For several years, I’ve been working the same person trainer. I met Chad at a gym but happily followed him when he went out on his own. We used to work one-on-one at least once a week, which was great — it made such a difference in my fitness level. Then he started a “Boxing in the Park” group workout. It is more of an aerobic workout and, as a bonus, there are other people to socialize and/or commiserate with.
There are three of us that can be counted on to show up three times a week for Chad’s boxing / interval training workouts. At 6 am every Friday morning, we meet in the parking lot of a local sports complex. We use a corner of the parking lot — super quiet at that time of the morning — as well as the hilly path surrounding a football field.
Chad is a great trainer. Each workout is different; we never get bored (although there are a few exercises that none of us are fond of). Last week, he pulled out a completely new — and unexpected — exercise: we pushed his car across the parking lot! Even with three of us, it was surprisingly hard (who knew the parking sloped!). With Chad at the wheel, we pushed the car one way (downhill) then back (uphill).
On our second pass, a car drove past us heading to section of the parking lot near the pool entrance. This was not unusual but, this time, the car turned around and headed to the back section of the lot where we were. When it got near, the driver leaned out his window and asked if he could help. How nice! He thought we were trying to push start the car. We politely declined and he drove away. We had a great chuckle on what the scene must have looked like: Chad, who is in his late 20s and very fit, sitting in the driver’s seat as three women (all in our 40s) push his car around!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Winter fun
A number of years ago, a woman I worked with moved to Ottawa after living in New York City for many years. Having originally come from the West coast, she thought she had acclimatized to “northern” winters. I remember her telling me about looking out one winter day on a beautiful blue sky and looking forward to going out into the sunshine, until she got outdoors that is. A sunny, cloudless winter day in Ottawa means it’s really cold. And by “really cold”, I mean -20 C or so (that’s about -2 F).
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of that kind of cold, but I do enjoy getting outdoors on a snowy winter day, provided the temperature is more in the -5 to -15 C range. For years, I downhill skied but lately I’ve been enthralled by snowshoeing. It’s just so easy; you can do it almost anywhere — it’s just like walking, only on snow.
Some friends of mine bought me a pair of inexpensive snowshoes for Christmas one year and I am eternally grateful. I’ve used them frequently every winter since. They’re perfect when I walk the dog in the farm field across the street from my house or when I want to take a random walk in the woods. I keep them in my car so I’m always ready.
One of the biggest challenges of being active outdoors in winter is managing your temperature. The key to comfort is having the right number of layers and right kind of layers. Most days, regardless of the temperature, I stay comfortable, whether I am super active or not. I’m no expert, but this is what works for me:
Two key points to stay comfortable:
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of that kind of cold, but I do enjoy getting outdoors on a snowy winter day, provided the temperature is more in the -5 to -15 C range. For years, I downhill skied but lately I’ve been enthralled by snowshoeing. It’s just so easy; you can do it almost anywhere — it’s just like walking, only on snow.
Some friends of mine bought me a pair of inexpensive snowshoes for Christmas one year and I am eternally grateful. I’ve used them frequently every winter since. They’re perfect when I walk the dog in the farm field across the street from my house or when I want to take a random walk in the woods. I keep them in my car so I’m always ready.
One of the biggest challenges of being active outdoors in winter is managing your temperature. The key to comfort is having the right number of layers and right kind of layers. Most days, regardless of the temperature, I stay comfortable, whether I am super active or not. I’m no expert, but this is what works for me:
- Silk or wool long underwear (top & bottom) — depending on the temperature
- Lightweight long-sleeve 1/4 –zip that wicks — I have a couple from EMS that work great
- Medium weight long-sleeve 1/4 –zip that insulated — mine is from Eddie Bauer First Ascent
- Fleece vest — if it’s kind of cold
- Soft shell jacket — I love my Columbia Titanium soft shell
- Down vest — if it’s really cold
- Soft shell pants — I just bought a pair from EMS which are fantastic
- Sock liners
- Wool-blend socks
- Boots — I love my Sorel Pac 64
Two key points to stay comfortable:
- Make sure your layers are breathable, wicking and quick dry so that the heat and sweat you produce has somewhere to go.
- Keep the right number of layers on so you stay comfortable. Avoid overheating by taking layers off as you warm up — you’ll sweat less which will mean you’ll stay warmer as you cool down.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Fitness challenges of being on the road
As you may have noticed, I travel a lot. I love to travel — really anywhere will do — but for the past 6 months, I have been a road warrior, hitting the friendly skies weekly on business.
Actually, I don’t mind it. I’ve got the packing and airport logistics down to a fine science. Most of my trips are just overnight so packing is pretty easy. I can even manage to travel for a week with just a carry on. However, my biggest packing challenge is my workout gear. More specifically, my running shoes — they just take up so much space!
I’m happy to hit the treadmill in the hotel gym, but I prefer to hit the streets. I’m not much of a runner, but I LOVE to walk. I’ll walk just about anywhere… but I want to do it comfy shoes. Particularly when I’m on my own time. I don’t mind trekking up and down the hills of San Francisco in heels for a business meeting but when I go a walk after hours, I want be wearing my running shoes.
On longer trips, it’s even more important to take along my fitness gear so I don’t miss out on at least some exercise. I’ve learned to make concessions on my business attire to ensure my shoes and shorts get into the bag. It’s all about priorities!
