A bike study to watch

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is sponsoring and conducting a new exercise study at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, about cancer survivors that involves the use of a stationary bike.

Previous studies already show that cancer survivors after treatment may experience health risks, including psychological distress, decreased aerobic fitness, increase in body fat content, and other ailments affecting the physical body itself, according to a fact sheet on the study.

This exercise study will compare the benefits of Tai Chi versus stationary bike cycling (aerobic exercise) on cancer survivors who will participate in the 12-week study, aided by fitness experts and instructors.

Tai Chi Chuan (the formal name for this martial art form that derives from ancient Chinese medicine dating back to the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644) combines breathing exercises to create what the study refers to as "moving meditation." If you've heard of it, then you've probably read that it can improve a body's flexibility, muscle strength, balance, systolic blood pressure, cardio-respiratory fitness, and reduce psychological stress and symptoms of arthritis. Likewise, aerobic exercise, such as stationary cycling is known to improve cardiovascular fitness, decrease coronary risk, and lower cholesterol levels. Both exercises may benefit cancer survivors, but studies have never been conducted to compare the two.

It will be interesting to me and my own BIKE work to see the results of this study--not so much for the cancer survivor benefit but to see if the scientists see a mind-body connection in both exercises as I do. Since that's not what they're looking for, it could lead to yet another study.

If you have any thoughts about the mind-body connection or would like to share your own experience with this, please post a comment.

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Thanks for joining me today.

Slow day

Whew!

I just completed the first chapter in my first book--a travel guide called Backroads & Byways of Arizona. It'll be published by Countryman Press in 2009. I'm waiting on edits so I can complete the remaining 11 chapters. It's going to be quite the feat to finish by February 1 (How's that for alliteration?), as it's not just the chapters I have to write, but I also have to compile all of the photos, find a map and highlight the routes, write the acknowledgements, the table of contents (after I organize the chapter), and a bunch of other details that the publishing company has written down in style guides. They e-mailed me three different ones. It'll be a lot of detail work when I get to that point. And I still have two or three more trips to take, and maybe a few short reminder weekend travel days to schedule in. I'm not sure yet.

But now that I met the deadline on this first chapter, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed. I now have no immediate deadlines, no immediate assignments to work on, and no need to feel rushed. That's a weird feeling for me. Not to feel under the gun about a deadline? It's crazy. Yet nice.

I have a list of things to do, of course. There's always plenty to do, but no rush.

Ummmm. So this is what a slow day feels like? Nothing. Very strange. I'm even going to have time this weekend to go shopping with my daughter for a few presents for my son's new baby--due also in February.

Since she'll arrive about the same time as my book deadline, I'm thinking that's not good timing on her parents' part. At least it doesn't take into account my deadline. I won't be leaving this house in late January, I hope they know, until the book is turned in. So good thing this is my son. My daughter would kill me if I weren't there for the birth. She's already pretty much told me that. But I'm hoping I'll be there for my son, anyway. Still, the timing thing could be tricky. There are no delay allowances for a book project. Not this one, anyway.

And now that my days have slowed down a bit, these are the kinds of things I'm thinking about. I've now got time to think. I've also been doing a bit more marketing than I had been. I've been able to fit in about 10 pitches to several magazines in the past week. That's a good thing, to try to stay ahead.

When you have a slow day, or a down day, or whatever you call it, how do you stay busy?

If you care to weight in, post a comment. I'm curious to know how you are able to manage the down time when no one's on your back. Are you using your BIKE? If so, which parts?

The impression a sky makes

Today I woke up to a cool, crisp Sunday morning. Standing in front of a window, concentrating on work I have to do this afternoon, I nearly missed the view. Even though the shade was open at my Arcadia door upstairs in the loft, even though the sky was right there in front of me, I nearly missed it. I had to take a second look.

And there it was.

That open desert sky. The one with the purple, blue and yellow layers of color, cloud puffs off to the side, palm tree outlines in the forefront, mountain ridges in the distance. It's a lovely sight, and I nearly missed it. I had to take a second look. I'm glad I did. I'm glad I noticed. It's etched now in my brain, those colors, that vision. It took my breath away, just for a second. And I was reminded that you can't see beauty if you don't look.

"It's a beautiful day," I'm thinking now, remembering the words Bono sings..."don't let it get away."

Make 'em earn your trust

Trust. It's an issue on my mind today as I think about a publication that I once wrote for fairly regularly and now have crossed it off my list. The reason being: lack of trust.

This is a highly regarded magazine. It regularly receives top honors. I thought these people who headed up the magazine were my friends. But the new editor is not a contributor's friend.

My words are my commodity. I sell words to make a living. When I enter into an agreement with an editor or a publisher, I sign a contract and expect both parties to abide by this agreement. For this particular publication, I've never had trouble with them before and never expected to have...until the last few years when they've experienced editorial changes in leadership. These new leaders, apparently, don't respect their contributors very much, as they seem to think what they've purchased to print in the magazine is theirs to use as they like. That's just not true. Copyright is a very delicate and important issue. It's importance becomes even more apparent when it's violated, as I'm learning now.

We, this publication and I, had to deal with this several months ago, when I discovered they'd violated my copyright by printing an article of mine (that they'd purchased for one-time online use) in a different publication altogether, that they had sold it to this publication, without my knowledge, without my agreement, without paying me for this additional use. And they weren't making any effort, that I was aware of, to let me know. I found out by accident.

