As I said in my post on Monday, I do love getting fitness gadgets for Christmas! I’ve been in a real slump, fitness-wise, over the past several months. I’m struggling to find the time I need to commit to my fitness goals, and my life, as a result, is getting more and more sedentary. I know the “UP Bracelet“ is going to help with that. However, that wasn’t the only fun gadget I got! Let me tell you about the other one!

The other gadget I got was actually a kit; a Yantra Mat kit with almost 9000 acupressure points in the form of little, prickly discs all over the mat. You lay on it – kind of like a bed of nails! – and the first 5 minutes are quite painful and uncomfortable, but after that there’s a flood of warmth that goes through your body and causes some deep relaxation. The kit comes with a mat, a pillow, two bands that you can tie onto/around any body part that needs a little healing or relaxation, and two rings for stimulating your fingers.

I tried it out last night before bed. Very cool. I’m going to use it for my naps during the day and see how I feel. If nothing else, it will ensure that I am willing to wake up on time when the nap is over!

Have you ever tried the Yantra Mat? If so, share your results below!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you get a more relaxed week this week to enjoy family and friends!

I had an amazing Christmas! My husband and son are techies. One of their favourite things is to find me some new techno-gadget for Christmas, and this year was no exception.

The first gadget thing was a pair of incredibly warm gloves that allow me to use my iPhone/iPod without needing to take them off. In our cold Calgary winters, this is a real plus. They’re soft, unbulky, and while it sometimes takes a little more effort, they do a great job of communicating with my iPhone. These are going to be very useful for the next few months!

The other unbelievably cool thing I got was an “UP Bracelet” which I wear 24/7 to track my eating habits, activity levels, and sleep patterns. I can create and/or join challenges, create a photo food diary, and just generally keep track of how I’m doing health-wise. It’s very easy to use, and has graphs and charts that make tracking-at-a-glance really easy. I’ve just started to use it, and am still learning the ins and outs, but so far, it’s a riot. It’s comfortable to wear, waterproof, has a long battery life, and works together with an iPhone/iPod app to keep track of everything.

Ahh, nothing like a new gadget to help me get off my butt and get going!

How about you – did you get any fitness gadgets this Christmas? If so, share below! I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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Have you ever watched a young child discovering something? Maybe they’ve found an ant on the sidewalk, or the first dandelion, or a feather. Maybe it’s the first time they’ve ever seen real animals up close, or heard a symphony orchestra, or bounced on a trampoline.

Whatever it is, children have the most magical sense of the world around them. Everything that’s ordinary to us, is extraordinary to them. The majority of the fun I have hanging out with kids is rediscovering the world through their eyes.

As adults we take a shocking amount of stuff for granted. Miracles no longer exist for us, and yet, they’re all around us. Let me challenge you today to take off those extra-dark sunglasses, and re-discover the world around you. Find it’s magic. Pretend you’re seeing it for the first time.

And then share below what you discovered!

Darlene

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If you’re sitting at your desk while reading this, you might want to stand up! Sitting for prolonged periods seems to seriously affect your life span, according to the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Most of us spend a good 8 hours a day sitting at our jobs, and then 2-3 hours in the evening sitting in front of the tube. Some of us are still energetic enough to go to the gym regularly, but the unfortunate truth is that even going to the gym doesn’t counteract the damaging effects of sitting for long periods of time. According to the American Cancer Society, the issue isn’t so much how active are you as it is how many hours a day you spend sitting that directly affects your death rate.

Knowing how much time I spend at my desk, or curling up with a good book on the sofa, I decided to do some research to see what this is all about.

According to an article on businessweek.com:

“People need to understand that the qualitative mechanisms of sitting are completely different from walking or exercising,” says University of Missouri microbiologist Marc Hamilton. “Sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little. They do completely different things to the body.”

fitnessblog.projo.com stated:

“Lack of physical activity is not the same as ‘too much’ sitting,” said Neville Owen PhD, professor of health behavior at the University of Queensland in Australia. “We used to think that just exercising was the answer. Exercising is still very important, but in addition, we are learning that too much sitting may be in itself a problem.”

“The key may be in the function of muscles in the legs, back and neck that help maintain posture during standing and light exercise,” according to the center’s Web site. “These postural muscles seem to have a larger role in the processing of fat and cholesterol than was previously understood. As a result, people who sit for a long time without getting up and exercising these postural muscles may experience health problems – despite getting regular exercise during other parts of the day.”

Apparently, after around four hours of sitting, these postural muscles go dead, and this signals the genes that regulate our body’s fat and glucose to stop producing a key enzyme (lipase) that sucks fats from the bloodstream.   This, then, causes those fats to build up in the arteries.

