taken.

After the primping I ran back to my hotel and thought noting of it until Revlon contacted me months later to say I had been chosen for an ad campaign that would run in People Magazine.

Click the link to Kara's website here to see the ad.

Before and after.

Before and after shots of joggers.  A novel photography project.

I think some of the people look more attractive and winsome in their out-of-breath, sweaty state.  Don't you?

Wardrobe that works (out).

Want to point you to this post by Kara at Mama Sweat, about workout wear that looks good and presentable and cute and... deliberate, not accidental... outside the gym.

Since my transformation from lumpy slob to regular swimmer/runner, I have always been the "wear normal clothes but keep the gym bag packed" sort of person.  This is compatible with my exercise lifestyle, which includes a full-service YMCA membership with child care one mile from my house.  But:  I think she makes some great points.  Really great.  

The best way to maximize your time and improve your odds of working out and/or finishing a workout you started earlier in the day, and/or squeezing in two mini-workouts, is simple: Put on workout clothes in the morning, wear them all day and don't look back....

 

When you have one of those mornings when you don’t have an opportunity to workout before the rest of the family rises (or, ahem, slept through it) don’t bother with the shower. Don’t wash your hair, silly (that’s just a waste of water if you haven’t had a chance to sweat first). Reach instead for “all-day workout wear” and be ready to sweat if the opportunity presents itself. Spandex, Dri Fit, and sports bras have a way of tricking your mind into making time. Heck, if you make time to dress for the workout, you might as well do it. 

To make all-day workout wear truly functional you can’t just put on any ole smelly shorts and t-shirt. You have things to do girlfriend! People to see! Groceries to buy! Classrooms to volunteer in! Neighbors that drop in unexpectedly! Before and after the workout you want to be fit-inauspicious (especially if there’s no time to shower or refresh after). That is, all-day workout wear is sporty, cute, and presentable. But make no mistake, this is workout wear. If you were to go the whole day in these clothes and not workout, you’d consider the outfit wasted.

 

More wise words, with pictures, at the link.  The strategy of having "real" clothes that can turn into workout wear, or vice versa, is a good one for those of us who have to stay flexible.  Flexible is not always easy, you know.  It took me a while just to get used to the idea that if I was going to be a regular swimmer, sometimes I might wind up washing my hair twice in one day. 

So if I can find a mental barrier to exercising in "gosh, but I already showered today once," that means that someone out there might have a mental barrier in "gosh, but I'll have to change clothes."  So.  One way to knock that barrier down is to acquire some clothes that work.  Out.

(Kara includes a disclaimer for the working-in-an-office kind of girl, but ... commenter ChristyP?  If anyone I know would have found office-worthy active-lifestylewear, it's you!  If you're not off camping somewhere, have you a comment?)

27:30.

Just a brief interjection here:  This morning I ran my fourth 5k, and I set a new PR at 27 minutes 30 seconds.  I placed 64th overall out of 160, and 22nd out of 90 women.  Third out of the 15 women in the 35-39 age group.

I did much better than I expected, given these four facts:

(1) It's my first race using the forefoot strike (aka Pose or Chi running, and often used by the barefoot running types, though I run in cross-country flats).  You may remember that I took a running clinic last year in which I learned the new form.

(2) I haven't been training on pavement at all since I started forefoot striking.  Only treadmill and indoor track.

(3) It didn't occur to me to sign up for the race until about 5 pm the evening before, when I was surfing around and discovered that one of my favorite small local races was scheduled for 8 am.  (Just as an aside:  I am so thrilled that I can just decide in the evening that I'm going to run a 5k the next morning.  That rocks.  I love the internet.)

(4) I forgot to eat breakfast.

For all those reasons, I went into it reminding myself that I didn't want to push too hard.  Still, when I checked my stopwatch at the one-mile mark, I found that I'd run my fastest-ever first mile.  Oops!

A couple quick takes:

-You know how they tell people not to worry about whether your gear looks like "real" running gear because nobody notices it?  Lies, all lies.  The man warming up next to me at the start said, "I see you've raced before.  You're wearing flats."

-Just as they were telling us to get ready, the big purple inflatable START arch suddenly went flaccid and collapsed in front of us all.  They had to delay the race a few minutes while the volunteers removed it.  (It was back up again in time for me to cross it going the other way at the end)

-Also the first race that I tried listening to my iPod while I ran.  Wonder what the people next to me were thinking when "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show came on and I suddenly blurted out, "Group sex group sex group sex."

- Oddest thing I noticed that I attribute to the forefoot strike:  I felt physically more comfortable running uphill than running downhill, which is a first, believe me.  I tried hard to work it.

Fitness Friday: Do what you like?

I think I've mentioned before that I don't actually like running very much.  Although I do admit that I can sort of see the fun in going for an easy run -- that is, if there is such a thing as an easy run, which is only possible if you have endured many not-so-easy ones.

