The Agony of "It's Just Old Age"

 I think I have talked briefly before about how seeing family age and wither away has been a huge motivator for my running and seeking better overall health as I stare down middle age in the not too distant future. I have also talked about how I seek out stories of seniors that are beating the odds when it comes to avoiding the rust that often sets in when they sit in the chair in their living room, or the front porch. There are so many stories out there when you start looking and paying attention and they are so inspiring! No matter what age you choose to start, as long as you are still breathing, it seems your body and health can improve.

 Researchers that actually study senior citizens and health improvement beyond taking pills are proving this more and more. The unfortunate thing is that studies have been slow to occur in this field because there isn't a whole lot of money in this area but with the ever aging population and the strain that this is going to be on governments that are taking on more and more of these elderly patients with longer life spans due to medical interventions, people are waking up and admitting there needs to be a better way.

 I was a lucky kid in that I grew up in a home with not just one grandma, but two. Starting at the age of six, I lived with both my grandma and my great grandma.

 Looking back to my earliest memory of my great grandma, I see her sitting in her chair. Four different houses over the years and the scene never changes. When she walked, she shuffled from one place to another and I can still hear the sound her slippers made against the wood floors. Her back had what my grandma, her daughter, called the "widow's hump." I have a picture of her from her high school days of her and her girls' baseball team. This sort of shocked me when I first saw it. An image of my grandma as a young woman, running and playing a sport, is hard for me to imagine.
 
 When she died in her late 80's, in a nursing home once she needed 24 hour care, my family was told by the doctor in the nursing home that she was on so many pills she was almost a drug addict, along with suffering from type 2 diabetes.

 I think of her final years, sitting in her chair, watching her t.v programs, waiting for the mail or one of her grandkids to play a card game with her, and I am sad for her.

  Now her daughter, my other grandma, is continuing on her same path. We get into weekly discussions on her aches and pains. She laments to me on how she will need a wheelchair at the airport when she comes to visit us because the distance between the terminals and the security check point are so long.

 She is suffering from arthritis in her shoulders and she is convinced it is from her high school years of twirling baton. She tells me my running will ruin my knees and when I told her I completed a half marathon her response was simply "Oh my god." Her belief is that exercise will eventually lead to pain and bodily damage in the end.

 Nana, I tell her, you have got to move, you have to go for a walk everyday, lift some one pound weights to which she responds, "Oh, honey, this is just old age."

 She won't listen when I talk to her about the research proving that activity is the best treatment for her arthritis, instead she downs Aleve on a daily basis.

 I am not in her doctors' offices with her, so of course I am not sure what they are prescribing for her aches and pains, it is highly possible they are trying to encourage her to get up and move. She has no major injuries or disorders to prevent this, but if they aren't, I really wish they would! 

 I wish we would get past this idea that old age equals lack of ability to move, the necessity for motorize carts at the grocery store and a hurry cane.

 There is a common phrase used among the horse rescue community that "old age doesn't equal skinny!" it is an attempt to dispel the myth that once a horse hits their late teens and into their 20's that being skinny is just part and parcel of being an old horse when in actuality, being underweight does mean is that he most likely has dental issues that need to be taken care of, or an overload of parasites. Sway backs are a symptom of being ridden with the horse in an improper carriage, with a high head, hollowed back and abs not engaged and carrying the horse, again, not a sign of old age.

 I wish that we could make it a campaign to dispel the myth of old age in humans equaling the inability to walk from one end of a shopping mall to the next.

 I don't want my boys to fear old age, I want them to see their mom and dad hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and running ultra marathoners long into their "twilight" years (and while we're at it can we get rid of that phrase, too!)

 Now just to get my husband on the same page.

Is Strong Really The New Skinny?

 I was on the stair climber yesterday, that mind numbing machine that tries to inspire you to climb higher and faster by putting various buildings and monuments around the world. To beat back the boredom I picked up the equally mind numbing magazine, Shape, because of a certain celebrity on the cover that I was interested in reading about.

  As I flipped past page after page of makeup ads and articles on how to get a certain look, how to get an awesome butt, shoulders that look good in strapless dresses, recipes to help you lose weight, all just to get to a two page article on a celebrity that was really only in there to sell her clothing line of "active wear" and swim suits that look like they are best for laying by the pool and not swimming laps or playing at the water park with your kids (these types of suits made very difficult to find by the way,) the saying "strong is the new skinny" popped into my head.

  Years ago, as a newly married 19 year old, I had subscribed to this magazine, and as I look back I realize "strong" was never a word I aspired to. Nor was the idea of living a life of fitness and good health well into my senior years.

 All I wanted to, all I was programmed to want, was to look good. If this meant eating as little as possible to achieve that then I would do it. Exercise was just to get me that look, just like the magazines promised. Do this exercise and you will have the perfect butt, find out what celebrity X does to have those abs. It was just a bombardment of how females needed to LOOK.

