Friday Randomness – Nov. 4

Another week, another list of links.  And in my case, another half-marathon.  Yes, that’s right. I am running another half-marathon this weekend.  HOWEVER. I am not running this one – the Wild Horse XTERRA Half Marathon – for time.  Instead, we are going to leave behind our iPods and our Garmin and just enjoy being able to spend time with each other in the woods of Hillsborough County.  I’m very much looking forward to it.

But in case you hadn’t heard, a lot of people will actually be running seriously on Sunday in New York City.  I guess they are having a big race or something?  Who knows with those crazy New Yorkers.

Without further ado, this week’s links:

A collegiate runner named Caitlin Lane was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year.  Obviously, this is excellent news for her, but it’s also awesome because, guess what?  My maiden name was Caitlin Lane.  And guess what else?  She’s a journalism student, just like I was.  And guess what else?  She wants to have a career as a writer.  She’s like a more successful younger version of me!  FREAKY.

Sally at Already Pretty talks about measurements, and how little they can tell you about a person’s body:

And even though you’ve now got a whole bunch of details about my body, you still don’t know everything. You don’t know how many vegetables I eat each day, or how much weight I can lift, or how far I can run without getting winded. You don’t know anything about my medical history or the various ailments that affect my weight, eating, and overall health. You don’t know my body fat percentage or BMI, and neither do I because I don’t consider either to be tremendously helpful figures.

Remember this post next time you look at the scale with dismay.  (And really, consider just getting rid of the thing altogether.)

Earlier this week I wrote about the disgrace that is the Lingerie Football League, but I also know that more and more women want to play tackle football.  Thanks to the Women’s Football Alliance, you might get a chance.  Tryouts are being held in each of the 64 cities that have teams.  Check out the league’s website for more information.

Lady boxers are all in an uproar after the Amateur International Boxing Association advised them to wear skirts while competing. Why?  So spectators can tell the men and women apart.  Seriously. Girlboxing has a great rant about the news.  Here’s another good post on the topic, from MMA fighter Cheryl Ragsdale.

And because the question of female athletes in skirts is a topic that won’t die, here’s a post about that very topic by Amy Moritz, who recently got back from the The Girls & Women in Sport and Physical Activity Conference hosted by the Tucker Center.  Two presentations, about swimsuits for older women and running skirts, caught her attention, and I like what she had to say:

[In] my book anything that helps get people out and moving, that connects them to a place of being healthy and joyful, is good thing. whether they’re running in a skirt or traditional Nike shorts.

The Dodgers recently broke a glass ceiling in pro sports by naming Sue Falsone as the team’s head trainer.  She’s the first woman to hold this position in any of the four major professional sports in the United States.  Her assistant trainer is also a woman.

Carla writes about the importance of savoring food, which then leads into a meditation about savoring every part of your life.  As someone who is constantly trying to apply mindfulness to my day-to-day life, I found this very inspiring.

In an interview with NPR, Mindy Kaling called dieting an “American pastime for women.”  Funny, and yet sad.  I hate diets.  I really do.

Which brings me to this post by Melinda at Melinda’s Fitness Blog, in which she writes about what she learned about food from MTV (seriously) and why diets don’t work.

I love the story of 49-year-old Phyllis Reffo, who walked on – and made! – the Pepperdine University swim and diving team.  She credits her daughters with inspiring her to go back to school.  And if you check out the photo on the story, prepare to be awed by Reffo’s incredible arms.  Wow.

Hiring Erin Gloria Ryan (aka MorningGloria) to work for Jezebel was a great move, and not just because she asked me to take part in a piece on weight training for women.  It’s also because she produces great content like this post, entitled “Why Women Runners are Punk Rock.”  In it, she writes about incredible pioneering runners like Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, Bobbi Gibb, Kathrine Switzer and Joan Benoit Samuelson.

JB of Sassyfrass Circus shared this eye-opening post about the connections between an anti-facial hair cream for women and African sleeping sickness.  JB is a fellow zinester who does a lot of excellent work around gendered ideas of facial hair and this is right in line with that.

And finally, here is one of my favorite things I read this week – an interview with the youngest diver on the US Antarctic Program.  Danielle Woodward is 23 years old and her job is to help with underwater research in one of the coldest places on earth.  It’s fascinating and I am kind of jealous, despite being a total Florida wuss.