How Waiting In Line Can Get You In Shape

So for a while now I've been tossing around this idea for a blog post, which you'll see today, and then I saw, through a link from Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness I believe, to a post titled How Waiting In Line Can Get You In The Best Shape Of Your Life. It's not quite the post that I was intending to write but it's something useful all the same. While the linked post is about waiting in line as a metaphor for getting in shape, the various stages of being in line compared against the stages of fitness. What I have in mind is something a little more literal, getting in shape while waiting in line.

This post was originally going to be called The Disneyland Workout as that was the major inspiration for my writing it, but it applies not only to waiting in line at the parks, but also anywhere else you might find yourself waiting around wanting to fill some time. This post will be short, but hopefully at least a little inspirational and useful to at least some of you.

So you're stuck somewhere and you need something to do to feel better about yourself? You've come to a good place for advice my friends. Bodyweight exercises are a great way to work on your fitness no matter where you are, and even when I'm not stuck anywhere they are my go to resistance training exercises. So what makes them perfect for when you are stuck in line? There's no equipment, they usually don't take much space, and they are just easy to do. Heck, if you are at Disneyland or some other theme park you may have picked up your own added resistance for the exercises over the course of the day in the form of merchandise, or might be lucky enough to have a nearby child to use for even more resistance (I'd recommend restricting that to your own children or those of trusted friends as most strangers to not take well to their children being used for your workouts).

So now that we've covered the whys how about what, what should you be doing to fill all this time? Well, resist the urge to fill it with pulling out your phone and catching up on twitter or Facebook, though in some of these situations you can likely do that too, and do something active. Most of the suggestions here will be for lower body exercises as those involve the least deviation from the expectations of being in line, but if you have the room feel free to drop and do some pushups. So what shall we do then instead? Well Squats are a personal favorite, great for the legs and they involve multiple joints so they strengthen your entire lower body complex in some fashion or other. Lunges take up a bit more space but work the lower body in different ways and, as I've been finding out recently, involve a lot more work on balance than Squats. A personal favorite of mine is to take stairs nice and slow and let my ankles drop below the level of the stair to stretch out my lower leg. That particular move is one of my favorites because my running leaves my achilles tendons stiff many days, and this helps stretch them back out again.

So what about the upper body? Well your options there are more limited, unless you don't mind looking absurd to random strangers, but you're working out while waiting in line so clearly the opinions of strangers are not as important as your fitness (though shy should they be?). My go-to is dips on the turnstiles at rides like Big Thunder or Space Mountain. Simply place your hands upon turnstile and remove the legs from the ground, hold for a nice static workout, or lower and raise yourself for some more dynamic upper body work. If there's a nice bar or something overhead pull-ups are a good option as well. If you are really daring handstands and handstand presses are wonderful, but they are not so easy to do in a crowded line. There's presses involving small children or merchandise of course, though past that I'm about out of ideas. If you have more ideas put them in the comments.

So there you have it, the Disneyland Workout, or how to stay in shape absolutely anywhere.

So there's the post for you, let me know what you think of it. While I'm here though let's update my postings of my weight. This week it's at 203.3, down 2.1 from my last post. Until next time, be the you you want to be, even if it means doing something slightly embarrassing to get there.

Race Weekend Recap

Well it's been nearly a month since my last update and it's been a pretty busy month, so my apologies for the lack of updates. Today I am bringing you an update from my recent weekend trip to Disneyland for the inaugural Tinkerbell half marathon weekend. I've got some pictures, some fun commentary, and hopefully some stuff you'll find worth reading, and if not you won't know til you did anyway so I guess I still win. So without further delay, here we go.

Got up and loaded the car at around 4am on Friday and headed right on over to California. Stopped for breakfast in Quartzite, and did our best to pretend we didn't just get fruit when we hit the border, and then headed straight for the hotel. After checking in and dropping our stuff we went to the parks. Paid the race expo a visit to pick up my bib, shirt, and some inaugural race loot (toothpick holder anyone?) and then headed to the parks. We visited Bengal Barbecue for dinner,

Lara and I at Bengal Barbecue

and then popped over to DCA for a couple rides and some ElecTRONica fun. Finally turned in around closing time and went back to the hotel for the night. All told we did about 11 miles of walking over the course of the day.

