Category Archives: Fitness

Fitbit Review and a Giveaway

Lately I’ve been thinking lots about gamification and using game strategies to achieve goals, particularly those related to health and fitness. I’m the sort of person who responds well to numbers and data, and quite like the idea of attaching rewards to data-driven results.

So last December I decided I wanted to buy a pedometer to help motivate me to stay active while visiting Chicago over the holidays. A little research and some chatter with my sister, Stephanie, quickly saw my $12 pedometer lust balloon into something more sophisticated. And so we found the Fitbit One, a $90 gadget that tracks steps, distance, calories burned, stairs climbed and sleep. We both bought one (go Team!).

In the four months since owning the Fitbit, I find I’ve become – quite literally – attached to the thing.

It’s not just about the device – it’s the whole Fitbit website / web app package that syncs up with it. The app lets you set goals for various parameters (steps / miles walked, floors climbed, weight, etc) and then tracks your progress towards those goals on a daily basis. Feeling good is very much a one-day-at-a-time thing, and the Fitbit really does make the whole fit and active thing a lot more interesting. Who doesn’t like a good chart?

The Fitbit features I like the most:

Good apps: The Fitbit web and iPhone apps allow you to track other things besides data recorded by the Fitbit, including weight, activities (handy for swimmers like me – the Fitbit is NOT waterproof!), and food. In fact I’ve even read on some of the Fitbit forums that there are people using the apps without actually owning the Fitbit – the food, weight and exercise tracking is good enough to use even without the Fitbit.
iPhone friendly: And speaking of the app, I especially like the iPhone app, which is almost exclusively what I use. Even the Calorie counting aspect is better than most I’ve seen.
Social: The web app lets you follow friends who have Fitbits, which I love because my sister has a Fitbit, too. Go Team Shaw!
Motivating: I guess this is the most important thing of all. The Fitbit really does motivate me to walk more and reach my daily target (currently set at 10,000 steps). What really shocks me is when I wear it on a day out in London and I realise how LITTLE I walk now that I don’t live in the City. Not that I’d give up the country idyl and working from home, but it’s a much needed reminder to get off my duff once in a while and go for a stroll.
Gamifying: Steps walked, floors climbed, calories burned, they’re all “points” in the game of getting fit, and Fitbit “rewards” you with various badges for different achievements (e.g. walking 40,000 steps in a day, getting to 100 total lifetime miles, and so on). I’d like to come up with a system for attaching these achievements to more interesting goals – it’d be nice if I could define my rewards in Fitbit, so it could tell me when I’ve earned, for example, something off of my Amazon wishlist, or a pint at the pub (though having said that, one of my goals in using the Fitbit is to find non-food / non-alcohol motivators, so I better stick with Amazon, or tattoos, or original art).
Hackable: The Fitbit API lets you program your Fitbit to trigger events. For example, one guy hacked his Fitbit to turn off the power to his fridge if he didn’t walk enough. You could do the same to turn off your TV, computer, Internet, etc. Hardcore, though I’d be more apt to use the API for good (reward) verses evil (punishment). This would, of course, require me to be a mad elite computer programmer, which I’m not. So I hope someone else will step up to the plate for me.

The Fitbit isn’t perfect, however…

It’s really easy to lose, but on the plus side, Fitbit has a very responsive and understanding customer support team.
In order to track sleep, you’re supposed to wear their Fitbit on your wrist using a velcro wrist strap thing. It’s kind of uncomfortable and is prone to fall off in the middle of the night.

My sister, who presents a slightly different use case, adds…

Android syncing only works with two phones: Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II. This is just crazy given there are over 70+ models available in the US alone. Yes, iOS is more popular, but the Android share can’t be ignored! [You can read Fitbit's reason for developing their apps this way on their blog.]
The Fitbit really should come with some kind of a security clip to attach to a belt loop…anything to secure it better. [Amen.]
I can’t track specific workouts unless I enter them manually. It means I often don’t enter them at all.
Some activities produce false step counts. Horse back riding, for example: it says I did x amount of steps, but obviously I didn’t. Yes I burned calories, but it’s just not calculated right. I have to remove the Fitbit if I want to keep my step count accurate.
It doesn’t track my average speed.

