Category: health & fitness

The Barkley Marathons

On By Rick McIn anti-smoking, health & fitnessLeave a comment

Hardest and dumbest race in the world.

The Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon trail race held in Frozen Head State Park near Wartburg, Tennessee.

If runners complete 60 miles (97 km) this is known as a “fun run.”

The full course is 100+ miles (160 km) (distances are approximate). The race is limited to a 60-hour period, and takes place in late March or early April of each year. …

The full, five-loop race has been completed 18 times by 15 runners as of the 2019 event. …

Jared Campbell finished 3 times. #respect

Click PLAY or watch Gary Robbins‘ – 2016 & 2017 races on YouTube. What a man!

I’m happy for John Kelly too, a 2017 finisher.

Post Corona optimism

On By Rick McIn economics, health & fitnessLeave a comment

Over the past year my main economics / tech guru has been Professor Scott Galloway.

He summarized his thinking in a new book:

Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity

I’ve not been so optimistic about the future since February 2020.

IF we can survive another 6 months or so — psychologically, financially — we could see another boom like the Roaring Twenties.

A new Roaring Twenties.

… a period of economic prosperity … Everything seemed possible through modern technology …

That’s how people reacted after the pandemic of 1918.

We got lucky this time. Vaccine technology has improved so quickly that I’m likely to get the Oxford before having to join the herd immunity segment of the population.

IF the majority of the population has either had the virus or taken one of the vaccines, I might be able to avoid it myself.

IF only 5% of those who were infected have lifelong problems — and most of those not too serious — …

OK. This is the most optimistic scenario.

Hope for the best. Plan for the worst.

I HATE Running

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, hikingLeave a comment

But days are too short in November – January in Canada to do multi-day hiking or cycling trips. I’m stuck with it.

Semi-rad

Right now I’m alternating:

  • Runs up to an hour. Up to 10km.
  • Stairs series
  • 100m sprint intervals

For runs I head off from home towards my favourite park. Turn around at the half way point in time / distance.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

RELATED:

Click PLAY or watch running Parksville in the Spring on YouTube. Flowers!

Click PLAY or watch running Bermuda on YouTube.

Running Stairs

On By Rick McIn health & fitness1 Comment

Just back from 17 days cycling Vancouver to Calgary, more cycling wasn’t going to do much more for my fitness.

I decided to run stairs, instead.

Over time I’ll …

    • Increase the number of climbs.
    • Decrease time for the same number.
    • Switch to 2 and then 3 steps at a time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Stairs are UP ONLY due to COVID-19 distancing.

 

Click PLAY or see Glenmore Park on YouTube.

Related – Running stairs at the University of Florida stadium in Gainesville.

The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson

On By Rick McIn books, ethics, health & fitness1 Comment

The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World is a surprise hit.

“Captivating . . . The Book of Eels is, in the end, not really about eels but about life itself.”  – Wall Street Journal

The European eel has a lifespan of at least 80 years.

It’s a a critically endangered species.

Like Salmon, this eel has a crazy difficult method of reproduction. They must migrate all the way to the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda.

How do you feel about eels?

For reasons that aren’t the eel’s fault — its shape, color, lateral movements, nocturnal nature — you may feel the way I do, which is: Yuck.

Svensson is the most recent thinker to contend with what scientists call, I’m not kidding, the “Eel Question.” …

First, eels are fish, not aquatic snakes. …

Also, after roughly 40 million years on Earth, eels are mysteriously dying off at a rapid rate. Probably it is our fault.

What’s the Deal With Eels?

Stay Safe, America

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, happiness, health & fitness, human rightsLeave a comment

On the 4th of July I want to send best wishes to all Americans navigating dread 2020.

So many challenges. 

American entrepreneurship is best at coming up with new business formation, survival, and growth.  Looking forward to better days.

Fist Bumps, not Hand Shakes

On By Rick McIn health & fitnessLeave a comment

One permanent change from COVID-19 will be more physical distancing of strangers.

On the one hand, it will be more sanitary.

On the other, physical touching does connect people. Hugs. Kisses on the cheek. Even a touch on the arm.

It won’t affect me much as I was already quite frigid. But less touching will be culture shock for some societies.

Running Parksville B.C. trails

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, travel1 Comment

I’ve been in and around Parksville nearly 3 months now during COVID-19.

The Pacific N.W. truly is fantastic for walking, running and cycling year round.

Mostly I cycle.  But running I find to be better, more demanding exercise.

Here’s a tour of some of my favourite trails.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.  (2min 35sec)

My Spring Allergies – MEDICATIONS?

On By Rick McIn about Rick, health & fitness, product endorsementsLeave a comment

In 2020 I tried Diphenhydramine HCI 25 Mg – Kirkland Brand.

They did seem to work. It helped my Dad, as well.

My brother bought Kirkland in the States, inexpensively.  Over the counter. Pink tablets.

Some people do experience side effects.

As I couldn’t find it quickly in Canada, I ordered something that looks identical from Amazon.ca.

More expensive.

Basic Care Diphedryl Tablets,

400 Count

 

I acquired allergies later in life.  In Calgary they start about May 15th, end about July 1st.

In B.C. with a much milder climate, everything is about 2 months earlier. In 2020 I was suddenly mostly better about May 1st.  And stopped taking the pills.

Before this year I mainly treated Spring Allergies by fleeing somewhere else in the world. OR … a combination of exercise and frequent showers.

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

On By Rick McIn books, economics, ethics, government, health & fitnessLeave a comment

The Kongoli virus in the book is much more deadly than COVID-19.

Kongoli kills hundreds of millions. Leads to world wars.

But, for the most part, readers are shocked at the many parallels between this fiction and COVID-19.  

It’s a cautionary tale. And an excellent book.

The central figure is an American microbiologist named Henry Parsons. His personal story is engaging.

Henry tries to discover whether Kongoli arrived naturally like past viruses, or if humans (Putin) had been experimenting with bioweapons.

Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.

In 2007 he won a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. A book about Islamic terrorism.

The End of October is fiction.

Wright’s fictional tale is about a mysterious virus that starts in Asia, sweeps across continents, cripples the health care system, wrecks the economy, and kills people worldwide.

Enlarge this image

“I knew from talking to all these medical experts that something like this was going to happen,” Wright says. “They all knew it. They just didn’t know when.”

Wright began writing the novel in 2017 and turned in his final draft in the summer of 2019.

This Is ‘Creepy’: Lawrence Wright Wishes His Pandemic Novel Had Gotten It Wrong

Wright had started thinking about this plot line after Ridley Scott asked him what kind of disaster could cause what happened in the Cormac McCarthy novel The Road.

Netflix is among the studios considering making The End of October a film.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.