July is the peak of training and racing for all amateur athletes. Chances are, if you're training for a marathon, triathlon, adventure race, or any other competition, you're wearing shoes that are a few weeks or months old.
AthleticMindedTraveler.com is on a crusade. We seek to revolutionize the way hotels describe their gyms by identifying which properties truly provide "state of the art" fitness centers. And, on behalf of our fish-like friends, we're on a mission to help hotels understand the difference between a "lap pool" and a recreational pool. For some reason, the hotel industry incorrectly believes that a hole filled with concrete, a few hundred gallons of water and a splash of chlorine amounts to a lap pool. Not quite.
Ahhh, finally the entire country is experiencing consistently warmer weather again. This means convertibles come out of the garage in the northeast, boats are launched in the midwest, snow melts in the mountains, and rain turns to 'shine in the northwest.
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99% of our blogs are original content written by a member of our editorial staff. Occassionally, we come across a story that hits so close to home for our members and readers that we have to simply link to it. Here's a great New York Times article (written by Ray Glier) discussing triathlon's rise in popularity among the college crowd: Triathlon Finds a Fountain of Youth
In addition to its grueling course with rolling hills that line up like passengers boarding a Southwest Airlines flight, Boston Marathon's extreme weather conditions are another element that contribute to the race's high degree of difficulty.
In 1961 and 1967 Boston Marathon's weather du jour brought snow squalls and farenheit temperatures in the 30's. The hottest temperatures ever recorded were in 1976 (mid 90's) and 2004 (86F at the finish).
Participants in this year's race (Monday 4/16) will likely experience all that Mother Nature has to offer...except extreme heat.
In the spirit of the Grammy Awards--what a fantastic show that was last Sunday night (no lip-synching, no gratuitous profanity/nudity, etc.)--we thought it would be fun to nominate a few of our favorite sweat tunes.
What makes a good workout song in our view? It must be motivating (slow tunes put us to sleep). It cannot be too long (6 minutes or more of any song is overkill). And, it has to be clean (profanity first thing in the a.m.
No, we?re not about to have an intelligent debate on oil and natural gas exploration. We read enough opinions on the topic in the newspapers?still can?t understand why more environmentally friendly drilling hasn?t begun yet?
And, fortunately for you, we will not be discussing the annual (preferably semi-annual) cavity discovery at the dentist?you don?t need teeth to suck down Gatorade and swallow gels, do you?
Athletic-minded skin takes a beating. Sweaty workouts, chlorinated pools, chafing winds, and the sun's UV rays, all contribute to the de-moisturizing and wrinkling of our epidermis; the skin's top layer. Now, I'm no skin care nut/expert; until a year or so ago, I didn't even know there was a difference between body and facial soap. But, after learning about the damage that we athletes can do to our skin and the resulting problems (e.g., deadly melanoma for one), I now wish I would have started a skin maintenance program earlier in my life.
Okay, did I just write that?
Did I make a wrong turn? In my very early morning daze, I was a little confused. The entrance to my local gym suddenly resembled some sort of security checkpoint. What was this the Pentagon?
Okay slight exaggeration, BUT, entering in my 10 digit phone number and using my index fingerprint to get through the turnstile is pretty high tech for a quick sweat. And this is just a regular 24 Hour Fitness Center?not ultra, not even sport.
Did your friend/relative who completed a marathon this year inspire you to try one yourself? If you?re contemplating joining the ranks of marathon finishers, but not certain which race to run, consider the following best marathons for first time beginners.
