Run DMZ

I'm always amazed at how many social media influencers warn us to stay off social media most of the time. It's great advice, but I doubt these people follow it. Afterall, this is, like, their job, isn't it? Every once in a while, though, something pops up in the endless feed that does resonate with me. The following hit hard this morning as I complete the final week of backpack training and console myself in the passing of another dear old friend who was once the image of health and verve, until he wasn't.  I'm not sure if this actually comes from the mind of @jadebonacolta or she just didn't bother to use attribution, but here's a gem that reflects what all of us of a certain age know is true.  6 luxuries in life: time health a quiet mind slow mornings ability to travel a house full of love

I did something Saturday morning that I haven't done in years: nothing. I spent five glorious hours sipping tea and watching HGTV in bed while a flash-flood-inducing storm blew through. I took advantage of a rare lull in my life to force my body and brain into rest mode. I also did it because things are about to change for the next three months. I'm going to start training in earnest for a weekend backpacking trip on Catalina Island this summer. I don't know how I found the REI excursion, but I do know sessions were sold out whenever I checked. This year, I bookmarked the page, so when it updated, I was there. That's how I secured the first spot for a group backpacking trip on June 29-30, 2024. Three friends soon signed up, but one withdrew due to a shoulder situation and her sister backed out too. It's down to me and my friend Mary . I'm excited to have a new focal point to get out there when my body and mind want to be elsewhere. I'm also fortunate to liv...

Sometimes I wonder if we establish New Year's resolutions now because of how hard winter holidays hit. The angst of family gatherings. The aching reminders of those we've loss. The accumulation of gifts in need of a place to go. The scale that doesn't budge (at best) due to the uptick in treats. The end-of-year work assignments weighing on us. The exercise routines uprooted by inclement weather or injury. Even under the best of circumstances, something always feels off right about now.  That's why in 2024, I'm committing to less. Less junk work that dilutes quality. Less negative thoughts. Less mindless scrolling. Less yelling. Less sugar contributing to inflammation. Less carbs that make me crabby. Less caffeine that impacts sleep. Less trips to the store because I'm bored. Less guilt saying "No." Less talking. Less sitting. Less bad TV. Less social media. For me, this has less to do with consumption and more with capacity. I don't want to quant...

During my blog hiatus I did a 30-day elimination diet.   “We should both do Whole30 ,” my friend suggested one Friday night as we wolfed down chips and dip to counter the quick effects of her lemon martinis.  I’d done only one true elimination diet, back in 1988. It didn’t go well, in part because it called for fancy food, and I lived on an Alaskan island where six red plums cost me $12. The second attempt was about 15 years ago, and I quit after I could only eat the garnish at an office birthday party spread. It wouldn’t have been noticeable were I not among the honored guests.  I also should mention this friend did 50 pushups in pumps and a mini skirt in front of everyone at her 50th birthday party. She’s incredibly athletic [read: disciplined], and I knew she’d hold me accountable.  We talked for all of two minutes, with mouthfuls of Doritos, about the logistics and likelihood we could do this. I declared: “I’m in.”  What is Whole30?  I knew nothing...

There’s a great article in The Atlantic about whether e-bikes spur users to higher fitness levels or actually downgrade their expectations. I wrote earlier this summer about how I manage my own e-bike use, which at the moment is purely recreational because I am afraid to leave it unattended, even with a bike lock, to run errands. They are just too hot a commodity in my city.   These lines in that article caught my attention:  An e-bike sure seems like a way to cheat at exercise, even if it really facilitates it. That’s been my experience; the credit my Apple Watch gives me for “outdoor cycling” on my e-bike pales in comparison to the exertion I undertake at home on the Peloton. (Apple has added an e-bike-detection algorithm in this mode, which both underscores the fact that e-biking ain’t biking, and suggests that yes, in fact, it is.)  I noticed the same thing with my Apple Watch on my Sunday morning rides. If I use the pedal assist to get up a big hill, I don’t g...

