6.  “I have to train hard or long to get results - no pain, no gain.”

response: I want to debunk this myth right now, unless you are an elite athlete and you need to do so safely and wisely with the aid of a coach or an athletic trainer! In fact, overtraining is unhealthy and pain is a signal that something serious may be wrong. I did not ignore the pain in my knee upon completing that fall hike! I certainly didn’t continue my running program, once I was diagnosed with a knee injury. Yet, so many people train through injuries, often compromising their health and safety. Giving up my running was hard, but I discovered swimming as an alternative.

7.  “I don’t need a trainer.  I do my own thing and I’m fine.”

response: While it’s great that people “do their own thing,” everyone can use the expertise of a good trainer.  A trainer can identify your strengths and weaknesses and create a custom program that evolves over time with your fitness, health, goals and interests. A trainer may also bring some well needed creativity, freshness and fun to your program.

8.  “I have a program that I got from a friend, my brother, magazine, book, DVD etc.”

While it’s great that there are a plethora of resources available, they are not customized to your specific ability, goals, health, physical condition and needs. Certainly one can get ideas from other resources, but often the form is wrong in the exercise, or the exercise may be contraindicated for you. One size fits all training can do more harm than good.

9. “The trainer is going to make me do exercises that I won’t like or be able to do.”

response: The best trainers are creative, flexible, knowledgeable and have a sense of humor. They make exercising enjoyable even though there may be challenges during training. When my physical therapist gave me side planks in my program, I thought I was going to keel over after 15 seconds. Thanks to her sense of humor, encouragement, and my determination and patience, I can now do a minute side plank.   

10. “The trainer is going to judge me.”

response:  We are all vulnerable, with strengths and weaknesses, regardless of our condition or abilities. Trainers must be empathic, sincere, warm and compassionate. They must understand that their clients trust them to provide the best service and program for their needs, as well as maintain confidentiality. Training is personal. There is no place for judgement or bias.  

My brother arrived on Saturday morning from San Francisco eagerly anticipating his first Boston Marathon. As he carefully unpacked and showed me his gear, we conversed at length over what to wear, considering the severe weather alert on the forecast. We even made a special trip in the hard rain to Marathon Sports to consult with one of the salespeople. It turned out that he brought everything that he needed to run a smart race. Preparation is key!

At 48, my remarkable brother mangaged to qualify for and run an impressive Boston debut at an 8:14 pace in 3:35.40. This is quite an amazing accomplishment considering that all of his training was in California. He had run 5 marathons in California, none could quite compare with Boston.

My sister took her post at Heartbreak Hill to cheer him on and I took mine at Beacon St. before Coolidge Corner. The crowds were thin so we secured a perfect location and quickly spotted him out of a crowd of runners. He stood out from the pack. He looked so calm and refreshed as if this was a usual training run not a marathon under harsh weather related conditions. In a flash, he was gone, quickly making his way to the finish line.

Despite the weather, he kept his spirits and wits.  He ran an inspiring debut! (I had a wonderful vicarious experience supporting and cheering him.) I know that being a marathoner, he’ll be back next year for another go. Hopefully the weather will be better, that’s a chance that he’ll have to take.

I applaud all of you runners out there who completed the marathon yesterday. Kudos to you all!

Keep on Running!

Beth

Last Friday, my body rejected the advice of my mind that was telling me not to get out and ride for fear that I would reinjure my knee or blow out the other one. I find that the mind can often trick the body into not doing or doing what it should or should not do. In my case, I desperately needed to get out and ride the open road. Months of indoor spinning and monitoring my knee had begun to bore me. I needed to test my rehabbed knee and take it to the road.

So I defiantly stapped on my helmet, fastened my gloves, stepped into my cleats, clad in the most fashionable lycra, and wrap around shades, I mounted my bike for the first time this season.  Oh that first ride felt as fresh as the spring air. I tore off down my hilly street into the wind, savoring the familiar click of the gears, my legs spinning to an easy cadence as I ventured out onto the main street. I felt as cocky as can be, riding along side cars, smiling cheek to cheek as I could easily keep up with them. Oh how I love road biking - nothing could stop me, bad knees, fear of traffic, cars, death. As long as I am able I’ll keep riding to my dying day. I made this pledge last Friday.

I quickly noticed how much stronger I am since my last fall ride in October. Five months in physical therapy, a new training program since rehabbing my knee and I am better balanced, more flexible, and stabile.  My body easily absorbed the shock of the road with minimal fatigue. I felt like Lance crossing the finish line in the Tour de France.