Health.com reports that sitting for extended periods of time can cause ‘back pain, repetitive stress injuries, obesity and even an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.’ Also, it can flatten out the curve of the lower back and put strain on the upper body, shoulders, and arms.

machineslikeus.com shared research that shows how women are even more susceptible to the issue than men!

Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting were 37 percent more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat fewer than 3 hours a day. Men who sat more than 6 hours a day were 18 percent more likely to die than those who sat fewer than 3 hours per day. The association remained virtually unchanged after adjusting for physical activity level. Associations were stronger for cardiovascular disease mortality than for cancer mortality.

When combined with a lack of physical activity, the association was even stronger. Women and men who both sat more and were less physically were 94% and 48% more likely, respectively, to die compared with those who reported sitting the least and being most active.

calorielab.com shared some interesting numbers that can help us gauge how we’re doing:

A six-year study of nearly 9,000 Australians, reported online in Circulation, has found that for every hour spent watching TV per day, the watcher’s chances of death due to heart attack rose by 18 percent, and his or her chances of dying, period, went up by 11 percent. Those who watched the tube for four or more hours per day were 80 percent likelier to die of heart disease than those who watched for under two hours daily.

Mind you, it’s not that the quality of the programming is deadly (although you could make a case for that). In fact, a twelve-year study of 17,000 Canadians found the higher risk of death among those who spent more time sitting for whatever reason: be it work, school, driving, reading, balancing the books or video gaming. And neither is this phenomenon due to a lack of exercise; in the Canadian study, even fit and trim gym regulars were subject to the sitting-will-kill-you effect. The determining factor is simply a matter of prolonged time spent seated.

So why is this so dangerous? The same article continued on saying:

Health.com made the following recommendations:

1. Get moving! For 5 minutes every hour, get up and move around. (me: BEST tool for this? The online eggtimer. You just type in the URL and the time you want (http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour30minutes) and off it goes. Then what’s even better, is when that timer goes off, you punch in: http://e.ggtimer.com/morning and it will give you a quick 6.5 minute total body workout to do. Throughout your workday, simply alternate between the two URLs!)
2. You need more than your daily gym workout. Just because you workout once a day does not mean you are ‘covered’ in terms of exercise if you are still sitting for 8-12 hours a day. Take several breaks throughout the day for 10-15 minutes to stretch and walk.

There are some other things to try as well . Here are some alternatives I found while searching the ‘net for answers:

• The best sitting alternative is perching—a half-standing position at barstool height that keeps weight on the legs and leaves the S-curve intact. Chair alternatives include the Swopper, a hybrid stool seat and the funky, high HAG Capisco chair. Standing desks and chaise longues are good options.

• My favourite option is the Treadmill Desk or the “Sit-to-Walkstation“

• If you already have a treadmill, but no desk, you can get this treadmill laptop holder and convert it!

• And before you jump in and claim that you’re spared because you sit on an exercise ball, they’re apparently worse than any other kind of chair for prolonged sitting.

One note – I get a pretty sore back from prolonged standing (like when I iron). I find that if I stand on my rebounder and gently bounce while standing, I’m good for a long time. With rebounding being so good for you, that’s another good alternative to the treadmill, though the bouncing does make it hard to read…

So, what is your experience? Any thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Please post them below. If you enjoyed this post, I’d love for you to click the “like” button below and share it with your friends. Thanks so much!

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I’ve been spending a lot of time since my last race thinking about how I want to move ahead with my training. Technically I have my second Marathon in October, and I’ve been setting up my training to be able to accomplish that one well.

However, doing it well requires that every weekend I’m doing a LOOONG walk (3-5 hours) which takes up a chunk of my weekend! Also, I need to walk between 1-2 hours most days in the week. Having added a part-time job to my life, time is becoming a seriously limited resource. Also, having just turned 49 makes me wonder if I’m not unnecessarily over-stressing my body during a very stressful time.

One can walk for many reasons. Having set myself the goal of a marathon right at the beginning of my walking “career”, I was able to keep quite focused. It’s the knowledge of having a race of some kind on the horizon that keeps me motivated to get outside when it’s -20 and blowing a gale.

Somehow, though, I wonder if this is actually helping my body and my life. I’m thinking that a nice one-hour walk 5-6 days a week for the sheer pleasure of it might be a healthier choice at this time. The big question though, is whether that’s enough to get me outside on days when it’s not so pleasant.

Any thoughts?

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Get your own graph at skinnyr

So this is what I’m learning:

Health and wellness take focus.  With the addition of a part time job to my already hectic schedule, I am feeling overwhelmed and a little stressed.  The first thing to go are my health goals.  Silly.  I actually need my health to deal with the stress!

Most importantly I’m needing to find a way to create better structure to contain all the “bits” flying around in my life.  This will help both with the stress, and the attainment of my goals.

