Her Sports + Fitness Magazine

Don't Turn Back the Clock

A recent article published in The New York Times Magazine has been stirring up a lot of controversy about girls’ participation in sports. In “The Uneven Playing Field” author Michael Sokolove highlights the frequency of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries of girls, particularly in the sport of soccer. He traces the narrative of one particularly competitive Florida soccer player who has already endured two ACL operations and is driven to push herself harder despite previous injury. But this story has a subtext.

I was quite disturbed by how subtle the agenda of the article was. At one point the author explains the anecdotal increases in ACL injuries by saying, “It is part of a national trend in the wake of Title IX and the explosion of sports participation among girls and young women.” His lack of scientific evidence and reliance on hyperbole is troublesome. He even admits that “comprehensive statistics on total sports injuries are in short supply… for younger athletes, the numbers are less specific and less reliable.” The bias is further evidenced in the headline, which reads: “Everyone Wants Girls to Have As Many Opportunities in Sports as Boys. But Can We Live With the Greater Rate of Injuries They Suffer?” To suggest that young women need protection from their own choice to pursue athletics, quite simply, smacks of paternalism. And it’s even worse that it’s cloaked in concern.

I would never object to a story that sheds light on a problem for female athletes, and I do believe that there are physiological differences that affect women’s bodies and performance in sports—in both negative and positive ways. In fact, I believe we probably need to do more research in that area. That’s fine, let’s have that discussion and teach our girls how to be healthy and strong—and ultimately better athletes.

Here’s what I propose: Let’s counsel girls and their families about the risks and put more focus on injury prevention. Programs are already being developed to help girls strength train to prevent injury, such as the PEP program, develop by researchers in Santa Monica. This seems reasonable, unlike implying that women should refrain from sports solely because they might get hurt.

The New York Times Magazine has published this as a preview of a longer article due out in June. They have a choice to make: continue to let Sokolove make gigantic logical leaps or have a well-rounded discourse that includes a discussion of the benefits that sports offers girls. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation these include: A reduced risk of diabetes, depression, obesity, anxiety, low self-esteem, heart disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis.

How have sports impacted your life? What are your thoughts on this controversy? –Jeana Durst

Healthy Snack Attack

I’m usually pretty good about packing snacks for work, but
lately I’ve been very busy (or very lazy), and haven’t made it to the store to stock up on nutritious munchies.

Then, I got a bag of the SnackTrition Sea Salt Cashews touting that they were “healthy baked with fiber.” I was suspicious: Don’t cashews naturally have fiber?

They do, according to USDA, but SnackTrition cashews pack three times the punch of dietary fiber.

And that healthy-baked idea sounded a lot blander than my usual dry-roast mix, but it turns out that the dusting of sea salt is so flavorful, you don’t miss the extra 80 calories per serving. If you’re looking for a quick pick-me-up during the day, these beat most any vending machine fare.

Scrapes under Cover

In the interest of testing products, I crashed into the pavement during a recent run so I could test some Nexcare Abrasion Covers (at least, that’s my story). I had a race coming up, and the throbbing gash on my knee and scrapes on my hands weren’t going to improve my time, so I dipped into a multi-size pack.

The covers claim to be water- and sweat-proof and to last for up to seven days, but after about two days, the patch on my knee had to be replaced. The covers on my hands fared better, though, and really saved me as I punched away on the keyboard at work.

However, the real test was during my 15k, and I must say that these covers were lifesavers for my knee. The Cover was ultra thin and flexed with any movement without losing its grip. And I never had to worry about sweat or dirt getting into my wounds -- in fact, I felt like hadn’t injured my knee at all, from start to sweaty, exhausted finish.

-- Tiffany Wendeln Connors

Mudslingers Conquer Muddy Buddy Orlando

On Friday night we headed to Orlando and did some last minute costume-crafting for our Muddy Buddy race the next morning. Team Mudslingers did something that our normal journalistic-selves wouldn’t be caught dead doing—we bought every trashy National Enquirer-type publication we could get our hands on. Then we cut out choice headlines and pictures to cover our race shirts and bike helmets. Think “Hillary Kidnapped by Aliens.”
    The next morning at Disney’s Wide World of Sports we found a big crowd of people (2,500 participants) with costumes much more outrageous than ours—there were Elvis sightings and orange-cone-headed girls dressed as traffic cops, complete with mustaches. It felt more like a carnival than a race.
     The total off-road course measured 6 to 7 miles, and as we moved up toward the start line, the first men’s waves began finishing and we started to hear course reports. “It’s easy! There’s no sand on the trail,” one racer reported (and lied, as we discovered later). And the comment that struck fear in Jeana’s heart, “ there’s a huge brown thing floating in the mud pit!”
    Finally, our wave reached the start and we split up as we would for the rest of the race, alternating running and biking and trading off the bike after each of the four obstacles. Jeana stayed up front ready to bike, while Kristin headed to the back of the wave with the rest of the runners. Here’s what each of us experienced.

LEG ONE
JD: I pedaled furiously into the unknown with unbridled enthusiasm, completely caught up in the race-start excitement.

KH: The first leg of the run reminded me of my high school cross country running days, looping around a big grass field and along drainage ditches. I passed a cyclist whose bike pedal had fallen off and thought, “thank goodness that’s not Jeana!” I was so excited to finally be running that I reached the first obstacle—a climbing wall—in what felt like just a few minutes.

LEG TWO
JD: After dropping the bike in the transition zone, I ran for what felt like forever. My after-bike spaghetti legs were barely doing the job, and it donned on me that I may have pushed a little too hard on the first bike leg. It didn’t help that I had to make a detour to the restroom. Note to self: Save the water chugging until after the race.

KH: I grabbed our mountain bike, marked with a bright orange bandana we tied around the handlebar, and took off, zipping around the runners. But my speed was short-lived: very quickly I hit thick sand and dirt and had to use a “Granny Gear” to keep the bike moving forward.

JD: Kristin passed by me on the bike and shouted, “Go Mudslingers!” My first instinct was to respond, “I hate you for making me do this,” but instead I gave a half-hearted wave.

KH: By the time I reached the second obstacle, I was out of breath and sweating. I hauled myself up the cargo net and then got to relive my elementary school days by flying down the inflatable slide.

Muddy Buddy Training

Our first Muddy Buddy race is now less than a week away, and yesterday The Mudslingers (Jeana and I) met on Tampa's Friendship Trail for a race-like workout. We started out just as we will at the race: Jeana on the bike and me on foot. Jeana took off, peddling furiously, as I plodded steadily behind. She looped back to me about 10 minutes later, and we switched places. Because we'll have to wear our bike helmets for the entire race per Muddy Buddy rules, we ran with our helmets on, earning lots of stares from other runners. I imagined one of them thinking, "Wow, that girl must be really clumsy!"
    Our hour-long workout went by quickly with the constant flip-flop from running to biking, and we came up with a great costume idea to go along with our team name. But we still aren't sure exactly what we've gotten ourselves into ... all we know is the 6- to 7-mile course has 5 obstacles of some sort and a mud pit at the end.
    So we'd love to get the inside scoop about this race from Muddy Buddy pros—before our imaginations (and fears) get the best of us. Anyone care to share any tips or race day advice for two Muddy novices?