Friday was a small yet significant victory for me. I’m glad and thankful to be back in the saddle again!

After five months out of surgery and intensive weekly therapy I was discharged.  I had not expected my physical therapist to say, “You’ve graduated. You’re good to go today. There is not much more that I can do for you.”  I have mixed feelings because she had recently petitioned my health insurance company for additional sessions. I assumed that I would be returning for more sessions. And so with her succinct words, my five month saga of physical therapy concluded abruptly.

Therapy was quite demanding physically, and more so psychologically. The physcial and psychological adjustment of being limited by my injury coincided with a family crisis. I temporarily lost my stress reduction outlet, which was quite frustrating. I had to rebuild my fitness and strength from the ground up. Basically, this has been a tough year, but I’ve emerged healthier and certainly stronger physically and mentally.

Through this experience I have come to accept and appreciate my limitations and the fact that I am aging. Rather than fight it or deny it, I’m going to embrace it.  In this culture that prizes beauty and youth I choose to wear my age with dignity and pride! May the scars on my left knee remind me to be thankful for these 50 years that these knees have supported me. 

I am so glad that Newsweek is writing about gender. Kudos to a mainstream publication like Newsweek to cover the timely  issue of gender identity and transgender issues. I would have expected an article like this in Utne Reader or Mother Jones magazine. Why do I bother to blog about this important issue?  I have always been fascinated by gender. How and when gender identity is formed and what it means?

Gender and sports have not mixed well throughout history. Don’t get me started on all of the gender stereotypes that I faced as a female althlete in the 60s and 70s. (I have been labeled a dyke many times, because I am a jock). I have not forgotten the looks on the neighborhood boys faces when I showed up one afternoon in a T-shirt, cut off jeans, and my broken in first baseman’s glove, ready for a pick up game of baseball. They smirked and looked at eachother incredulously. One of them threw a swift curveball at me and I caught it quickly without batting an eye. I fired it right back at him. They were impressed. “Wow, you can catch,” one of them exclaimed tentatively. I sharply retorted, “You’re damn right I can. My mother taught me!” (Ha! I’ll show them!”)

I am proud of being a woman.  I can be just as tough, gritty, masculine or sensitive and gentle as any man, woman or trans! Sports or no sports, my gender is fluid. I identify as a woman, but I possess and express many male characteristics and certainly am not bound by my gender. Who am I to decide for or judge someone’s gender?  As a fitness trainer I am constantly reminded that many of us are bound by rigid gender roles. Roles and expectations that are often determined and created by society/culture.

My best advice is to break out of the roles - play and experiment. Challenge your assumptions about your gender. You might be surprised by what you discover and learn.

This past weekend I participated in a freestyle Total Immersion Swim Workshop. I was one of twelve participants. There were the diehard triathletes, the fitness swimmers and me, the fitness trainer. Fed up with my inefficient workouts, exhausted from following the dreaded black line in the pool, and frustrated by my terrible swim times, I signed up for the workshop.

I knew that I was in need of serious help since I learned to swim 45 years ago. Trust me, swimming has changed radically since then, thanks to Total Immersion. I have known this for a few years but since I wasn’t swimming, I didn’t care. Now I do, since I am swimming regularly. I don’t want to waste any more energy, time or effort in the pool. 

This past weeked was life changing for me. I’m not kidding. Celeste, our swim coach videotaped each of the participants. She critiqued our swim with humor and gave us much needed feedback. I laughed when I saw my legs kicking madly like a wind up toy, and immediately knew that was a complete waste of valuable energy. I also saw how I sank in the water as I swam in a flat position.

In two days, I went from muscling the water in a frenzy just to survive another workout to being much more relaxed and zen in and with the water.  I learned some basic skills like finding my sweet spot, lengthening my vessel, fish and skating. I don’t want to elaborate more, because I think that anyone who wants to swim should check out the Total Immersion program. 

At the end of the workshop, I saw the videotape of my new skills. I felt confident that I can swim much more efficiently. Yesterday, during our practices, for the first time, I did not feel exhausted and depleted of energy. My breathing was OK. No more dreaded workouts - as I head to the pool with purpose, clarity and focus. As Celeste exclaimed, “Who knows what you’ll do with your swimming.” Meaning - there may be triathlons in my future? For now, I am happy just to swim better.

Ok. So now you know it. I am addicted to cycling. If you know me on a personal basis, you are well aware of the fact that I can talk cycling all day long.  You may also know that I live to hang out in bike shops. I go there to purge my impure thoughts about sexy bikes and rides, as I flirt with all of the young hot mechanics.