Several years ago a friend raved about a recent trip to a cooking school in Tuscany. She and 10 others stayed at this villa where you made and ate chef-instructed meals and took field trips in between. The setting was surreal, she said. The food, divine. Especially since every meal included fine wine. She wanted to go back with friends, so three of us made plans to go the following summer.   Then we didn’t go.   Let’s do this, I told my husband a few years later. He instead suggested we take one of those fancy train rides through the Canadian Rockies to celebrate a milestone anniversary. I looked into it and put down deposits, imagining views of Lake Louise and meals on wheels as the glass-ceiling train car rolled under canopies of aspens.   Then we didn’t go.   Booked a prized cabin in the middle of Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks so we could nestle among the ancient redwoods each night and explore beautiful lands each day. And, feeling adventurous, I paid in ad...

For my big birthday, my kids gave me an ebike that I ride when I can, which admittedly is not as often as I want. But I’m working out more than before the bike.  My husband gifted me an Apple Watch, having tired of me complaining about my old Fitbits and Garmins that never seemed to motivate me the way this thing does. Sure, there’s a ton of other functionality I use since my watch syncs to my iPhone. But the Fitness app is what gets me going every morning and sometimes well into the evening.  It’s easy to use: Just open the app on the watch; select the type of workout; and it counts down to start times. I haven’t used it long enough for the watch to know my actual calorie burn, but whatever I’m doing is working. Once done, I stop the timer and then wait for my “rings” to update. There are three:  --One recording specific movements that get the heart rate up  --One that logs at least 30 minutes of daily exercise  --One that reminds me to stand every hour  S...

While preparing for the official launch of Anne 6.0 next month, I searched for races on launch day and found only one in my area. It looked like an ideal competition – with a 10k or 5k on relatively flat, non-technical trails. I signed up, then got others to join me.   Then almost four weeks ago, I sprained my ankle. Like, a this-is-not-going-to-heal-in-a-few-days sprain.* It’s still slightly swollen and hurts when I flex it, but it’s much, much improved. [Update: that's because I actually broke it and it set wrong.] I went for a 1.75-mile walk the other day – per my PT’s instructions – and it felt good. I walked around Balboa Park for a couple miles today and it now hurts like hell.   The daily RICE regimen might have been more frustrating had I not also contracted Covid from a family member, and therefore had even more reasons to remain off my feet as much as possible. It felt like a moderate flu for a few days, and I didn’t lose my senses of taste or smell. However, until t...

If I seem a little taller, it’s because I’m back on my high horse.   We’re not even through the second week of 2022 and already so much has gone wrong. Everywhere kids are home from school or daycare or afterschool programs because they’ve come in close contact with someone with Covid, or they themselves are the viral vector. Employers want to see your negative Covid test … without providing such tests. I spent a half day trying to find a store selling rapid tests since online kit orders now take weeks. PCR test results for those who have a full gas tank or half day to spend in line with  sick people  now take longer because labs are overwhelmed .   So instead of putting up with this level of disruption, I’m pulling out. I’m waiting until the current Covid surge and testing mania abates and laying low in the meantime. I preoccupy myself with figuring out how to get my training back on track. I’ve done four runs in the past 12 days; that isn’t going to get me where I...

  I don’t remember the last time I tried to sit cross legged on the floor in what we the un-woke once called Indian style. It’s painful because I have very tight hip flexors. I even hate doing yoga on account of how we all start with legs tucked under. My quads don’t cooperate and my feet cramp – even with two blocks under my butt.   I shuffle when I run due to too-taut hamstrings, and wobble during walks thanks to arthritic hips. This is what happens when long-time runners give short shrift to stretching. I’m not light. I’m not lithe. And I’m certainly not limber.   With that as the setup, allow me to introduce my word for 2022: Stretch. I need the daily reminder as I near a milestone birthday and, well, feel my true age. That makes this year’s word as practical as it is multi-purpose and metaphorical.   Kids, jobs, school, pups, grandkids and a geriatric pit bull with bladder issues have all robbed me of the requisite warmup-exercise-cooldown ritual. I’ve long stri...