Verdict…

The Fitbit has a few flaws but what gadget doesn’t? I’m addicted to thing, which is really a testament to its worthiness as a great life hacking tool. Or maybe it’s just evidence of my geekiness? Either way, I do believe I’m actually fitter for owning a Fitbit. Or at least, I’m more motivated to keep my activity levels up, and motivation is often the hardest part. And looking at my monthly step average since owning the Fitbit, it seems to be working (this is why I love data):

And for the record, Fitbit didn’t ask me to say any of this. But they did give me something groovy to give away. Read on.

Giveaway time…

The folks at Fitbit kindly gave me one of their Fitbit Zip Wireless Activity Tracker to give away. This is much like my Fitbit One but it doesn’t have the sleep tracking capabilities. You can read all about the Fitbit Zip on the Fitbit website. And as you can see, it gets great reviews on Amazon!

To enter, simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below (disclaimer: I’ve never used Rafflecopter so I hope it all works smoothly, but if you have any troubles just let me know). There is one main way to enter and various ways to get bonus entries (which I will verify so please be honest).

This giveaway is open to everyone (fortunately the Zip is lightweight so I don’t mind shipping it overseas – Fitbits for all!). Entries close on May 21, 2013. The winner will be chosen randomly using Rafflecopter and notified by email.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Intermittent Fasting Takes Over the UK

If you live in Britain then you’ve likely heard of the 5:2 diet, aka ‘The Fast Diet’, popularised by Dr. Michael Mosley in the BBC Horizon episode, Eat, Fast and Live Longer. Since the programme first aired in August 2012, thousands of people have latched on to his method of Intermittent Fasting for weight loss. Celebrities like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have climbed on board and now there’s a book on the subject, the fast diet, co-authored by Mosley and food and fashion writer Mimi Spencer.

Intermittent fasting is nothing new, and it’s a subject I’ve been interested in for the last few years, ever since I started reading about ‘primal’ and ‘paleo’ diets and how eating as our ancestors ate may have benefits to our overall health (I’ve found Mark Sisson’s work on Mark’s Daily Apple particularly interesting, useful and inspiring). But what’s amazing about Mosley and the Horizon programme is how strongly it’s struck a cord with what seems like the entire nation. I know dozens of people who have been doing the 5:2 diet, and what’s incredible is that they’ve been keeping it up and seeing results for weeks and months.

So what is the 5:2 diet? In case you’ve somehow missed it, the 5:2 diet works like this: two days a week you restrict your calories to 500 per day if you’re female, or 600 per day if you’re male. It doesn’t matter which days you choose to fast or how you partition the calories throughout the day. On non-fast days (“feast days”), you can eat whatever you want.

That’s it.

Perhaps this is what’s sold the nation on 5:2: the method is so simple and easy to follow. You can have your cake (and your beer, chips and chocolate) and eat it, too. It’s not socially restrictive. The only real hard part is not eating much two days a week, which isn’t really as hard as it sounds.

The diet is so simple that it almost seems a shame there’s now an official website and book about it, padding out the story with extra “tips” and “success stories”, and making the diet seem more like, well, a ‘diet’. And what ‘diet’ has ever really worked for anyone? (Seriously, I’d love to know.)

The book has merits, though. The most useful bits are the first few chapters that describe the science behind intermittent fasting and why this crazy 5:2 thing might actually be the way forward, not just for weight loss, but for disease prevention and long life. When we fast, we fool our bodies into thinking we’re in a potential ‘famine’ situation, and our body responds by toughening up. A major player here is growth hormone IGF-1, a hormone that influences cell reproduction, and thus ageing. Fasting causes levels of this hormone to drop, and in response, repair genes to switch on. This is a good thing, and has huge implications for reducing age-related diseases. Fasting also gives our pancreas a rest, which improves insulin sensitivity and thus reduces our risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease. There is also evidence that fasting improves your mood.

Oh yeah, and you tend to gradually lose weight, too (a natural effect of dramatically restricting your calories twice a week).

