Toastmasters: Minimalist Running Shoes

My most recent Toastmasters speech was a "demonstration talk". While the demonstration shouldn't be the entire thing or only source of information, the purpose was to work into your speech demonstrating a process or product, providing additional context with the demonstration.

Having recently bought a new pair of running shoes and having to switch back to a brand I'd previously used after my current brand ceasing making the product lines that were fully minimalist (in my definition), the concept was in the front of my mind and I thought I'd explain the benefits of minimalist running shoes and how they different from conventional shoes. I brought in one of my new minimalist pairs along with a cheap pair of Nikes (that I'll be returning) to compare them to. I passed one of each around the room, while demonstrating with the remaining of each pair. 

(This topic also overlaps with this post from a few years ago.)

Title: Minimize Your Shoes to Maximize Your Health. 

Running is often portrayed as a very accessible sport - you don't need a team, or a playing field, or any special equipment. Just put on some athletic clothes and shoes and head out the door. 

However, there's nonetheless a market, for plenty of things you don't necessarily need for running. And the shoes, in particular, are marketed as something you DO need, as a very specialized tool that will help your running and keep you from getting injured. So after I'd been running for a while, I did what I thought I was "supposed" to do, went to a running store, and got fitted. 

They had me run a short distance, and tell whether I over or under pronated, and asked about my arches, and sold me something that was suppose to be just right to essentially fix things that were apparently wrong with my feet. I took those home and started running - and they hurt! I could barely walk in them. I started googling to figure out what went wrong, and ended up going down the trail of minimalist shoes. 

Now, at the extreme, these are barefoot shoes, like the Vibram Five Fingers you've probably heard of, that fit like a glove with separate toes, or even running sandals, that are just the flat sole and straps to keep it on. But it's also a large category that looks like a shoe - although at races, other runners can still notice the difference and comment on them, I've found - but is less of a shoe. It's there more to keep your feet from getting dirty, than to fix anything or change how your foot moves, the way that conventional running shoes.

I've been running in minimalist shoes for several years now, and have no intention of going back. So today I have a pair of minimalist and regular shoes to compare, and show you how the minimalist features can actually be better for you.

1. Low stack height. 

This is the thickness of the sole, and is typically at least 20 to 30 mm, whereas minimalist shoes are closer to 4 to 8 mm - about quarter of an inch or less. Shouldn't that cushioning help you when you're hitting the ground with impact while running? Actually, there are studies with gymnasts, who of course are jumping off stuff and landing on mats, that show more cushioning actually leads to more injuries! How is that? Because you body knows how to land on the ground. It knows if you're falling or jumping that you'll be landing on the earth and the most surfaces are fairly hard and rigid. It prepares itself to brace and stabilize itself and land without being hurt. But when the landing is on cushioning, it gets confused! The stabilizing doesn't work, and actually leads to more injuries.

2. Zero drop. 

The drop is the difference in stack height at the heel and at the toe. This is at least 10 mm on conventional shoes, and zero or just a few mm in mimimalist shoes. Think of women's high heels - most people realize those aren't healthy, because you're raising the ankle of your foot and maintaining a contraction in your ankle, achilles tendon, and calf muscles. But pretty much every modern shoe has a raised heel. Even if it's not as steep as a 4" stilleto, you're still maintaining a contraction, and keeping your ankle from fully expanding and reaching its full range of motion. Over time, this makes it more susceptible to stress or pressure causing it to stretch when it's not used to it, and snap and cause injury.

3. Wide toe box. 

Think of the shape your foot when you're barefoot. And then think of the shape of the shoe. Your toes end up being all squished! If you want to take advantage of your foot's engineering and natural architecture, you have ot let the toes splay out and have a solid foundation to land on. They can land properly and brace yourself for that impact if they're all smushed together.

4. Flexible sole and no arch support. 

A regular sold is thick and solid - it keeps your foot in one position. But your arch and sole of the foot moves naturally. Minimalist shoes, being thinner and deliberately flexible, can move - however your foot wants to move, it moves with it. It also makes your arch support itself - a problem, perhaps, if it's not used to it, but by nature it will build muscle to be built-in support. Forcing your foot into artificial support is like putting a cast on your arm - and leaving it there indefinitely! Of course it will feel weak and like its can't stand up on its own, because you've let it atrophy.

All of these features add up to a shoe that isn't try to fix anything - because until you use the shoes that are trying fix it, there isn't anything to fix! Our feet are designed to support and move and we're just ignoring all of that by forcing into a rigid shoes and not letting it move or develop muscles on its own. Now yes, the more used to a regular shoe your foot is, the more gradually you would want to transition to something else, because it will take time to re-learn and develop that support on its own. But it's really re-learning, because it used to be able to do this, when you were a little kid learning to walk. 

So the next time you're looking for the perfect shoe, maybe it's time to look at one that is less of a shoe. 

Toastmasters: Speaking to Inform: The Road to 26.2

After finishing the first Toastmasters manual (Competent Communicator), you get to choose from several advanced manuals. Generally working on two at once - both because you finish two to complete each level, and each advanced manual only has five speeches/projects, so that puts you at ten total which is the same as the CC manual. While I'll probably eventually branch out, for now I stuck with what seemed most relevant to my professional life - Speaking to Inform and Speeches by Management. I kicked things off with a very timely speech to inform everyone a bit about the history of the marathon. (The pics included were included with my speech in a google slides presentation.)

Title: The Road to 26.2 

It all started with a guy named Pheidippides. 

Source

In 490 BC, he ran 40 kilometers - about 25 miles - from the city of Marathon to Athens, to announce that they, the Greeks, had defeated the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. He proclaimed his news… and then collapsed and died. 

 When the modern Olympics began in 1896 - hosted in Athens - the marathon route was revived, following the 40 kilometer route that could have been Pheidippides’ path, with the winner finishing in just under three hours. But, you ask - no one’s getting tattoos of 25.0 on their feet: Why are modern marathoners running longer than the original distance?