I’ll be honest: I’m not a fan of the winter holidays. I tend to see them as just more work, only unpaid. I wish I wasn’t such a Scrooge, but it takes a lot for me to get in the mood to buy and wrap and ship presents. To bake sugary treats and not give in to sampling. To sit through a sensory-friendly showing of   How The Grinch Stole Christmas at The Old Globe and not cry. To deal with indoor and outdoor lights. Babysit more than usual. To make one more library-book run to stock up for an anticipated work lull that somehow rarely happens. To find everything on grocery lists for special brunches and dinners. And, of course, nail all of my many work deadlines.       Not to mention, even with early morning temps finally requiring heavier jackets and sweaters, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. Never does here in San Diego.   But this is a great time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t this year, especially in keeping with this year’s theme:  Clean . In some...

Lately, I’ve been telling everyone within earshot that I’m tired of working so hard. It took a couple of carefree weekends and slow Mondays to realize how much more padding I want around hard weeks’ worth of work.    I’ve been a two-income earner for many, many years. With a few years’ exceptions, I’ve always held more than one job, as much to keep my mind stimulated as our cupboards full. And until now, I handled two occupations relatively well. But decades of heavy loads and a shortening lifespan have me reevaluating how I want to spend my days ahead. It probably doesn’t help that most of my friends now are unencumbered by jobs and school-aged children and living their best lives. I have several years before I can join them.   The hours add up My lifestyle is no longer a novelty.  A lot of people work gigs  beyond a full-time job. As a professional writer and budding novelist, I spend way too much time tethered to a desk and chair. I do get up at least once ev...

Yesterday I signed up to do next year’s   Bay to Breakers , the craziest 12k you’ll find in what remains my favorite city: San Francisco. I wanted to take advantage of the 48-hour low pricing (under $40); generous refund policy; and expiring airline credits. I’ve wanted to return to this event for more than eight years … and now I will if all goes as planned.   I’ll be running or, more likely, walking with my daughter and son-in-law, both B2B regulars. We’re already coming up with costume concepts and deciding which breweries to hit in our version of carbo loading. I’ve also been assured that seeking a position within Corral A doesn’t mean we need to maintain a 6-minute-per-mile pace, or that we get passed and cussed at the entire time.    Bay to Breakers is weird and wild, but the year we did it was weirder and less wild than others due to a bombing at the Boston Marathon just weeks before. That led to lower attendance, probably as much due to a stronger police pres...

  The adage “Once a runner, always a runner” may eventually prove untrue. But I’ve learned that friendships built around running endure if they are meant to. I think to my current circle of close friends and 90% of them began with us running together. I’m including one that began with a hike, not a run, but it’s the same foundation built from conquering distance, counting steps and breathy-but-not-breezy conversations.   Walking works too, but for me, my personal identity remains tied to running. It’s probably why I’ll commit to walking for the rest of my life, and within weeks pick up the pace despite knowing the higher risk of injury and arthritic wobbles. It’s not a healthy relationship, I admit.    I wasn’t always a social runner. In fact, one of the reasons I took up that form of exercise in my teens was to escape into myself. In my 20s, it was to escape crying babies and a crabby husband. And in my 30s and 40s, it turned competitive. You think when you pass ano...

I picked Labor Day to return to the gym because I knew everyone else preferred to do anything else but work out. There were a lot more signs on the door beyond the one I remembered warning to keep it closed. Now everyone entering was ordered to wear a mask and Department of Defense-approved athletic attire. A posted schedule showed the three times a day the facility closed for cleaning.    The check-in system was the same as it had been when I last used it March 2020. But the faces behind the desk were all new. I showed my ID and asked where the rowing machines were now located. Their previous location had been converted into an F45 studio – a gym within a gym and  the first on a military installation . The women’s locker room looked the same except for all the signs now prohibiting selfies, not just dying hair in the sinks.    When I first started attending  this gym  20 years ago, there was a lone rowing machine wedged between two pieces of Nautilus ...