At least, this is all true in theory. The problem with the science behind intermittent fasting is that most of it has been done on mice. In reading the book, you get a sense of the hand-waviness behind some of the theories. Dr. Mosley and Ms. Spencer aren’t shy about this, and that is why only a small portion of the book is devoted to ‘science’, and the rest devoted to their own personal experiences with fasting and tips for making it work for you (groan, it becomes a ‘diet’ book).

Intermittent Fasting: The Monica Method

I’ve practising intermittent fasting since December, but I’m loathe to call it “5:2″ because my approach and my motivations are a bit different from most people I know (and I’ve never really liked being part of the “in crowd”). I’m less interested in losing weight than I am in longevity and mental health. I’ve already been through my own “weight loss journey”, and I’m grateful to have succeeded, but it’s left me with certain mental baggage about ‘diets’ and ‘calories’ that I’d rather cast aside. I like that intermittent fasting frees the mind from thinking about food as calories (except on fast days, of course). Also, in the same way that “feast days” allow food to be truly celebrated (as it should be – there should be no such thing as a “guilty pleasure”), fast days too offer a different kind of freedom.

If you’re a foodie like me, then you tend to obsess about food – what’s for dinner? What can I make today with all the ingredients I have? (How lucky are we to live in the modern world?!) And so I find fast days quite liberating: for a good solid chunk of the day, I just don’t have to think about food and I can get on with other things, be it work, writing, cleaning or walking (admittedly, the more active I am on fast days, the easier it is to forget I might be hungry).

I’ve seen many foodies channel their food obsessions towards creating really amazing super low-calorie fast day recipes. But here’s my issue with this: on fast days, I don’t want to worry about food. In fact, I personally find the idea of eating a lot of small pathetic meals throughout the day extraordinarily depressing. So my “fasting” approach is to simply eat nothing all day until about 6pm, at which point I have a “sensible meal”. I don’t typically count the calories, but I don’t go crazy either. I deliberately try to have a light meal, and usually go for soups. A recent favourite is vegetarian pho with julienned carrot and courgette “noodles”, broccoli and tofu. There’s also lots you can do with an egg (about 80 calories), be it hard boiled for a salad nicoise or filled with veggies and turned into a tasty frittata or omelet.

My other motivation for fasting this way is the argument that your body gets the most benefit from fasting when you’re actually, well, fasting. But again, the science is patchy on this and, according to Mosley, it appears even if you do snack on a fast day, you still glean most of the ‘benefits’ of fasting.

But that’s just me, and as Dr. Mosley explains in his book, that is the beauty of the 5:2 – you can tailor it to suit your own personality and approach to eating, as long as you stick to the basic rules. The thing to remember is that you can deal with going hungry for a bit. It might seem hard at first, but that’s only because we’re so used to being satiated all the time. Hang tight in the knowledge you can eat whatever you want the next day and just get on with life. I know. We’re foodies. It’s kind of a bummer to miss out on a meal. But it means we get to enjoy the meals we DO eat with more freedom and pure pleasure, and none of that pesky guilt stuff.

A few final observations from my personal experience:

Fasting is hard but not as hard as it sounds
Sometimes you get hungry, but you just have to get over it, because…
Being hungry isn’t the end of the world, and if you’re only fasting for a day, the hunger doesn’t build and build until you explode… it comes in subtle waves and then it passes
Missing a meal isn’t a total travesty
Fasting is a handy approach to dealing with crappy airline food on long-haul flights
Drinking a lot of fluid is very helpful, and in fact necessary; I like tea and sparkling water
After an indulgent day or weekend, fasting for a day feels like hitting the “reset button” on your body, mentally and physically
Fasting is addictive
Fasting is harder when the weather is miserable
Fasting is easier when occupied by physical activities like walking, cleaning, shopping and exercising
You can work out while you’re fasting – your body won’t crumble to pieces
You should go to the doctor before you start fasting and make sure it’s a safe idea, plus get some blood work done to set a baseline so you can measure how fasting effects your physiology (one of the best features of the fast diet book is that it tells you which tests you can have done under the NHS through your GP)

This post first appeared on the Great British Chefs blog.

