Category Archives: fitness

The marathon before the marathon

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Today I managed to reach – and then beat! – my stretch goal for fundraising in support of my marathon walk. I can’t really describe the feeling I got when I realized that I had raised more money than I’d ever raised in one event…and I’m still rather astonished.

The event, for those who didn’t follow my walk last year, is the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). DFCI is monumentally instrumental in researching and treating cancer, especially cancers that afflict children. When I saw the ads for the walk last year and decided (only 8 week prior to the event!) that I would try to walk 26.2 miles, I felt like I was probably getting myself way in over my head. But as I walked past each mile marker with the picture, name and bio of some sweet child who was in the fight of their life, I knew I was there to make a difference.

2011 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk Finish Line

The view coming into the finish line in Copley Square, September 2011…ahhh!!!

 

I chose the marathon walk because I knew I’d never be able to RUN a Boston Marathon, but I figured I could walk it. And it wasn’t without pain (oh my, there was pain), but there was the angel with the ibuprofen at the lunch tent and there was the knowledge that there were people doing the full marathon walk with braces, canes, etc., and…ALL MY EXCUSES ARE INVALID.

The entry point for this year’s walk was $300 – you had to put down a credit card and if you raise less than $300 by the time they do the final tallying post-walk, the difference is charged to your credit card. Last year, getting to $300 was pretty easy, and I have enough experience raising money for Races for the Cure that it never occurred to me to be worried about raising so small an amount. Even in a recession, people are generous about giving even small amounts (and sometimes large!) when it comes to cancer and kids. Plus, given how DONE I am with the Komen folks, this is now the charity that I will target for all my personal fundraising efforts. Narrowing things down to one event per year is good, narrowing it down to one I can trust is even better.

This year, I wanted to go big and make “Pacesetter”. The Pacesetter designation is for walkers who raise a minimum of $1250, and there are varying degrees of Pacesetter, based on how much you raise (one star is $1250, two star is $2500, etc.). I tried to figure out how to handle things, and I knew that fundraising on a grander scale would be needed, so I engaged the Corporate Social Responsibility folks at my office, as well as the walk organizers, and I set up to do some events on-site at work. I had to get everything approved by work, and I had to get the events that would be considered “official” approved by The Jimmy Fund folks, too, so I could borrow a banner and some other materials to show that this was indeed a legit fundraiser.

My coworkers were fab about supporting me – some donated online and others donated through the events that I ran. Some did both. My family kicked in a bunch of money. My friends, solicited through e-mail and Facebook status messages, kicked in more money…and shortly after breakfast this morning, I reached my goal. At this time, I have nearly $1300 in, with another $67 still *somewhere* in the Boston mail system.

I’m tired from all the fundraising, since that seems like it was a huge exertion all on its own, but I have to say that it was a brilliant time and I’m really proud that I was able to bring in so much money for such a worthy cause. I’m still able to take donations, but I’ve deliberately chosen NOT to solicit via my blog because I’d like to keep this space free of appeals for money. If you want to donate, feel free to comment and I’ll get back to you. Otherwise, no worries.

So now I can focus on my neglected training schedule, in order to keep myself from limping my way through the course this year. I finished the first “marathon” for this year’s walk, and now I’m on to the second. Here’s hoping that the actual walk is easier than the process of getting there…

Fitness realization: you don’t have to be elite to make a splash

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So, Sunday was a big deal in our house: dh did his first triathlon! He’s been training for this for the last few months, and though he’s a longtime runner, he had doubts about his ability to finish. He hooked up with the local Y’s “tri-club” and got into group practices at least once a week, and the knowledge sharing was clearly immensely helpful.

All of this prep led up to what he called a “mini-tri”, which is smaller than the “sprint-tri” that he’s going to do next month. Sunday’s tri was a 1/4 mi swim, followed by a 9 mi bike ride, followed by a 3.1 mi run. Swim-bike-run. That’s the mantra. That’s the goal. The one in August is a 1/2 mi swim, followed by a 12.3 mi bike ride, followed by a 4.4 mi run. In other words. this was the warm-up to test the waters and figure out how to make his transitions, what it’s like being in three different packs, etc.

What really stunned me was the bell curve of participants. Sure, a triathlon tends to attract primarily the “elite” type athletes, the ones whose calf muscles don’t shimmy as they walk, the ones whose thighs don’t touch, the ones whose bellies are invariably quite flat (or if they’re bumpy, they’re in a six-pack formation). But the tri also attracted more normal looking folks. I saw people with bellies. I saw people who were clearly “chunky” all the way up to “OMG THIS PERSON IS BIGGER THAN I AM AND I’M A SIZE 14/16!!!”