So while I’ve been doing less than stellar at reaching my goals lately, I am still committed, and looking for a way to make this happen.  I will NOT allow these setbacks to throw me off permanently.  I do my best each day with the energy and focus I do have, and give myself some grace for where I fall.

Life is all about grace, after all!

Happy walking!

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My funky shoes have become my trademark, and rightly so.  I adore them.  Given my ‘druthers, I’d wear nothing else (well, nothing else on my feet, that is..).  They are just the greatest thing to have on your feet, though they won’t help you win any fashion points!

With the Frostbite, I’ve had to switch to something different when the temperatures are below 0°C to prevent frostbite from happening again, but I’m not happy about it.  This is the case at least until Vibram gets caught up with their world-wide back orders.  They do have winter shoes, but none in stock in my size anywhere in the world, apparently.

Everyone thinks you need all this cushioning and support for your feet.  The research now shows that the more you pay for your shoes, the more likely you are to be injured.  When you buy shoes – especially for exercise – the rule of thumb is, “the less the better” if you want strong feet, and if you want to avoid injury.

According to the Vibram site:

The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

Want more information on getting the best shoes for your feet?  Check out this excellent article

Still not convinced?  Read this: Athletic Shoes & Supports: Facts & Myths

Want to risk trying the Vibram Five Finger shoes?  Get them here -but you’ll probably have to wait until Spring.  Sigh.

Happy Walking!

Darlene

Ok, so it’s a week since my Sunday Frostbite fiasco.  Winter walking will never be the same.

First of all, there seems to be some permanent damage – especially in the fourth toe on my left foot – the one that went gray.    Dead as a doornail, that one.  The rest are tingly at the tips, some are still a little tender, but not bad.  Yesterday I was able to wear my normal shoes without pain, though, so that was great.

Last night I visited some “new” friends – well, I was actually his Gr. 12 prom date, and haven’t seen him since… I found him on Facebook, connected with his brilliant wife – who seems to be my twin separated from me at birth – and she’s into Essential Oils.  Last night while we visited at their lovely country home, Sue offered to massage my feet with some Essential Oils (not many people have offered to massage my feet EVER, let alone after knowing me for fewer than 12 hours…).  This morning my toes felt irritated more than usual, which gives me hope that this oil mix/massage might be waking up some of those dead nerves.  We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

I saw the doctor on Friday and he made it clear that I must now be extremely cautious for the rest of my life as I am now 10x more likely to get frostbite again.  As someone who has freezing feet even at the height of summer, I felt somewhat doomed by that statement, and knew I had to re-think winter walking.

SO…

Today my most-generous-of-all-wonderful-husbands drove me down to Gord’s Running Store to check out some different options.  The problem is that Vibrams strengthen all the foot muscles and allow your feet to work the way they were designed to.  “Normal” running shoes don’t – they support everything to the point that the muscles in your feet atrophy, and no longer work the way they were designed to work.  By switching between the two you end up living in a place where you go from body-builder to wheelchair-bound and back again – at least as far as your feet are concerned.  WAAAAY too much work!

I explained my dilemma to the incredibly helpful saleswoman, and told her I don’t want to spend six weeks during the peak training season re-strengthening my feet when the snow goes and the temperature warms up, and I can be back in my Vibrams.

She directed me to Biom Shoes.  You have to sacrifice your first born to afford them (Simon’s a good kid, he won’t mind…) but they apparently encourage natural motion in your foot and they keep the foot muscles strong. Not everyone believes they achieve that, but my options are limited at this point in time.

Knowing that the real key is keeping my feet warm at all times, I bought the shoe two sizes too big after trying them on with double socks – one very thick hiking sock and a standard fitness sock – and insoles, because I’m also going to be investing in thermal insoles.

While I was there I got two pairs of Injinji Outdoor socks made with micro-fine Merino wool to make sure my toes don’t rub together and get lesions that get infected without me knowing it (when your toes are numb, you don’t know there’s a problem…) and also to keep my feet warm, as Merino wool is “excellent at regulating body temperature, especially when worn against the skin. The wool provides some warmth, without overheating the wearer. It draws moisture (sweat) away from the skin, a phenomenon known as wicking. The fabric is slightly moisture repellent (keratin fibers are hydrophobic at one end and hydrophillic at the other), allowing the user to avoid the feeling of wetness” (according to Wikipedia)  And, of course, I can wear these in cooler Spring/Autumn temperatures in my Vibrams and still keep my tootsies warm.

Finally I got some ice-grips.  A few close calls made me realize that adding a numb head to numb toes would make walking impossible (though I’m sure many of you think the head’s already numb…) so I decided to not take any chances.

And there went the second child – thanks, Tina!  LOL!

So now I have cool gear on my feet to keep the toes toasty, I’m all set to go!   I’m breaking in the new shoes over this weekend, and I’ll do an easy 1 hour on Monday to test them out.