The portal opening at ElecTRONica 

 Saturday we were at the parks from around 8 to 9, hit up all the best rides and stopped by ElecTRONica again before meeting up with Amanda to get some food and go back to the hotel and crash early in preparation for the race the next morning. Best advice for food that I came away with for that day is that both the Hungry Bear restaurant in Critter Country Disneyland and the Lucky Fortune Cookery on Pacific Wharf in DCA are quite excellent. The first provided sweet potato fries which were delicious, and the second had both edamame and stir fry with a choice of sauce, we tried the spicy korean this time out but I'm likely to go or the thai curry next time we visit. Did about 13 miles Saturday, though can't be perfectly sure as the data from my Fitbit never made it online, more on that later.

The next morning started early, about 4am to be exact. Got dressed and headed out to the starting corrals.

Me in the starting corral.

As I was placed into corral E due to my lack of a qualifying time and various other factors it was 24 minutes from the starting gun before I managed to get to the starting line.

Talking heads at the start line, with Minnie and Daisy

And then the race was begun, at first with the density of the starting area I was stuck in my starting position and not able to move at anything close to a pace I was happy with, a moderate jog more than anything, but as the roads opened up a bit and people spread out enough I was able to get a bit more clear and my pace improved to something a little more comfortable. After the first couple miles we entered the park and were made to feel like beloved guests.

See the pun up there? It's only the first Disney pun in this post.

The course went through the backlot before it got into the public areas of the park around where the above shot was taken, then went around the matterhorn and past pixie hollow and through Tomorrowland past the Innoventions carrousel back to the backlot. We emerged near the gates to Main Street USA and went up toward the partners statue and the castle.

Following the leaders through the castle

From there the route went up through Fantasyland, where the Lost Boys had taken over King Arthurs Carrousel supervised by Captain Hook of all people, and then around the back of Big Thunder Mountain, perhaps the wildest curve all race. From there it was around the Rivers of America and through New Orleans Square up toward the Haunted Mansion. The cadaverous pallor of some of the runners betrayed an aura of foreboding, almost as though they were apprehensive about the rest of the race.

Only ~900 male runners this year, but there's room for 1000.

A quick jaunt through Critter Country and we paid another visit to the backlot before leaving the park for Downtown Disney and one of the first sets of spectators that weren't the very friendly Disney Cast Members. Downtown was also were I ran past the cheering Lara and Amanda who snapped this picture.

Keeping upbeat and smooth.

After passing the Disneyland Hotel and assembled Red Hatted Ladies we left the Resort property behind for the greater Anaheim area. Up from the park a few blocks to a nice spot to cross the freeway puts us at mile 6, which was when I noticed that I no longer had my Fitbit. Sadly it disappeared between the start of the race and this point. Still holding out some small hope it will get turned in but whatever, if it's gone then it's gone.

Thinking of wonderful thoughts is cheaper than Red Bull

Lots of wonderful sites in Anaheim to see, and a number of school bands and cheer squads to help us keep our spirits up. Over down by the GardenWalk and that brings us to about my next photo at Mile 11:

Just keep running, just keep running...

Crossed back across the freeway to get to the side by the park again around here and headed back toward the parks for the run through DCA. We could see the Tower of Terror a while before we actually got to the park, but the suspense finally gave out and we dropped in for the final stretches of the race.

Haven't lost a guest since last time.

We entered the park around the Tower and then headed up the Hollywood Studios lot toward the construction of Buena Vista Street.

Electrify the boys and girls

After passing through Condor Flats and around Grizzly River we hit the boardwalk briefly on our way to a Bug's Land. After that it was back into the backlots of DCA and around behind Monument Valley and Cars Land as we made our way around to the Simba Parking Lot and the finish line.

You gotta turn with the curve

I finished the race having run the whole time, excepting water stations which slowed me down even if I wasn't drinking at that one, and my splits only improved over the course of the race. My final time was 2:10:17, a time I'm rather happy with for a debut half. Next time out I'm planning to break the 2 hour mark, perhaps a little better than that if I can manage it. After a short recovery at the finish area with some much needed stretching, we went back to the hotel and I took a sorely needed shower. Went to the parks for the day and had plenty of time to ride rides, enjoy some pizza and pasta at the DCA Boardwalk, and participate in a twitter fueled scavenger hunt in the parks that was a lot of fun, though I think perhaps the race medal had started a thirst for more glittering gold.

Don't look into the eyes though, for your safety

It was a bit of a long day, I seem to recall we turned in around 9 or 10 after probably putting in 12 miles at the parks after the race, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I ran my first half in a time I'm not ashamed of, and I actually ran the whole thing. Taking a bit of rest to reset things and get myself back into the right place to start up my next training cycle and see what I can do with what I've learned. And for those of you interested, yes I did the whole race in my Vibrams and all 3 days at the park as well, though Sunday post-race was done in my Classics and not my Komodo Sports as those were in dire need of a wash.

