Gristle Traditions

Finally the holidays are coming to a close.  I’m sure our holiday traditions are no different than any of yours.  We start off by putting a can of Diet Coke in the freezer on Christmas Eve so that Santa will have a refreshing low-calorie beverage while visiting our house.

When the kids wake up on Christmas morning, we make sure to put the traditional Christmas coffee mug full of that piping hot libation close to the presents and wait to see who will be the first to knock it over

Finally, we wait for the guests to come and then when they do, we splash their food all over the refrigerator in order to celebrate their arrival (it was Panang curry, not puke).

There is one person who we put in charge of all of these activities each year and she never disappoints us

The next day, she demonstrates how to play the traditional Boxing Day game of Recycling Diving for Gift Cards

Christmas is a lot of work.  Next year we are inviting Cesar Millan to start working with her a little earlier in the year…

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Of course, gift giving should not be a contest but when you hit the ball out of the park as cleanly as I did this year, it is ok to brag.  Normally I am good for a new blender or, in a really good year, a new vacuum for the little Missus but this year….Bam!  Customized iPhone cover!  Valentines Day is coming, kids http://www.getuncommon.com/

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The quest for a new shoe has ended as well.  Santa wrapped them for me but I picked them out myself after much research.  The good thing is that I ordered them from Roadrunner so I get to try them for up to 90 days.  I can certainly understand why the local shoe stores can not offer this service but what a great service it is if you are trying a shoe for the first time and are uncertain of how things will work out.  I have not run in a shoe by Brooks for many moons but this one had all of the things I was looking for: lightweight (8.7 oz), cushioning in the forefoot, low heel, decent color, wide toe box.  I’ve tried a few test runs and so far I like what I smell that the Rock is cooking

I am going to end my hibernation. I think my foot is good enough to try an easy race at the Resolution Run on Sunday.  I for sure will not be gunning for a PR but it will be good to go out and run a 5k.

Speaking of 5k’s,  I was driving downtown on Thursday and saw this car with their 3.1 sticker on the rear window and it struck me as amusing.  But should it?  Is a 5k any less worthy than a 26.1?  Not in my world

Not in my world…

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I have heard it both ways with my Science Fridays.  Some people love the opportunity to read articles on running that they would never bother to search out and read anywhere else.  But there are other readers who only read when the story mentions them.  You know who you are.  This story, will not mention you.

Since this is the time of year for goal setting, I figured this article would be a good start to getting that goal to become reality.  F staying injury free, F PR’s and F balanced approaches to life.  I wanna go to London, baby!  Since I never click through on the links, I just copy the whole article.  Read it or don’t.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228444.300-smart-guide-to-2012-how-to-win-at-the-olympics.html

Smart Guide to 2012: How to win at the Olympics

• 27 December 2011 by Jessica Hamzelou
• Magazine issue 2844. Subscribe and save

All top-level athletes – and we’re thinking of the 17,000 that will descend on London for the Olympics in July 2012 – will probably have the optimal genes to compete at their chosen sport. They will have been training for years, and their diets will be finely honed. But it is in their minds where medals will be won or lost.

It’s only in the last decade or so that psychological training has been recognised as equally important to sporting success as the physical side.The psychologist to the British Olympic team runs twice-monthly sessions for athletes in the final year of the run-up to the Olympics. A pair of psychologists in Israel implement a four-year programme of psychological training with their athletes, which starts as soon as the last games finish.

Medal-winners tend to be those who are best able to control their emotions and focus their attention, and are brimming with confidence, motivation and optimism. The idea of psych-training is to help athletes reach this state of mind through strategies such as goal-setting, imagery, simulating the competitive environment and even talking to themselves.

Psychologists will also be considering the finer details of the athlete’s environment in the run-up to their moment in the spotlight. What kinds of information are athletes given during their stay in the Olympic Village? What is the wording like on notice boards? Every detail counts.

Of course, the best athletes also have the right genes. A sprinter or long jumper might have a certain form of the gene ACTN3 as it leads to more fast-twitch muscle - the kind required for short bursts of strength and speed. Endurance athletes commonly have a version of the NRF2 gene which optimises VO2 max - the upper limit of a person’s oxygen consumption.

So winning is just a matter of having the right expression of genes, putting in years of physical training, and honing the mental toughness needed to succeed. But not everyone can win. So perhaps some athletes will need psychologists to help them cope with losing – not that we should even mention that word until after August.

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