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Category: Fitness, Health, Happiness

Fitness Friday: Of Push-ups and Pull-ups

It is one of the blessings of old friends
that you can afford to be stupid with them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the ways I’m fitting in fitness and making sure I get off my laptop-working-bum is by playing little games with myself. Jumping rope while waiting for the microwave or the toaster or the skillet to heat as I make my breakfast or lunch. Bicycle crunches when the dog scratches at the door to be let out (after I let her out. Otherwise, she licks my face while I’m on the floor). The game varies depends on what part of me needs a rest that day.

I’m also still doing push-ups and pull-ups when I get random texts. 5 pull-ups or 10 push-ups. Usually if someone asks for something specific I’ll do that.

It’s funny though, once I let people know that I was doing this, I thought I would get slammed with texts. To the contrary, those who had been regular texters before eased off. Coincidence? I don’t know.

My friend Mike, who lives in England, just got hold of this info a few days ago (that text at top is from him) and while I was at an event in NYC these came in:

I love this. Thanks Scott and Sophie, for playing along with my reindeer games.

I couldn’t do the pull-ups there, but I was raised with proper Catholic guilt so I did them very first thing the next morning.

I also got this one from Danielle.

Sorry Danielle, I seriously can’t do push-ups in a car with 5 other people. Every available space was filled up with swag, anyway. I did them once I got home (hard ones, too, to pay karmic interest: diamond push-ups to fight my “batwing” arms).

I’m not going to go so far as publish my phone number on the internet.

But if you’ve got my digits, swing me a text.

Thanks for making me stronger.

Now…

What other games should I build into my day?

P.S. I also ran today, and was browbeaten (literally) by a Mother Goose protecting her goslings. Fitness is exciting!

In case you were wondering, I’m doing my pullups using this over-the-door model Jeff got from Amazon (and which he almost never uses). He put up extra brackets for added stability because I’m paranoid like that, but it’s super easy to pop up and down as needed. Highly recommend.

May 11, 2012
Poetry and Toad Identification

One must
make a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the
result is not poetry,
nor till the poets among us can be
‘literalists of
the imagination’–above
insolence and triviality and can present

for inspection, ‘imaginary gardens with real toads in them’, shall
we have
it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.

Marianne Moore, “Poetry”

The dogs were looking at something on the deck yesterday… sniffing (and licking, I’m guessing) and then rearing away shaking their heads and drooling like you wouldn’t believe.

That’s because toads secrete from their paratoid glands, which can be irritating to skin if picked up and I don’t doubt nasty when licked.

I know what you’re thinking.

“But Robin, both American toads and Woodhouse’s toads are common in the Mid-Atlantic region. How do you know which one this is?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.

American toads have 1-2 “rusty” warts on their dark spots, while Woodhouse’s have 3 or more. They’re warty to a fault, Woodhouse’s. Their calls are also different, but you have to hear toad calls to differentiate, I lack the poetry to describe the nuance of trills.

Woodhouse’s have paratoid glands that touch the “cranial bulge” while Americans’ are further back.

Americans are more likely to be found in the woods, and Woodhouse’s near water, but I’ve seen them both around here.

Now you can show off your mad toad ID skills on your next hike 🙂

May 6, 2012
Fitness Fashion Friday: Clothes to Get Muddy In

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.

-Maya Angelou

Just have to give a quick shoutout to the outfit I wore for Dirty Girl as it served me well: looked cute enough to flit around wearing in public before leaving for the run, didn’t get bogged down with water and mud, my bra straps and skirt underoos didn’t chafe, and everything was so light that I didn’t even notice I had failed to throw my stuff in my backpack until I was getting ready to board the plane.

Here it is pre-test run a few days before (photo above was post-run):

People say she looks like me… I don’t see it 🙂

The tank top, sports bra and running skirt are Reebok. (The sports bra I bought is the same pink as the skirt, and that combination seriously makes me look like a demented cheerleader.) They all came from Dick’s Sporting Goods, who inexplicably does not picture all the colors available on their website. Reebok’s running skirt, by the way, only set me back $25, half of the cost of its Nike equivalent.

The socks also came from Dick’s Sporting Goods— they are Thorlo Experia, have extra cushioning on the heel and are super thin around the midfoot. I am really weird about seams and it took me a long time to find a sock to run in that didn’t drive me crazy. These are perfect. They’re also $15 retail (I think I paid $13, Amazon has them as low as $10), but to me worth every penny to not want to fix my socks with every step.

The shoes were my Patagonia Fore Runners and they did great not picking up tons of water (they did pick up some but drained pretty well).

Clothes to Get Muddy In by robinelton featuring lightweight shoes

Another photo of the outfit dirtified. This one also taken by Victoria Runs, used in Madeline’s recap on Food, Fitness and Family (lots more photos on that post, go check it out).

I like how creepy my braces look. Also, those firemen? Not so thrilled to be standing so close to girls so dirty.

OK, I’m done yammering about Dirty Girl, I swear. Happy Friday!

May 4, 2012