Wednesday, March 31, 2010
How to chose foldable treadmill suitable for you?
If you need a treadmill, then you need the Sole F63 Treadmill. Yes this treadmill is expensive, but that expensive cost is more than made up for by the warranty that simply cannot be beat. When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.Gardening Power Tools http://www.treadmills-equipment.com,Home GYM equipmentIt is perfectly designed for all kind of body weight and can sustain more heavy duty exercises without any problems. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. The most important feature of a manual treadmill is the cost. motorized treadmillSuch innovative designs encourage even the most stubborn homeowners to buy one and keep at home.If you've been running for a while you already know that outdoor running is not always possible due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, that's when your treadmill becomes your best friend. They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.There have been a lot of advancements in technology and durability over the past couple of decades. There are all types of treadmill exercise equipment out there.
Are you determined to stay with your weight loss program, but you need to travel a lot? All treadmills have programs for all individuals no matter what there fitness goals are. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. You can get a full 15% incline, allowing you to train well no matter what the weather is like outside. To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.home treadmillThe extra large running surface and one touch speed adjustment deliver maximum performance during the workout. When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.As more and more people developed the habit of doing regular exercise, the popularity of commercial treadmills has also increased.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Ultimate treadmill equipment Workout Tips
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.fitness magnetic bikeMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. With a non-motorized treadmill, you go only as fast as you push yourself.folding treadmillFortunately, all that has changed. Granted it doesn't exactly mimic an out door run but it works great when you just can't get out.They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.There are so many choices today that it's very hard to narrow your decision down to a specific machine. There are many factors to consider - performance, durability, motor size, and all of those features that are now being offered.
Shake Weight
You’ve seen the infomercial.
Svelte young women and now massively buff men groaning and grunting and rapidly jiggling the shaft of a dumbbell between
two clasped hands. (There's no other way to describe this. We tried.) The Shake Weight works like a piston--jerk it and
the spring-loaded weights on each end fire and recoil, letting you
“shake your way to firm, fabulous shoulders in just six minutes a
day.” The Shake Weight claims to use a new workout technology called
“dynamic inertia.” Other examples of dynamic inertia? Try ChatRoulette.
Home Gym Office by Philippe Starck
< At last year’s Milan Furniture Fair,
the sybaritic French designer debuted a collection of nine fitness items
for the Italian manufacturer Alias, including a wall bar for stretching, a jump
rope, and this weighted necklace for practicing ballasted exercises. The
jewelry’s resemblance to a certain love toy was disturbing enough
before Starck advised that we’re supposed to “love ourselves at
least 15 minutes per day, at home and at work.”
Walkstation
Steelcase’s integrated workstation--basically a treadmill shoved
underneath a height-adjustable desk--is meant to encourage better
posture, movement, and Working
Girl attire among
cubicle drones whose main source of exercise involves leisurely
excursions to Blimpie’s. They say: “The Walkstation lets you walk
comfortably, burn calories, feel healthier and more energized…all while
accomplishing the work you’d normally do while seated.” We say: Heavy
breathing at work is not cool.
iGallop
The iGallop was developed by Osim, an Asian manufacturer
whose primary export is massage chairs. It’s meant to simulate riding a
horse--or a mechanical bull if that’s the way you roll--and therefore
tone the abs, back, and thighs. If the iGallop doesn’t strike your
fancy, try Joba’s similarly styled Core
Muscle Trainer--complete with stirrups--or just give it to your cat:
Now we know the garden and outdoor space can be considered to be an additional room for your home, the question is which type of room? It seems most of the design world’s focus has been on creating outdoor lounges and kitchens.
However, here and there we see more designs and designers using the space as an outdoor gym. With Summer fast approaching, I thought I could share some really easy ways get fit outside without going all out and building a special outdoor room/building dedicated to sports.
The Waff: the fitness addict’s alternative to the bean bag
This inflatable cushion, available in a variety of sizes and colors, was invented and designed based on 3D technologies and the human anatomy.
It is designed to fit the body whatever its position (lying flat on one’s stomach, on one’s back, on one’s side, seated, standing, etc.) Used as a seat, the “instability” of the cushion forces your body to contract its muscles to create the balance. It can be also used as an exercise tool: each purchase come with a whole set of instructions to get you going.
Photo: Mariposas del Sol
The yoga deck
If you have a deck or outdoor patio, a great idea is to use it for yoga alone or with friends. If you have a lawn are that is fairly flat that’ll work, too.