I am so obsessed with the sport that for my 50th birthday I bought a carbon road bike fully equiped with dura ace components. It was a toss up between the Orbea Diva and the Specialized Ruby Pro. I went with the Ruby Pro since it was a better deal (last year’s model).

I took this Ruby out for a demo ride yesterday and it lives up to its reputation. It is a true gem, a delight to ride. I had a hard time parting with it after the ride that I decided to buy it. You may be wondering or asking: “How come you didn’t go custom?” Well, since I don’t have fitting issues, I figured that I’d save some bucks and go with the Ruby Pro. I’m sure that I’ll be happy. Who knows maybe for my 60th, I’ll build my custom dream bike.  Oh no - I just realized that I’ve run out of reasons to hang out at bike shops!!

How fortunate I was to be able to attend this incredible summit that was sponsored by Perform Better. The best fitness professionals in the industry were on site to present their own training systems. For example, there was Juan Carlos Santana - a fitness rockstar (not Carlos Santana), creator of the J/C bands, energetically demonstrating how to use his bands for great training efficiency. As usual, Santana rocked the house full of trainers, coaches and physical therapists.

Then there was Gray Cook, inventor of the “FMS or Functional Movement Screen,” which I learned is a simple and no nonsense way to assess clients by watching them move through a series of five to seven carefully sequenced exercises. This program gives trainers a snapshot of their clients and enables them to address the weak links in their system. Yes - we all have weak links as I discovered while doing this screening.

Clearly functional training is where it’s at! I’ve known this for quite some time. We don’t train or isolate body parts. We train the person - you, me, your mother, father or your great grandmother. We don’t train your mother’s triceps so they won’t jiggle. We train the whole system - all the joints and muscles as a unit.  

It takes brains and knowledge to do this for each client and humor and compassion of course! All of the presentations at the summit gave me plenty of tools and resources to process and to utilize in client programming. After all, I want my clients to be healthy and fit. I want them to enjoy life by making them stronger, more flexible, resilient - the list goes on.

I noticed a common denominator at this summit - every presenter and trainer I encountered was humble, smart, and had a great sense of humor. There was no ego. There was no hype or fluff. It was the real thing - training is not about hype and fluff! I highly recommend this summit and hope to be there next year.  I love the energy and vibe of a room full of fitness professionals. This summit is not for the faint of heart - trainers are hands - on, they experiment, they try it on - they laugh at themselves lifting heavy kettlebells, squeezing a huge med ball between their thighs or losing balance in a one legged squat. What the hell - we all want to perform better so it’s functional for the sport of real life!

Last week while watching the brilliance of the Williams sisters struggling and shining at Wimbledon I pondered the path of the underdog. Serena was seeded low and Venus even lower. The juxtaposition of Serena clutching her calf as she writhed in pain and Venus adeptly hitting each shot from every location on the court was an accurate example of what great athletes face in gritty competition like Wimbledon. I hoped that one of them would win the championship. In the end, Venus prevailed and made Wimbledon history along with the greats. She fought back from being seeded at 23. This is the reason why the underdog is always the real hero.

This has been my year for knee problems. I guess that everyone has their year at one time or another in their life. This is the first time that I have ever dealt with two knee surgeries, rehab, and chronic pain in one year! That’s a bit much to take for one year. In December I had surgery on my left knee, next week it’s my right. I spent five long months in physical therapy with the left.

50 years of pivoting, cutting, twisting, jumping, running and it makes sense that my right knee has suffered some. Let’s fact it, there is wear and tear on the knees and joints. The timing is never right for the news of surgery let alone rehab post surgery.

If you know me, you know that this has not been easy for me. Knees are precious. I need them especially because I am active, I rely on them for my life and my livelihood need I say more. So what do I do? Do I stop all activity and succumb to the necessity of limiting my activity? No - that is not a possibility for me. I am not one to give up. Do I remain active and make the necessary modifications? Yes - I have done it before and will do whatever it takes to heal.

The word heal is so crucial to my recovery. I hear so many clients and people who had had joint problems say, “Oh that’s my bad knee,” or “Oh, it’s just my bum hip.” I refuse to utilize the term bad. The knees are a part of my body. I will not reject them. Yes, they were injured, but they are not bad. They need my attention, my positive energy, not negative. So as I go into this surgery and look forward to recovering well, I will say and believe, “Oh, those are my knees - they are healing now!” After all, they are still my knees after 50 great years of service.