Source

Well, the initial distance of 40 km remained the rough distance for races for a few years until 1908. In these London Olympics, the course designers wanted the marathon to begin at Windsor Castle, and finish at the stadium, which was 26 miles. Then, from entering the stadium, they wanted runners to lap around the track and finish in front of the Royal Box. This resulted in another 385 yards, thus we have the marathon distance of 26 miles and 385 yards, or 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers. This distance was accepted as the standard distance by IAAF (International Associations of Athletics Foundation) in 1921, and has been used ever since.

The marathon also quickly became an event outside the Olympics, with the Boston Marathon beginning the next year in 1897. It’s grown from 18 runners to 30,000, and is now incredibly competitive to even get in. Even with an adequate qualifying time, there’s no guarantee, only by beating the time by a large margin will you definitely earn a spot.

Screen shot of this page

These are the minimum thresholds for qualifying for the 2016 Boston Marathon; they’re graded for age but are still pretty tough times for the average hobby jogger to meet. The requirements for women 75 to 80 and 80 and up - 5:10 to 5:25 - is actually basically the range I’m aiming for at this year’s Portland Marathon. So I just have to maintain this level of fitness for another 45 years, and then I’ll totally get my BQ.

Speaking of my participation, as a female, - it wasn’t until fairly late in the 20th century that women officially participated in longer athletic events, such as the marathon. The first woman credited with finishing a marathon was Marie-Louise Ledru, who ran in the Tour de Paris Marathon in 1918. A decade later is the “officially timed” first woman, Violet Piercy who completed the Polytechnic Marathon in London in 1926, with a time of 3:40:22.

But the real turning point in marathon history was the running of the Boston Marathon in 1967 by Kathrine Switzer.

Source

While women were not officially allowed to enter at this time, she registered as “K. V. Switzer”, thus remaining under the radar - until the race began. When a race official saw a woman on the course, with an official bib, he literally tried to physically remove her from the course. However Switzer’s boyfriend, also running the marathon, shoved the official aside so Switzer could continue running. She finished in 4:20, nearly an hour behind Bobbi Gibb - another woman running unofficially, who’d also run the year before. 

It took another five years for women to be allowed to officially participate in Boston, but female participation has grown since then, with women making up 43% of marathons in 2013, and more than 50% of most current running events.

Source

Today, there are more than 500 marathon races held each year around the world, and there are an estimated 550,000 marathoner finishers in the US each year. The record finishing time currently stands at 2:02:57 overall (by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya in 2014), and 2:15:25 for women (by Paula Radcliffe of the UK in 2003). Even as the records are consistently whittled down, the average finishing time has crept up, from just over three and a half hours in 1980, to over four hours today. Some people bemoan that fact, saying it’s been watered down, but I think that represents that the sport has become more and more accessible. More people taking on the challenge, seeing it as hard but doable.

Photo purchased from 2013 race photographer

In less than two weeks, the streets of Portland will be filled with 10,000 marathoners, some qualifying for Boston, some just trying to finish (such as yours truly). Either way, we’ll all be following in the footsteps of the great Pheilipides, but hopefully surviving at the end.

Resources:
Wikipedia - Marathon (and linked individuals)
Runner's World - A Brief History of the Marathon
Ask History - Why is a Marathon 26.2 Miles?
Running USA 2014 Annual Marathon Report
NYT - Plodders Have a Place, But is it in a Marathon?
Wikipedia - Boston Marathon

Toastmasters: The Mother of All Relays

The final speech in the first Toastmasters manual is to "inspire your audience". For this purpose, the speech should be organized in a fashion to connect with the audience - identifying a need or desire, explain how that need can be addressed - how or why the status quo can or should be changed, and lastly inspiring them by addressing how change can be brought about and how it will be beneficial. 

Having just experienced Hood to Coast when I realized I had this coming up within a few days, I decided it would be fun to treat it as giving a pep talk to a HTC team just before the event. Somewhat like my previous speech, this topic came fairly naturally and easy to think of what to say; though I kept my prepared notes by my side, I didn't hold them but merely had to glance over occasionally. My evaluator thought I could have used more movement in a larger sense (eg., miming running across the front of the room), but I did use more hand gestures, I think I slowed down my pace a great deal, and added good pauses, especially to allow for laughing at jokes.

All in all, I was impressed with myself, and my club stated they could see a great improvement over the course of my year in Toastmasters and working through this manual. 

Speech title: The Mother of All Relays

Are you ready for the best 33 hours of your life? 

I know you’ve heard stories - you’ve been told that it’s fun, but with some of the, what might be “horror” stories, is it really just “fun” - in the sense of hitting yourself because it feels so good when you stop - or truly fun? You might have concerns, now that the race is almost upon us, wondering what you’ve really gotten yourself into. 

Fortunately, it’s much too late for you to back out now. :) 

Let’s talk about what you should expect, so you can enjoy it. As you know, there’ll be six of us in each of the two vans, and we’ll basically be living out of those vans for the next couple days. Yep, the six of you in each van will be driving together, hanging out, for about 33 hours straight, hope you like each other! I’d make sure you have some music downloaded on a phone to listen to - you won’t always have cell service or even radio - to help alleviate, but by the end of the race you’ll either hate each other, or be best of friends and laughing at inside jokes like “it’s standard military protocol!”

We’ll be packing most of the food we’ll need, for meals and to sustain our running! We should have a chance to head to a restaurant while we’re coming back through Portland, but after that, no guarantees. Remember we’ll be in the middle of nowhere, basically, after coming from Mt. Hood through Portland, we’ll continue on rural roads, to head to Seaside. Not even a McDonalds to grab a quick bite, though some schools along the way sell burritos and pancakes as a fundraiser. Hopefully there’ll be time to buy something between handoffs! But bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, and chips, washed down by gatorade will be enough to sustain you if not. In the meantime you’ll also be dealing with traffic.

The team starts are fairly spread out, but as we approach the finish, they get more condensed, so you’ll be following other vans, single file, to the next exchange - the good news is it’s hard to get lost! - And have to try to find parking spots in exchanges that become fuller and fuller. If things work well, no one will have to hop out of the van and run a mile to meet our incoming runner at the exchange - but it might happen once or twice.

