Archive | November, 2009
Knowing when to fold ‘em
The key to continuing to enjoy an activity? Don’t intentionally put yourself in a position to dislike the activity.
I left Cary early this morning for a week of backpacking in the Smokies. In the throes of trying to wrap up a book on backcountry exploring in North Carolina, the trip was both pleasure and work [...]
Healthy holidays? Take a class
30. November 2009
So you like the idea of starting a fitness program during the holidays rather than waiting until the holidays are over and the damage done, but you need something with structure? Starting a walking program, as we’ve discussed, is good, but if you need something to hold your feet to the fire (or treadmill, as [...]
Continue reading...Hikes You Can Do: Jones Lake State Park
29. November 2009
Initially, I planned to do these Hikes You Can Do through Thanksgiving. But since I’ve been pushing hiking and walking as a good way to stay fit and sane over the holidays, I’ve decided to extend them through year’s end. So what’s a Hike You Can Do? It’s not a long hike (though we may [...]
Continue reading...Recommended reading: the biggest losers (really)
27. November 2009
If you’re debating whether to go the extreme, quick-results road with your New Year’s Resolution (which started yesterday, remember) or adopt a healthy, lifelong lifestyle, check out a New York Times story this week on past contestants on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” As you might expect, the long-term impact for many of the contestants over [...]
Continue reading...Happy New Year!
26. November 2009
OK, so today isn’t the start of the new year, traditionally the time when we vow to change our slothful ways. It may not be the start of a new year, but you should think of it that way.
Starting today and continuing through the end of the year, our lives tend to change. This afternoon [...]
An up and down day in the Blacks
24. November 2009
Getting to the top of the mountain is great. Getting back down even better.
I realized that, again, today after finally conquering — after two unsuccessful tries — the Woody Ridge Trail in the Black Mountains, then starting back down the east-facing flank I’d come up. Coming up, pristine blue sky above, clouds in the distant [...]
A wily sales pitch
23. November 2009
It was billed as a mountain bike race. It was actually a shrewd bit of marketing.
Officially, Saturday’s 6 BC was billed as the second in a series of four, 6-hour endurance mountain bike races sponsored by the Triangle Off-Road Cyclists. And while there was indeed a race (these results prove it), it was also a [...]
6 BC by the numbers
22. November 2009
Here’s a numerical look at yesterday’s 6 BC endurance mountain bike race sponsored by the Triangle Off-Road Cyclists.
First, the basics:
6 — Course length, in miles.
6:00:00 — Number of hours to complete as many laps as possible
73 — Number of racers.
8 — Age of the youngest rider, Cedric Clyburn.
5 / 5:09:46 — Number of laps and [...]
Live, from Briar Chapel …
21. November 2009
A reminder that I’ll be tweeting live today from 6 BC, the second in the Triangle Off-Road Cyclists’ four-race, six-hour endurance mountain bike series. (Whew! Hope I’ve got more lungs for the race than I had for that sentence.) The race is a coming out of sorts for the new trail network at Briar Chapel, [...]
Continue reading...Sweet. Innocent. Disturbed.
20. November 2009
One of the many things I like about taking a long ride, run or hike is that it purges my mind of life’s daily distractions — bills, deadlines, squirrels. The resulting void clears vital space for creative thinking, for random thoughts, ideas and whatnot to bubble up from the subconscious and get some air time. [...]
Continue reading...
30. November 2009
0 Comments