How I Accidentally Ran 5K | Coping Skills for Anxiety

A few months ago I almost posted this--a post about anxiety and being cut short--only to be interrupted again. This blog is dear to me and I hate to put in the 25% that I have the time to so... that day I put in that 25% and waited for the perfect opportunity to finish. Fall became winter while I added "tomorrows" to my self-imposed due dates--until I read a post that put a spark back into me. Alex Beadon posted about overcoming your fears and I realized that I need to post this NOW in its current state of imperfection. I am not the only one out there struggling with schedule demands, anxiety, or recurring perfectionist issues so if you have been there or are right there with me now I hope this will kindle your spark, too:

Run, run, run.

Crunching to a stop in front of my house I had no idea just how far I'd run, but I knew it was far more than the short circuit I had planned. It's life or death for me. My fitness loves keep me sane and safe and this time was no example--I laced up because too many days had passed me by without being able to type a sentence, do a pole climb, or read a chapter. One grey moment strings to the next and I found myself drowning in doubts, analysis paralysis.... anxiety.

So I ran. The treadmill or my pole room have become snazzy clothes racks--I get as far as the warm up and then sweetest baby cries or the stupid phone rings or I remember to go find freelance work before that bill is due. Outside there is the crunch of fall leaves, the night sky unfolding into infinity, and lung-fulls of  autumn magic.

There is nothing for feeling alive quite like an autumnal run.

If you could ever fall in love with the endorphin high of running it will happen by steps. Turn on your favorite song for moving until you have to get up and just go for a block. This block melts into the next and at a steady pace you forget that you could ever live still in one spot. Drink the air, the sparkling stars, the beat of your heart and your steps running into one, until you move because there is music and not to reach a destination or check off a distance. Fitness is a lifeline to finding yourself again and it re-connects you to your heartbeat, your thoughts, and your inner self.

The next thing I knew I had run to the library and back--a distance I looked up and, sure enough... I accidentally ran 5K. It is truly magic what you can do when you let it just happen.

Getting past fear

It is and it is not true that I do not have time for what I love. I get stopped over and over, never having the solid block of time I want to really get everything just right. When I read that post on Alex's blog I kept asking myself how fear is connected to this anxiety. What I realized is that I am not afraid of failing, but of being mediocre. It is not that I lack time to do a pole work but that I lack time for a full pole workout and in just the same way I have time for a paragraph but not a start-to-finish blogging session. I think often we set a standard for ourselves that we think we have broken down in manageable steps but we forget to allow ourselves to put in 25% when that is all there is time for. I see so many other polers get into serious pole ruts or neighbors that have not worked out since college athletics--we all just want to find this miraculous moment of time when we have time and motivation.

My message for all you Flexines out there, and for myself as well, is to allow yourself to take it slow, then take it slower. I am going to keep stringing together my 25%'s. I hope you allow yourself the same love. 

No More Tobacco at CVS (and Some Thoughts)

Part of my running route includes stepping all over a slew of cigarette butts... so when I saw a tweet that CVS is not going to sell cigarettes and tobacco products it caught my attention right away. I am a huge fan of pink lungs (seriously, they should be one of my Weekend Crushes) and got my better half to quit smoking years ago.


Some mixed feelings

I hate having to inhale someone else's fumes just because they chose to smoke, but... When colleges banned tobacco on campus completely I was ecstatic that passing time wouldn't mean choking time. My husband's business law instructor brought up that while campuses can ban smoking, vehicles are technically private property so this is an exception (one that people understandably, though annoyingly, take advantage of). Smokers that do not own a vehicle are at a distinct disadvantage--which his instructor explained could be looked at as a form of discrimination.

So as much as I love smoke-free everything I hate bans, and if you expand this decision to all other major retailers it works a lot like a ban. Don't talk to me about banning GMOs or banning pot; people should make their own decisions, stupid as they may be. (For the record I eat delicious GMO food and I get my fair share of food shaming from friends. I'm easy to convert--just show me the studies, not the articles about "studies".) Am I happy CVS stopped selling tobacco? Oh yeah, but it would be so much sweeter if smokers caused it by buying less, not by being a health statistic.

CNN quotes the AMA:

"We commend CVS for putting public health ahead of their bottom line and recognizing the need for pharmacies to focus on supporting health and wellness instead of contributing to disease and death caused by tobacco use," the American Medical Association said.

Sounds so selfless. CNN states that CVS stands to lose $2 billion in sales to tobacco shoppers. As they should, CVS does have their interests in mind. From CVS's press release:

"As the delivery of health care evolves with an emphasis on better health outcomes, reducing chronic disease and controlling costs, CVS Caremark is playing an expanded role in providing care through our pharmacists and nurse practitioners. The significant action we're taking today by removing tobacco products from our retail shelves further distinguishes us in how we are serving our patients, clients and health care providers and better positions us for continued growth in the evolving health care marketplace."

CVS wants to be big in the health care industry. I am fond of this idea, for a couple of reasons. One, no one should work for nothing, that's just plain bad business and undervalues work. Also, this could be really great for people like me who are trying to be more healthy and would like to more easily afford little health visits like pink eye checks. It's in CVS's interest to have efficient, quality health services so they can compete; this is what we really need for healthcare (oh I could go on!).

So you can bet I will be happily running by CVS. And I will surely stop in and support these changes.

What are menstrual cups made out of?

One of my biggest concerns when I first considered menstrual cups was what in the world are they made of? My interest was peaked when I learned they save a lot of money and are reusable. Being a poor college student and always without tampons or pads right when I needed them I was all for it that! But would they be safe? Comfortable? Leak-free?