Actually, I don’t mind it. I’ve got the packing and airport logistics down to a fine science. Most of my trips are just overnight so packing is pretty easy. I can even manage to travel for a week with just a carry on. However, my biggest packing challenge is my workout gear. More specifically, my running shoes — they just take up so much space!
I’m happy to hit the treadmill in the hotel gym, but I prefer to hit the streets. I’m not much of a runner, but I LOVE to walk. I’ll walk just about anywhere… but I want to do it comfy shoes. Particularly when I’m on my own time. I don’t mind trekking up and down the hills of San Francisco in heels for a business meeting but when I go a walk after hours, I want be wearing my running shoes.
On longer trips, it’s even more important to take along my fitness gear so I don’t miss out on at least some exercise. I’ve learned to make concessions on my business attire to ensure my shoes and shorts get into the bag. It’s all about priorities!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Walking the aisles of the Outdoor Retailer show
Once again, I headed to Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailer trade show. OR is a massive show that takes place twice a year, always in SLC. The show is primarily for retail buyers but I’m not here in any official capacity. I use the show as an opportunity to meet up with friends from my work with the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition, a non-profit that I am on the board of. One of our key events at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show is an Awards evening, where we recognize women leaders in the outdoor industries.
This is my first time at the winter show and the one key difference I find from the summer show is the weather. It’s not really cold, but it’s not really warm — right around freezing actually, so it snows a little, then turns to rain. Yuck!
So I stay inside. In between meetings on behalf of OIWC and scouting out potential new business contacts, I wander the streets aisles looking for interesting things. And I find it… as I turn a corner in the “Climbing” area, I find there is pull-up competition going on. Wiry young men are vying for prizes by doing pull-ups on a climbing wall set up in the middle of a booth. My jaw drops — the winner has done about 40 pull ups in the space of a minute (or was it 30 seconds?). It was such a blur, I have no idea how much time passed! Regardless, it was pretty darn impressive.
As with any trade show, there are giveaways in many booths. I learned the hard way that just because there is an energy bar sample on every aisle, it doesn’t mean you have to try them all. Energy bars do give you energy but they are not a meal replacement. By the end of the day, I felt terrible. I try to balance it out with salad and lots of water for dinner. And vow to have a real meal for lunch the next day.
When I stop by the Isis booth (a Vermont-based designer of active outdoor wear for women), I am introduced to a new form of yoga. YogaSlackers are a team of yogis that practice a variety of innovative yoga styles. In the booth, they are demonstrating acrobatic pairs yoga with an unsuspecting Isis staff member. It is quite amazing to see yoga poses done with two people.
Although I probably walked several miles each day at the show, it’s not the same as going for a hike. I miss the physical activity, but the weather hovers between snow and rain so I don’t feel much like wandering the city. A friend of mine goes skiing in the mountains but it’s too hard to change my ticket so I head home after the show is over — back to real winter!
This is my first time at the winter show and the one key difference I find from the summer show is the weather. It’s not really cold, but it’s not really warm — right around freezing actually, so it snows a little, then turns to rain. Yuck!
So I stay inside. In between meetings on behalf of OIWC and scouting out potential new business contacts, I wander the streets aisles looking for interesting things. And I find it… as I turn a corner in the “Climbing” area, I find there is pull-up competition going on. Wiry young men are vying for prizes by doing pull-ups on a climbing wall set up in the middle of a booth. My jaw drops — the winner has done about 40 pull ups in the space of a minute (or was it 30 seconds?). It was such a blur, I have no idea how much time passed! Regardless, it was pretty darn impressive.
As with any trade show, there are giveaways in many booths. I learned the hard way that just because there is an energy bar sample on every aisle, it doesn’t mean you have to try them all. Energy bars do give you energy but they are not a meal replacement. By the end of the day, I felt terrible. I try to balance it out with salad and lots of water for dinner. And vow to have a real meal for lunch the next day.
When I stop by the Isis booth (a Vermont-based designer of active outdoor wear for women), I am introduced to a new form of yoga. YogaSlackers are a team of yogis that practice a variety of innovative yoga styles. In the booth, they are demonstrating acrobatic pairs yoga with an unsuspecting Isis staff member. It is quite amazing to see yoga poses done with two people.
Although I probably walked several miles each day at the show, it’s not the same as going for a hike. I miss the physical activity, but the weather hovers between snow and rain so I don’t feel much like wandering the city. A friend of mine goes skiing in the mountains but it’s too hard to change my ticket so I head home after the show is over — back to real winter!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year’s resolutions
So much time has passed since my last entry — sorry about that! I’ve been traveling a lot with my new job. In the past 4 months, I’ve been to almost every major city in Canada. The travel is great and I enjoy getting to see so much of the country, however… it sure has been a ton of travel — I’ve logged almost 20,000 miles.
With the holidays here, it is nice to have a little down time before hitting the road again. I’d like to say that I will make a New Year’s resolution to keep the blog up to date, but with more travel expected in the New Year, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep that promise.
Regardless, I will try to keep posting my thoughts, ideas and inspirations.
Have a happy — and active — New Year!
With the holidays here, it is nice to have a little down time before hitting the road again. I’d like to say that I will make a New Year’s resolution to keep the blog up to date, but with more travel expected in the New Year, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep that promise.
Regardless, I will try to keep posting my thoughts, ideas and inspirations.
Have a happy — and active — New Year!
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