Of course, we’re doing this because we’re running! We’ll each have 3 legs to run, 3 ½ to 7 miles long. Everyone’s first leg will be morning or afternoon on Saturday. Van 1 will lead us into the evening with their seconds legs, with van 2 doing theirs basically middle of the night. Then van 1’s home stretch will be in the wee hours of the morning, and van 2 leads us to the beach by Saturday afternoon! During your night leg, there or may not be: sheet lightening, gravel roads with 700 feet of elevation climbing, and mountain lion roars that may or not be locals playing a prank on the runners.

Now, I mentioned running in the middle of the night - so when will you be sleeping? For about two hours. In between the second and third sets of legs, each van should have time to head to the next major exchange where they’ll eventually meet up with the other van, and get some shut eye, for a couple hours, maybe even three hours if you’re lucky and there’s not too much traffic. Van 1 gets to use the “tent city” at exchange 24, and van 2, I’m afraid your option at exchange 30 is just a designated field on which you can lay out tarps and sleeping bags. There’s also, of course, always the option of sleeping in the van - because you know, you haven’t spent enough time in it yet - which is certainly the best if say, like 2015, we have off and on torrential rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph, then staying in the van to try to sleep is probably the best option.

I can see you’re all totally pumped to do this race now! 

I won’t deny that you’ll be uncomfortable, tired, and perhaps a bit delirious. You’ll run hard for an hour - and then immediately fold into a van seat to drive to the next exchange. But driving on making progress to the destination, finishing the race, with your teammates. After a 10 hour break, you’ll run on tired legs… and after another 10 hours, get next to no sleep, and then run yet again, on even more tired legs! But you’ll come in from each leg, cheered on by your teammates, supported and handed a water bottle, appreciated for your contribution to the common goal. And there is something truly exhilarating about running on a quiet country road, in the dark, at 2 am. It’s an experience I can’t quite describe, but it’s definitely worth experiencing.

Hood to Coast is an Oregon tradition for 34 years, facilitating fundraising for good causes, and showing off our beautiful scenery.You not only get to ask of yourself something that challenging, but you get to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You’re working with 11 of your friends or coworkers to reach a goal that would be overwhelming and impossible to each of your individually. And you’re out on the road, in the middle of nowhere, with 1,050 other teams, 2,100 other vans, 12,600 other runners, working towards achieving the same thing. 

Let’s all get ready for the mother of all relays, and run our best!

Toastmasters: Meatless Monday

The second-to-last speech in the first Toastmasters manual is called "persuade with power". The goal is to use both logic and emotion to appeal to the audience to support a given position. 

Vegetarianism a topic I'm passionate about, but I thought promoting that might be taking it too far - not everyone wants to give up meat. Instead, I thought I'd go that direction but scale it back, promoting just meatless Monday, or the concept of not having meat with every meal. It actually went really well and I got a much more receptive response than I expected. Since it's a topic I frequently read about and discuss, it was much easier than usual for me to reduce reliance on my notes, which was a big help in using more hand gestures and speaking more slowly and clearly. 

It turns out lots of people in the group already having one or a few meals without meat each week! Largely due to health concerns, than the other issues, but that's still a great start! I picked the order of the reasons to support meatless Monday - environment, personal health, money - thinking that each one hits successively closer to home, so the last one (often remembered the best) would be the one that felt the most important. I think there's some truth in that, but clearly the health issue was really the biggest concern within this group.

Speech title: One Meal, Many Benefits

Imagine: what if you could take one small action each week, one small change to your routine that would help the environment, improve your health, and save you money? All you’d have to do is follow the “Meatless Monday” trend, making one meal a week meat-free.

While a general idea that’s been around for millenia (for exaple, within the Catholic church), the specific movement of going meat-free for one meal a week, was started most notably in 2003; it’s since grown and is promoted in 36 countries, including many schools. Even Portland recently took on the task of promoting meatless Monday in a Climate Action Plan earlier this summer. 

What does Meatless Monday have to do with climate change? Livestock is actually one of the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases, with each cow producing 250 to 500 liters of methane each day, which as a greenhouse gas is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Raising animals also requires much more in resources than plant-based food sources. For example, a pound of beef requires about 1,850 gallons of water, compared to 39 gallons needed to produce a pound of vegetables. It’s just becomes an extremely inefficient use of all inputs - it takes 25 calories of fossil fuel to produce each calorie of meat, compared to 2 calories to produce each calorie of plants.  

Eating less animal products is not just better for the earth’s health, but also for your own health. Vegetables and fruits are crucial in preventing many problematic health conditions, including heart disease and strokes, cancer risk, and diabetes. Also, as obesity rises and few Americans are struggling to fit in sufficient calories in their diet, eating the same volume of plant foods rather than meat will be fewer calories, helping aid fat loss. There’s more fiber and many other nutrients to be found in plants, making them a healthier use of your calories. It’s also, oftentimes, cheaper to buy vegetarian food choices.

Now, there are exceptions, primarily with industries that are being subsidized by the government which shows an artificially reduced market price, and I’m not talking about heavily processed foods, which are going to be cheap no matter what - hot dogs, hamburgers. Buying lots of fresh produce can appear expensive, but so it good quality meat! If you move away from processed foods altogether, you can’t get much cheaper than buying dried beans from the bulk bins! An excellent source of protein and complex carbs, beans are an awesome foundation to any vegetarian meal. Nuts and other grains like quinoa can also be found for reasonable prices, especially in bulk, to make healthy, plant-based dishes. 

All of these benefits - the environment, your health, and money - should be a great reason to reduce your meat consumption. I know food is a personal choice, guided by cultural norms - but our culture is moving more and more towards celebrating the benefits of going meatless. I’m not asking you to give up anything. Just think about changing on meal, Monday’s dinner, to go meatless. Do it for your wallet, do it for the cows, do it for mother earth. Just take the one small step.

Toastmasters: Disc Golf: It's In The Air

The next speech is focused on utilizing visual aids. I was previously scheduled to do this project about a month ago, and had to back out last minute due to a tight deadline at work. When I was re-scheduled, though, I realized that I had really set it up just as an excuse to use the props (items I made for my Back to the Future 30th birthday - I still need to do a post about that! I'm pretty impressed with myself with what I put together), rather than the props truly helping to illuminate the point of a speech with its own valid purpose. Instead of reworking the first version, I decided to start over with a speech about disc golf. 

I started (or rather tried - it was all tested and ready to go before the meeting started, then the computer logged out and I had difficulties) with 0:30 to 1:30 of this video, which gave a bit of background and history of the sport. I thought that provided a more comprehensive overview than I could write to give as part of the speech itself, making it a valuable visual aid. I also showed the discs I use, demonstrated some aspects of how to throw, and passed the discs around for the audience to handle.

(Note: speech title borrowed from this other video, also worth a watch - just under 5 minutes.)

In the past 40 years, the sport of disc golf has grown to 4,700 courses and an estimated 2 million regular players.There are probably even more who play occasion - like me - which makes sense given the extremely low barriers to entry and the variety of levels at which it can be played. I learned of it from my husband, who’s been playing since his freshman year of college. We even played it on our third date! (He really tried early on to get me involved in it. :)) 

If you haven’t heard of it before, let me explain a little about how it works, and what makes it a fun and accessible sport. To play, all you need is a disc and a course. It’s essentially the same as regular golf: from the tee box, you aim something towards the hole, or basket in this case, and try to get it in in the fewest number of strokes, or throws. You really only need one to get started - and that’s what’s recommended, as you learn the nuances of throwing.

This is the disc I’ve been throwing whenever I play, a fairway driver; like with “regular” or ball golf, there are different types of discs, like different types of clubs, for varying purposes. As a driver, it has more distance potential but is harder to control, than say, a putter, which will fly slower and shorter, but straighter. The distance you’re throwing for a hole is typically upwards of 200 feet, or occasionally 500 feet. If you’re Abe, you can throw that full distance in one shot, and it’s just a matter of aiming correctly, or getting it to roll or skip on the ground ideally as it approaches the basket. I, on the other hand, take a minimum of 2 or 3 shots to even get within putting range, trying to balance control and aiming the disc, versus putting enough power behind it. 

I’m still learning the nuances - shift your weight, pull across your body, follow through with your arm and body. My putter, and my mid-range disc are new to my arsenal, that Abe bought for me at a tournament he was at last weekend (and won the amateur division), deciding that he’s seen me develop some good skills with my fairway driver and that I should soon start branching out. 

As you go “down” in the category of disc, you can’t put as much power behind, but you gain control, so that helps you balance those and other variables. You can see that between these three discs, there are differences in flight characteristics: shape, size of the rim, and flexibility of the plastic. These factor contribute to how these fly as we’ve been discussing, control, flippy, turning, power. abe has 18 in his bag, and there are many more options even than that. 

But I’ve been playing with the one disc, which costs maybe $12. This putter was $20, but that’s because of the design, that’s on the more expensive. Most courses are in city or state parks, and are open to the public for free. Occasionally, there’s a parking fee in state parks, or a recommended donation to a club that’s maintaining a course in order to improve it, but those are only a $1 or $3, making it still a very cheap sport.

 It’s a really great way to get outside and be active, and often enjoy some gorgeous settings in these parks. Though the fairways are manicured, in a sense, they’re generally left with much more of the landscape than you typically think of with a ball golf course, so as we travel it’s been particularly interesting to see the environment of where we’re at - a mix of evergreen trees and lush flowers on the coast in Anchorage, or the desert brush in central Oregon of Bend. 

 Even at two entirely different levels, Abe and I can play together, competing only against par or our previous best, not necessarily against each other. I don’t think there are really that many sports that that’s truly possible. With that flexibility, along with how easy it is to find courses - over 100 just in Oregon! (world championships were held in Portland this year) , and participate at a low cost, I think disc golf is a really great family-friendly sport for anyone to try out.

Toastmasters Speech: Can't Buy Me Love

The next Toatmasters speech focuses on vocal variety. In addition to tone, pitch, variation, etc., I was trying to focus on not speaking too fast. Plus, instead of standing behind the podium, I set my notes on the table and stood beside it (the ideal would be standing in front of the table, but that makes it hard to occasionally reference notes, which I still need to do). I feel like I made a huge leap forward with the presentation of this speech last week. 

Title: Can't Buy Me Love

I hope you all had a happy mothers’ day last weekend! I’m not a mother yet, but I do have two girls that I consider my babies - our cats Imogene and Hera. I know it’s not the same, but it does involve the occasional middle of the night wake-up, feeding them mushed up food, and dealing with someone else’s feces, so there are definitely some similarities to the human variety.

I adopted Imogene in 2009; and Lincoln and I adopted Hera last fall - I think a one-to-one cat to human ratio is ideal - they each need to have a designated lap, and each lap needs a designated cat. They’ve both been wonderful companions and additions to our family, and so I am grateful to the shelters that allowed us to find them. 

If you’ve considered adding a furry friend to your family, I strongly encourage you to seek them at a shelter, rather than purchasing from a pet store or breeder. According to the Humane Society, 2.7 million adoptable cats and dogs are euthanized each year. With that many animals waiting for a home, there’s absolutely no need for anyone to profit from creating even more. Many animals raised for breeding are not kept in good conditions, but crammed into too small crates, becoming pregnant far too young and too often. A cat can become pregnant at as young as 4 months, and can have 5 pregnancies a year. That’s way too many kittens - for the mother and the world.

I found Imogene at the Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood, and we got Hera at the Oregon Humane Society in NE Portland. A bonus you get at any good shelter, is some degree of notes on what they had seen of each cat’s personality, and whether they would be well suited for a home with children and/or other pets, and have rooms to spend time with a cat before you adopt. You get to pick the best animal for your home, rather than merely a cute kitten. Granted, even shelter conditions, as good as they try to make them, are not exactly comforting to a cat, so both were definitely a bit shy and scared when we tried to introduce ourselves.

Once I got Imogene home, though, she was pretty content and immediately took it upon herself to explore her new surroundings. Estimated to be about 3 years old, she was still somewhat in the teenage phase, and quickly found a basket of toys I’d bought for her sitting on a book case. I had planned to name whatever cat I adopted “Agatha”, but the shelter had called her Imogene, and it just suited her classy, friendly but dignified, personality so well.

Hera was about one year old when we adopted her, and the information the shelter had indicated she had been a stray cat living outside. She had a little harder transition - the first 24 hours or so, she tried to cram herself into any available corner to hide, although if we held and cuddled her, she warmed up pretty quickly. We had discussed some “h” names - we have a household naming scheme we wanted to stick to - but landed on Hera, a powerful name for her to rely on for strength to overcome her fear. Though she’s still wary of strangers, she has proved herself to be incredibly NOT shy or timid overall, and is constantly meowing demands at us and chasing her older sister’s tail.

There’s nothing like having a cat curl up on your lap on a cozy evening on the couch - except for two cats curled up on your lap - or watching the intentness with which they stare at something invisible on the ceiling. Having grown up with cats around the vast majority of my life, I’ve found them to be extremely intelligent, beautiful, and loyal creatures.

They may not be able to directly speak to us, but if you’ve had a cat or dog, I think you know what I mean when I talk about how their personality shines through, and how precious their love for you - their caretaker, their family - truly is. I’m grateful to the shelters who take them in when someone else couldn’t see that, and allowed us to find them. If everyone adopted a cat from a shelter, they could provide that much better care to the animals remaining who wait for their forever home, and would be able to stop needlessly ending lives of cats who just happen to be one too many for the space available. Trust me, the love you receive is well worth it!

Toastmasters Speech: Strong is the New Healthy

The fifth speech in the first Toastmasters manual is called "your body speaks", used to focus on body movements, gestures, eye contact, and such. I was afraid the topic I chose might be taking that "you body" concept a bit too literally, but it's what I was able to come up with on short notice right after tax season for my scheduled date! I don't think I did a great job with the actual body movement focus, but liked where my topic ended up and how I presented in other aspects.

Title: Strong is the New Healthy

We're finally on the other of tax season; a lot of things get put on hold for those few months each year. It’s only temporary, and it’s a lot of work and stress, but one nice thing is that it’s sort of a natural break to make a fresh start, to evaluate goals, and modify my routines to meet those goals. I met up with my mom last weekend for a girls weekend to celebrate the end of tax season, and in our talks, realized we have a goal in common, right now, that I’m trying to not just incorporate more regularly into my life, but nag her into incorporating in her: weightlifting.

I’ve talked about my running and triathlon before - I participate in and train for races because I really do enjoy it, especially the running. Though it started as more of a means to an end, just a way to do cardio exercise in a planned way, but I’ve grown to truly enjoy it, the act itself and the feeling of accomplishment in meeting goals. It’s takes up a huge amount of my time, but it’s not just exercise, it’s a hobby, my biggest hobby. Now, enjoying something like running, as I said, gets in my cardio exercise, and it doesn’t feel like “exercise”.

My mom, also, does tons of walking and aerobic dance videos, and things like that for aerobic cardio fitness. But neither of us do much strength training. I think there are a lot of obstacles to weight training, especially for women. It’s not really encouraged in the same way other sports are, especially in terms of being shown as accessible.

Not that running wasn’t kind of scary when it was unknown, but it’s a pretty visible activity, in general. Not so much weight lifting. There’s power lifting, something like that is in the olympics. In PE in high school, there was some time spent in the weight room, but it was all about maxing out on squats and bench presses, and you needed a spotter, and maybe even a weight belt. Not really something that makes it sound like I can just pick it up in my basement a few times a week. It’s also boring.

Getting past the “maxing out” and such that I don’t pay any attention do, when I have tried some programs, and it’s so slow moving - literally and figuratively. You do a set, and then you wait, for a minute, before moving on to another set. If I run for 30 minutes, I’m moving, enjoying, feeling alive for the whole 30 minutes. Even if you’re doing intervals, faster intervals with recovery in between, you’re still jogging, or at least walking on the in between.

In weight lifting, you spend half of the “workout” just sitting and waiting! But, it’s something I need to do, for a variety of reasons. It will help my running. I’ve only been doing it sporadically over the past few months, but I also set a half marathon PR by over a minute per mile, and I think that’s a big part of it.

 Even without running - for example, for my mom - it’s part of being healthy. Cardio mainly works one muscle - your heart. Which is important, sure. And it works other muscles - running does build up your legs. But whole body strength training is important for life. I may only be 30, but I already feel aches and pains and twinges from getting old. I don’t want my body to start getting weaker as I get older. My mom can’t even lift her suitcase for a 3 day trip. I don’t want to be in that position in another 30 years. I don’t want her to be in that position right now, either. I’ve used the lure of future grandchildren as motivation - she wants to be able to easily lift and carry a baby, right? 

 Both my mom and I are trying to lose weight, too - and though cardio burns more calories while you’re doing it, strength training builds muscle, which means you burn more calories all the time. It’s an investment that can really pay off, even if it’s harder to see in the moment. 

So if we know we should do it, what’s the best way? I actually listened to a Freakonomics podcast recently on a run, about what’s the best type of exercise in general, and the answer applies to the best kind of strength training, too: the best method is the one that you’ll stick with. 

For me, that means a program that progresses and makes it easy to set and reach goals. I’m currently using the “new rules of lifting for women” book, which has 7 phases, just two workouts within each phase that you repeat for a number of weeks, so you get to know the workouts, feel competent at them, and have a clear basis for comparison to show improvement. For my mom, what’s most important is having clear guidance and making it more fun - so videos are her thing. A DVD with a peppy host giving instructions and fun music in the background is what she knows will keep her going. 

Whatever method it takes, I know this is a really important aspect of being healthy to fit into our lives. As much as they talk nowadays about just fitting in “activity” into our daily lives, much of that activity is easier if we’re stronger, and that’s what will keep us in able to continue being active, in whatever other ways we enjoy. It’s not just, as they say, that “strong is the new skinny” - strong is the new healthy, and something I think everyone should consider making a priority.

Toastmasters Speech: Goal - Don't Die

After a few Toastmasters speeches, you've worked on getting over your nerves, organizing your thoughts, and focusing your point. The next project is "how to say it" - thinking beyond the basic structure of the speech to the specific word choices and organization within sentences and paragraphs. I immediately went to a topic with which I thought I could use lots of descriptions and sensory details. (This is basically an expanded/descriptive version of my triathlon race recap.)

