Midlife tune-up, some interesting research, and other stuff

This New York Times feature on conducting a midlife tune-up has some great information about fitness at midlife, including some short, smart workout routines, nutrition recommendations, and a few recipes. It also includes a link to a modified version of the popular 7-Minute Workout routine (which I have used in hotels with no fitness center, or a fitness center with hours that didn’t match mine).

An intriguing study found that aerobic exercise increased the volume of the hippocampus in women aged 70-80 who were diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Does the increased volume of the hippocampus (which is involved in learning and memory) translate to improvements in cognitive function? More research is needed.

I finished Catra Corbett’s new memoir, Reborn on the Run: My Journey from Addiction to Ultramarathons (Shop your local indie bookstore), in less time than it takes to run a 50K. The book is a slightly frenetic, no holds barred, inspiring account of Catra’s transformation from a drug addict to a premier ultra runner who – at age 53 – has run already run over 250 ultramarathons, and is still going strong. I’m almost done reading 52-year old endurance athlete Rich Roll’s re-released Finding Ultra (Shop your local indie bookstore). I’m also trying to locate my copy of the original book so that I can see what has changed! But the new one includes recipes and a description of the “cleanse” Roll and his wife Julie developed to help him kick his food addictions and change his life. It’s worth picking up even if – like me – you’ve read the first edition!

June has been a wretched month so far – from a work life and exercise life perspective. But my new torture device and I walked a 5K two weeks ago, and will walk (and maybe jog a bit of) a 10K this coming weekend. Miles and miles and miles to go between now and the 50K I’m signed up to do in October!