The odor from the other shoes was quite a bother

Last but not least, my weight update. At the start of the race I was at 206.6, down 3 pounds from my last post and 76 from when I started tracking my weight a little over two years back. When I finished the race I was down to 205.4 after having taken in about 82oz of water between seeing the scale, and also that little matter of running 13 miles. So there you have it, a nice race update. Look for another blog update in the next couple weeks I'm tentatively calling the Disneyland Workout. Until then, be the you you want to be.

Weekly Weigh-in (Week 58)

Sunday yet again, and time for my weekly weigh-in post.

Well, this week has been one much like many others. The main difference was that some apartment hunting happened. But I also picked up something for my wife, and got directed at a few blog posts from feeds I read, that got me to thinking about a post for this week. So, here goes.

Take a look at your feet. What do they look like? I don't mean generally, they'll be foot shaped and all, but specifically right now. Do they look like feet or do they look like shoes? Those of you who know me at all can probably guess my answer to that question, they look like feet. For as long as I can recall I spend all the time that I'm at home, and usually at anyone else's as well, barefoot and loving it. It's comfortable, natural, and leaves me feeling lighter and more maneuverable than where I to be wearing shoes. These goals have impacted my choice of casual footwear at least as heavily. My feet developed a deep rich tan matching whatever my current sandals were. But recently that tan line has been changing, a trip to Disneyland helped with that.

What has brought about this change you might wonder, and to what. Well, a change in footwear of course. Around 8 months ago now I picked up a new pair of shoes from the REI that had just opened in Tucson. A pair of Black Vibram Fivefingers Classics. At the time I picked them up to use as running shoes, and that was pretty much their exclusive use for me until mid-January or so. They did very well at that and when it warms up enough that I get back out running in the mornings again they will resume being used for that if things continue as they are now. But last month I started wearing them as my wearing around shoes instead of the Birkenstocks I had been wearing. I don't regret this at all and I don't plan to go back.

Now, a lot of you will look at these and wonder how on earth anyone could wear those. They look ugly you might think, they can't possibly be comfortable, you'll hurt yourself if you run in them, they'll destroy your feet, ruin your arches, etc. Well, I can gladly report that I've found that, potential ugliness aside, after the first week or so there was no pain at all, and the other possible issues were also non-existent. The pain was something I fully expected, and it was much reduced as I had worked out most of the kinks in my stride during my running in them. If you look at most tennis shoes and various other types of footwear you'll likely find that there is a lot of padding in the heel of the shoe and that the insole has a very defined arch built in. These things have a couple of effects. The heel cushioning reduces the impact force of your heel hitting the ground first when you walk in an effort to minimize the amount by which you are damaging your leg joints and hip joints. The defined arch keeps your foot in an arched shape at all times rather than letting it flex downward over the course of your stride. Compare those behaviors to how you walk when you are barefoot, you land further toward the front of your foot (personally, I land on the balls of my feet but others seem to land with the ball and the heel at around the same time) and your arch flexes to absorb impact.

There have been a number of studies on human strides that I won't delve into too much here, though you will find links at the end of this post, but suffice to say that the more natural impact, and the lowest force applied to the joints, happens when you don't land on your heels. As to the arch, the human body is a funny thing about that. While you might think that you need arch support to keep your foot functioning properly, structurally speaking supporting an arch is the worst thing you can do for it. Support in the middle of the arch actually weakens it dramatically, which in the case of your foot means weakening the muscles and tendons in the area and limiting how well they can do their job. In this case that's a very important job. Your foot is built so that the arch acts like a spring, absorbing impact force and then letting it back out when you take your next step. Using this absorption in your arch your stride becomes more energy efficient and you can keep walking or running over a much larger distance.

The Vibrams, and other shoes like them, have almost no cushion on them at all, and minimal structure let alone arch support. This forces your stride into a mode that better mimics the barefoot behaviors, but has the benefit of that rubber sole keeping you from cutting yourself on the glass and rocks that are so often strewn about in our modern environment. I love these shoes and can tell you certainly that they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. They may seem expensive at first, but they are cheaper than the Birkenstocks I was wearing before and comparable to standard running shoes and various other high quality footwear, many of which are far less comfortable.