 Anyway, I was thinking that, for novice exercisers, one piece of advice I don't really buy anymore is the advice that, when trying to fit more physical activity into your life, you should choose your activity based on what you like to do or find fun.

I think the idea is that if you like the activity, you will have extra, intrinsic motivation to get out there and do it.  After all, if you enjoy (say) cycling, the thought of getting on your bike will fill you with eagerness instead of dread.  You will not f0cus on the unpleasantness of exertion but instead on the cool breeze and the changing scenery and the satisfaction of transporting yourself with your own muscles.  And therefore you will exercise more often than if you chose an activity that you didn't enjoy.  Right?

It's not a crazy idea.  But it may be unnecessarily limiting.   Here are some reasons why you might want to consider taking up an activity you don't like or find fun.

(1) Just because an activity is fun doesn't automatically mean you will do it often.   Skiing is really fun for me; I do it a few times a year if I'm lucky.  Going to a movie with my husband is fun; I think we've gone to fewer than five shows together since we had kids.  I also think rollercoasters are fun, and riding on trains, and visiting art museums all by myself.  Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, I hardly ever do any of these things.    I am sure that if you pause for just a few moments, you will think of several activities that are good, that you would say "Oh, I really love doing that," but that... you don't do, or at least don't do much.   Why don't you do them more often, if they're so fun?  Things get in the way, hm?  Well, if it's true about movies, it's also true about bike riding or hiking or belly dancing.   I just don't see any evidence that picking an activity you "like" as your very own exercise plan will make it more likely that you will exercise more.

(2) Some things aren't fun until you get good at them.  I swim once or twice a week, myself.  I like swimming -- now.  I look forward to the physical sensations of pulling myself through the water -- now.  Once upon a time it wasn't so.  I had to take a year of swimming lessons before I really could relax and just enjoy swimming.  Now that I'm a competent fitness swimmer, I really do enjoy it, but there was a lot of hard work getting there.  And I didn't get there by restricting myself to activities that I already enjoyed.  I got there by deciding I wanted to be able to enjoy it, and knowing I would have to work to learn how, and then by signing up for lessons and showing up week after week.  I had to take up an activity that I did not already enjoy.

 

(3)  Many of us can't imagine finding any sort of exercise we like.  If you're a really, seriously virgin exercise newbie, maybe the whole idea of moving your body hard and fast is kind of scary.  Maybe you suffer from post-traumatic gym class stress disorder.  Maybe you hate the way it feels when you get winded just climbing the stairs.  If you've never known what it's like to get moving and enjoy it, how can you know what sort of exercise will appeal to you?  Don't let these exhortations to "find an activity you enjoy" intimidate you.  You don't have to enjoy it to do it.  It's not true that you are doomed to quit if you pick the wrong exercise.

(4) "Fun" is probably not the problem.  The biggest barrier between you and exercise is likely to be something other than disliking physical activity.     Inability to carve out time, or need for someone to watch the kids, or procrastination, or fear of being seen by others, or lack of access to a safe place to exercise, or lack of equipment, or lack of family support, or chronic illness -- none of these things will be "fixed" by choosing an activity you ordinarily would enjoy.    Figure out what you can do to knock down what's truly standing in your way.  It might mean picking an activity that's not your favorite, but at least you'll have an easier time getting there. 

(5) Give yourself more credit -- you are perfectly capable of doing all kinds of things that aren't particularly fun.  The flip side of "There are many fun things I don't do" is, of course, "I do many things I don't enjoy every day."  I hate folding laundry and yet I do it a couple of times a week.  I don't love to go grocery shopping with four children and yet when I have to do it I can get it done.  Heroically I perform countless no-fun actions every day for little or no thanks.  Why can't I do no-fun exercise too?

(6)  There are ways around the no-fun parts of a no-fun exercise, but it can take time to discover them.  I don't physically enjoy running, but in the years since I took it up I've learned some tricks.  Simple ones like setting up a series of carefully chosen music playlists in my iPod.  Mental ones like focusing on being grateful for forty minutes to spend on myself, or on offering up my tiny suffering for someone else.  More complicated ones like following a scripted training regimen.

(7)  Some of the things that are no-fun at first, you may learn to appreciate with time.  I used to hate the achy feeling that would appear in my muscles the day after a workout.  Now, I actually kind of like it.  Right now, in fact, I'm aware of a pulling feeling in the backs of my thighs, and I know that this is a mild ache from yesterday's run.  But every time I feel that slight burn in the muscles, I am getting a little glimmer of the thought, "Oh, yes -- I had a good long run yesterday, I can still feel it."  Achy muscles feel like an accomplishment to me now, and because of that I experience them, truly, as a pleasurable sensation.   Other things that have morphed from nuisances into pleasures:  the intense hunger that appears an hour or two after a workout (because whatever you eat tastes SO good when you're wolfishly hungry from hard exertion), and the sensation of jumping right into a cold swimming pool.  Used to hate them.  Now anticipate them with longing.