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My First “Green” Smoothie

I’m doing a little life experiment – I’ve been drinking whey protein smoothies every day for the last while, but lately they’ve been making me feel kind of blah in my innards, characterised by weird digestive gurgles coupled by fatigue, and tripled by bloatiness. Gross, right?

Yes, I could just stop drinking them, but I’ve come to really enjoy my afternoon smoothie ritual – especially when they involve cocoa powder. So I’m going to use this as an excuse to find out what the fuss is about these “green smoothies” – smoothies that include something green like kale or spinach, plus fruit and other stuff to make it yummy. I’ve had my Vitamix for a couple years but have never tried one of these – until today!

My smoothie was: banana, beetroot, blackberries, a big handful of spinach, a few ice cubes, water and a heaping spoonful of cocoa powder (that’s right – cocoa powder!). I enjoyed this, though in the future I would skip the blackberries – the beetroot and cocoa are so good together, but the blackberries add a sour note that I’d rather pass on. The spinach? I couldn’t taste it very much. And it must be said: the Vitamix blended this to silky perfection.

While not as satisfying as my whey protein smoothies (I was hungry within 30 minutes of drinking this), it was also not as digestively challenging. And it was real food, which I can’t really say for “whey protein powder”. I could use this opportunity to externalise my internal debate about protein, fitness and a mostly vegetarian diet, but that would be boring. I’ll let the experiment speak for itself. Tomorrow: no blackberries, more cocoa.

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Knee Update: 10 Months Post-Surgery

The last time I wrote about my knee was seven weeks after my knee surgery last July. It’s time for an update, and this time I actually have something hopeful to say that might even be helpful to some of you.

A little background: I’ve had chronic knee pain in my right knee for several years now. Last year, the doctors found a cyst and encouraged me to have it removed as it would be a “minor” surgery and it might fix the underlying problem.

So I had the surgery and did my physiotherapy, but the pain persisted. I tried resting. I tried exercising. I tried wearing a knee support. I tried lots of things. Not only did I continue to have the pain I experienced prior to my surgery, but I also had new troubles: my knee constantly felt almost numb.

Finally after all this trying I found myself in enough pain that it was difficult to walk any distance. This was a little over a month ago, well after the surgery. So I went to my GP who took one look at my legs and said “your right leg is noticeably smaller than your left leg – you need more physiotherapy.”

I decided to shell out for a private physio. Her theory was that I had scar tissue in the joint from the surgery that was causing me the weird numbness. Meanwhile, muscle imbalance was the source of the original knee pain. So she prescribe three things:

First, an exercise that involves me sitting in a chair and pushing my right leg into the floor as hard as I can – repeat ten times, for ten seconds each time, three times a day. Second, she massaged my patella to loosen the scar tissue. Third, tape!

I’d heard of “taping” before but didn’t know anything about it. Here’s what the interwebs say: “The taping technique is based on the body’s own natural healing process. Rather than “strap down” the muscle, the philosophy is to give free range of motion and allow the body’s own muscular system to heal itself bio-mechanically.”

The physio described it to me as “retraining” the muscle to do what it’s told. As such, the tape was applied to the same muscle I was working when I did the leg-push exercise.

Well I don’t know if it was the patella thing or the exercise or the tape (probably a combination of all three) but this is the first time I’ve felt real progress with my knee. After only a month, I’m swimming without the pull buoy for the first time in over year. I’ve been dong 20 minute warm-up runs at the gym with no problem. And I’m walking with gusto.

This isn’t to say the problem has disappeared completely. I can still “feel it”, especially after prolonged exercise. (Today I did a 2-hour walk in the country, after which I could feel some stiffness in my knee, but that subsided after a short rest.)

I would love to be able to run properly again for real distances. But that’s one thing I’m NOT going to push. Actually what I’d really like is to be able to go backpacking. I know I’m not there yet, but it’s something to work towards. So, I’m going to try to get out once a week for a “long” walk. If not for me, then for Rocky, because he needs to learn that car trips mean good things (he’s currently a bit whiney in the car).

But now I’m digressing. I look forward to the knee update that says “All better now! Let’s go run a marathon!” Stay tuned!

