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Jogging Tech

Image by Lyn Millett via Flickr

Technology Thursday

We all look for motivation to exercise wherever we can find it. I wrote a long post over at my blog the other day about my recent foray into the Couch to 5K running program. There are several things I'm using to keep myself motivated, not least talking about it publicly in places like Twitter, Facebook, my own blog, and now here! But one of the things that is helping a lot is technology.

First, of course, is the music.

I've found a couple of great podcasts that people created just for this particular running program. The one I'm using is Steve Boyett's PodRunner First Day to 5K podcast. He's made a bunch of mixes that provide audio cues to indicate that it's time to switching from running to walking or back again. He also changes the beats per minute as appropriate as an additional hint as to whether to be jogging or walking. It's music that I would probably have never come across otherwise, too, so that's been fun.

Second, is data collection. I installed the NikePod software on my iPhone, bought a sensor for my shoe, and have been collecting the data on each session and having it transmitted to the NikePlus website where I can jot down notes about my runs and see how today's run compared to yesterday's or last week's. One very amusing thing I discovered: If you set a personal best for the mile (as far as the NikePod is concerned), Lance Armstrong's voice will sound in your ear and congratulate you.

Angry at Tiger Woods? Get Over It.

Family Friday

Facing an uncharacteristic wait at the dentist's office last week, I passed the time with not one, but two People magazines, each devoted to the Tiger Woods kerfuffle.  The minutes flew as the drama unfolded, and I actually found myself annoyed when I was called before completely finishing the sidebar about Tiger's alleged mistresses.

Tiger certainly didn't embezzle anyone's life savings, nor has he murdered anyone.  It's really just another infidelity story, but somehow it has captured international attention.  The shock factor definitely plays a role - after all, while no one was surprised when Charlie Sheen's latest marriage imploded, Tiger always seemed above the fray.  But still, the attention seems disproportionate to the situation.

For me, and for many, People magazine and the like provides escapism, and as medical office managers will tell you, boredom + escapism = fewer patients kvetching about the wait time.  And reading about the travails of the glamorous beats worrying about how much work you're missing.

But there's more to it than escapism, of course.  Common in general (and particularly so in adult children of alcoholics, for some reason), projection is a defense mechanism in which we see and criticize our own faults in other people.  Just like the proverbial pot and kettle, when faced with an unpleasant truth about ourselves, we sometimes accuse others of that very thing.

As you grew up, did you notice that the people most critical of others' weight were typically fairly rotund themselves?  Or that the most jealous boyfriends were actually doing more of the cheating?

The Melbourne Cup – Not Just Fascinators and Horse Raci

Travel Tuesday

The Melbourne Cup, one of the premier international horse racing events of the world, has been run today. And luckily we, Daughter and I, were invited to attend. Apart from the actual horse races run over the 4 days of the Spring Carnival, the Melbourne Cup is almost as importantly about dressing up, making an effort, you watching people watching you, and learning many life lessons. With this taking place whilst many are beautifully decorated (well, most of the time, although some do look like they should be out doing Halloween), Filly's and Freshmen, in Fascinators and Fedoras, Frocks and Fandangles.

It's very handy when such a prestigious event happens in your hometown. Fortunately, where others travel the world to attend, locals like us just have to jump on the train, and before too long be at the track with 100,000 of our closest friends!

Touted as "the race that stops a nation," it's one of the greatest days on the sporting and social calendar – the one day when everyone, young and old, stops to partake in this unique cultural event. It is now so ingrained in the Australian culture, that Crikey! we even have the day off work for it! But while Australians all over the continent (and expatriates too, I suspect) take part in the celebrations, nothing compares to being there to witness another chapter in this enduring story.

The $5.65 million (AUD) Emirates Melbourne Cup is the richest handicap race in the world and the centerpiece of the Melbourne Cup Spring Carnival. The history of the Cup dates back to 1861, where it was founded offering modest prize-money and a hand beaten gold watch. The uniqueness of the race stipulated handicap conditions and a distance of two miles.

It is a race built on dreams, on hard luck and triumph. It is also a race survived by tragedy. But while the Cup continues to evolve it will remain the greatest 3,200 meter horse race anywhere in the world and, by the nature of the conditions, arguably the most challenging to win.

Media Coverage of Top "Tennis Mom" Kim Clijsters: My "Motherhood" Problem

Work Wednesday

Photo by Mister-E via Flickr.

I've never been the tennis type - a deficit dictated by my unbelievable lack of hand-eye coordination and several unbelieving tennis instructors. So, I have to admit that, until a few weeks ago, I had no idea who Kim Clijsters was. Then, I started seeing lots of articles about her return to tennis competition, at age 26, following the birth of her daughter, Jada, 18 months ago.

By the time Clijsters won the U.S. Open on Sunday, I was a fan. (I still didn't actually watch the matches, though.) And so, apparently, were a lot of of my favorite working mom writers and bloggers. See, for example, Working Moms Against Guilt here, The Motherlode (from The New York Times) here, and About.com's Working Moms here. Their main sentiment - "Kim, you rock!" 

I'm certain that Kim does, in fact, rock. It must have taken a lot to pull off a top career accomplishment with a toddler in tow. I'm less positive, though, about all of the hype about her motherhood status. 

The headlines themselves - the Washington Post's "Mother of All Comebacks" and dozens of similar, trying-to-be-clever plays on "mother", "mommy", and "mom" (e.g,  "mom-entous") - signaled the media's focus on "mommy Kim."  While I think it's terrific for girls and women all over the world to see that some women (sadly, not me) can be mothers and high-performing athletes,there's a part of me that thinks Clijsters' motherhood status should be irrelevant. After all, there have been very few articles (with one notable exception) focusing on career implications of fatherhood for "daddy Roger" - the No. 1-ranked men's tennis player, Roger Federer, who became the father of identical twin girls in July. (Of course, Federer didn't actually give birth.  His wife did.) Still, the fact that Clijsters is the first mother to win the tournament in 30 years, suggests that titled tennis moms are not the norm.