I'm looking out the window at a crisp day with pretty foliage on the hills but our woods trails are pretty muddy.  Yet, snow showers are in the forecast for tomorrow, and the week ahead looks a little raw and damp so it will be a good day to get out and run with the Vizsla.  Another pair of muddy Ascics is no big deal.

But, while procrastinating by the wood fire a bit, I'll lay out some exercise ideas on what works for me - to get me out of bed, or away from the desk.  I'm not a fitness fanatic -- but like most of us, finds that the day goes better for me (and those around me) if I get a little exercise.  It works the same way for my Vizsla -- no workout and someone is going to pay. 

Finding time for fitness starts for me with two major decisions: 1)priority for exercise, and 2) planning workouts.

Set Your Exercise Priority High

We need to move exercise way up near the top of our personal priority list.  For me, it’s one of the things I’m always thinking about.  It’s a given that I’ll probably exercise -- that’s just part of my life, but what I do, where I do it, and when in the day can I fit it in, are all decisions to make. And then change it if need be.  Schedule a rest day -- and do it without guilt. Mix things up to keep for overusing muscles and to keep it interesting.

Plan Workouts
I tend to decide about exercise early each day, taking into consideration my preceeding exercise sessions (if I’ve run three times in a row, I’ll cycle or lift), how I feel physically, and when will I have time.  Of course, if I’m looking at a real early workout, I’ll decide that the night before.  If I have travel or other time commitments up ahead, I’ll do some rough planning for a weekend or a week. (”We’ll get there early enough for a quick run, then I can do a weight session next morning in the motel workout room.”)  The trick is to plan so that you have a time set up but then can change routines if you’d rather walk with the family than run solo.

It’s easy to get “preachy” when talking about finding time for fitness but that’s not the point. I just think that by moving exercise way up the priority chain, by thinking ahead on what the game plan for exercise is, and by being flexible (”It’s slushy, screw the run, I’m going to go downstairs and row”), exercise becomes part of your daily routine.  It has mine. Time to find the orange vest (it's bow hunting season) and loosen up.  The dog is ready to go.  Stay fit.

image from dawn pink chick

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Olympic gold medal winner Joan Benoit Samuelson came to Vermont last weekend and won the Crowley 10k road race in Rutland.  Until I read about the race, I hadn’t realized that the 52-year-old was having such a good year.  I searched and found that she had won the Oklahoma City Memorial Half-Marathon and has an ambitious racing schedule for the rest of the year.

I had the privilege of meeting Joan back in 1991 at a conference in Maine where she was our keynote speaker.  I sat across from her at lunch and remember talking to her about my first book (Runner’s Guide to Cross Country Skiing) and giving her a copy.  I still have her gracious note back to me and that’s the person I remember, a gracious, grounded mom -- listening to others, chatting like a middle-of-the-pack runner -- and then delivering a powerful fitness message to the attendees.

Of course, I saved my notes from her talk.  “You need to be grounded ... home and family ... using imagery to put the mind at ease.  Set aside 1 or 2 hours a day to do something for yourself.  Life is a balancing act.”

She had passed on the 1988 Olympics because of her daughter born the fall before but she talked to us about her thinking about the 1992 Barcelona games -- how she’d have to uproot her family for a month to a hot place, how Scott would have to use up his leave .. and how she was leaning toward a 10K even though her chances of qualifying were better in the marathon.  (As it turned out, she was injured and did not participate.)  She was a delight and you’d never have known that she was the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon.

Larry Eder wrote this about Joan:

When Joan Benoit hit the Los Angeles coliseum, in August 1984, the crowd of 70,000 erupted in a huge roar. In the first Olympic marathon, in a race that should have been won by Grete Waitz, then seven time NYC champion and World Champion, or Ingrid Kristiansen, or even Portugals' Rosa Mota!

How could this young Mainer, who seemed to get injured at the most opportune times, the last one about twelve weeks before the Olympics, take the lead on the LA Freeway and not loose it? In fact, Joan had played chicken with the world's best marathoners, and won!

When one sees Joan Benoit Samuelson now, many see this thoughtful, quiet Zen master. When one watches her run, consider for a moment that there were times in her career that most elite guys would not train with her - Joan was a training animal!

Elite athletes can be jerks or they can be wonderful examples for others.  Joan Benoit Samuelson, has not only had a great running career, raising a family, supporting women’s running and a number of charities, fighting injuries, while keeping her grace and most of her speed and endurance.  It’s cool to see her compete with women 20 years younger but it’s also great to see this icon of running, like her buddy Bill Rogers who also ran the Prouty, get out there and show us that they still love to run - and still love to compete.  One young woman runner/blogger put it like this after being in a race with her this month: “She's almost old enough for AARP and her 5K pace is sub-6:00.”   

