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Training for the Reggae Marathon 10k is changing my life, no lie.

While I have loved to canoe, swim and dance, a lot of my life my body has been, if not the enemy, at least someone with whom I had poor border relations. I was always happier reading a book than kicking a soccer ball around. I was that girl in gym class that was always finding a reason to sit on the bench. (I actually claimed a case of “the vapours” which didn’t work but did make my gym teacher laugh.)

And yet with age I’ve also come to appreciate my body like I never have before. Watching friends and family go through serious health issues has forced me to appreciate my own generally good health. And I have become pretty serious about trying to preserve that, basically subscribing to the view that it’s time to “use it or lose it.”

But even the commitment to exercise because it’s good for me is not the same as loving to use my body. And when I run, I’m starting to feel that way.

I actually look forward to running. Part of it is the other stuff I do while I’m out pounding the pavement, which I’ll cover in a later post. But it’s also the actual sensation of moving. Feeling the ground, sidewalk and grass alike, under me. Shaking my hands out and feeling the fingers stay loose, which is a nice change from typing or holding things. As clichéed as it sounds, the feel of the air against my skin.

If you’re starting out, I want to share: I did not feel that way at all for the first 6 weeks. I was partly running and partly walking and I felt breathless running and a bit like I was failing when I was walking. But now that I know I can run for a while without stopping, I relax into it.

Not just that, but I can run farther and feel better than I did when I was 16. And I think that’s what I needed as a boost. My legs might be showing more vein than ever but they move. Normally I think the advice to do what you love for exercise is the best. But in this case, conquering an activity I hated as a teen is working well.

What it comes down to is that I feel strong when I run. Strong like a turtle, maybe, at my pace – but strong, still. I feel like I can rely on my legs to get me where I want to go. And by the way, this picture is where I want to go.

Don’t forget you can come run with me at the Reggae Marathon! Enter here for a chance to win!

What’s your relationship with your body like?



Jenn Gruden is the web editor for More.ca, and has been in love with the Internet since 1991. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

I’m going to run a 10k race in the Reggae Marathon in Negril, Jamaica – and you can enter to win the trip to come with me! It’s an amazing prize package with a stay at the beautiful Caves resort.

As I blogged earlier, I started running this summer. I’d always envied runners because it seems like a simple way to exercise, as well as a beautiful way to connect with the city (or country) you’re in. But I have to admit that for most of my life I’ve hated running.

Then I came across the technique of running s-l-o-w-l-y so that runners don’t injure themselves and also don’t get that gaspy out-of-breath feeling some of us associate with horrendous gym classes back when we were all wearing Olivia Newton-John-inspired wristbands. And I tried it out. I also started following, vaguely, the Couch 2 5k ™ programme in my own style, which went pretty much like this: Run past two bus stops; walk to the next bus stop; repeat. And it worked.

I think I’m a convert. Next post I’ll talk about my (changing) relationship to my (aging) body.

I’m also so excited about the Reggae Marathon and visiting Jamaica for the first time – as well a bit scared about running a 10k. I’ve worked up to running 7k over the last couple of months, but I’m not sure how I’ll handle the pace of a race (although my mantra is going to be “be a turtle.”)

So please:

1. Share your tips for staying motivated. Fear of falling on my face in Negril is pretty good motivation. So is the idea of running in Negril, Jamaica – it is going to be beautiful. But that doesn’t always penetrate my lazy brain at 5:30 am.

2. Share your training tips…please? I’ll be blogging about gear, training routines and routes and race prep. You can follow me/More on Twitter and Facebook to see how I’m doing, as well as right here on the blog. I would love it if we can get a community of women supporting each other in their fitness goals.

3. Any encouragement is much appreciated. I was not kidding about being scared!

4. Do not forget to enter the contest to come with me! You could end up right here:




Jenn Gruden is the web editor for More.ca, and has been in love with the Internet since 1991. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The Well over at the New York Times shares research today about the benefits of middle-age fitness. The money quote? “those adults who had been the least fit at the time of their middle-age checkup also were the most likely to have developed any of eight serious or chronic conditions early in the aging process. These include heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and colon or lung cancer.”

Okay, sign me up.

I started running this summer for the first time since high school (and even then I cheated). I’ve got more to say about that in future blogs, but here’s my main motivating factor: fear. Both my parents, who are in their mid-60s, have experienced cardiovascular events over the last couple of years. Watching how this is impacting on their ability to enjoy retirement has really changed my priorities, as well as my husband’s. Our new mantra is: Do it now.

With a toddler and a second grader at home, and both of us working full-time with commutes involved, finding time to work out has been a challenge, as the euphemism goes. (I would call it a problem.) Currently we trade off days to work out before 6:30 am, and on weekends we take the boys to the beach and one of us works out while the other serves breakfast al fresco. We’ve also made that our current project, and my garden shows it!

Do you have a workout routine? How do you find time and motivation? What do you like to do?

A new study from the Ohio State University Medical Centre suggests there may be a link between late-night computer use or television watching and depression.

While the study focused on hamsters, and I therefore find it suspect — have these scientists ever owned a hamster? Those things stay up all night anyway whirling around on their wheels, as opposed to amusing one’s children during daylight hours — I’m not about to dismiss anything that helps with better sleep. And I do suspect screen time might play havoc when one’s trying to wind down.

I used to pop on my laptop during those late-night rounds of insomnia (I tried to phrase them as “bonus time in your day!”), but found that could turn an hour awake time into three. Now if I have to get up and do something, I try something old-fashioned: A mug of warm milk, dim lighting, and any book left of on my shelf from grade 10 English class (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich does wonders).

Do you have good evening sleep habits? What are your tips for better sleep?

Today’s World Hepatitis Day – I know, just what you wanted to know.

But you may want to consider getting tested for Hepatitis C. It’s a liver disease that can range in severity from a mild illness to a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.

The CDC in the US recently recommended that all baby boomers get a one-time test for hep c. Why? Because the damage from the disease can take decades to show up (MSNBC), and individuals are getting sick without being aware of the source. Canadians, of course, are not immune.

I spoke with Denise Munn (59) of Halifax, Nova Scotia about hepatitis C. She’s passionate about letting people know about the disease.

She decided to get tested after a private detective called her in 1999, regarding a blood donation she’d made in 1989. New testing had revealed there was a possibility of her having contracted hepatitis C. When her doctor delivered the news, she “was devastated. I felt it was like a death sentence…Part of the diagnosis is that it does a number on your mental faculties. I had been depressed…. I felt unclean and dirty.”

I asked Denise if she had any idea how she had contracted hepatitis C. Other than having done a lot of piercings for sailors after their first trip to the Arctic while she was working on a boat in the 1970s, she had no idea. And who of us would? The disease is spread via the transmission of blood, so even small cuts can open a pathway for infection.

Here’s why Denise recommends the test: Finding out that she had hepatitis C helped Denise address health issues she had been unable to resolve for years. She’s made lifestyle changes and feels much better: “I intend to live a very long life and I’m doing everything I can do to do that.”

What does she want people to know about the disease? “It doesn’t make a fiddler’s fart of difference how you got it. The important thing is to find out if you got it. Then you can do something about it.”

So there you go. For more information check out the Canadian Liver Foundation’s website.

Putting a stop on menopause: Italian scientists recently unveiled a promising new fertility treatment involving ovarian tissue preservation and transplant.

In the process of looking at the research I discovered that human beings are actually almost unique in the mammal world. While a number of species do have a life phase involving menopause, only three species have menopause relatively early in the female’s life span: Killer whales, pilot whales and, well, us.

(By the way, the original Shamu was female, but the Shamu who drowned a trainer was male – so you can’t pin that one on a mood swing.)

I’m going to leave the debate about “how old is too old to have a baby” to you all (feel free to comment) although since I, at 41, just spent a weekend making sure my little monkey-emulating toddler survived each day, I’m going to say whichever age it is, make sure you’ve planned in how fast it takes you to get off the couch.

I will guess, however, that the killer and pilot whales are not slicing up ovarian tissue for future use.