  I started to really reflect on this, to wonder why I grew up needing to "look" a certain way (although like the majority of women I never actually did achieve that look.) In my introspection, I recalled all the fashion magazines that filled my childhood home.

 Gaunt, forever 21 and forever hungry, wearing clothes I would never be able to afford, adorned with makeup I would never have the time to apply, were the females that always stared back at me. Subconsciously these images melded into being, convincing me that this is the ideal female, this is who I should be.

 I never tried very hard to live up to this, don't let me fool you into thinking I became a fashionista that never left the house without perfect hair and makeup! Far from it, I actually did more of the opposite, partly due to my 6 foot frame and the difficulty in finding clothes that comfortably fit and partly due to my bank account that could never maintain that sort of a lifestyle, especially once kids came into the picture, but the bigger reasoning was I never felt like I could become that ideal woman in the magazines.

 It was an ideal too hard to attain. Every picture ever taken of me, I analyzed like a scientist searching through strands of DNA. I quickly ascertained that I was not picture material, so I avoided them all together. I ducked away from cameras pointed in my direction every chance I got.

 Fast forward to life with little boys and I knew that no way, no how, would my boys grow up looking at unrealistic images of women. I was thankful for grocery stores that offered "family friendly" aisles that little people wouldn't be eye level with cleavage and magazines entitled "have eye popping sex tonight!"

  I felt vindicated in my thinking on this subject when my oldest was around six years old, after seeing the cover of a magazine with a woman in a short skirt and plunging neckline, as we stood in line at Barnes and Noble, he asked me "why do ladies sometimes dress like they are naked?" I shrugged and said I wasn't sure, but a few years later we discussed how some ladies think that is what makes them pretty and what they think men want to see, and how movies and magazines teach a lot of girls that their worth is in what they look like.

 I am not naive enough to ignore the fact that males are very visual beings and my boys eyes' aren't ever going to be drawn to cleavage and short skirts with bleached hair and overdone makeup, but I do hope they have been brought up to look for healthy and active, like they have been raised, for their future life partners.

 Reading the book "Natural Born Heroes" really brought home the idea that our bodies, both male and female should be healthy and strong, for good purposes. For survival, for war, for the simple facts of enjoying life to its fullest! There is so much world out there to be explored, trails to be run (or walked) national parks to be explored, even if you aren't an outdoors person, museums and malls with miles of stores and art are there to be enjoyed and walked.

  I don't believe we are doing an adequate enough job of changing the narrative for our young people to strong is, and SHOULD be, the new skinny. I think we're getting closer, with the sudden explosion in spartan races and other types of events like tough mudder, but with as many of those that are gaining in popularity, Kardashian type lifestyles are gaining followers by the millions on instagram. How to get the "thigh gap," overinflated lips, and oddly shaped derrières are still a hot topic in magazines that target young women. Young men are still being bombarded with six pack abs and biceps really not serving any purpose other than to flex in the mirror while posing for a selfie, as the ideal man.

 We need to impress upon our young people that having a healthy body that can get us from point A to point B, should be our goal. Filling our vehicle (our bodies) with foods to adequately fuel us and keep us healthy. Finding role models, both real life and those in the spotlight.

  For my sons, their karate instructor who is almost 80 years old, still strong and nimble and still working at his landscaping job as well as teaching martial arts several times a week, is someone I point them to when we talk about a long life of fitness and health. Michael Phelps, an idol of my son that swims competitively, is an example of a strong, healthy body that is utilitarian, not just chiseled to grace the cover of a magazine.

 For myself, I look to people well into their 70's and even in their 80's, still running marathons and Iron Man races. Even 100 mile ultra runs. Our bodies are amazing works of art, given to us to enjoy life to its fullest, climbing mountains, swimming oceans, biking through countrysides or exploring city streets. They is so much more to living than looking good in a selfie in clothes made for mannequins! The only way to get this message across to our kids is to really get serious about teaching them that strong and healthy, not skinny, is a lifelong endeavor.

 It's definitely the message I wish I had learned long ago.

Running Partners

First of all, if anyone actually reads my blog I apologize for what a mess it is. I used to blog all the time a few years ago but blogger has changed, my laptop is old and slow so I typically write posts on my phone and I have yet to figure out how to post pictures. It let me post a couple and then not again so hopefully I will figure that out soon enough. I hate reading blogs without pics, so I know how boring that is. Running on the prairie is not all that scenic but once in awhile I manage to snag a deceptive picture to trick people into thinking the place is somewhat scenic. Can anyone tell I want to move back home?

  One thing I didn't really expect when I mentioned my runs on Facebook was that people would actually be inspired to run. I've never seen myself as the type to inspire people so this was kind of a surprise.