I’ll be watching results for Joan Samuelson a little more closely in the months ahead and recall that young woman who talked to us nearly two decades ago about her love of running in the foggy mornings in Maine, her balancing act with her young family, and her guiding practices: determination, dedication, and desire.

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photo  from Wikipedia 

I try to get exercise in a variety of ways: running with the dog, cutting firewood, mowing the lawn, and gardening.  Yes, I can forgo the rowing machine and weights and get some exercise in our little garden where I grow lettuce, radishes, peas, beans, and if the weather cooperates, tomatoes.  It’s a chance to work all the major muscle groups: legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen and by doing so, work on strength and flexibility and burn calories.
No rototiller for me, I turn the garden over by pitchfork and shovel.  After bending, lifting and shaking sod and dandelions, I get a moderate to heavy intensity workout.  (One report says that “women doing this activity burn 150 calories in a 30 minute period, men burn 197. This activity improves muscle strength and endurance as well because a great deal of resistance is involved.”)
Besides the exertion involved, gardening has other pluses that make it a good form of exercise and calorie burning. There can be a great deal of stretching involved with gardening, like reaching for weeds or tall branches, bending to plant and extending a rake. Lifting bags of mulch, pushing wheelbarrows and shoveling all provide resistance training similar to weight lifting, which leads to healthier bones and joints. Yet while doing all this, there is minimal jarring and stress on the body, unlike aerobics or jogging.

I also look at mowing the lawn as a good workout. A disclaimer:  I don’t mow the grass until June so that my bees can enjoy the dandelions and flowering weeds.  Then, I use a push mower (power).  Mowing with a push reel mower gives a better intensity workout involving the whole body and one is in our plans.  (Women burn 181 calories in 30 minutes, men burn 236.)  Mowing with a rotary power mower like mine gives the whole body a moderate workout.  (Women burn 135 calories in 30 minutes, men burn 177.)  Riding mowers aren’t green exercise.

I don’t look at gardening -- unless you have a big plot and spend hours each week on it -- as a substitute for more vigorous aerobic workouts.  Rather, it is a supplement to your walking, cycling, swimming, or running activities and has the added benefit of producing local fresh produce for your table.  Like using a push mower instead of a rider, a rake instead of a leaf blower, and clippers instead of a weed-whacker, integrating physical activity into many activities adds up -- and becomes a low-cost way to stay fit.  When you add in the stress-reducing benefits of fresh air and sunshine - you've got a win-win-win for your budget, your body and your brain.

top photo by groxie     lower photo from dan4th

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"It’s no secret that many parents and their children are overweight. These 10 simple ‘secrets’ can help you change your family’s lifestyle so that you can all become fit and healthy."  Read more at Curb That Fat 

1) Eat Whole Grain Foods

Processed and refined grains, such as white bread, white rice, cereal, pasta, and other foods made with white flour have a high glycemic index, low amounts of fiber, and less vitamins and minerals as foods made with whole grains. Making the switch to whole grain foods, including whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and cereals made with whole grains, are an easy and healthy way to make your family’s diet more nutritious.

2) Limit Soda and Fruit Drinks

Soda and fruit drinks have low nutritional value and a lot of calories. At about 150 calories per 12 ounce serving, your kids will gain an extra pound about every 3 weeks if they drink just one can of soda each day.
Cutting back or eliminating soda, fruit drinks, and even fruit juice, can be a good way to get rid of a lot of extra calories and leave room for your kids to eat more nutritious foods.  Read whole article

photo by Essential Eating   

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A Vizsla is part of my exercise routine -- I run, ski, snowshoe, and cycle with her.  But I’ve never considered our early morning walks part of that routine -- until this morning when I thought, why not?  The outings, 20 to 30 minutes long, are at a hiking pace for me -- of course she’s either stalking or racing -- and are a good mental and physical fitness start to my day.

Every morning, rain or shine, dark or light, Penny and I go for a walk in the woods.  After a couple of cups of good coffee (Capitol Grounds House Blend) and some yogurt, I head downstairs to meet my ready-to-go canine companion.  She jumps and barks as I struggle to tie up boot laces and then she’s out the door on a search mission just in case there’s an early rising red squirrel.

These spring mornings in northern Vermont are special.  While the temperature just after daybreak was about 33 and the grass and dandelions were soaked (not a problem with my all-weather boots -- Zappos), the woods were full of calling birds.  Wood thrushes, robins, chickadees, and a white-throated sparrow were those I identified.  Need to get out the CD again to sort out the warblers.