I was thinking I’d just had a bad day on the wall. Then I opened my climbing journal to record my workout and discovered that my last workout, a week earlier, had been “a bad day.” Likewise, the workout before that, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, had been “somewhat aimless.” Aimless and anti-productive, I discovered upon further review: Had it really been nearly two months since I’d…

While most of you are staring down Day 3 of your 2012 New Year’s resolutions, I find myself with less than five months to go on my annual birthday resolutions. Make that “first” annual birthday resolutions: When I turned 55 last May 11 I got to Googling and discovered that 55 is a somewhat pivital year for a male. Among other things, our muscles and organs begin to atrophy; we…

Since it’s never too early to start making weekend plans, we give you our weekend planner a day early. Coast Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock — Scratch that — been spending too much time on all-Christmas-all-the-time radio. Make that Jingle Bell Run, as in the third annual 5K sponsored by the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History this Saturday in Wrightsville Beach. Speed is good, holiday costumes are better…

I was reclining in the endodontist’s chair yesterday afternoon, my mouth going mercifully numb, awaiting a surprise root canal and eavesdropping. “Did you get lunch?” one dental hygienest asked the other. “No,” answered the second. “I bought a dress that’s a size too small and, well … .” She went on to explain that she’d bought if for an event on Friday — the day after Thanksgiving. “ ‘at’s a-mer-a-ble,”…

Yesterday, I was scheduled to do an 8-mile training run on single-track trail. I also had a boatload of work to do. But the night before, I’d done the math: 8 miles on trail, that’s about 1 hour and 20 minutes at my current pace. Add in 20 minutes of travel time to and from the trailhead and I was looking at an hour and 40 minutes (OK, an hour…

The weekend gets off to and early start (today) with the six-day Wings Over Water at the coast. Coast If you’ve ever thought about doing just about any kind of exploring at the coast — from birdwatching to paddling a swamp to howling with (or for) wolves, here’s your chance. The 15-year-old Wings Over Water, a six-day celebration of any thing and any place wild in eastern North Carolina, gets…

New trail opens along the Eno River, there’s a hike on some of the state’s highest trail and there’s a run on battleships at the coast. Piedmont We don’t normally recommend ribbon cuttings, but when that ribbon cutting is part of a chance to hike 1.5 miles of virgin Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which connects with another 8 miles of what might be the sweetest hiking on the Eno River — coupled…

The hardest part of a race? Anymore, it’s just getting in. This morning, at 7:59, I sat at the keyboard, my right index finger poised of the Enter key. In the window of my browser was this address: http://www.sportoften.com/events/eventDetails.cfm?pEventId=7902 — the site to register for the Feb. 4 Uwharrie Mountain Run. The site was set to go active at 8 a.m. today, Nov. 1, 2011. 7:59:57, 7:59:58, 7:59:59 … 8:00!…

Ever since Christopher McDougall sought to salvage his own running career and in the process launched the minimalist running revival with his 2009 bestseller, “Born to Run,” fence-sitters have wondered: Does running barefoot — or nearly so — work? Quick catch-up: McDougall was an avid runner. Like many avid runners who entered the sport in the 1970s, he was an avid heel-striker. And like many avid heel-strikers as he entered…

There’s something for everyone in North Carolina this weekend: a triathlon at the coast, looking down for fall color in the Piedmont, taking the Great Pumpkin Mountain Challenge in the high country. Coast Thought your triathlon season was over? How about one last event — this Saturday’s Emerald Isle Triathlon. This is a slightly longer sprint distance tri: 750 meter swim in the Atlantic, 19.3k out-and-back bike ride along NC…