Speaking of comfort, here's a great example of that. I wore these shoes for 5 solid days of walking around Disneyland with minimal pain, certainly much less than I had the last time I was there for 3 days and had my Birks and a pair of sneakers, which is understandable when putting in that much mileage, even still I felt light on my feet to the point of jumping on and over random obstacles as we traversed the park. I got no fewer than 17 people asking me over the course of those 5 days about my shoes, most of whom had never seen them before, and a few of whom had considered them or just didn't think wearing them to the park was a feasible option. I even ran into one woman who also had the idea to wear hers to the park and we had a fun little chat about them with some other guests waiting near us. Shoes that are comfortable, and a conversation starter. Can't go wrong there. Plus, they are machine washable.

Well, having ditched the weight of my Birks in favor of the much lighter Vibrams has left me feeling lighter on my feet, but has it left me lighter elsewhere? Probably not, but let's see what the scale says about it. 199.5 this week, down .1 from last week. Weight staying fairly steady as is to be expected. Well, that's it for this week, until next week, go out and be the you you've always wanted to be.

P.S. For those of you wondering what it was that I got for my wife it was a pair of the Vibram Jaya's in the Black/Grey color. My only complaint from what I've heard about them so far is that they don't come in sizes big enough I could wear them.

Consolidated research on barefoot walking/running:
Unshod.org Research Page
Harvard's Barefoot Running page - amazingly comprehensive guide to what I'm talking about here
New York Magazine Article on Barefooting

Weekly Weigh-in (Week 43)

Sunday morning again and time for my weekly weigh-in.

This weekend I'm having a change of scenery and visiting some good friends down in Tucson. With good friends come good times, and with that food that while good may not be good for me. But, I'm not worried. I've learned a lot about watching what I eat of late that I feel confident will keep me from any serious pitfalls. This week saw a bit of a plateau in my daily weight that was a tad worrisome to me. Now, I knew there wasn't a real reason to be worried, I've moved past focusing on the daily weight and toward a focus on the more long-term trends in my weight . To help smooth out the randomness that gets introduced by the human bodies fluctuating water levels I use a little bit of stats magic and daily weigh-ins to help give me a better picture of my weight over time. That has been steadily downward, though at varying speeds.

So, with that knowledge giving me the surety that this was if anything a temporary setback I decided that I'd try and see what I could do about it anyway, as 3 days of the same weight felt like good enough reason to try something. So, by accident more than anything, Wednesday and Thursday both ended up including a fairly harsh calorie restriction by the name of intermittent fasting. In neither case did I really feel much hungrier than on a normal day so nothing to worry about there, but I feel like it's helped me power through that plateau from early in the week and might help me see some good results. If so it's likely that the intermittent fast may become a part of my regular regimen for dealing with such annoying weight stability, and if not I may still do it if only because it actually felt rather nice at the time.

So, did my trickery yield results or did my trip to Tucson have more of an impact on my weight than I thought? That is to the scale to decide. 217.8, up 0.4 since last week. So it looks as though my efforts balanced out my weekend at least. Have to see what I can do to power through this flat spot next week.

A Random Crazy Idea

As most likely all the people who will read this via my facebook,  and almost certainly the few who read this via my blog, know, I'm getting married. In case you didn't already know, the likely date is to be next August. Lara doesn't particularly like to fly, and we were both interested in going to the family reunion being held the end of next August in Nova Scotia, so we hit upon the idea of driving. It would be a long trip, but we could use it as an excuse to see a lot of cool things and visit people neither of us sees often.

Why am I telling you this? I've never been to many of the places we'd be driving through, and you might have. As a result you may have useful insight into things that are fun to do. If you do, feel free to post a comment. A Google map of the currently planned route can be found here. And at the bottom of this post I'll drop a list, in order, of the current states/provinces that the route would take us through. In addition to fun things to see, suggestions of places to stay and eat are more than welcome. Those of you who are friends with Lara on her facebook have possibly seen her note about this, so don't feel compelled to post here too.

Italicized states are those that are close to the planned path and as a result we'd probably pass through if we can just to say we did (I'm a completionist like that, have to hit all the states someday :P) Stuff in parenthesis are places we'd likely visit, usually because one of us has family there. We've been tossing around a few alterations to the map, like going through Missouri and Kansas instead of Iowa and Nebraska, but this is what we're looking at right now at least.

So feel free to comment with ideas, telling me I'm crazy, or just whatever.

U.S.
New Mexico
Texas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Georgia (Atlanta)
South Carolina (Greenville)
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Maryland
Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania
Delaware
New Jersey
New York
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine

Canada
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia (probably visiting Prince Edward Island, and Fort Halifax)
New Brunswick
Quebec
Ontario

U.S.
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois (Chicago)
Iowa
Nebraska
Colorado (Denver)
Wyoming
Utah
Nevada
California
Arizona