Late last September I was backpacking a particularly rugged, remote section of the Nantahala National Forest when I entered a clearing and my legs went electric. I knew immediately why: bees, lots of ’em, all digging into my apparently tasty ankles. And I knew immediately that my trip was over and it would behoove me to skedaddle as quickly as possible. Over the years I have developed an allergic reaction to bee stings, and as is the case with bee stings each successive one tends to be worse than its predecessor. The last time I’d been stung, the previous summer, a bee flew into my nose while I was mountain biking. Within minutes my face had swollen to the size of a basketball.
Spring starts Sunday. Get a head start Saturday
Run, paddle, ski in your shorts. They’re all options this weekend.
Coast
It may be too late to sign up (let alone train) for the 2nd Annual Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Marathon, but you’ve probably got at least a 5K in you. Just south of Wrightsville Beach, in Carolina Beach, you’ll find the 7th Annual Steve Haydu St. Patricks Lo-Tide Run benefiting one or more cancer patients and their families. (If you’ve got more than a 5K in you there’s a 10K as well.) Starts on the beach, ends on the beach. Registration starts at 7 a.m., the 10K at 8:45, 5k at 9. $27. Go here for more details.
Triangle close to 50 miles of connected greenway
The Triangle’s greenway system is a tiny step closer to becoming a complete network.
Joe Godfrey, parks planner with the Town of Cary, tells GGNC that a 1.3-mile missing link of the Black Creek Greenway should be finished mid-April. The stretch would extend the existing 5.6 miles of Black Creek Greenway running south from Lake Crabtree to Chapel Hill Road on to Maynard Road. A short stretch of the sidewalk/greenway will run alongside Maynard before it crosses High House Road. From there, Godfrey says another short missing link should begin construction soon and will link with existing greenway into the heart of Bond Park.
DST: Let the after work fun begin
Sunday, one of the kids asked how Daylight Saving Time came to be (a disgruntled kid, I should add, since she’d be waking for school an hour earlier the next morning). I spared her my discourse on a subject I’m peculiarly fascinated by and gave her the short version: Several countries adopted it in World War I as a way to save coal for the war effort. Most dropped it following the war, resumed it for WWII, then, to a large extent, stuck with it.
Seven habits of people who lose weight (and keep it off)
Who better to listen to when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off than people who have lost weight and kept it off.
The National Weight Control Registry was started in 1994 to identify adults who have lost weight and kept it off. Specifically, the registry’s 6,000-plus members have lost at least 30 pounds and kept if off for at least a year. Recently, they were asked how they did it and seven common themes rose to the top. Warning: None of these will make you slap your forehead and say, “Aha! So that’s how you do it! You’ve likely heard all of these before, and you’ve heard them because, at least for the 6,000-plus members of the National Weight Control Registry, they work. Without further jabber, the seven common themes for weight loss are: