Nike and Lance Armstrong

Seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, doesn’t have to ride a bike. He chooses to because he knows what people facing cancer go through each day. He understands the struggle and the fear. He wants to make a difference.
So no matter what you may think of Armstrong’s comeback this year, this ad from Nike [...]

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Age Defying

I’m showing my age.
At least parts of me are starting to reveal my 40-something-ness. And while my spirit and mental age might be 36.8-years-old (according to results from this test on realage.com), other external signs sing a different tune. I urge you all to take the test, by the way. It’s simple, yet revealing.
Many [...]

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Century Ride Preparation – Sort Of

I’m not an avid cyclist. I enjoy it. It’s a hobby to me. In the course of a summer, which is short here in Minnesota, I may log 1,500 miles on my bikes. I know that’s a small number compared to the die hards – heck it’s small even compared to some casual riders I [...]

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Day 1 of 30 Days – The Obesity Epidemic

True or false: A recent National Institutes of Health study estimated the annual medical spending due to obesity (BMI >25) in the United States to be as much as $92.6 billion in 2002 dollars – or roughly 9.1 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures.
Scary isn’t it?
So what are we doing about obesity? Not everyone [...]

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Having Your Nachos And Eating Them Too

I’m 195 pounds of flesh, bone, muscle and…sadly…a tad bit too much body fat hanging off my 6′2″ frame.  I’m also 42, which is not an excuse, but an explanation.
You see, at 39 and 40 I worked hard and built myself into really good shape. A proper combination of height, weight and musculature. It took [...]

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Running

Since December, I’ve basically been running indoors.
Finally, today, it was still 40-plus degrees outside at 5 p.m.  So, I raced home, threw on the running gear and hit the street.
Wow! What a difference running outside can do for your motivation.
Spring? Bring it on!
-end-

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Training Update

After working diligently through January (missing only a handful of days without a workout of some kind), I tested my efforts this morning.
First, to set the stage, the roads and trails in Minneapolis are still ice and snow covered – especially the trails.  Last weekend we enjoyed 40 degree days, followed by sub zero temperatures [...]

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Training

I completed my first indoor BRICK this evening, spinning for 40 minutes (15.5 miles) and then running two miles in 20 minutes. I’ve got a long way to go on accelerating my running pace, but hey, it’s all progress at this early base-building stage. Swimming will start in another 30 days. Until then it’s just [...]

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Friday Philosophy – Shivering

This morning, during my commute to work, it was 8 degrees Farenheit. And that, my friends, is going to be the Twin Cities-area high temperature for the next several days.
Yeah, you read that right. Today’s balmy 8 degrees will be followed tonight with a low of -6 coupled with 30 mph gusts of wind. Add [...]

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Exercise Commitment: A Daily Allowance

Seven days into 2008 and, proudly, I can say each day has included exercise. Just 14 more days to go and I’ll have my habit back in place. How many times have I gone through this cyclical thing?
Exercise and fitness become more and more important to our health as adults age. Conversely, it becomes easier [...]

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