Also, invest in a set of hand weights so you can also do some strength training in this same space.
The water bike
For regular cardio training from home if you have even a tiny pool: discover the underwater bikes by Hydrorider who sell such odd inventions for around $1200. Check out this video (Editor’s note: This looks like so much fun!):
The water treadmill
Very few of us only can afford Olympic-sized swimming pools for the beneficial lap-swimming, and if you’re lucky enough you might have inherited one at a previous owner’s expense. But, for the rest of us, there’s Swimmill.
Swimmill is the aquatic version of the treadmill as it lets you swim without changing your position. The water current produced by Swimmill is the one that moves. Swimmill allows you to adjust the speed of the water current to satisfy all kinds of swimmers, from beginners to the most advanced. It makes the length of your pool infinite and allows you to enjoy swimming for any time or distance you choose in your own home.
The list of sports you can do in the tiniest outdoor space is actually quite extensive, making lack of space a poor excuse for not being in shape. So, it’s time to get Googleing to find what designers have come up with to meet your needs.
Then, get out and exercise and we’ll see you on the beach!
A mini treadmill is now starting to invade every household in Europe and America because of the multiple benefits that this small machine provides to its users.If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.If you're like one of the millions of people out there that have wanted to start a better healthy lifestyle, or just simply looking to lose a few pounds, you might want to get yourself a great motorized treadmill. You can get a full 15% incline, allowing you to train well no matter what the weather is like outside. To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.commercial treadmillThe Amazon price of this treadmill is 99.00When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. First of all, the frame of a commercial treadmill is made of a high alloy steel or aluminum, and is welded, as opposed to put together with nuts and bolts, like consumer grade equipment. Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
How to select manual treadmill Comparison
When you are looking for a treadmill for your home, you want to get one that is going to work well for you. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. My brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.It does not move until you push it with your feet by walking or running. electric treadmillMost home machines can be folded and stored away with minimal effort. The best home treadmill is not necessarily the treadmill with all the bells and whistles but the one that suits your needs and personal situation the best. They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. However, there are a large number of treadmills on the market. And since it's still selling really well, more and more companies have begun manufacturing them. There are many factors to consider - performance, durability, motor size, and all of those features that are now being offered.
Well these should not be a problem now. You will be able to run indoors which is very safe rather you are at a gym or at home. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. It allows some great uses, including six presets, and so much more. To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.electric treadmillThe company is offering life time warranty on everything except labor. When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. First of all, the frame of a commercial treadmill is made of a high alloy steel or aluminum, and is welded, as opposed to put together with nuts and bolts, like consumer grade equipment. This treadmill is also used in schools, heavy traffic gyms, hospitals and health clubs as this can cater all fitness levels and ages.
How to get manual treadmill You want
While it does not have a heart monitor on it, it has all the bells and whistles that make this treadmill a must-have for any enthusiast. Yes this treadmill is expensive, but that expensive cost is more than made up for by the warranty that simply cannot be beat. When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.Upright Magnetic BikeIt also has the wireless heart rate control, 3 color LCD display, arm rest and incline controls to assist you during training.Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.The most important feature of a manual treadmill is the cost. folding treadmillKnowing that many homeowners stay in small spaces (especially the urban dwellers), the products are designed to save space. If you've been running for a while you already know that outdoor running is not always possible due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, that's when your treadmill becomes your best friend. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. However, there are a large number of treadmills on the market. Treadmills, like all other at home fitness machines, have come a long way. The treadmill has been the best selling at home fitness machine for decades so many companies manufacture them.
A mini treadmill is now starting to invade every household in Europe and America because of the multiple benefits that this small machine provides to its users.All treadmills have programs for all individuals no matter what there fitness goals are. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. If you're not a new comer to the treadmill arena, then you'll love the more advanced features found on this machine. With a sturdy constructed frame, and full options you're going to love how great and easy to use this machine really is. treadmill equipmentThe main difference of Endurance T10 HRC Treadmill with others is the warranty. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.First of all, the frame of a commercial treadmill is made of a high alloy steel or aluminum, and is welded, as opposed to put together with nuts and bolts, like consumer grade equipment. This treadmill is also used in schools, heavy traffic gyms, hospitals and health clubs as this can cater all fitness levels and ages.
