Tag Archives: Tokyo Olympics

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THIS IS A SPORT???

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

 

Caleb, with his wife and dog, Jane

My name is Suzanne and I am an Olympic-olic.  Yes, I admit it.  I had many Walter Mitty moments while watching Olympic games these past two weeks, fantasizing that if only I had practiced more I could have been an elite athlete.   That’s preposterous, of course.  I was on a swim team in high school and the coach only put me in when we were either so far ahead or trailing so hopelessly that my entry into the water was not going to affect the outcome.  Still…I remain fascinated by all Olympic sports and swimming in particular.  During the games that just ended I rejoiced in every race that Caleb Dressel swam.  In addition to being a very admirable athlete, I have heard from someone connected to the team that he is also a really nice guy.  Plus, I saw an interview with him in which he said that he tries to be better in anything he does so that he can be better at everything he does, including being a good dog dad.  Wow.  How can you not like a guy whose aspirational goal is to be a better dog dad?

Although I focus on the swimming events, I also like gymnastics.  Again, in high school and college I took classes in the balance beam and uneven bars.  Just like in swimming, my gym career was not destined for anything but bruises.  At least in the water I had buoyancy going for me.  The pads on the gym floor were not so forgiving.  Still, the experience left me with a keen appreciation for what the gymnasts are able to do.  Tim Daggett, the former Olympic gymnast who was an announcer for the events, kept reminding us that the balance beam is only as wide as the average cell phone. I bump into walls around my house on a regular basis so I’m pretty certain that the balance beam is outside of my wheelhouse these days.

I found myself watching at least some of every sport over the past two weeks – Argentina vs Turkey in fencing,  Slovakia in the race walking, and the U.S. in everything.  Some of the sports have been around since the first Olympics and some made their debut this year.  I consider myself pretty open-minded when it comes to sports but I had a hard time wrapping my head around one of the new entries: street skateboarding.  The official description of the sport describes it as a competition held on a straight street-like course, featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches walls and slopes.  I watched the women’s final of this event and could hardly keep focused on it.  The competitors would jump onto a handrail and – most often – crash to the ground.  It got me to wondering how people ever get good at this sport.  First, most places now ban skateboards from shopping centers and malls.  So I imagine that unless the competitors have one of the new skateboard parks nearby, they improve their skills by terrorizing people wherever stairs and benches exist.  Second, from the litany of broken bones they talked about, I would think they don’t have much time to practice between hospital visits.

I guess I just have to learn to go with the flow.  If the young kids like these sports then I’ll just sit back and watch them participate.  My Olympic dreams are now reduced to getting out of the recliner without falling over.  Who knows?  If they ever have a Geriatric Olympics that includes Recliner Acrobatics, I could be a contender.

Posted in opinion

LIVING WITH A NAG

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My very first nag

My very first nag

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

I’ve been thinking about my brother this past weekend, what with him scaling Machu Picchu and all.  We both like to walk, although putting our “walking” in the same category is like comparing Kohl’s to Nordstrom.  He goes for the big stuff (who can forget his wonderful posts from the Himalayas?) while I’m a bit more lazy down to earth.  I huff and puff riding up an escalator, so climbing mountains is definitely not my thing.  But for the past five years I have worn, in succession, an Omron pedometer, Jawbone Up band and a Fitbit Charge.  My goal with each of them is to walk 10,000 steps per day, which works out to about 4.5 miles.  Although the technology has varied among these devices, they do have one thing in common: they all nag.  There is nothing worse than checking my Fitbit mid-day only to discover that I’ve walked a measly 4500 steps.  How can I sit down to read or knit or watch a movie when “the nag” on my wrist is shouting “Get Off Your Ass!”?  Okay, maybe it isn’t really shouting at me but that’s what I hear in my head.  In general, it’s a good motivator.   I tell myself that by walking extra steps I am able to indulge in more cake, although I’m not sure that’s the intent.  The other day I got to wondering what is so magical about the 10,000 step standard.  The results of my research were surprising – and ultimately, depressing.  So, I thought, why not share it with our readers so I won’t suffer alone?

The beginning of the craze

The beginning of the      craze

It turns out that the origin of 10,000 steps per day as a health guideline started in Japan in the 1960’s, right around the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  Apparently walking became a national “sport”, perhaps to show the world how athletic and health conscious they were.  At the time Japan was blessedly free of the U.S.-based fast food joints.  They consumed much less animal fat and fewer calories overall than most nations.  Even today, with the advent of a McDonald’s on the Ginza, the Japanese eat a healthier diet than we do;  I think it’s safe to say that Japanese television doesn’t advertise Triple Bacon Chili Cheese Deep Fried Taco Burgers.    Anyway…back to the 10,000 steps.  With the advent of the walking clubs a daily walking goal was proposed as a marketing gimmick by a company that invented a pedometer, or as it’s known there, a man-po-kei. “Man” stands for ‘10,000,’ “po” stands for ‘step,’ and “kei” stands for ‘meter’. Ten thousand, it turns out, is a very auspicious number in Japanese culture so people thought it good luck to walk that many steps.  For the Japanese, who consumed about 2600 calories per day back then, it magically resulted in improved overall health and weight loss.

Probably should be illegal in 47 states

Probably should be illegal in 47 states

The 10,000 step craze started picking up steam in the U.S. about 20 years ago when that pesky Surgeon General said that, as a nation, we were becoming too fat.  That led to the “30 minutes of exercise a day” suggestion and then it was a quick downhill slide to the 10,000 steps phenomenon.  Americans started walking more, buying pedometers, and expecting to lose weight.  But there was one snag: the average American consumes about 3800 calories every day, much of them unhealthy calories.  Which leads one quickly to the conclusion that if we’re consuming 30% more calories than the Japanese did in 1964, then we need to commensurately increase the number of steps we walk if we want the same results.  I consulted with the fitness instructor at our club, hoping she could make sense of it.  Alas, when I told her I was walking 10,000 steps a day she said, “Well, that’s good. But if you really want to lose weight, you’re going to have to walk at least 13,000.”

I can tell you right now, I’m not going to walk 13,000 steps per day.  And I’m going to continue to eat cake.  I’d rather be nagged by the device on my wrist than be like all those people on the Titanic whose last thoughts were “Damn!  I wish I hadn’t passed on dessert.”