Operation Elderly 20's: The First Legit

I have heard that doctors make horrible patients. I assume this is true. I pretty much assume that anything I do is truth, so let's run with that. Thus, I rode my bike before my Nov. 1st doctors appointment. It was only 12 miles, but man did it feel good.

I feel like now is a good time to  talk about easing yourself in to working out.

What the viewers think

I'm more just curious to see what you think of the blog, as a reader, what do you like, hate, and why did you stop by?
drop a comment below.

quick perspective on barefoot fury

A lot of people have a very diverse outlook on barefoot running. I'm not providing my own opinion at this point, but rather one random musing. Really, there have been very, very few legitimate scientific, peer reviewed studies on this particular topic, so it'd be very, very unprofessional to give expert opinion at this point. I'll probably end up giving it any at some point.

The calcaneus (heel bone) has a special are called the neutral triangle. It's were the trabeculae (bone scaffold) meet at a particular angle such that they transfer forces beautifully. From the heel forward. Further more, equinus, or the condition of walking on your tip toes all the time, leads to a whole cohort of problems later in life. It's something to consider, by no means definitive.

I do, however, fully agree with the ideas of Cody Lundin. He advocates a barefoot approach to survival and hiking in general. I understand where he's coming from, by going barefoot he's forced to go slow. I like the idea. I personally wouldn't like to walk through the jungle, leishmaniasis and all, but I understand it.
Check him out here

The Dirty Breakfast

And now I'm breaking into backcountry/camping recipe topics!

Dirty and super easy, this recipe is about as user easy as possible.

1. buy bob evans sausage and gravy mix
2. buy premade biscuits
3. heat the mix
4. crumble in biscuits
5. eat

too easy... kinda sad... and really not great for backpacking. So...

Marmot Summit Hat. You will be sorely missed...

 Mrs. J steals the Marmot Summit Hat, Denali National Park

Last winter I lost a dear friend, my Marmot Summit Hat. He fought through the washer valiantly, but somehow managed to sneak into the dryer. I can only imagine the pain of being dried as a wool hat, but I gather that it can't feel good. He currently resides in box somewhere, waiting to be worn by my son when he eventually grows a head somewhere between the size of a toddler and a 12 year old.

Flector! Broken Ribs! Torn Cartiladge! Days Without Pain!

By no means is this a medical diagnosis or a promotion of a product. I'm not even sure if I can legally do this. If I can't please tell me so and perhaps do it in a way where I don't go to jail. I'm not paid to do this, I have no affiliation with whatever pharmaceutical company makes Flector patches, but whatever.

photo courtesy of flectorpatch.com

Vest help

I'm looking for some advice on a trail running vest for this coming winter season. To give you an idea, my body runs like an absurd furnace when I'm actually moving, but as soon as I stop, things get pretty chilly. It makes for some crazy layering questions winter hiking, but things are pretty straight forward running. Typically I rock shorts, longer wool socks, gore-tex shoes, a tech t, then a long sleeve tech t. This works great until wind or precipitation hit. I then go to either my Marmot Gravity softshell or my Precip. These both tend to have me overheated in about... 10 minutes of running, even with pit zips wide open. I also run in light gloves, and hardly ever a hat. This is for long runs too, looking at 12-16 miles plus.

I'm looking at the Mountain Hardwear Transition Vest, but I'm curious to hear other input. I'm not really looking for a windshirt, like the Marmot DriClime, but am open to suggestions. I'm also open to free stuff. Free stuff which I will review and extol it's good graces. This statement will probably never reach the desks of people who could potentially make that happen, but none the less, as a broke medical student with a baby on the way, free stuff is the bestest!

Thoughts on a vest for running and mountain biking? Needs to be highly visible, breathable, windproof, and DWR'd.

Hit me with some suggestions!

Marmot Exum. Only One Complaint.

I've been putting off writing this review for a while. Why? You know when you love something so much that your heart hurts to say something bad about it, especially in public? It's just hard to say something mean about anything you love so much. I'll get back to that point after I extol all of the Exum's good graces.

They're Back!

Many trail runners probably already know this. Black bears are back in North East Ohio. Personally, I've seen a lot of evidence of it, from poo to paw prints. Never a direct sighting, but sometimes you just know something deep in your bones. This I know.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/newsnet5/newsnet5_ts3812

Anyways, what's a trail runner to do if they happen to round a corner and make friendly with a black bear?

1. These aren't the bears of lore. These bears are affectionately known as Pennsylvania Shy one state to the east. Typically, you won't have a problem. In fact, you're incredibly lucky if you do actually see one.

2. As soon as you've made contact, make yourself as big as possible. Do nothing that seems threatening, like yelling and making eye contact. Also, don't make yourself look like food. Don't cower, don't bend over, and don't run away.

3. Back away slowly, talking, looking big, and don't make eye contact. 99% of the time this works.

3. Black bear are different than grizzly. If they do charge, most likely you're food. Run. Drop your pack as a sacrifice. Assuming all this doesn't work so well, fight like hell. I can't describe anything better than that. You're goal at this point is to injure the bear, this way you won't die.

4. Most of charges are because of people splitting a mom from cubs. Don't do this.

Seriously, your chances of dealing with a bear are significantly less than dealing with dogs. I've had to ward off dog attacks thrice on the trails, never dealt with a bear. Enjoy your run!