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, of a wake-up call (the ride in) that’s even more effective than a triple Americano at jump-starting your day, of a great way to shake the “I-can’t-believe-I-work-for-the-guy-Dilbert-is-modeled-after” end-of-day blues, of getting a good workout with great health benefits to boot.read more
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 a big difference, trust me.read more
Today, I’m going to camp. Just like with any camp, there’s a mix of nerves and excitement. Excited about learning new stuff. Nerves over performing in front of others. Nerves and excitement over meeting new people.
But this camp isn’t like the camps of summer’s way past, where new lanyard-weaving techniques were learned, where a mangled camp song solo was greeted with water balloons, where the older kids thought up devious pranks to pull on their underlings. This camp is the new approach to conferences, where top down is turned on its ear and the participants vote on what they want to discuss and learn about. Within a topical framework, of course, which for today’s camp is three rapidly emerging areas of health care: mobile health, telemedicine and social health.read more
Have trouble prying your kids from the computer screen to go for a bike ride or play in the yard? There’s an app for that. Or there will be if enough enterprising programmers heed the Apps for Healthy Kids competition being sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! program.read more
“Don’t look at it as, ‘Here’s where I am,’” Lesley Richmond tells me. “Look at it as, ‘Here’s where I need to be.”
Lesley has had to quickly slip into fitness grief counselor mode after I’ve learned that I am a 175-pound weakling. After trying to squeeze the life out of a hand-held strength measurement device for 15 seconds, the device has laughed in my face (is that sand in my eyes?) and dubbed me “below average” when it comes to “muscular strength.”
“But I do strength training!” I plead in what even I recognize as a pathetic suggestion that the device can’t possibly be right. Even more pathetic: The hordes of other folks doing this five-point fitness assessment offered for free by Be Active North Carolina are taking far worse news with far more grace.
Be Active NC is a non-profit founded in 1991 by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Its goal: to get North Carolinians off the bench and into the game. It tries to reintroduce the concept of physical activity into the public schools with its Just Push Play and Energizers programs. It tries to get inactive adults moving with its Be Active Steps program, which encourages folks to walk the recommended minimum of 10,000 steps a day by giving them a pedometer and place to log their walks. It goes after seniors with its array of Be Active Aging programs. And it goes after everyone across the state with its Be Active Van, which goes everywhere from the Lexington Barbecue Festival to the North Carolina Pickle Festival to let people like me discover not where they are, but rather where they need to be.read more