The stress of coping with Covid has caused a surge of calls to mental health support lines and strained many relationships to breaking point. That's not dissimilar to what happens case by case when one of a couple has cancer.

Fear and anxiety burn people out, and how they respond to their burn-out can be misinterpreted by those who would like to help them.

The fact is that not everyone wants help, at least not the kind of help that well-meaning others may want to give. The difference in needs creates tension which adds to the stress and ultimately makes things worse.

​At the gym I see lots of middle-aged people spending lots of time in the aerobics room, and few of them building strength in the weights area. Those that are in the weights area are more often than not sitting on machines taking a rest.

It's not hard to conclude that most people past 45 don't place a high value on all-round body strength. Yet, all round body strength is one of the most fundamental physical assets that will help them improve their quality of life - and their longevity.

And my observation over 22 years at the gym is that, in particular, most midlife women limit their understanding of "exercise" to cardio like biking or running. The idea that they could actually become strong perhaps seems absurd to the point that it never strikes them as a real possibility.

But more than men, women 50+ need strength training to regain essential components of their degenerating musculoskeletal system.

A recent study reported decreases in sexual activity among adults in the US aged 18-44 years (comparing 2000 with 2018). The percentage of 18 to 24-year-old men who were sexually inactive in the past year increased from 18.9% in 2000-2002 to 30.9% in 2016-2018. 

That is a 64% increase in men 80 to 24 not having sex in the past year - that is "sexually inactive" meaning not one sexual partner. Similar trends in sexual inactivity appeared among individuals aged 25-34 years but not among individuals aged 35-44 years.

I was recently browsing Youtube watching World Championship Karate sparring championship fights - Kumite (Japanese: 組手, literally "grappling hands") - as my daughter is competing in this sport.

On one match there were a bunch of bro-comments dissing the karate fighters. The consensus was that karate fighters wouldn't stand a chance in a real street fight as it was all theatre.

​There's a grain of truth in those comments. Martial arts were about defending yourself and disabling your attackers.
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If there were multiple attackers, then your survival demanded that you inflict as much damage as possible on them to bring the odds back to your favour.

I only started running at Xmas time 2018, so that's about 15 months ago. I'm probably not what runners call a runner. I run 5km twice a week to supplement my gym exercise program.

And although I've perused many articles online, I've never read a running book.

I'm a curious person. Running For Women popped up as a suggestion in my Thriftbooks app (because of the many other exercise and fitness books I've bought).

I thought to myself, why not learn more about running, and also from a woman's perspective to see what differences are important to know (and might give me extra knowledge to help others).

I'm glad that I did. It's a very practical book. I notice on Goodreads it only has 4-stars, but I gave it 5-stars.

Here's a summary of things I think it covered really well.