I once told someone I could tell how I was doing mentally by my last mountain bike ride. If I’d taken an aerobic ride on fire roads — one where I could go relatively fast without paying much attention, one where I could let my mind drift — I was doing pretty good. I was still doing pretty good if the ride was half fire roads, half more aggressive, aggression-relieving…

We’d been on the water less than an hour when Marcy had a small epiphany regarding a work problem she’d been wrestling with. “I guess that’s why the boat’s called a ‘Perception,’” she said after sharing her breakthrough. Other good names for recreational kayaks: Insight. Enlightenment. Not-A-Thought-in-My-Brain. Personally, I paddle the NATIMB because that’s what happens to me when I slip into a long stretch of peaceful flatwater. A paddle…

I’m already running behind this week, even on the big news, which is … this is Bike to Work Week. Since I try to keep these posts to a readable length, I will not attempt to extoll the assorted virtues of riding your bike to work. Of the money you’ll save on gas, of how a bike and its rider emit far fewer pollutants into the atmosphere than a car,…

So, what did you do first thing this Sunday morning? Have a cup of coffee? A bagel? Read the Sunday paper in your bathrobe and slippers? Me? I dove into 15,000 gallons of ice water. Technically, “ice water” may be pushing it. According to the duck, it was 65 degrees. To put that number in perspective, jump into the ocean during your summer beach vacation, then subtract 20 degrees. It’s…

What would a Hare Krishna do? Not a question I ever envisioned asking myself, but I did this morning during a 30-mile bike ride in rural Orange County. Earlier on the ride, Alan and I were heading east on Arthur Minnis Road, about to turn left onto Borland Road. We were riding single file, me in front, Alan on my wheel. As the turn approached, Alan looked back, saw a…

OK, I’ve heard enough kvetching of late about the weather. Or did I mean to say I’ve done enough kvetching of late about the weather? Either way, the weather of late has been less than inviting. However, as it is wont to do, the forecast that midweek called for rain and cold throughout the weekend has changed. Today is now supposed to be sunny and seasonal. Based on the tinge…

“What was that!?” a woman in our group asked. It was a question we all would have asked, if we hadn’t lost our collective breath. The noise had come from somewhere not at all far behind us. It emanated from a living creature, that much I could tell. And it was by far the loudest, most attention-getting noise I had ever heard emanated by a living creature. The ground shook,…

Thursday looked like it was going to be yet another day that I would shortchange myself on working out. I’d been in the latter stages of a book deadline crisis for the past three weeks, my every moment occupied with writing or fretting over why I wasn’t writing. My ability to get out for a ride, to take a long run, to go for a night hike or to hit…

Another reason to exercise: It’s good for your brain. That’s hardly a revelation. Anyone who exercises knows, for instance, that even a short 30-minute workout can boost your mood for the rest of the day. But just how extensive the relationship is between exercise and your brain may come as a surprise. That relationship is the subject of “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain,” by John…

I can almost guarantee that your resolution to be more active in 2010 will last at least through New Year’s Day. That’s because there are way too many activities scheduled to keep you on the move. Sure, some fall into the intense category. The Triangle Scuba Group plans to dive the frigid waters at Fantasy Lake at 10 a.m. The North Carolina Bicycle Club plans to get together for a…