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Discovering GPS on my iPhone

Those of you who already use a GPS (or an iPhone for that matter) will probably roll your eyes throughout most of this post. But for me, both are a novelty, and “the new” hasn’t quite worn off yet, so I appreciate you letting me have my moment.

A couple weeks ago I blogged about my trip to the Brecon Beacons and learning (the hard way) that a GPS would be a very handy device for the lone walker to carry around. I actually had a Garmin eTrex GPS, but sold it for two reasons: (1) I barely ever used it because the Mac software was crap and I usually didn’t have the time or patience to spend hours configuring it before each and every trip; and (2) I just bought an iPhone, which I knew had GPS and could could get me out of any scrapes if necessary.

When I first moved to Orchard Cottage and “went country”, I always had this idea that I’d spend a fair bit of my time walking and exploring the Cotswolds, especially on the weekends. But as reality would have it, I do most of my walking from the cottage in short 30 minute to one hour bursts. Where is my sense of adventure? And if the walks in Brecon taught me anything, it’s that I need to walk up more hills. I just don’t remember hillwalking feeling as hard as it’s been on recent trips. The only way to make it easier to is to walk up more of them.

Which brings me to today. I decided to take a 7.5 mile walk in “Laurie Lee Country”, a route detailed in my Pathfinder Guide of Cotswolds Walks. Now seemed like a good time to test out the iPhone as handheld GPS unit. A little Googling turned up ViewRanger, “the Mobile App that will turn your Smartphone into a Complete Outdoors GPS.”

Within ten minutes, I’d installed the app on my iPhone, figured out how to use it, and loaded it with OS Explorer maps for the walk I planned to do.

After the Garmin, this experience just totally blew my mind. Admittedly, I didn’t do anything fancy like program my route or add waypoints, but I did have maps on my phone that gave me a bit of security and peace of mind.

Of course, the real test was how it faired on the walk. It was all very straightforward: I hit a “Start” button when I set off and it recorded my trip, which I was then able to upload to the ViewRanger website and save as a “route”. How cool is that? Almost as cool as the typo in their embedded iframe map:

I will forgive ViewRanger the typo (UPDATE: the typo is now fixed!), because everything else about it was awesome. It proved extremely useful on my walk: a large part of my journey was through forest, completely covered in fallen autumn leaves that obstructed path visibility just like snow. I referred to the ViewRanger app many times. Sure, I probably could have made my way without it, but this in conjunction with my book and compass eliminated most navigational questions so I could actually relax and enjoy the walk.

And what a beautiful walk it was, on a most splendid, blue sky autumn day:

Of course, the big downside to the iPhone-as-GPS is battery life. I started with a fully charged iPhone and by the end of my walk (about 3.5 hours), there was about 20% battery power left. This just won’t do on really long walks. Of course, this morning I was using the GPS constantly – in the future I will skip recording my track and possibly even turn off the phone unless I need it. Another question in my mind is: what if I went camping for a few days or weeks? How will I charge my phone? I know there are portable chargers for such purposes, but that is research for another time.

The ViewRanger app cost £7.99 and came with 1000 “credits” for downloading maps. You get a Great Britain overview map for free, then you can select small portions (“grids”) of the map to download detailed OS Explorer or Landranger maps. I downloaded two “grids” to cover my walk, which cost 48.5 credits each. I felt this a very fair price.

One other thing I discovered I love about the iPhone: Instagram! I took these shots while on my walk. I’m really impressed with the iPhone’s camera and Instagram seriously ups the fun factor:

I just really loved the name and the signage. Stroud 2m!

And since I’m sharing photos, I saw a few funny things on my walk, including this bizarre collection of rubbish on the trail…

A funny collection of trash on the trail

… is she the gatekeeper?

And this motley crew of old disused motorhomes:

The morning has left me thoroughly exhausted: this is why I need to walk up more hills – so that it doesn’t total shatter me every time I do so. Not sure where I’ll go next but I’ve only ticked off a few walks in the book and the next weekend isn’t far away. Bring it!

More photos on Flickr: Laurie Lee County

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Knee Surgery: 7 Weeks Later

Tomorrow will be seven weeks since I had surgery on my right knee to remove a cyst. The doctor said the recovery would be 4-6 weeks, but seven weeks on, I still feel far from recovered.

