Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 24, 2009
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MeChelle Lewis, track and field Olympian spoke to girls and boys at a packed gymnasium at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County located at 605 N. Raleigh Blvd yesterday as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee's "Real Athletes Persevere" Program. The Program is being conducted in the Triangle thanks to the partnership between the Triangle Sports Commission and the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced in October of last year, whereby the Triangle Sports Commission became the USOC's newest Community Olympic Partner. An important component of the Community Partner Program involves education and outreach to local schools and community groups.
Lewis competed in the 4x100 Women's Relay in Beijing, and was a member of the 4x100 relay team that won a gold medal at the World Championships in 2007. Lewis spoke to the Wake County Boys & Girls Club members about the importance of hard work and perseverance.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 11, 2009
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Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 06, 2009
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From LEFT to RIGHT: Joe "Tridaddy" Nuss, Thys "The Terror" Wind and "squonk".
... and then there were 3. Only the manliest of men remain for the first ever Battle of the Beards contest to be held at the Uwharrie Mountain Run tomorrow at 8am. Who will prevail?
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 05, 2009
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Oranges & Honey
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 05, 2009
For years, I ran exclusively in New Balance shoes. I loved the wider toe box of the regularly sized shoe since I don't have exceptionally wide feet that require a larger width shoe, but still like the comfort of a roomy toe box. Some time back, I switched brands and have been decidedly not loyal to any particular shoe. So, I was excited to get my 1063's and see if they were as comfortable as the older models I owned previously.
As soon as I slipped my foot in the shoe, my feet remembered their "old friend". Not only did the New Balance 1063's have the roomy toe box I used to love, but they also fit snugly on my heel, which has always been a problem for me with more than one other major brand shoe. The 1063's come with New Balance's patented NLock lacing system to help keep the shoe secure. More importantly for me, they also came with their "Sure Lace" a computer knit lace with a reciprocating wave pattern that will not untie under high performance or inclement conditions. They also help adjust tightening of the shoe around the foot. All around, the 1063 was the best fitting shoe I've ever had. All that remained was the actually road test.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 05, 2009
There's nothing that quite matches the sense of accomplishment I get when I finish planning my upcoming season's race calendar because truth be told, I'm lazy. Had a publisher of a coach-potato oriented magazine approached me to edit it rather than a fitness magazine, I could have very well been writing this from my sofa with a Coke and an open bag of potato chips sitting next to me on the coffee table. Instead, I'm writing this as clearly and concisely and quickly as I can so I can go out and run 9 miles in preparation for the Uwharrie Mountain Run, which hopefully I will have set a new PR on by the time you read this!
Seriously, as someone with a family history of diabetes and heart problems, I made a decision a long time ago to take charge of my health and lead an active life, but I never quite knew how to define it. Then I signed up for an Ironman. Having completed only a handful of triathlons prior, it wasn't the best decision I ever made, but it roused a need to call a plan into action. As I pieced together my training to accomplish this goal, I started formulating a race schedule so I could run a few triathlons and road races as benchmarks prior to my big race. With the volume of training required for an Ironman, I soon realized that in order to be successful, I would have to structure not only my training, but my life.
As I put together my daunting training and race schedule, I was forced to consider family vacations and work obligations prior to making any race commitment. Surprisingly, those needs opened the doors to include a few "destination" events on my schedule. Without that "limitation" I would never have run the beautiful Boulder Backroads Half Marathon in Colorado and meet up with an online training friend preparing for the same Ironman race. I was also fortunate enough to travel to explore other cool locations, like White Lake, which my wife and I knew nothing about except that there was a race there. To this day, one of my fondest memories of training for Ironman Florida is cooling off in White Lake on our semi-private beach as my family played in the sand and splashed in the crystal clear water beneath the sleepy cypress tress on a beautiful spring day.
I consider that year of Ironman training as one of the most fulfilling years of my life. The race schedule I put together incorporated my personal goal of adventure, my need for a healthy lifestyle and my family's desire to experience new and exciting places. A good race schedule, I learned, incorporates not just your personal fitness goals, but your overall lifestyle goals as well. A good schedule can help you develop realistic goals for your training which can help you manage stress. A poor schedule, consequently, includes unrealistic goals for training that only generates more stress and leads to both yours and your family's dissatisfaction with your fitness-oriented lifestyle.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Feb 05, 2009
By Jay Crooker, PhD
It's still not too late to sign up for that big race in 2009 or set a goal to set a new PR at your favorite distance. Here are some general guidelines for creating a successful workout plan that will see you through an exciting year of training and racing.
