Good Thursday to you all. Can you feel the big swing in temperature??? Yep, going from -30C to -23C is a change. You have to love how our weather swings though. Last weekend we went from +12C to -30C in a little over 24 hours. This weekend we are swinging back to +3C for Saturday. Who knew we could enjoy such a good weekend?

We have enjoyed two good trots on the north side of town so this weekend we will slide south to enjoy some southern comfort. Let's meet at the Mallard Point Day Use area in Fish Creek so we can enjoy a trip around Lake MacKenzie, Cranston, Deer Run, or perhaps Riverbend and Quarry Park. See you there at 9 am for anywhere from a 5 km to 15 km trot! If you don't know where this is, head east on Canyon Meadows Drive all the way to the end. Mallard Point is the easternmost end of Canyon Meadows Drive.

We have explored two new trails over the last two weeks. Where would you like to travel next. I would love your feedback!
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While the weather is improving, I saw this story about chilly workouts and thought it should be shared. A few years ago a number of us ventured out in the cold (-50C with wind chill) for a short jaunt which became known as the Freeze Willy run. A little willy was indeed frozen, but not the way you are imagining (clean your mind!) OUr buddy Willy had a zipper from his jacket that was touching his chin. The zipper froze and caused a small patch of frostbite on his chin. The exposed flesh was fine as your breathing actually keeps most of the frostbite away.


When you are out and about just remember one rule: the more clothing the better. You can (and will) unzip to cool yourself in these frigid temps. But the first ten minutes you will need that little extra protection until the internal combustion engine that is your body provides the heat to keep you comfortable in these extreme temps. Cold is not that bad if you can get by the first ten minutes. Just ask our trainees that are in the Territories. The coldest I heard one of our friends train was -57C. She could only use her treadmill so much while training for the marathon in Disneyworld. She survived and surprisingly found the HEAT of Florida as her biggest challenge. Okay, Joy will recall that the heat was right around the freezing point.


If you have questions about your gear give me a reply...

Conquering the chilly workouts of winter

Local residents practise yoga after a snowfall at a park in Wuhan, Hubei province January 6, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer

The short days, the weak sun, and the warm beds of winter can wreak havoc on your fitness routine.

As the outside temperature plummets, so too can the will to brave the elements for outdoor exercise. Experts say as long as you layer up, drink up and tune into how cold is just too cold it shouldn't impact your fitness.

"Come with a different game plan for the winter," advises Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

"Motivation tends to wane a bit, so explore different activities, including things you can do in your own home. Have a flexible approach to your fitness routine as the weather changes."

If you're keen to exercise outside in all seasons, says Matthews, learn to dress for workout success.

"Wear layers. That's really important when it's cold outside and make sure you're not becoming wet. Heavy cotton soaks up sweat, so you might want to stick with wool or polyester: something water repellent."

Matthews suggests a first layer of lightweight synthetic.

"The second can be a little heavier, but still avoid heavy cotton," she said.

And don't leave home without hat and gloves. Heat loss from the head alone is about 50 per cent at the freezing mark, according to ACE's safety tips for cold weather.

Keeping hands and feet warm is crucial because in cold the body shunts blood away from the extremities to warm internal organs at the center.

"In temperatures below zero, consider a scarf or face mask, kept loosely over mouth, to warm the air a little bit before it gets into your body," Matthews said.

Sometimes it's just too cold outside.

"Check the air temperature and wind chill factor before exercising in the cold," Matthews said. "Data from the National Safety Council suggest that when the wind chill factor falls below -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 Celsius), a danger zone exists."

Hypothermia is a potentially fatal condition. Warning signs include light-headedness, dizziness and lethargy.

"Those are the beginning stages," Matthews said.

Most people are not likely to forget to layer up in the cold, but they will more easily neglect to hydrate.

"It's too easy to forget to hydrate in the cold, and it's so important to stay hydrated in winter," said Matthews. "You are going to sweat."

She suggests drinking up to 20 ounces (0.59 liters) of water two or three hours before working out.