Part of this I blame on myself. It wasn’t long after surgery before I was walking pretty normally again, limp-free. At the gym, I started taking on short incline walks to warm up, and even throwing in a few deadlifts. A couple weeks ago, I went on a 5-mile ramble in the country with my friend Jason – I almost had a bounce in my step.

But I think all of these activities were pushing my luck. Last week my knee was feeling sore and tired and swollen. The biggest issue was in bending my knee. I’ve regained almost 100% bend-ability, but it hurts like hell if I bend my knee too far (would it be too much information if said I learned this the hard way when I attempted to squat for a potty break during the aforementioned ramble?).

So last week I decided to stop. I continued my usual physio exercises (very mild), but avoided most other forms of intentional leg movement. I was by no means sedentary – I continued to cook and garden as usual – but I didn’t take any walks.

After just a few day’s rest, I feel a massive improvement. And in truth, looking at these pictures, the knee isn’t as swollen as it seems when I look at it from eye level. But I do feel a strange pressure above the knee.

So, a few things need to happen: I need to keep resting; I need to call my doc and say “wazzup”?; I need to not be down about it, which is easy to do, because I really miss walking and had grand hopes of doing some long hikes this summer in the Brecon Beacons; I need to not let myself go just because of a few setbacks; I need to count small victories, like not needing to wear the tubigrip support thingy anymore when I DO walk around. It IS improving.

I need to also consider updating my wardrobe.

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Three Weeks Post Knee Surgery

It’s been three weeks since I had surgery on my right knee to remove a cyst lurking in the meniscus behind my patella. Things are still stiff and my range of motion is not what it was, but already I’ve been able to mow the lawn, spend two days wandering around Berlin and return to my daily half-hour walks around the farm. I’m far from 100% – it will still be several weeks before I can even think about running, cycling or swimming again – but it feels good to be moving at least a little bit again.

I say it feels good, but at the same time, I’ve been feeling a little lousy. As much as I’ve enjoyed a bit of forced relaxation, I find myself letting my eating habits slip – desserts, snacks and alcohol have creeped into my life at a higher than moderate rate. As a result, I’ve gained weight, I feel lethargic and overall not very pretty.

In the past, keeping a journal has been hugely valuable (I was reminded about this when I was asked to edit my About Me page for BlogHer, and re-read the 2005 bit about how “journaling changed everything”). In 2005, I used a notebook, but this time, I’m using posterous, and a few days ago I quietly started SmarterFitter Daily to rekindle my diary habits (and do SOMETHING with the myriad of food photos I take of my daily meals).

I’m doing it a bit different than I did back then: more photos, and I’m not counting calories. I’m just writing down what I eat and do and some simple goals to keep myself accountable and in control.

Thanks to Vanessa Kimbell for inspiring me.

Here’s a pic of my knee a day after the operation. X marks the spot (er, spots?).

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My Commute

When I use to live in London and work in the City, I used to commute by bicycle. I didn’t think about it so much then, but those bike rides were a very valuable part of my day. Fitness aside, they were a great way to clear my head – especially at the end of a long day – and rejuvenate me from the workday slog. I know, commuting can be a drain, but for me in London, commuting by bicycle kept me sane, and offered a baseline level of fitness that I could count on every day.

Now that I live where I do and work from home, I try to get out for a walk once a day to achieve the same effect as my former commute. Nothing strenuous; just a stroll around the surrounding fields and meadows to restart the engines and keep me from atrophying in my desk chair.

A side effect to all of this is that I’ve started taking notice of the tiny changes that occur as the seasons pass. At the moment, I’m really enjoying the wildness of the fields, all overgrown, dotted with yellow flowers and dandelions.

Yesterday I took my camera with me and found lots of these tiny changes in the form of little bugs, including the return of the grasshoppers (which I affectionately call “little guys”)…

… and what I think is a narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moth:

Oddly, like my London commute, I often find it a chore to peel myself out of the office chair and get my body back into motion. But just like London, once I do it, I’m always glad I did.

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Running Again

My running track.

