Today, it was announced that Oscar Pistorius has made the 2008 TIME 100, the annual list published by TIME Magazine, which identifies the 100 most influential people in the world. Oscar is in good company, including the Dalai Lama, Lance Armstrong, Nelson Mandela, Vladimir Putin, and Al Gore.
While TIME refuses to rank the 100 in importance, but does create categories – Oscar is listed third in the Heroes & Pioneers list, just after Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Oprah Winfrey – the magazine also conducted a poll amongst its readers to hear whom they thought should be on the list, and Oscar placed 19th.
Just one year ago, very few people in the world were aware of this young South African bilateral amputee who may very well change the history of sport because of his resolve and determination to compete on equal ground and without apologies against able-bodied athletes.
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Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” was a powerful and enlightening documentary. While viewing it in the theater last year, I was inspired by the tips that rolled during the ending credits on how to take action and make a positive environmental impact. As the movie’s website phrases it:
“You have the power to make a difference. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big changes in helping to stop global warming.”
This statement both challenged and motivated me. Changes need to come from both the top-down and the bottom-up. It’s not just national and state governments’ responsibility to fix problems, but also my own! Personal responsibility is a powerful concept in the workplace, in our relationships, and yes, in the environment.
While there are many methods for making a positive difference in the environment through day-to-day living, my “running-centric” view of life leads me to relate everything to running. So I pondered the question, what can I do as a runner to aid the environment in which I live and play? Below are some of the ideas I came up with …
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Update time. In Part 1 I outlined my initial aversion to the fusion of mp3 players and running, and how I eventually decided to give it a fair shake. Here are the results of my experiment with adding “flavor” to my running via music & podcasts.
To be honest, I got off to a rocky start. I had issues with cords getting in my way, unsecured, jiggly earbuds, and equipment malfunctions. I expect this with anything new, and I soon summitted the learning curve by making some necessary modifications and adjustments. After a couple days of tinkering, cutting, taping, and adjusting, I had improved (but not perfected) the rig and was trotting merrily to my downloaded concerts and podcasts.
I noticed during my very first run that as the workout drew to a close … I wanted to keep running! It was an otherwise mundane Sunday run, but as my mind wrapped around the music, I felt like I should extend my run just to hear the next track… and the next…and the next. This is in contrast to the boredom that sets during the late stages of many of my typical runs; I just want to finish and take a shower. Well, jiggly earbuds aside, anything that encourages increases in training volume must have it merits!
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It has been an unusually warm winter in the Northeast and Midwest United States; leaving many questioning the cause of such a phenomenon. Many health-conscious individuals and athletes are left wondering the impact of such temperature changes on the body and its ability to perform.
The National Climatic Data Center listed the average temperature for the 48 adjacent states last year as 55 degrees Fahrenheit; 2.2 degrees warmer than average. Worldwide, it was the six warmest year on record. Experts are pointing in three directions: El Niño, global warming and a combination of both.
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Believe it or not, there were actually celebrity athletes other than Lance Armstrong who competed in the 2006 ING New York City Marathon.
The amateur runners in this year’s race who have competed professionally in other sport included: the 7-time Olympic medal winning gymnast, and Ed Viesturs, one of the world’s premier high-altitude mountain climbers.
It seems as if Miller listened to the advice she was given by our Editor-in-Chief, as she successfully completed the marathon in 4:17:33. Read the rest of this entry »
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