Deborah Plitt is a trainer with the Illinois-based equipment company Life Fitness, which recently broke down the calorie burn of 30 minutes of winter activities, such as sledding (250 calories), ice skating (230 calories), shoveling snow (230 calories).

"Of course there's a lot of wiggle room (in the calculations). It's based on an average woman of 145 pounds," said Plitt. "And sledding and snow shoveling depends on whether the snow is wet or fluffy."

Plitt said the point is to stay physically active, regardless of the weather, even if that means just taking the dog for a walk (125 calories).

"They're mixing things up; they're enjoying what they're doing," she said. "And believe it or not you burn more calories when you're shivering."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Conquering+chilly+workouts+winter/6002389/story.html#ixzz1jwAG0fCd
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Though it might feel like you just finished taking down the Christmas tree, here at the AWA office we are already gearing up for the 21st Annual Climb and Run for Wilderness. What better way to welcome the New Year, or warm up on a cold evening, than to start to plan for this years event - I know even thinking about climbing 802 stairs is enough to make me sweat!
http://climbforwilderness.ca/registration.asp
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I am not advocating that running is the be-all end-all of choices, but I always enjoy points of view that make you think and understand our bodies just that much more. Thanks again April for your input.

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120105131655.htm

Why People Choose Running Over Walking

ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2012) — Other than Olympic race walkers, people generally find it more comfortable to run than walk when they start moving at around 2 meters per second -- about 4.5 miles per hour.

North Carolina State University biomedical engineers Dr. Gregory Sawicki and Dr. Dominic Farris have discovered why: At 2 meters per second, running makes better use of an important calf muscle than walking, and therefore is a much more efficient use of the muscle's -- and the body's -- energy.
Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the results stem from a first-of-its-kind study combining ultrasound imaging, high-speed motion-capture techniques and a force-measuring treadmill to examine a key calf muscle and how it behaves when people walk and run.
The study used ultrasound imaging in a unique way: A small ultrasound probe fastened to the back of the leg showed in real time the adjustments made by the muscle as study subjects walked and ran at various speeds.
The high-speed images revealed that the medial gastrocnemius muscle, a major calf muscle that attaches to the Achilles tendon, can be likened to a "clutch" that engages early in the stride, holding one end of the tendon while the body's energy is transferred to stretch it. Later, the Achilles -- the long, elastic tendon that runs down the back of the lower leg -- springs into action by releasing the stored energy in a rapid recoil to help move you.
The study showed that the muscle "speeds up," or changes its length more and more rapidly as people walk faster and faster, but in doing so provides less and less power. Working harder and providing less power means less overall muscle efficiency.
When people break into a run at about 2 meters per second, however, the study showed that the muscle "slows down," or changes its length more slowly, providing more power while working less rigorously, thereby increasing its efficiency.
"The ultrasound imaging technique allows you to separate out the movement of the muscles in the lower leg and has not been used before in this context," Farris says.
The finding sheds light on why speed walking is generally confined to the Olympics: muscles must work too inefficiently to speed walk, so the body turns to running in order to increase efficiency and comfort, and to conserve energy.
"The muscle can't catch up to the speed of the gait as you walk faster and faster," Sawicki says. "But when you shift the gait and transition from a walk to a run, that same muscle becomes almost static and doesn't seem to change its behavior very much as you run faster and faster, although we didn't test the muscle at sprinting rates."
The research could help inform the best ways of building assistive or prosthetic devices for humans, or help strength and conditioning professionals assist people who have had spinal-cord injury or a stroke, Sawicki and Farris say.

The researchers are part of NC State's Human PoWeR (Physiology of Wearable Robotics) Lab, directed by Sawicki. The joint Department of Biomedical Engineering is part of NC State's College of Engineering and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's School of Medicine.

And some humour:

Marathon thoughts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsMw10KVVCk

I am a runner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw5MHsO-JI8&feature=related

April L Clay, R. Psych.

Bodymindmotion

Mental skills for sport and life

www..bodymindmotion.com

www..ridingoutofyourmind.com

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Okay, now for some silliness (like the above is not...). Here is the latest in new athletic gear for men! If you get offended I apologize in advance!