  I told everyone that mentioned it that I was happy to run with them if they wanted to get together and one friend finally took me up on it. She needed to meet pretty early, when it was still dark! But I went ahead and got my butt out of bed anyway. By our second run together, our sons had joined us!

  One big positive that has come from our move is the amount exercise all of the family is getting now. My oldest son and running partner has joined the swim team and doing incredibly well, my youngest has taken up martial arts and bikes or walks every day with his dad to hatch Pokémon eggs and I have goaded my husband into running again so he is following a Hal Higdon 5K training plan.

  Exercise is so good for everyone, our bodies were created to move, after all! So I am overjoyed that I might be the kick in the pants someone might need to get moving and get healthy. I keep telling everyone that last year I couldn't even make it to the end of our gravel road which is just about a quarter of a mile and now I can run a half marathon (albeit slowly!) so if I can do it, anyone can do it!

Runners that cheat

I first heard about people that actually cheat in marathons and other similar distance races in Runners World a few months back. What a bizarre concept! Why in the world would someone cheat in a race? I guess I see WHY pro athletes cheat when it comes to bettering themselves to keep their jobs, I don't think it is necessarily right of course, but isn't running races about self improvement and health? What satisfaction do you get by finishing a race by cutting through the course, or signing up for a marathon but actually running the half?

 Another way people cheat is to buy the bib of a runner that qualifies for Boston, or have someone faster then you wear your bib in a Boston qualifier. I just don't understand the psychology behind this.

Cheating is so common that they have actual committees that watch for it, studying previous times in races, whether times registered from their bibs when they crossed mats (if they didn't this is a good sign they cut through the course somewhere) sometimes they even need to look through race pics to look for cheaters. The first time I read about cheaters was a story about a man that the race committee noticed in a finish line pic. He wasn't in the best physical shape but he crossed the finish line looking pretty darn good, in a cotton t shirt with nary a sweat stain! Just that picture alone piqued the interest of the race committee and sure enough, they did some digging and found that not only was he a repeat offender in the cheating department but he also wrote checks that bounced for multiple races. I would love to know his reasoning behind this. Was it a good story to post on his Match.com profile?
 Here's a blog that is dedicated strictly to catching and researching these cheaters. I appreciate people that dedicate time for outing these people, hopefully it deters others that might consider doing this. Training for a race takes literal blood, sweat and tears and to see others take places in races that one must qualify for, or lie about their age to earn records, use others bibs to run races they didn't qualify for, it really and truly is a disgrace and these people should be ashamed of themselves.

Diet and workouts other than (gasp) running.

When I followed the Hal Higdon Half marathon training plan, I didn't deviate it from it one iota. I was so overwhelmed by the mileage and the thought of actually sticking to the plan that I was fearful of adding anything to my days.

 After the half when my knee hurt so bad for several days, I knew I needed to add strength training into my workouts. At the gym I use the machines for the quad and hamstring strengthening, at home I do exercises I learned on a Pilates DVD from a decade ago to strengthen the psoas, and I try to swim a couple times a week.

 There's really no schedule set in stone with me. I would probably be in better shape if there was! I am just of the mindset that fitting it in when I can is better than nothing. I would also love to be in a place where the weather was more consistent to allow for more outdoor exercise. If it isn't the wind, then it's the swarms of mosquitoes, miserable heat or miserable cold. I would really like to just deal with one negative, maybe rain, or heat, but that requires moving. Sigh.

As far as diet, I try really hard to not be on my typical see-food diet, I see it and I eat it. Two years ago, after mocking everyone on the gluten free diet and rolling my eyes at this "fad diet" that I figured would be out of fashion soon enough, I read the Wheat  Belly Diet and was shocked to see I had many of the issues they listed off for people that were gluten intolerant; stomach aches (every morning!) acne well into my thirties, itchy skin, bloated stomach. I gave the Wheat Belly Diet a try and the difference in how I felt was almost immediate. It wasn't too long after that I gave the Whole 30 Diet a try. I gave up dairy, wheat, beans, rice and all sugar except in fruit. It was torturous, but what wheat removal didn't do, being dairy free did. My dark circles under my eyes went away completely and I lost 15 pounds but it was so restrictive I couldn't keep it up. Moving to the area we now live in made eating healthfully outside of the house very difficult and I have sort have gone back to my old, bad ways of eating.

  Running has helped me stay on track as best I can, waking up after an evening of pizza to go for a run is out of the question, and once you've gone on a long run and feel good, it makes it easier to make healthy meal choices. I suppose some people think if they exercise they have an excuse for bad food choices but I feel the opposite. Except for my lattes, those are fuel for my runs!

 Basically with my running I have wanted to make a full, permanent lifestyle change. Exercise and the foods we eat to fuel our body should go hand in hand for life and it is difficult to have good health without both.