Unthinkable. Impossible. INCONCEIVABLE! [“I do not think that word means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya]

Even more amazing, these folks finished the tri. Sure enough, there were just over 330 registrants, and nearly 50 of those didn’t finish the race. A couple didn’t make it through the swim. Some didn’t get through the bike portion. Still others couldn’t handle the run after all that came before it.

As I’d looked at the list of the “waves” (groupings) for this tri, I noticed that they had “Clydesdales” and “Athenas” in addition to the standard grouping by age range and gender. I asked dh about this and he explained that the heftier participants went into these categories: Clydesdales for the men, Athenas for the women. Dear Lord thank you for NOT labeling the ladies “Heifers”, since I might have had to slap someone. Even so, was it needed…? Did we have to label these folks separately? DH’s explanation was that there were awards just for those categories – #1-2-3 finishers.

Oh, well that’s different. That’s okay, then.

If you want to enter a race and specifically flag yourself in a husky division, knowing that you stand a chance of standing on the podium among that group of peers, and you’re okay with that – that’s fine. But, honestly, for anyone to finish a tri is astonishing to me, much less for someone who’s carrying a higher BMI than me. That’s just incredible. And wonderful. And inspiring.

Natch, you’re not going to see ME out there, since A) I don’t know how to ride a bike, and B) my doctor has specifically forbidden me to run because of two bad knees. Still, I think it’s fantastic and utterly wonderful that so many “Clydesdales” and “Athenas” raced and finished. Good for them. As the race emcee commented (paraphrasing), what a wonderful way to demonstrate a commitment to fitness.

You don’t have to be elite to race, and you don’t have to be elite to finish. But you do have to try.

Good on you, triathletes: of all shapes and sizes.

Slimming down the cost of getting fitter

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When most people decide they want to get into some sort of exercise routine, their first consideration is often cost. You can start by checking the Sunday newspaper circulars – what’s on sale at Target? Does anybody know of any good workout DVD’s? Does Sears have a decent treadmill that I can put on my credit card?

The good news is that there are even more options than these, some of which are even free.

First things first: start by talking with your primary care physician (PCP) about your specific goals. Your doctor will tell you what they think you’re physically up to doing, and they can often refer you to a nutritionist, physical therapist, or other specialist, if such attention is needed. If your PCP is part of a “patient-centered medical home” (sometimes called a “PCMH”), your health insurance plan may cover visits to your doctor with a reduced (or $0!) co-pay. The key thing here is that you never want to start a new exercise plan without checking in with your doc FIRST.

Second: look at no-cost options. Make sure you actually LIKE the exercise/plan you’re trying out before you invest cash in it. Consider walking or running in your neighborhood before you buy a treadmill or get a gym membership. Cable TV subscribers can often benefit from “On Demand” services offered through cable providers like Cox, Comcast and Time Warner that allow you to view unlimited quantities of exercise videos as part of your cable subscription. Try before you buy those DVD’s!

Third: Use the discounts that you get through sources OTHER than the paper. Many health insurance plans, especially the national biggies (i.e., Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna and Cigna) offer “wellness” programs that include discounts on everything from gym memberships to equipment to apparel. Some insurers also offer rewards for completing wellness activities, like completing online health assessments or going for an annual physical exam. Go to your insurer’s web site or call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to get the skinny on these discounts.

Fourth: Look at work! Many workplaces have started to offer wellness programs and rewards, sometimes in addition to those offered through the insurance plan. Rewards can be anything from cash reimbursement for specific activities and memberships to discounts on gym memberships, race registrations, and more. Check with the Human Resources (HR) department, as applicable, for more info on what may be available for you.

I’ve gotten some great deals for myself in the last 12 months, like personal training sessions at my gym paid for by my company, and 15% off my awesome sneakers for the marathon (Brooks Addiction) at the local running store, thanks to our health insurer. I know about these discounts mostly because I read the stuff that’s posted on the HR section of my company’s intranet, and I glance at our health insurer’s newsletter before I toss it in the recycle bin. I also occasionally log in and check our health insurer’s web site for new discounts, since deals are often updated there and not put in the printed material. In other words, there are LOADS of things out there to help reduce the cost of getting fitter, and they’re not always hidden in the most obvious places. Happy hunting! (and if you know of other good, semi-hidden/non-obvious sources, feel free to post them in the comments so others can benefit from your wisdom!)