Why Women Should Stop Running? Hardly!

A while ago, I wrote about trying to be inclusive at the gym. The idea of that post was that I may weigh less on a scale, but everyone who is at the gym is trying. How hard or how much they are trying might be a combination of experience, knowledge, comfort, and will, but they are there.

Two situations have completely outraged me today, in reflection of that piece.
First, my friend went to a health fair at work, and reported feeling snubbed by the local gym recruiters. My friend is not in peak physical health, but she was asking questions, in search of information. If a gym is not looking to challenge itself and its customers by having a wealth of different clients, it should probably exist only in Hollywood.

Second, I came across this link to someone who, according to his opening paragraph, has little respect for anyone who is not doing Everything Right at the Gym.

The piece is inflammatorily called 'Why Women Should Not Run', and has been apparently released elsewhere. Being a very proud half-marathon runner, the title of the article immediately has my hackles up.
The first error I find is that the title is misleading. The writer is not saying that women should not run, period. Instead, he is arguing that running for hours on end is not conducive to losing weight. To a point, he is not wrong, but his examples and his style of writing leads any sensible woman to ignore the argument he is trying to make.

The writer's primary example is his friend Jessica. I hope that's not her real name. He says he has observed her doing static running on a treadmill for years on end, and despite his repeated attempts to offer suggestions, it has been only until recently that she understood that what she is doing is not working. The writer does not give any examples of suggestions he may have offered, but since his main complaint seems to be against the static exercise of treadmill, bicycle, or elliptical, it is entirely possible that getting out of the gym might be a good start. I have heard of people who can go from a treadmill to running a half-marathon with ease, and heavens bless them, but I find running on the unevenness of a path to be much more energy-consuming than running indoors on an incessant treadmill. The scenery is also more interesting.

It is also interesting to note that the writer boldly declares that his intent is not to pick on women or make fun of them, but he does not follow words with action. His tone is unmistakably condescending when he says, "I’ve tried to rescue her from the clutches of cardio in the past..." Just how he has tried to rescue her is not clarified, like his unheeded suggestions,  but he is also so gracious as to not 'name names' when commenting on the dietary habits... rather, the "amazing displays of gluttony" of women at the Cheesecake Factory. While I am sure he has seen this in practice, his using the word 'gluttony' hearkens to the seven deadly sins, of which Eve, the representing matriarch, is the cause of the Original Sin. I'm actually quite sure the author did not intend to cut so deeply with his words, but he inadvertently uses the term in a shaming, and ultimately shameful, fashion. Another matter I take issue with is that, when he mentions two machines in relation to women, the author only mentions the abductor and adductor machines, as if these two machines are the stereotype of 'women machines' in the gym. Strangely, at my gym, the adductor and abductors are two machines I rarely see women on. Maybe I'm in the wrong part of the gym, by the free-weights.

The last problem with this article is that, like the author's unclarified suggestions and methods of saving someone from cardio, he has many arguments for not running on a treadmill to lose weight, but he has very few alternatives. He does mention appropriate HIIT, but very little else; it gives the impression that fitness and cardio start only when you enter the gym, and once you leave, there is nothing to do. Meanwhile, my alternatives are: running outdoors (c'mon, if I can do it, whining and bitching in my snowy hometown, the only excuse is the north pole. Or a hurricane), running hills, cycling for groceries or to work, swimming (no one care what you look like in the swimsuit, they just want a lane), or even climbing stairs.

So far, I've focused on how wrong this writer's approach has been, with little nod to the technically correct aspects of his article. He is correct in saying that steady cardio on a treadmill is not conducive; that pointing this out is not a new thing; I will also give him credit on the biology information that I haven't bothered to look into. However, this is my article, and that's about the most that I can really find that's accurate about this. Unfortunately, even this information is presented in such a condescending fashion that an unpracticed woman might think that this is the average gym goer's train of thought, so she shouldn't even bother; and a gym-going woman will find it hard to see through the red haze that she won't bother reading the rest of it.

It is my sincere hope that the people who share this way of expressing their views on fitness are few and far between. It is in this manner that people are dissuaded from trying to attend a gym or thinking that their situation can ever change. It is also my sincere hope that, despite the inciting, inflammatory, and desensitized titles and content, that this article does not reach people who would take it to heart - those of us who can read through the belittling nonsense will hopefully find it appropriately rude and lacking in humanity, if not credibility, and sin-bin/File 13 it as they see fit. In essence: this article, however scientifically sounding, is opinion and should be treated cautiously as thus.

Boston 2013

Yesterday, someone detonated two bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon about four hours into the race. As the first explosion, only five to ten feet from the finish line, went off, some videos capture the clock reading 4:09. Thirteen seconds later (I counted on the video I watched), a second blast went off a bit earlier on the race path.

No one has come forward to say why. No one has told us why a graduate student, a restaurant manager, and an eight year-old boy all had to die for this. No one has told us what the logic or reasoning was for injuring so many people so gravely.

The FBI has now taken the lead on this case, and I'm pretty sure they'll find out who did it. The finish line was a very interesting choice in that the statement is loud, but it's also the target of hundreds of cameras. There are videos of people streaming over the finish line. People taking photographs of their loved ones as they pass over the timing belt; even if only to get the back of their head and the time they cross. Anyone heading the other way would be easily photographed.

The timing is also interesting. Tax Day. Patriots' Day. A full Zodiac cycle since 2001. Or is there any reason? Perhaps finding causation in time and year is a red herring. The Boston marathon is a bit of an easier explanation. It's a 42.2km (26 miles) representation of American endurance.

There are so many things unknown. CNN has a list of known and verified details that they keep up to date.

This is what I know: I know that I've heard of the Boston Marathon long before I was ever interested in running, so it's a pretty big fucking deal. I know my favourite crime-fighting mystery solver, Spenser, would not have any of this in his hometown of Boston. I know that runners, when presented with a brick wall, will keep going, and that that's a metaphor. I know that the American people, despite their reputed brash and bumbling ways on the international stage, will not only be ready for a fight but will also bring it to your door. I know that no one deserves this to happen to them, and that the bombers will never win the hearts of mothers who can envision missing their daughters, or fathers who can imagine their sons hugging them for the last time after their greatest triumph.

The Boston Marathon is one of the most respected marathons in the world, but the insignia of the Boston Marathon unicorn will now become a symbol of perseverance beyond 26 miles.

O guilty party, you may have caused a day of chaos, pain, and fear. But the resilience of Boston is stronger than that, and you'd better run faster than a 3:09 marathon if you hope to get away with this.

Hibernation Effect

I have finally discovered exactly the words to describe the feelings my legs have had over the past few weeks: hibernation.

They feel like how I imagine bears must feel as they start to wake up as spring rolls around. Slow, grouchy, not at all willing to go out and do this 'exercise' thing. There may have been growling involved.

But I did get out twice this week for runs at work. Tuesday was cold and windy, and today was... cool and windy. I'd cautiously start making spring-time plans like walks in the park or rollerblading, but that's just taunting Mother Nature: it's supposed to snow 10cm this weekend.

My legs are sore like they haven't been in a while, but I am looking forward to getting back to shape, where my legs don't sob like whiny children going up seven flights of stairs and a couple of 5km runs are a gentle shake-out.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to sun, warm, and at least 15C so I can run in shorts again!