It took years of NHS tomfoolery to finally get through the system and wind up with a specialist who really wanted to get to the bottom of my ankle and knee injuries.

About a year or so ago, yet another GP referral found me at the Royal Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath. This has marked a turning point in my injury recovery. Although they quickly ruled out rheumatic disease as the source of my ailments (PHEW), the folks at the hospital seem willing to do whatever it takes to solve my problem.

As such, I’ve been seeing a range specialists, including a physiotherapist and sports injury doctor, both of whom are extremely encouraging. It was the physiotherapist who suggested I treat my running injuries with, well, more running.

But not running like I’ve ever done before.

She assigned the following running drills:

High Knees – Using a short stride and bouncing on your toes, raise your knees as high as possible on each stride. There should be little forward distance covered, but keep moving forward for 30-50 meters.
Heel Kicks – Using a short stride and bouncing your toes, raise your heels as high as possible behind your body. Attempt to bounce your heels off your bum. Concentrate on raising your heels as high as possible (you can hold your hands behind your butt and make sure your heels touch your hands with every stride). Most of the movement should be with the lower leg. There should be little forward distance covered, but keep moving forward for 30-50 meters.
Skipping – Just like you did as a kid. Take off and land with one foot, concentrate on raising the knee as high as possible and landing lightly. Do this for 30-50 meters.

The driveway leading from the cottage (shown above) makes for a nice, flat, continuous surface for doing the drills. The first couple of times I did these, I was sore for days and days and days. Sometimes in the muscles. Sometimes in the joints. But I let myself recover fully, and with every running drill session, the exercises got easier and easier. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still hard, especially the high knees, but they do get easier all the time.

The best news about all of this is that I’m pretty sure the drills – plus the strength training I’ve been doing at the gym in the FiveFingers – have really helped strengthen my legs. I haven’t had any knee or ankle problems, neither with running or swimming, and am exceedingly encouraged.

I say I’m running again, though really I’ve been at it for the last few months. But doing the drills has felt more like physiotherapy than actual running, you know, the kind where you set off and go and let your mind wander and then boom you’re done.

The last time I met with the physio – about a week ago – she said I should start a real training program. She suggested the Nike half marathon beginners program which is nice and slow. I do find it a little crazy to be starting with a half-marathon programme. But when she asked me what my goal was, I said “I’d like to be able to run a half-marathon”, so I guess it makes sense…to her at least!

So, I need to start this programme, eh?

I must admit I’ve grown to like my little once-per-week running drill sessions, the most recent of which was about an hour ago this morning. Today and last weekend, I followed the drills with a run around the farm – about a 25 minute jaunt in the grassy fields. So I guess I’m ready for a little more. It’s exciting – there are times when I’ve felt resigned to never running again. But the docs don’t seem to question my ability to not only run, but to run far. Doctors know best?

One issue I’ve had has been painful achilles tendons for the days following my runs. I think this is a stretching issue. Yet another thing for me to improve upon.

One more thing – gotta give props to my Twitter friends who’ve been encouraging through all this, particularly Azelia of Azelia’s Kitchen. This morning’s run may not have happened were it not for her helpful encouragement. In fact, her running is just as inspiring as her cooking. Seven words: cheese and onion tart with cheese pastry. Need I say more?

Not So Bad News and Funny Shoes

It seemed strange this week to be writing about running on Stu Holliday’s Sport Psychology and Coaching Blog. The post was all about what to eat when you’re running long distances, but the thing is, it’s been YEARS since I’ve run more than 5 miles in a stretch, mainly due ankle and knee injuries I’ve been grappling with since late 2004. So I felt a little funny giving advice about running when I in fact can no longer run due to poor training. It’s just as well Stu asked me to write about what to EAT, not how to train, because I’m way smarter when it comes to food than when it comes to training or recovering from an injury.

Or am I?

The injuries have been a huge mystery for me over the past few years. I’ve been to numerous doctors, physiotherapists, sports injury specialists, and podiatrists. I’ve tried numerous non-invasive therapies, such as massage, stretching and strength training. And just as I feel like my body’s feeling good and I try running again, the old pains come back. I’ve had many MRIs, x-rays, ultrasounds and blood tests, but most doctors remain stumped.