Goal: Don’t Die

I am, by nature, an anxious person. I get a lump in my throat when I realize I’ll be 5 minutes late to the previews at a movie theater, and I’m sure I’ll end up on a dangerous walk along the freeway to a gas station if my tank drops below a quarter full. And yet, after signing up for a triathlon, as race day approached, I was still surprised how terribly scared I was of the whole thing. 

I set a few goals before the race: I wanted to finish in under two hours. I wanted to not be dead last. But mostly, my goal was simply to not die. Seriously. Was there really a risk of that? Not really, but to my anxious brain, it was a definite possibility. 

Triathlons begin with the swim leg, in this case in the Columbia River. My group, women in the shorter distance, went last, so I stood on the shore, watching the brightly colored swim caps bobbing in the distance. Eventually, the horn blew for us to start. Wading into the river, sand squished between my toes, interrupted by the occasional rock. Looking forward, the first buoy looked so far away; looking back, the shore got farther and farther. 

For a couple minutes, I continued to debate, whether I truly wanted to do this. I was still standing in the water, I could still turn around, walk back onto the sandy shore and quit. As I got deep enough to start swimming, there was sea weed - riverweed? - popping up, swishing around my legs. Leaning forward into the water, the neck of my wetsuit pulled across my throat, making my anxiety manifest itself as a complete cutoff of fresh oxygen. I had to keep my head down, proper form. Oh, but looked down and saw that I couldn’t see the bottom of the river. 

Breathe. Float. One buoy was down, one more to go. I wasn’t quite the last swimmer, but the kayaks were staying near the few of us in the back of the pack. One more buoy down, after making the turn the shore was back in sight. Finally, the water depth started to recede, riverweed giving way back to rocks and sand. 

Jogging up the grassy river bank, I started pulling off the wetsuit, thrilled to have survived the first perilous phase, ready to move onto the next. Reaching my bike, I pulled on a bike jersey and shoes, and hopped on to roll onto the bike course. The course started on a wide shoulder along a flat highway, heading east out of The Dalles. After a couple miles, though, it became a hilly, rural road; beautiful brown fields in sight but difficult to enjoy while riding up, up, up. 

 Halfway through, we turned around and headed back. But then. Then you have to turn around and go down those hills. Downhill, on gravely country roads, with speedsters from the longer race passing by. Particularly after a fall a few weeks earlier on a training ride (of which I still have evidence on my elbow and knee), this was not enjoyable. I had to brake, constantly. I stopped a few times to take a drink of water - I can’t just grab it while moving, and let go of the handlebars and controls, that’s how I got those elbow scars. Forget enjoying the freedom of speeding down a hill, I was trying to preserve the freedom of remaining alive.

Phew. Made it back to the race center in one piece, for the final leg! The sun had started to beat down in midday, but at last I was doing what I enjoy. My legs, my head, my whole body was fatigued by now, but at least I knew all I had to do was keep moving forward. The run went out and back on a river path. Seeing the sunshine on the water was a nice distraction from the grunting pain of making my legs move, as was seeing the joy on other athletes’ faces passing the other way, knowing how close they were to the end. Sooner than I realized, though longer than I thought it’d take, I was also heading back.

A nice little downhill led us back into the park, towards the finish line. Lively music was blasting, people cheering, finish line flags waving in the wind. I heard the announcer say my name, Margaret from Portland, and finally, I was done, a triathlete, completed my first race. I survived! 

I squeaked by in just under two hours, with an official time of 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 20 seconds; 6 of the 89 people in the shorter distance finished after me, and clearly, I didn’t die. The moments of fear in the river and on the bike were real, but now in the past. Until, the next triathlon I do, of course! I’ve no doubt made this sound like a horrible, excruciating, miserable experience, but when I get myself out of my head, it’s actually a wonderful challenge, a privilege to be able to submit myself to overcoming my fears.

Toastmasters Speech: A Gift From Canada

The third speech in the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual is called "Get to the point". It focuses (no pun intended) on identifying a general purpose (to persuade) and a specific purpose (to convince the audience that Nanaimo bars are an amazing Christmas cookie they should consider making for the holidays), and remaining on that focus throughout the speech.

(The title of the post is what I came up with after the meeting in which I presented the speech; sadly I couldn't think up something creative before and just named it "The Best Christmas Cookie: The Nanaimo Bar" - accurate yes, but one of the pieces of feedback I received in the evaluation was to title it something that doesn't just give away the main point, create some interest and mystery with the title.)

Last week, we talked about traditions, and I mentioned that my husband and are forming our own holiday traditions as a new family, pulling things from both sides that we like. One thing from my side, that was non-negotiable, though, was making Nanaimo Bars. We have a lot of Christmas cookies - my sister’s the primary baker - and though there are several standbys, including Hello Dollys, spritz, meringues, and sugar cookies, the Nanaimo Bars are the most important. 

Today I’ll showcase a few of the reasons they’re so great - they’re easy to make, very rich and decadent, and easily adaptable. And hopefully convince you to add them to your family’s holiday recipe repertoire. [At the Toastmasters meeting, I brought some Nanaimo bars for them to try] This batch is vegan and gluten-free (see recipe here - I used gluten-free graham crackers, 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp water for the egg, Earth Balance for the butter, and baking chocolate that happened to be vegan without any dairy). 

Unlikely many standard Christmas cookies, it’s possible many of you haven’t heard of these before. They’re around in a few places - I’ve seen them once in Portland at a party with a hotel-catered banquet, but usually when I make them for an event or gift, people have no idea what they are. The story is that they originated from a housewife in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in the 1950s, who submitted it to a magazine contest. My understanding is that they are much more common in Canada - some relatives even found a boxed mix for them on a trip there once, but it’s a shame they aren’t more well known in the US. 

First, these are really easy to make. They don’t require any baking (leaving the oven free for sugar cookies). It’s just three layers - some ingredients melted on the stovetop, or just mixed - that you put in the fridge or freezer (depending on your timeframe) to chill and set in between each one. There’s virtually nothing you can screw up in presentation, so you’ll always have nice and neat layered bars on your cookie platter: you can’t over or underwhip egg whites for the meringues, or have problems with the cookie press that make your spritz cookies come out in unrecognizable patterns. 

