I had planned on writing a different article for today, but my plans for yesterday afternoon got all jacked up.
With my article post half-finished, I headed over to Smith’s Olde Bar to check out a band a friend of mine had recommended: Scythian. Well, turns out that the doors were at 8; and there was an opening act, which meant the actual band didn’t come on until 10pm. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, my hands were sore from clapping and my feet sore from jumping up and down. Scythian put on one of the best live shows I have seen in quite a while. Check out their tour schedule and GO SEE THEM: kick-ass Irish music, dueling fiddles, incredible stage presence, and they all seemed like pretty cool guys too. Back to last night: I didn’t get home until close to 1AM, and after watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (a must), I went to bed.
So, rather than haphazardly slap together the rest of that post this morning, I decided to instead pass along some articles and websites that I found interesting:
Modern Man’s a Wimp (thanks NF reader Alan!) – According to Australian anthropologist Peter McCalister, turns out we’re all a bunch of wimps…and due to continuing modern convenience we’re becoming the worst generation that has ever lived. Suck. Here’s a few examples at you:
- Roman legions completed more than one-and-a-half marathons a day carrying more than half their body weight in equipment.
- Athens employed 30,000 rowers who could all exceed the achievements of modern oarsmen.
- Australian aboriginals threw a hardwood spear 110 meters or more (the current world javelin record is 98.48).
Is Barefoot Running Better For You? – Another reason I didn’t get a chance to finish my post yesterday is because I was too busy getting lost in this particular article and the 9 pages of comments that follow. Although I don’t necessarily agree with the author here, I think she does a relatively decent job of presenting both sides of the barefoot vs. shoes argument. However, I think her arguments for discussing why heel-toe running is faster than mid-strike or front foot strike running are pretty unfounded and her “example” isn’t very convincing. What I wanted to draw more attention to is the comments. Read a page or two and you’ll get quite a few laughs. Comments, with a few exceptions, break down into three classifications:
- People who immediately discount barefoot running, calling it stupid and ridiculous and dangerous…these people have never tried barefoot running
- Barefoot runners who present story after story about how their injuries disappeared after ditching their shoes.
- Probably 100 comments who talk about ‘broken glass, dog crap, rocks, and needles’ that apparently litter EVERY STREET IN AMERICA which makes barefoot running impossible (these are also people who have never tried it). I don’t know what kind of streets these people run on, but I look down when I run, there’s not a lot of stuff to avoid, and if there is…I just don’t step on it. I wear Vibram FiveFingers shoes to simulate barefoot running while also protecting my feet.
What I got out of this article is that practically EVERYBODY who has tried barefoot running (or running in Vibrams) loves it, and anybody who hasn’t is quite vocal about how stupid it is. Don’t knock it til you try it folks!
How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle while on the Paleo Diet – This is for you hard gainers (like myself) trying to maintain a healthy diet while bulking up and putting on weight. Mark Sisson over at the Primal Blueprint runs a great site for Paleo Diet eaters.
Run Tellman Run! – This dude is running from New York to California…barefoot. He’s doing it to raise awareness (and money) to fight teenage homelessness (not to fight homeless teenagers, that wouldn’t be helpful). He’s through most of Pennsylvania, but still has a LONG way to go. You can track the guy’s progress, make donations, and see if he actually makes it all the way.
I Am Endorphin Dude, See Me Run! – I met Tony through Evan (the Muay Thai guy), and I loved his inspirational story. I won’t steal most of his thunder, but back in April Tony thought he was having a heart attack, and decided to change his life around. He just finished a half-marathon and then a 10k a few weeks later. Tony’s dropped 50 pounds, took 12 inches off of his waist line, and now wants to help others. Tony will be doing a interview for our site shortly, but I want to throw a shout out to the man and say congrats for finishing his most recent races!
Ong Bak 2 – NF reader Chris passed this “review” of Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 2. I NEED to see this movie after reading this from the review: “By the time we hit the half-hour mark he’s fought a samurai, wrestled a crocodile, and killed a vampire. Also: elephant surfing.” For an even funnier review, check out this article on Cracked that refers to the film as “action porn evolved.”
Metrocket – Metrocket is a website/blog run by my roommate Evan, who happens to be one hell of a developer. He recently partnered with PollStar (the concert site) to develop a kick-ass iPhone App that will tell you when any music act is coming to town, where they’re playing, and how to get there. Check out the site, download the app here (it’s free), and then go check out some live music in your area.
Happy Friday everybody! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do this weekend.
-Steve