New Shoes!

  I am really impressed by people that keep track of the mileage on their shoes, how do they do that? A training log? Their memory is just that good? Whatever it is, I didn't do that with my last ones and based on the holes I was creating with my big toe, it probably had a good many on them!

 Back home we had a running store in town, Fairhaven Runners how I miss you! They watched you walk, watched you run, evaluated your stride, brought out the shoes they recommended and had you run outside in them to try them out. Here on the prairie? Yeah, no such store.

  On top of that, I was making way too big a deal selecting a brand and style this time around, mostly because I feel like I am more of an actual runner while before I was just a casual jogger. I mean, I have actual running socks so that must mean I getting pretty serious, right?

  Since I have been trying to get to the whole minimalist running feel, I knew I at least wanted shoes that mimicked the Luna Sandals. Altras were recommended to me by the lady I met that ran the Leadville, if they will hold up for a 100 mile of tough mountain trails they must be worth trying out. I was thrilled to read the story on them; wide toe box and zero drop heel developed by a family that had a running store and realized that feet needed to replicate the barefoot stride inside a shoe as closely as possible. The outdoor store in town just started carrying Altras and had two trail types to choose from, the Lone Peak had the best fit, and yes I had to get the men's because they don't have my size in women's. I have big feet.

 I like that they give me lots of space for my toes and enough cushion for my foot that I don't feel the stab of every rock down the drive but still minimalist enough that if I am heel landing too much I can feel the jarring up nearly into my teeth and I am reminded to correct my stride and lighten up on the landing. I heel strike pretty bad going downhill, but maybe that is because I run hills so rarely, note to self; run more hills.

 So far my longest run in them has been five miles on the treadmill, I told you I have been slacking off. Today I ran an actual trail, with varied terrain and rocks to deal with, other than feeling I was slipping too much in the shoes themselves, as in my foot within the shoe, when going downhill, they held up well enough and I don't have a lot of complaints. The grip on the ground was fine, but the real test will be when the ground is damp and slick. With the clay footing around here, it makes running in the winter outdoors (when it isn't in the negatives and the wind isn't blowing) even less appealing.

 The even bigger test will be the long runs, whenever those happen again.

 

On being alone

   I played sports in high school, not so much because I wanted to but because it seemed to be expected of me. I was tall, the tallest girl in my high school, so therefore my whole purpose in life seemed to be to play a sport that required tall people; volleyball and basketball and even the soccer coach came begging, saying I would make a fantastic goalie because I could take up so much of the goal with my long arms and legs. No, thanks to that one, Having people barreling towards me only to kick a ball at my face did seem not at all appealing in any shape or form. I did give in to the basketball coach and for a short time the volleyball coach and I look back on those years really not very fondly. I just didn't enjoy it, and it wasn't necessarily that I didn't enjoy the sport itself but rather the people I played with, nor did I really enjoy the coaches.

 Everyone had an agenda, the players were hoping for scholarships, or the admiration of their peers, or the approval of their parents, the coaches were re living their high school playing days and hoping for a coaching spot on the next big team or a championship title. No one really seemed to be playing the games for the love of it in the moment.

 There are those that say sports teach dedication and team work, okay I guess, but there are many things a young person can do that can teach that. In this day and age I would say quite possibly the best argument for team sports in high school would be the exercise, and that might quite be enough of an argument altogether.

 Running is something I wished I had found as a teen, beyond the endless laps around the soccer field and the suicide lines we had to run at the end of practice. If not just for the exercise but the alone time it would have granted me. I find people overwhelming, always needing something that I cannot give them. As a female, it becomes very hard to be yourself with people when your genuine self is someone that walks about as open as a book as one can be. Often people that you come across in your day to day life don't want that, they don't want honesty about your rough day, they want uplifting Facebook memes and everything hashtagged blessing. They don't want to know you have an opinion differing from theirs, whether it be on religion, politics or where you want to live. Too many people create their false idols in their hometown, their Boy Scout groups or the way they think you should behave and become easily offended if you don't fall in line with the same way of thinking. Quiet and meek has never been something I could pull off very well and my self deprecating sarcasm seems to make a lot of people uncomfortable.

 Running doesn't require anything from you, just shoes and clothes that don't enhance the chafe and you're off. I don't need a court, or a coach, I can just run. If I race, I am running against myself and not letting down a team if I have a bad run. It's easier to get over a slower time than you expected when the "we are only as strong as our weakest link" isn't in affect.

 You can run without an agenda, run alone without judgement. No relying on a teammate to kick a ball back at you or a horse to be sound and ready to go.

 The louder life gets, whether it be at work or just reading social media for 15 minutes, the more I see a need for being alone, no pressure from outside voices. Just the freedom of feeling ground rise up to meet each step, fast or slow, it's always there, waiting patiently for you.