I’ve been promising some book “reviews” or recaps, but I keep prioritizing reading over writing! Spare time is in short supply, and the unread-or-partially-read book pile is embarrassingly tall. But I’ll tell you about a couple of good ones in this post and the next. First up is Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass,... Continue Reading →
Bookshelf addition: “The Age-Well Project”
My post knee-replacement step count is increasing daily - I'm pretty close to where I'd be at the end of a sedentary day at the office! - but there is still ample opportunity to work through my pile of unfinished books, while elevating and icing my leg. The first one I polished off is The... Continue Reading →
(N)GTD: my (un)productivity method
Perhaps you've heard of "GTD" - short for "Getting Things Done" - the time-management system developed by productivity specialist David Allen. (If not, here's a nice animated summary.) I'm more of a Bullet Journal fan, myself - since I have oodles of empty journals in which I'm not doing anything creative, and they can easily... Continue Reading →
Everything old is new again
I'm old enough to remember when barefoot running, Pose running, and chi running were "new" (to a lot of people in the US) and seemingly revolutionary. It was about ten years ago, and the revolution was instigated in great part by Chris McDougall's exhilarating page-turner Born to Run - which was in great part about... Continue Reading →
What I’m reading while I’m not running…
Dang y'all. I had plans of posting a review of Older, Faster, Stronger: What Women Runners Can Teach Us All About Living Younger, Longer (Shop your local indie bookstore) by Margaret Webb. I finished reading the Kindle version of the book a few months ago, and a lot of life has happened since then!, so... Continue Reading →
On staying in the race
In December I listened to a terrific Trail Runner Nation podcast interview with Jonathan Beverly, author of the new(ish) book, Run Strong, Stay Hungry (Velo Press, 2017). It piqued my interest enough to request an examination copy that I could read in order to share a mini-review with you; many thanks to Velo Press for... Continue Reading →
A Supreme Workout
In the matter of Marmat Forte versus The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong... and You Can Too!, written by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, I've reached a verdict: RBG's notorious workout is legit. Supreme, you might say. Bryant Johnson, who "daylights" as a court clerk and 30-year Army reservist,... Continue Reading →
A brief review of “Just Move! A New Approach to Fitness After 50”
If you're reading this blog, you probably don't need to be convinced that exercise is a life-saver. You know that, or you likely wouldn't be here. But for some readers, getting back into a fitness routine after many years away, or perhaps starting one for the first time, is a daunting proposition. "How do I... Continue Reading →
“I’d ideally like to be a bird, but running is a close second” /#thisis50plus
For a number of years, I've been a fan of Bernd Heinrich, the natural history writer and biologist. It was only in the last couple of years that I came across his earlier book, Why We Run: A Natural History, and learned about his very successful ultramarathon career. He is no longer competing in ultras,... Continue Reading →
Reboot, reset
I dislike leaving this blog neglected for weeks at a time, but it has just been one of those months. One minute I was looking at the calendar thinking, “it’s almost October! My favorite month!” and the next, I’m looking at it thinking, “How can it be almost November?!” It was a month of meetings... Continue Reading →
#thisis50plus / Lake Ontario edition
This month, 58-year old American open water swimmer Elizabeth Fry became the second-oldest person to swim across Lake Ontario, a distance of 32.1 miles. She completed the swim in an unofficial time of 15 hours, 46 minutes - fueled on energy gel and... cookies? Fry entered the water shortly after midnight and faced average water... Continue Reading →
I hate stretching, but…
A while back, an acquaintance of mine – also in her mid-50s - started taking yoga classes for the first time in many years. She had noticed that her many hours of sitting at the computer were making her feel stiff and brittle. “What if it’s doing the same thing to my blood vessels?” she... Continue Reading →