You also don’t other issues that come more generally with baking, such as what type of flour to use, measuring with a cup versus weight, all those factor that could have a significant impact on the final outcome when baking. I’m not much of a baker or cooker - growing up my mom did the cooking and my sister did the baking, and now I have a husband who does both, but even I, with my lack of talents in the kitchen, find these quite manageable to put together. 

Second, Nanaimo bars are great because they’re extremely rich and decadent, just as holiday treats should be. The size of the bars I cut for [the group] to try [6 x 6 in a 9" square pan] - that’s not a smaller “sample” size because I was bringing them for a group - that’s a normal serving size! Now, I suppose that’s not great for moderation and watching your calories over the holidays and so forth. I’ve never calculated the calories in those small pieces, because I’d really just rather not know. (But they’re worth it!) 

 And finally, they’re very versatile and adaptable - both in flavors and allergens/sensitivities. As I mentioned I made this batch vegan and gluten-free - easy to get gluten-free graham crackers - and the rest of the ingredients are already gluten-free, and use vegan options for the chocolate and margarine, and an egg alternative. As far as egg alternatives go, I’d definitely recommend the chia seed option - I’ve tried other “egg substitute” recipes, including flax seed and arrowroot, and they don’t work in this, I think because you’re not baking it. It needs to be gooey to really hold it together, and so the chia seeds that gum up in water work well. 

 It’s also versatile in flavors - instead of the basic chocolate and vanilla layers, you can readily find recipes and ideas to make mint chocolate, or raspberry and white chocolate, to name just a couple. Google and you can come up with many other ideas, or just mix and match your own favorite flavors in the layers, and you’re sure to come up with something just as good as the original template. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about this lovely treat, and if you’re looking for another dessert for the holiday season, consider the easy, delicious, adaptable option of Nanaimo Bars.

Toastmasters: Toastmaster of the Meeting: Tradition

There are multiple roles to be fulfilled during a Toastmasters meeting, in addition to the actual speeches. They tend to assign new people roles for meetings in a way that eases them in: first you'll have an easy thing to do like word of the day or quote of the day, then lead table topics, and then move onto being an evaluator of a speech.

Eventually, though, they'll make you be Toastmaster. The Toastmaster (not to be confused with the title of "Distinguished Toastmaster", a title/certification earned through completing a series of speech and leadership projects) is essentially the host of the meeting. You obtain speech information and prepare an agenda, and introduce each speaker and the general evaluator, providing segues between sections and generally keeping things on track.

In our club that person also selects the theme for the meeting, and use that in your spiels between agenda items. Realizing that the meeting for next week (the last meeting before Christmas) would likely have a more specific holiday theme, I picked "tradition" and tried to subtly use my platform to no just discuss fun holiday traditions (though that happened, too), but push my agenda a little bit that not all traditions are benign (see: wedding crap series), but that as I've grown older I have nonetheless learned to savor some traditions that provide comfort in specific types of situations.

Traditions, especially those of the more ritual and ceremonial type, are something I'm often not a fan of. In fact, perhaps the most significant of my teenage rebellion (such as it was) (or at least the most hurtful to my mom) was refusing to participate in graduation ceremonies.

Traditions usually start for a reason - like my family has hot cider on Christmas Eve because it’s winter - but it’s now associated with Christmas Eve celebrations, and I’d continue to have hot cider even if I moved to Florida.

Especially for non-holiday traditions, there’s often a reason it starts that becomes irrelevant over time, like patriarchal expectations, that lead to the tradition becoming harmful down the road. For holiday traditions, they’re probably not harmful, but sometimes it’s fun to reevaluate them and the enjoyment they provide. As a newlywed, my husband and I have a bit of a free pass this year to think about which traditions each of our families of origin has, and choose which ones to incorporate into our own family.

Sometimes we might not agree with the origin of a tradition, yet still find meaning in them. The last funeral I went to was for a great aunt, about a month ago. She as Catholic, so the service was in her Catholic church, with many traditions that I was not particularly familiar with - there was a fabric draped over the coffing, a sprinkling of holy water in the service, before loading back into the hearse, and before lowering into the ground. Even though I don’t have my own connection to those traditions and necessarily believe in the reasons behind the rituals, it was nonetheless lovely to see the traditions that I knew meant something to her (and to her surviving daughter), in that transition of life.

As I mentioned before, my husband and I are starting our own family and thus our own traditions, coordinating with each of our own families to determine to spend the holiday. It’s been interesting to think about what stands out from my childhood - I realized that going to a Christmas Eve church service, since we’ll be here at home on that day rather than with my parents, is very important to me, even though I’m not a regular church-goer. But that’s simply how we spent the holiday growing up, and it provokes a feeling of ritual that I actually do want to continue.

Our table topics was facilitated by a different member, but of course based on the theme of traditions. She create some great questions about different types of traditions - such as a tradition you'd like to form, or a tradition you'd like to give up. My favorite response in table topics was about giving up a tradition - a member discussed how as a kid, her mom decided to make Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve, which was quite an endeavor to make a huge pile of them. After a few years, the mom thought she might skip making them, since it was so much work, and asked the family if that was ok. Hesitantly, they each told her that they actually didn't really like them anyway!

The one thing I would hope you can take away from the theme today is to be particularly thoughtful about your traditions this holiday season, maybe doing away with one here or there that no longer holds meaning, but truly savoring the ones that are significant to you, and perhaps developing new ones to savor as well.

Toastmasters: Quote of the Day - Thanksgiving

My role for today's Toastmasters meeting was the Quote of the Day, on the theme of "Thanksgiving". 

I considered going with quotes about a more traditional Thanksgiving:

I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land. - Jon Stewart

Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for - annually, not oftener - if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man's side, consequently on the Lord's side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments. - Mark Twain

However, I figured in the spirit of the holiday (regardless of its origins), I should probably go a little less snarky in public, and found a regular quote that I agree with:

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. - W. T. Purkiser

Toastmasters: Table Topics - Today In History

One thing that happens during each Toastmasters meeting is "Table Talks". The Topicsmaster facilitates brief (1 - 2 minutes) impromptu talks by a handful of members. They select in advance speaking prompts, usually tying it in to the day's topic chosen by that meeting's Toastmaster. On Wednesday I was the Topicsmaster and the theme was "Today in history" (that day was the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters!). 