It was only recently that a doctor at a sports injury clinic questioned something in one of my x-rays: my bones looked thin for someone my age. He ordered a follow-up bone density scan which revealed that my bones are just under the “normal” range for a healthy woman of my age. The phrase is “osteopenic” – and when I got the news, I couldn’t have imagined a scarier word.

As much as the news made me choke up with worry and sadness that this body I try so hard to treat like a temple might be crumbling from within, it was also a massive relief to learn something real and definitive that may partially explain why I’ve had trouble recovering from my injuries. More tests are on their way to check for vitamin and hormone deficiencies. And there are things I can do to potentially reverse the situation – get more calcium and vitamin D, do resistance training, and we’ll see what else. I really love that I don’t currently take any prescription medication, and I don’t want to start. But I also don’t want to break my hip when I’m 45.

All of this news was revealed at the Bath Royal Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases a couple of weeks ago while my mom was here on her visit from Chicago (didn’t I say that I’d be writing about highlights from my mom’s trip? I don’t know if this was a “highlight”, but it was certainly a moment).

After the appointment, I went outside to meet up with my mom, who took the opportunity to see a bit of Bath. I had a few minutes before finding her to get over my initial blahs, and comforted myself by thinking about all the good things that have been going on recently in the health and injury department:

I’ve been seeing great progress with my current physiotherapist, who has me doing running drills to strengthen my legs. Running to treat a running injury? Well, it’s a different kind of running than I’ve ever done, and far more challenging, but the great news is that I’ve been at it for over a month and I’m still pain free. AND I’m running again, which is such a thrill.
I’ve also been doing resistance training at the gym twice a week for… quite a while now. Early this year the gym updated its equipment with lots of “functional training” stuff – kettle bells, medicine balls, that sorta thing – and I’ve been really trying to push myself to get stronger. I’m definitely seeing progress, and I have a hunch it partially explains why I’ve been pain free for so long.
I’m young, and there’s plenty of time to undo the damage.
If the test results do show a calcium deficiency, this could mean a lot more wonderful things in my diet like milky tea, wonderful English cheeses, Greek yogurt and maybe even the odd scoop of ice cream.

When I found my mom I explained the situation and all of the strikes and gutters around it. As we walked and talked, we happened by a running shop that I’d been meaning to go into because they sold Nike Frees and Vibram Five Fingers, two shoes recently popularized by the whole “barefoot running craze” a craze backed by some strong science, might I add). I wrote about Vibram Five Fingers in July 2009 when Tim got a pair in Austin. Since then, he’s run his way through a few pairs of Five Fingers, and has said that he hasn’t the ankle pains he was getting running in regular shoes.

So I asked mom if she’d mind popping in so I could compare the two and find out my sizes.

We had a long talk with the very nice sales lad about the merits of these shoes – an educational experience for mom. I explained that I wanted to use the shoes for resistance training, no so much running, because they’d force me to use more muscles to balance myself when doing any exercise that has me on my feet (to put it succinctly). In this case, the Five Fingers were the ultimate choice, because the Nikes, though flat, still hold the toes together and wouldn’t give me the best chance for muscle development. At the same time, the Nikes are admittedly very stylish – but really, how stylish can you possibly be with a big Nike swoosh on the side of your foot? This is, after all, about function, not fashion.

So given the day, and my utter crapulence with making purchase decisions, my mom sprung for a pair of Five Fingers to help bring me into my new stage of recovery. I’ve worn them five times to the gym so far. The first two trips left me VERY sore. That kind of deep muscle soreness that comes from using muscles you didn’t know you had.

But the last three workouts have been remarkably easier. Moreover, the shoes are surprisingly comfortable – I thought I’d hate having stuff between my toes but I don’t mind it at all.

I’ll write a proper review of the FiveFingers in a few weeks after I’ve spent a bit more time in them. I know they’re just a pair of shoes, but they make me excited to get my body and bones in shape for life. And after so many disheartening visits to the doctors, I feel like it’s time for some positivity. There have been times when I’ve felt resigned to never running again. But lately, I feel promise. Thanks, mom.

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