Falling coconuts reach speeds of about 50 miles per hour; enough to prove fatal should one get in its way. The general odds are 1 in 250,000,000 that a person will lose their life in any given year by these falling menaces. If you live in a non coconut falling area then your chances are a lot lower, but if falling coconuts are a threat in your neck of the woods (only in the supermarket produce section here in Portsmouth, New Hampshire) then the odds increase slightly and each year 150 people fall victim to these falling hard-shelled, hairy fruits.
Continuing a topic raised in my last post regarding addiction and fantasy, I'd like to address a new training regimen that seems popular on the internet: "What are the odds that a glass or two or three of beer before or after a strenuous workout will improve my performance or my recovery? My guess would be that I would be hit sooner by a falling coconut than shave seconds off my personal best. I watched an elite track and field competition on TV tonight. Someone broke the record for the fastest 3,000 meter steeple chase ever run in the US. He may have been on a steroid regimen, but I hardly think he was impaired by alcohol or suffering from a hangover as he leaped over the various obstacles while running close to four minute mile pace. At the high school track meet I watched last weekend, a runner that finished back in the pack in the 200 yard hurdles yelled "That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life" as she crossed the finish line.
I will admit the I buy my Power Bars, my GU Gels and my recovery formulas whenever I see them on sale at Nashbar or Performance Cycle. Do they make me ride my bicycle like the wind? Hardly. They do however encourage me to drink more liquids, eat during longer rides and replenish nutrients and electrolytes after a ride. I am only a recreational rider, riding for enjoyment and to lose a few (quite a few actually) pounds.
The hardest part of recovery from an addiction is taming the mind and controlling the fantasy process. The power of fantasy is the enduring power of addiction. I am constantly amazed by the large number of hard driving individuals who delude themselves into believing that drinking alcohol can improve their performance, or that they can still perform at high levels, hung over after a long night of drinking. The American College of Sports Medicine emphasizes that there is no benefit from alcohol use for sport performance and that use of alcohol may be detrimental to the athlete
While low-dose (meaning no more than 2 drinks daily) chronic alcohol consumption may offer some cardio-protective element in the exerciser by increasing HDL-cholesterol or decreasing coronary spasm, alcohol affects the body's every system and is also linked to several pathologies. Heavy, chronic alcohol consumption impairs exercise performance by:
- impairing the cardiovascular response to exercise
- causing nutritional deficiencies from alterations in nutrient intake, digestion, absorption, metabolism, physiological effects, turnover, and excretion of nutrients
- causing myopathy, or muscle damage, wasting, and weakness, in various muscles, including the heart
- changing the body's hormonal environment, making it less conducive to increasing muscle mass and strength
- compromising cardiovascular and muscular performance in people with alcoholism
Many of these individuals are probably under the influence of addiction cocktails. When one addiction can no longer provide the needed escape, other addictions can be added to enhance the experience. Exercise can also release the body's own natural narcotic, endorphin--the substance causing the "runner's high." Compulsive exercisers may "literally run away from their problems". "They have an argument at home and rather than deal with the situation, they'll go out for a run. When they run or exercise they get high. They actually get addicted to an internal narcotic that they are secreting. They keep doing it and doing it, and no matter how much they do, it's never enough." Addictions and compulsions are destructive behaviors that an individual acquires as a method of coping with the pressures of life.
"All addictions and compulsions involve fantasy. If an addiction or a compulsion does not divert a person’s mind from reality, it’s not worth doing. These individuals believe that they are living healthy lifestyles. The odds that they are correct: 0.0000004%, the same as being hit and killed by a falling coconut in New Hampshire!
Entrecard is informing its users: "There was a fire at our datacenter resulting in the failure of some of our systems, our database server appears to be offline still, we're working on it and we're really sorry about the issues at this time. more information arriving shortly."
Unfortunately, there has been an electrical fire at the data center housing Entrecard’s servers. The servers have not been damaged, but the site may be down for as long as 12 hours.
Entrecard is hosted with ThePlanet, and this fire has effected over 9000 websites, as many of the world’s most popualar websites are hosted with ThePlanet. They are working around the clock to get their data center back online, and we are hoping that they get it back online fast.
While not a qualifying ride for the Tour de France, the Tour De Cure is a noteworthy cycling event. All across the United States 30,000 riders become reacquainted with their bicycles. For some, it's just a matter of grabbing a few power gels and a bag of granola, filling a Camelback with water and heading out for a 100 mile ride. For others, it's trying to find tubes to fix the flats and WD 40 to dissolve the rust accumulated on the chain while the bike sat in the garage since the last Tour. Most riders are somewhere in between Fit and Desperate. My next ride will be along the shore of the old fishing town Gloucester, Massachusetts. If you would like to donate to our efforts as a sponsor, you may do so online: ADA sponsor page for the E Team. Each mile I ride, each dollar I raise will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. No matter how small or large, your generous gift will help improve the lives of more than 20 million Americans who suffer from diabetes, in the hope that future generations can live in a world without this disease. Together, we can all make a difference! Thank you for making a generous contribution to this cause that is so important to me!
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The creature, called Swamp Thing, was originally conceived as Alec Holland mutating into a vegetable-like creature, a "muck-encrusted mockery of a man". However, under writer Alan Moore, Swamp Thing was reinvented as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alec Holland, with Holland's memory and personality intact. He is described as "a plant that thought it was Alec Holland, a plant that was trying its level best to be Alec Holland."
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books, being the first horror comic to approach the genre from a literary point of view since the EC horror comics of the 1950's, and broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots.
Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.
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