Assigning prompts can happen deliberately (for example, if you think someone would have a good answer for it, based on their knowledge or experience), or randomly. I did it by asking them to pick a year in the 1900s, and then gave them the prompt for the year included in my list closest to it.

I didn't have to answer them in the meeting myself, but thought they'd be fun to think about anyway.

On October 22, in:

1938, Chester Carlson demonstrated the first Xerox machine. What do you think is the most useful piece of technology in use today?

I'm actually going to steal the answer of the member who answered this prompt during the meeting: the internet. Pretty much all other technology that makes life convenient today relies on the internet. Even though it wasn't truly ubiquitous in the first several years of my life, I can hardly imagine living without it. 

1939, the first televised pro football game was telecast from New York (Brooklyn defeated Philadelphia 23-14). What sport is your least favorite to watch?

My least favorite sport to watch is football, primarily because it's so stop and go - two minutes left on the clock can take hours!

1949, Emil Zatopek set a then-world record for the 10k race in 29:21.2. If you were forced to race some running distance, what distance would you pick?

Well, let's see, what races do I usually torture myself with? I tend to go back and forth on whether I'd rather focus on speed or distance, but currently I'd lean towards a 5k - painful but fast (obviously that'd be my preference at the moment, since I just registered for a half marathon).

1975, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Are you rooting for the Giants or Royals in this year's World Series?

I'm rooting for the Royals, because Abe is and I wouldn't otherwise have an opinion (his real team is the Cardinals, but since they didn't make it, the Royals are the next choice). He roots for them because he grew up in Missouri.

1978, Bill Rodgers won the 9th New York City Marathon in 2:12:12. What was the hardest thing you've attempted in your life?

I would the marathon! Even though it took me a smidge more than 2:12. 

1979, Walt Disney World welcomed its 100-millionth guest. What is your "most magical place on earth"? 

Haramara Retreat where I've been twice for vegan yoga retreats. It's an absolutely stunning escape from modern reality. 

Toastmasters Speech: Becoming an Unlikely Runner

The second speech in the Toastmasters manual is called "Organize Your Speech". The focus is to have a solid opening (tell them what you're going to tell them), three or so specific points (tell them), and solid conclusion (tell them what you told them). After the initial ice breaker speech which is about yourself, you can make the topic of your speech anything that works with the goals. 

It's kind of hard to think of topics with basically infinite options! But for this speech, I decided that a certain familiar topic lent itself well to organizing around three topical points: How I became a runner.

Title: Becoming an Unlikely Runner

(I opened the speech by displaying my marathon shadow box.)

These are mementos from my first full marathon, which was last year’s Portland Marathon. (FYI, this year’s race is this Sunday, if you have any interest in spectating a marathon, it’s a good one.)

It came as a surprise, even to myself, that I was running a marathon! As a kid, the only running I really did was the required mile in PE class each year. I was part of the group walking and chatting at the back. Only in eighth grade, the last year we had to do the mile test, did I even make an effort - and ended up meeting the required standard for my age by a whole four seconds.

But, every once in a while after that, in high school and college, I’d occasionally go for a run. I was never fast, and I always took walking breaks, so it never really occured to me to pursue it more seriously. But four years ago I ended up becoming a runner, and eventually a marathon finisher. It was a process to get there, though, what enabled me to do so, and what I would recommend to anyone else wanting to start running, is to:

1. Start small, with a run/walk interval program and work up to longer distances.
2. Join with friends to make the sometimes-tortuous process more fun.
3. And work towards a goal, with race registrations set to be a motivation.

First, start small. Anyone who’s tried to jump headfirst into something without adequate preparation knows it’ll be overwhelming, and you’ll probably quit as soon a the initial excitement wears off. You can’t get ready to run a marathon overnight; you can’t even be ready to run a 5k overnight!

When I got serious about running, I used a program called Couch to 5k. There’s a website with an outlined training scheduled, and there are a myriad of phone apps with similar programs. It alternates run/walk intervals, starting with very small running times - 60 seconds - and longer walking times, and eventually reversing that to run for longer times with less walking recovery, and eventually running without a break.

There’s no shame in taking walking breaks, even later in your running career, especially as you’re trying to achieve a longer distance or faster pace, breaking it down again into smaller pieces might be what helps you get there.

And after accomplishing the 5k distance, I did a 10k race, and then worked up to the half marathon. After a few halfs, I finally felt ready to tackle the full distance. Had I gone from the couch to a marathon training plan, I would have been miserable - more miserable than marathon training was anyway - and probably quite running forever.

Another crucial tool when I was getting into running was running with friends. Two coworkers were interested in it at the same time, and we did the C25k program together. We not only accomplished running, but it provides a lot of time with no distractions to chat and get to know each other better! It made it a fun-but-challenging activity into just plain fun. Those two friends no longer work at the same firm, but the bond we forged doing C25k has maintained our friendships!

If you don’t know anyone you runs, you can make friends for that purpose by joining a running group. There are plenty of such groups if you look around, many targeted for a specific goal race or a certain group like women or moms. Though I haven’t joined a formal running group, I did join a team for triathlon training, and it was hugely beneficial; so much I probably will look for a group for my next goal running race.

Setting a goal race - also useful while running. As the name C25k implies, it is intended to prepare you for racing a 5k. Knowing we had a race to be prepared for was a great help in sticking to the C25k program, especially when running for a whole 3 minutes at a time made us feel like we were dying. Our goal was the Race for the Cure, which is a huge event, high energy and people of all levels participating - from the elites doing 6 minute miles to people taking an hour plus to walk the whole thing.

Though I’ve developed a love for running, I still have times when I’m busy and it’s hard to make the time for it, or I just get burnt out and lose motivation. I still use race registrations to keep myself motivated, setting a goal to achieve to keep me getting out the door and putting the work in.

So if you’re ever cheered on at a race, or heard someone brag about setting a new PR, but never thought you could do it, too - reconsider. Running is truly an accessible sport that virtually anyone can do. Ease into with small steps, make it social by running with friends, and set goals to keep yourself motivated, and before you know it you just might be calling yourself a runner.