Wish me luck!

Darlene

(PS – who was it who said that walking is a very inexpensive sport?)

(PS – and never fear! I’ll be back in my beloved Vibrams once the temperatures are above 10˚C!)

(PPS – Oh, and just kidding there about exchanging my kids for cool gear.   The kids are here and safe…)

I was so proud of myself for getting out for my 3 hour walk yesterday in spite of the -19°C/-2°F temperatures. I bundled up, set up my technology, and headed down what was actually a beautiful pathway with fresh snow that sparkled in the sun.

As usual, my toes got pretty cold when I started out, but I knew that once I hit training speed, they’d warm up and be fine. Or, so I thought. Yesterday was a “ladder” walk, a kind of Interval walk where you jump around into different heart rate zones, several of which are quite slow. At times my feet felt fine. Other times, my toes were quite cold, but not painfully so.

On the way home, however, I began to feel quite uncomfortable and about 1km from home, when I should have been in HR Zone 2 (HR in the mid-90′s) I just kept it up in HR Zone 5 (HR in the mid 130′s) because my right foot felt numb, and both feet were feeling uncomfortable.

I got home and found a hot meal waiting for me, so I peeled off my shoes and snow gear, and sat down to eat. My feet began to thaw over lunch, but my toes were still numb. After lunch and a cup of tea I finally got my socks off – and realized how wet they were. I looked at my feet and discovered 3 toes were an odd grey-colour, and all my toes were bright red. One was swollen. My feet, however, were very warm.

It was then I realized I had frostbite.

Thankfully it wasn’t really serious frostbite, but I quickly did some research to treat my feet to make sure I didn’t damage them further.

Following instructions to continue to keep them warm and dry, I had a quick, not-too-warm shower, put on clean Injinji socks to keep the toes separated, wrapped those in fuzzy warm socks, and then slipped on my hut booties. Feet were toasty, but as the toes began to heal, the pain started. By dinner time I could no longer walk – it felt like a 200lb someone was standing on my bare toes with work boots on. There was no place to “put” my feet. No place brought release – raised, down, with weight on them, without weight. The only relief came from walking so I walked around the dining room table for about 40 minutes trying to cope with the pain. I have no idea what serious frostbite feels like, but if this is mild, I never want to find out.

Finally at about 6:30 I took some ibuprofen and crawled into bed. It was after 7:00 before I could tolerate covers.

This morning I’m still in quite a bit of pain, but it’s tolerable. I don’t walk too well, but at least it’s not excruciating when I just sit. Toes feel like they’re soaking in “too hot” water.

The real dilemma is, where do I go from here? Looks like new VFF’s won’t be ready before March (!!). I don’t have any shoes to walk in other than my regular day shoes which will get totally wrecked in the snow and salt outside. Do I pay $160 for shoes that will “do me” until the VFF’s are back in stock?  I do have my Sketcher‘s (which I stopped wearing almost right away because they “re-activated” an ankle issue I used to have), but with the lack of feedback from the thick soles and the rocking soles on sheer ice, I’m liable to end up in the hospital with a concussion wearing those.

ARGH.

Well, one thing is for sure – no walking this week! I’m not sure what I’ll do with all that extra time…

Darlene

Every now and then I hit a place in my walking where I need to take about a week off.  Because I’ve never had problems starting up again, I allow myself this grace.  It happens about once or twice a year.  No biggie.

About a month ago, such a time had arrived.  I just needed a break, so I took a week off.  That weekend I got the dreaded flu, and the following two weeks, while there were no messy flu symptoms, I was so tired as to be useless.  I did do a couple of walks, but not enough to brag about, and each one left me drained and exhausted.

Following that my husband and I took a week off and went to Montana.  Training wasn’t even slightly in the picture.

In the meantime, due to complications with getting the winter version of my “funky feet” I succumbed and bought a pair of Skechers.  Since having begun with my Vibram 5 fingers, I’ve really only worn shoes with next to no support or cushioning in them, and my feet have loved it.  When I got the Skechers (SUPER comfy shoes with lots of support and cushioning) I’ve been wearing them quite a lot to get my feet used to them, and have hardly worn my normal shoes.

So for about a month I’ve not done much in the way of serious walking, and my feet have also been relaxing in these lovely skooshie shoes.  On Monday I went for my first serious walk in ages, with my Vibrams, and came home with feet screaming in agony.

I told them to “suck it up” and went again on Wednesday.  Well, my feet then went on strike altogether and I could hardly walk.  It meant I had to take a break from walking yet again, and baby my feet, getting them used to the Vibrams again.

What a nuisance.

The moral of the story is “suck it up”.  Don’t get lazy.  And if you DO get lazy, don’t let your feet get lazy too.

Ouch.

Darlene