Silicone

Lunette cup in a "c fold"
Used with permission

Most of the brands out there are made of silicone. This is generally the same type of silicone used to make breast implants and with medical devices like pacemakers. They are relatively soft yet will mostly hold their shape. Silicone cups can be boiled to disinfect them and come in a few different colors that vary by brand (blue, orange, pink...). These are all manufacturered outside of the US.

Care: Rinse/wipe down when you empty it and wash with soap between uses; can be boiled.

Brands: Lunette, DivaCup, MoonCup UK




TPE - thermoplastic elastomers

Assortment of Meluna cups
Used with permission

TPE is a fancy name for a plastic blend used in everything from baby bottle nipples to medical devices. There is currently only one brand that makes cups with TPE: Meluna. I am partial to their extra sturdy cup, Meluna Sport, made to work with the stronger pelvic floor muscles of athletic women. They are medically approved in Europe and are currently unavailable in the US during the lengthy FDA approval process. 

Care: Rinse/wipe down when you empty it and wash with soap between uses; can be immersed in hot water to disinfect.

Brands: Meluna


Latex Rubber

Rubber Tree (c) Ken Doerr
CC Attribution 2.0 License

Rubber menstrual cups look like little toy plungers to me. Natural rubber tends to have a rubber smell so they are not for everyone. They are brown so they do not discolor and are the only cups made from a non-synthetic material. Of course anyone allergic to latex should choose a different material. The only cup actually manufactured in the US is the latex rubber Keeper.

Care: Rinse/wipe down when you empty it and wash with soap between uses; can be boiled.

Brands: Keeper



All cup types are made of medically approved materials and most are also FDA approved. (The FDA requires separate approval for the cups themselves. All menstrual products including tampons, pads, and menstrual cups are considered "medical devices.") If you are worried about trying out a menstrual cup based on material remember that many menstrual cup users end up with multiple cups for convenience.

Still have questions? Check out this particularly informative post by Aerial Hoopla.

Staying fit for a wedding: pitfalls and solutions

With quite a few of my friends getting married with a huge emphasis on the wedding ceremony I have observed lots of great habits... and lots that could be done better. Members of the bridal party are definitely not excluded in this! There are so many days in between to "slip up," so much food to sample, and such a packed schedule it's no wonder this is a big pre-wedding stressor. I have come up with a few practices to avoid and ideas on what could make your life easier and happier.

Can pregnant women do that?

pregnant silhouette (c) mahalie
CC Attribution 2.0 License

When I found out I was pregnant the first time I mourned the loss of my then-erratic jogging routine. That is, until I dove into the internet to see what other moms, physicians, and experts had to say. I was surprised to find that most women can continue at the same level of physical activity, usually decreasing intensity in the later months. In fact, a lot of Olympic athletes continue the same level of activity through their whole pregnancy. I hardly felt pregnant at all until my eighth month when I couldn't breath well in certain positions and had to wake up to flip over in the middle of the night. I was actually in the best shape of my life. Every week I alternated strength training and cardio (running) on week days, resting on weekends. I aced my personal fitness class--which went right through my due date!

So yes, pregnant women can strength train. And run. Having discovered pole fitness and started flexibility training I had to wonder if I could still do those now. After all, I am three years older than last time and I was horribly sick for two months. I remembered last time all sources warned against lunges and squats--would that mean my more intense stretching had to stop? Would pole climbs be too intense? I met with my doctor with dire expectations and it

Weekend Crush: Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness

Nope, not free falling--that's a handstand
(c) Nerd Fitness, Used with permission

Just because you're nerdy doesn't mean you can't be in fantastic shape. Check out this handstand--Steve doesn't look like the stereotypical nerd. But a look around his site, Nerd Fitness, with its comic book fonts and video game references its unmistakably, well, nerdy.

What I really love about Nerd Fitness is that it is geared towards people of all fitness levels, including those of us that find ourselves on a journey from bookworm (that's me!) or video game junkie to fit. When I started pole fitness around September 2012 I had to make some serious changes even though I jogged for 15-20 minutes... well, every few weeks or so anyways. I found Nerd Fitness because I wanted to do some body weight exercises but really pathetically lacked the strength to do it. There I was on Google, searching for exercises for pull ups--and very discouraged to find that most people posting about pull ups assumed the reader could do them.

Enter Nerd Fitness.

Is your orange juice losing vitamins? Grocery tips for juice!

As a pole, running, and flexibility addict eating right is becoming increasingly important to me. It sounds so simple--just pick healthy foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, and avoid excess. Choosing healthy options can still mean you aren't getting the nutrients you think you are.

Orange juice in a gable top container

Did you know your orange juice loses vitamin C daily?

I read this in my nutrition class and was shocked! It turns out that by the expiration date orange juice in gable-top containers (see image) has lost most of its vitamin C content. How frustrating, isn't the point of drinking orange juice to mostly to get vitamin C? One simple choice can make a difference, though. For

A cup for WHERE? Menstrual cups: a different solution

Years ago when I was a senior in high school I was browsing the internet for freebies, particularly free pad and tampon samples. I ran across menstrual cups in my pursuit of savings; I hated seeing how much hard-earned money went into that time of the month. Back then I only found cups around $40-$50--a steep investment for a college-bound high school student with no after-school job.

Even though it was super pricey I spent hours watching all the YouTube videos. If you've tried cups or at least looked into them, you know what I mean. There is literally a plethora of videos out there. Happy cup owners promote them for the convenience, cost-effectiveness, environmental benefits, and sometimes just because it is a neat idea. Some women might be squeamish but there are those of us who are too curious about the complexities of the female body to worry about a little blood. Flash forward years later with more affordable options and here I am getting my first cup!

Hold on, what is a cup anyways?