When I found this out, I called them on it, and they subsequently paid me for their gaffe. But I did have to go into a lengthy explanation about the copyright they had originally purchased, and I had to listen as they tried to convince me they had a right to use the article has they had, which I knew, in fact, they did not. I spoke to one of the editors with the contract in my hand, going over it with him. To top it off, I was stunned to discover they didn't quite get it. But after several conversations, they seemed to understand. I was eventually asked what I'd charge for this second use. So I quoted what I thought was a fair price, and after several accounting issues, I was paid. That was that.

But no, that's not exactly the case.

The copyright issue has come up again, only this time, with different articles. I have recently discovered the magazine has gone digital, and my print stories are now online. In this case, the opposite has occured. These articles were sold to be used in print only, not in digital or online format. Ugh!!! I do understand that publications are, more and more, buying all-rights, and this is making it difficult for writers like me to be able to sell reprints, but at least we know what we're getting into when we sign these contracts. There's no secretiveness involved. But this particular publication, again, had not been doing that when I was writing for them regularly. It seems they're going that way now but forgetting that one minor detail--the contract.

At this point, I'm thoroughly disgusted with the editors on this magazine staff right now. They have proved they do not respect their contributors. They have proved they do not care one whit about rights. They have proved they only care to work at saving a publication that has been losing subscribers for several years now--by going digital, I guess they must think they'll attract more readers. But they're going to lose their writers and perhaps their photographers.

So here comes my BIKE to the rescue.

I am using my Best self to move forward on this issue. I'm also using my Inner strength to hold off from reacting, to work on my response, instead. I'm using my Killer instincts in realizing I have rights, and they once again violated them. And, finally, you can bet I'll be using my Expressive voice to let them know they will not get away with this.

I gave them my trust after our first controntation. I assumed they'd earned it at the time. I believed they had simply made a mistake, as they argued. I believed they should have known better, but I chose to believe their "excuse." The second time, not so much. I am inclined to believe they knew exactly what they were doing the first time and were only trying to get away with as much as they could. Same with this second instance. It's disgusting. They've trashed the reputation of a perfectly good magazine for me. I will no longer be able to see it in the same light. I will no longer subscribe. And I will no longer submit ideas to them. Not that it will matter to them one bit, which is too bad, but it should. And I'm sure I'm not the only writer to feel this way. In fact, I know I'm not. Again, our words are our commodity. It's how we earn our keep.

Bah! This is all so unfortunate.

So I ask you: Has there ever been a time when your personal integrity has been violated in this way, when the trust you too easily gave someone was broken? How did you respond?

Ten miles a day

Ten miles a day on my bike. That's my regular routine exercise these days. I go through phases, though, where I might pick riding. Or I might walk. Or I'll hike up a mountain. But I must do something physical.

I've learned to pay attention to what my body wants and needs. It wants and needs exercise. Without it, I lack the energy I need to get through the day.

That once made no sense to me whatsoever. I wondered, how can you gain energy by using it? Why wouldn't you just be more tired? But it's like this: The more you do something, the more you get used to it. And if it's good for you, all the better. I just didn't want to see it that way back then. I was stubborn.

But I exercise now because I know I must. It's no longer me who's stubborn, it's my body. My body requires it, demands it even. If I let my body down and try to skip a day or two or more, my body lets me know about it. THAT'S when I'm tired. THAT'S when I lack focus. THAT'S when I do less than what I can. "Hah!" My body says to me, "You can go without exercise, but if you do, I'll make you pay!"

And so it is. I follow orders.

I nearly proved my body wrong once, though. When I first started riding my bike in 2002, I was beat after a ride--and those were short rides. No more than two miles. They killed! But then they didn't. It didn't take long, maybe a month or two, before my body wore my mental toughness down, allowing me to actually enjoy and look forward to the rides. My body made me change my focus to a more positive one. It tricked me, really.

It tricked me to the point where I can now say that two miles would never do anything for me. That would be like me saying I'm going to enjoy a bag of jelly beans, but I only eat two jelly beans--Just two, out of one of bag, the same color, even. Hel-lo! Where's the enjoyment in that?! Two would not be enough. Not. At. All. And the same color?! Bah!

But ten jelly beans, now you're talking! I could actually enjoy 10. It wouldn't be too much. I could eat 10 different colors. I could make a pattern and eat two of five colors. I could even eat all 10, all at once. With 10, I'd have enough to get creative.

It's like that for me with 10 miles on the bike. With only two, I can only do so much. But with 10 miles, I can change things up. I can create something with that. And it gives me time to think, to relax, to create a pattern, to veg out, to get a good enough work out that I'm sweating. Ten miles isn't too difficult.

But it's still going to be a good enough ride. I've learned what works for me. Ten miles on the road gives me the oomph I need to muscle through a difficult assignment back in the office. It helps me get away from a bothersome contract or digest a challenging issue that I might need to address but would rather not. It gives me the time away, the freedom to let my mind wander and think through what I need to do. In two miles, I would not have time for that. I would be rushed.

These are good reasons to take up riding. These are good reasons to give yourself 10 miles a day. It's good for your mind, body and soul. It's a BIKE path worth taking.

What do you think?