(8) Even something that is not fun can be made interesting, and maybe "interesting" will keep you coming back better than "fun" would.  I have had a lot of success, running, with turning it into a learning experience.  I  don't like running, but perversely, I do like spending eight weeks working on form drills, or following a training regimen for an upcoming 5k.  I have found that having a program and mixing things up in a certain way does not make running any more "fun," does not make me "like" the sensation any more... but it does make it interesting, and that keeps me coming back to find out what will happen in the next installment.  Tune in next time to find out if Erin will be able to run five two-minute intervals at 7.2 miles per hour, or if she will stumble and be thrown off the back of the treadmill!

(9) There are better rewards than fun.  Sometimes when I am running on the treadmill I hate every minute.  Hate it.  Really hate it.   Spend every breath wanting to stop, and suffering more for knowing that at every breath I could stop but won't.  And then when I've met my goal and the run is over and I step off -- I have this tiny spark of pleasure from knowing that I didn't quit.  Each time I don't quit the spark is a little bit warmer.  I am changing myself into a stronger person from the inside out.

So -- don't feel discouraged if you make lists of things you "like" to do and then realize that none of the things you "like" are realistic activities to engage in regularly.   Pick some activity that is realistic to establish first.  The nice thing about this is that, since it is realistic, you can start it right away.  Then consider committing yourself to learning to like it as much as you can.  That should buy you some time, at least, while you figure out how much it is possible for you to like it.  And even once you hit that limit, you never know -- there may be more to it than you think.

Fitness Friday: Negative splits.

So this Fitness Friday thing was Betty's idea, and I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Of course, if I wait till Friday to write a fitness post, I'll forget what I was going to write, so instead I'll just use the magic of scheduled posting to synchronize with everyone else. (Other Fitness Friday posts for today will be linked here.)

As I write, it's Monday evening.  A few hours ago, I got back from my four-year-old daughter's swimming lesson at the Y.  Dinner's over, and I'm catching a moment to blog while I nurse the toddler, before I get up and start getting ready for tomorrow.  I thought I would write about a fitness concept that I used with swimming today, but that's pretty versatile and can help inject a little interesting "flow" into short or boring workouts of all kinds.

I've been swimming regularly since January 2008, alternating with running.  These days I run twice a week, and I only manage to get a swim in during my daughter's thirty-minute swim lesson.  Thirty minutes feels pinched -- I got used to fifty-minute swims during the first year that I exercised.  Fifty minutes is enough time for a warmup, a few sets of speed drills, a "long swim," and practicing new strokes; it kept the workout interesting.  But I'm glad to be getting in the water at all, so I'm trying to make the best of it.  

At first, when I went to the 30-minute workout,  I just tried to swim really fast for half an hour, figuring I could make up in intensity what I lacked in duration.  But that is kind of boring.  So I went looking for some thirty-minute "lunchtime swim" workouts.  

Today I tried a concept called "negative splitting."  The concept is pretty simple:  after warmup, you divide the rest of your workout in half.  And then you try to do the second half faster (or farther, or whatever) than  the first half.  

It's supposed to train you to pace yourself, because if you go too fast for the first half, you'll never keep up with yourself in the second half.  And it's supposed to train you mentally not to fear getting too tired to finish your workout, because you'll have plenty of experience coming back with a power push in the second half.

So, for example, today after a five-minute swim drill warmup, I set my lap counter and swam for ten minutes straight, trying not to swim as fast as I could.   I found that I could manage eight laps in 10 minutes 15 seconds (no, I'm not an elite athlete, did you notice?)  Then I set my timer back to zero and swam eight laps again, this time trying to hit a pace that was faster.    

I didn't quite make it!  I'm not sure how I would have done if I hadn't been interrupted by someone who wanted to share the lane.  I swam the second eight laps in 10 minutes 48 seconds.   Oh well, better luck next time.

But it did make the workout more interesting.  And what's nice about this tidy little goal -- do the second half better than the first half -- is that it doesn't matter how much time you have, a nice long workout or just a short burst of activity.  Whatever time you have available, divide it in half and you're ready to go.

Another thing that's nice about it is that it's very portable.  You can set it for yourself as a way to liven up many different kinds of exercise that would otherwise be boring.  You can try it with walking (second mile faster than first mile); you can try it with weight lifting (second set heavier than first set); you can try it with body weight exercises (second set more numerous than first set).  

  I was thinking today that I could maybe use the concept even when unloading the dishwasher.  Can I finish the top rack faster than I finished the bottom half?  That may be an extreme example of applications to mundane everyday life, but hey, find your motivation wherever you can.

UPDATE:  In the comments, Delores sees the big picture:

I am 39 this year and, obviously, will be 40 next year. I thought about this post and making the second "half" of my life better, taking it further, than the first half. Some days I feel like that wouldn't be that hard since, on those days, I don't feel like I have accomplished much. But regardless: it is a motivation to live more intentionally.