Since I’m one of the two students who took a cab for the grade 12 12k run in 1988 (I’m not ratting out my companion) the real shock this weekend was that I went for a run and I had a great time.

I’m not exaggerating to say I had the most fun running of my life — and I repeat, I really do not enjoy running. I would not be running at all if I weren’t starting to train for a triathlon for the summer after I turn 45 (2016 – I need the time!) So what made the difference? Three things:

1. The Zombies, Run! app.
Here’s the deal: Plug in your headphones and you’re part of a game. It’s after the Zombie Apocalypse and you’re Runner Five. You have to go out and run missions for your base (like running to the abandoned hospital to get supplies). There might be a novelty factor but I just found the whole idea and narrative fun enough to get over my own inertia — and I kept going further than I would have otherwise.

Sadly, if my base were depending on me for food they would have starved, but you know, details…maybe tomorrow night. This might be a life-changing app. It’s available for the Android and the iPhone.

2. Fila Skele-Toes
Dear Fila: I owe you an apology. I quite honestly thought these shoes were a bit of a fad. But since I was going to run anyway on dirt, grass and concrete I thought I would try them out. In the park particularly I felt more stable and through the whole run my feet felt lightweight and natural but protected. These shoes actually do feel different than regular shoes – closer to barefoot.

I did get a blister, which was not fun (and I’d've had to buy toe socks to prevent that), but regardless they upped my fun factor by quite a bit. I also got a few double-takes at the coffee shop. People in my ‘hood are just not used to shoes that look like gloves. (Disclosure: Fila provided a pair to try out.)

3. Taking it slow
Despite the zombie music and lightweight shoes, I ran incredibly slowly thanks to Doctor Mama’s advice: “Everyone makes the same mistake when starting out: going too fast. When you start, you need to go SLOWLY. So slowly that you could probably walk faster. So slowly that you will feel humiliated if you see anyone you know.” As a result, I felt better after I ran and not worse.

Reporting back: I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I am also trying out the 100 pushups app. I am still on week one (on my toes – I had to do a few “pre-weeks” on my knees), but I am getting stronger.

What are you doing this summer to shake up your fitness routine? Got any tips for those of us who struggle to stay motivated?

Today, I admit I feel a bit – well, old. That’s because I went to lift my toddler over the long weekend and felt my back give out, and I have been hobbling around since. It’s funny how in my 30s I would have blamed my lack of yoga recently (check) or the angle I was lifting at (check) but now I immediately blame my age…even though I’ve had back issues a long time thanks to an injury in my teens.

As I hobbled around the egg hunt yesterday I made a mental list of pros and cons:

Younger me:
Less prone to injury
Easier time sleeping
Could eat more chocolate and gain less weight

Current me:
Better at prioritizing (I let my other plans go in favour of…chocolate)
More aware that my kids are growing up fast
Don’t care as much what other parents may be thinking as I hobble around

On balance I think I’ll take it. How’s your relationship with your age these days?

In “crazy things people say” check out this video on menopause and…err, death. Because really – I’m kind of speechless.

But it does remind me of a childbirth class I attended when I was pregnant with my first child. An over-enthusiastic second-time father described the pain of contractions in great detail, complete with hand motions for the opening of the cervix. His wife, surprisingly enough, still went home with him at the end of the evening.

If you’re already sliding on your 2012 health goals, there’s a crazy app (for iPhone and iPod) that might just raise the stakes.

GymPact is an app that you hook up to your credit card. You set your goals, set a penalty amount (minimum $5 per day lost) and then use your device’s GPS capability to check in from your gym (you can’t use your home gym or condo gym). If you don’t check in, your credit card is charged. If you do check in, you get a portion of all the penalties paid by everyone else.

I haven’t tried it myself – and in fact, am scared to, which I suppose is the point. It is a strange wrinkle in my personality that I’ll walk further down the street to save a dollar on grapes, but I often find my to-do list more compelling than going for a walk in the first place! When I know that exercise is key to the life I want to have – both to be able to chase my kids down the street when they’re teens and I’m in my late 50s, and to travel and bike and all that great stuff. Still…$5!

Would you ever put real money down on your personal goals like this one?