Friday, March 26, 2010
How to Lose Weight on a motorized treadmill Reviews
It is affordable, powerful, quiet and it will help you shed those unwanted pounds.Many people feel that the warranty alone is worth purchasing this treadmill. When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.Exercise BikeMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.With a non-motorized treadmill, you go only as fast as you push yourself.walking treadmillMost home machines can be folded and stored away with minimal effort. The best home treadmill is not necessarily the treadmill with all the bells and whistles but the one that suits your needs and personal situation the best. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.Treadmills, like all other at home fitness machines, have come a long way. Your size and weight matter when choosing treadmill exercise equipment.
Josh F: I found your website about a month ago and check it several times a day. It is by far one of the funniest sites that I have come across. I just wanted to say thank you for the laughs and keep up the great work!
Will C: Thanks for the hard work … love the site, i visit all the time.
Kieran: I have to say that this site is awesome and has kept me entertained on my time off from work. keep it up.
Spokane Mary: Just want to tell you that your blog is like having a whole banana split for dessert - fantastical.
Mandy: I just wanted to tell you that I love the site(s). Makes me smile and makes my day everyday. Better than master card, I never leave home with out my daily dose.
Jason: great site! every post so far looks right up my alley.
Leah: Hey, I just wanted to say I adore this website. I come back almost every day, and I usually get a few laughs out of it. I think I’m starting to annoy my friend, because every few minutes I tell her to come look at this, or woah, you have to see this.
Howard D: Very nice selection of stuff. My compliments to the chef!
Steve M: I just wanted to say thanks for making me laugh every day. I have been a loyal follower for about a year now. Thanks for scouring the web so I don’t have to!
Phil: G’day Jonco. Have been meaning to write to you for awhile. Thank you for including me in your blogroll’ Iam getting a number of hits from your site. Keep up your fantastic blog. It is worth the daily visit. Cheers from down under.
Arjay: Just wanted to let you know I follow your site every day. It’s nice to have something to laugh at after being on a call center phone all day.
Terry: I enjoy your site and visit it every day. Keep up the good work.
Mathias: thank you for your blog, it’s nice, humouristic serious and inventive. i go to see it everyday with pleasure. Thank you for your work.
Myra: I just wanted to let you know that I do not smile easily, but your site truly brightens my day, and as such I added you to my site.
I was talking with an island dweller who recently rode out a major hurricane. The Island took a big hit with a 14 foot storm surge, 120mph winds, and torrential rain. In the aftermath of a storm of this magnitude, a significant amount of the residents' possessions were destroyed. Large piles of rubbish, that only days before had been coveted items of ownership, were now stacked into curbside shrines by the awesome power of Mother Nature - or more appropriately, monuments to our insatiable appetite for mindless consumer spending.
Household items were scattered everywhere, removed from houses in their owners' futile attempt to salvage what they could by drying out what the mold and humidity had not yet claimed. My friend remarked in amazement at the sheer quantity of "stuff" everyone owned. It seemed unimaginable that people could squeeze so many things into their living spaces, once you saw the entire inventory on display. Everyone on his block had a treadmill! Most looked brand new. Everyone was armed, and spray-painted signs on fences that warned of the dangers of thinking this was a self-service yard sale. Possessions are possessions, even if they are worthless.
But it is not just disasters that bring this clutter loving consciousness to the surface. How many times have you moved and asked yourself, "Where did I get all this crap?" In some insidious manner these physical objects gradually take over of our lives. Do we own our possessions or do they own us?
My first summer between college years, I moved to a beach community. There was a man there I encountered frequently who I thought was homeless. I'd see him on bus benches always wearing the same clothes. Leaves stuck in his hair gave him the appearance that he had just awakened from sleeping on the ground in a park. Sometimes I would see him wandering around town. Clearly he had no job. One of the locals branded him a casualty of the 60s who took too much LSD and never came down. His brother, who lived in town, took care of him, making sure he had food and clothes.
One morning as I was running along the beach, I saw this semi-homeless man. He had dug a large hole that cut him off at the knees when he stood in it. The locals had assured me that the man was harmless, and there was no need to be afraid of him. I noticed he had a long stick, and he was drawing something in the sand. My curiosity got the best of me. I decided to stop by and see what he was so busy creating. Upon approaching I introduced myself. The man looked up and smiled warmly. He had been absorbed in the task of drawing stick figures with the greatest of concentration. I did not wish to appear rude, so I pointed at one of the stick figures and complimented him on how realistic his drawing looked. The man proudly smiled and informed me this was a portrait of his brother. Then the smile slowly faded and the man shook his head sadly and said, "It's too bad about my brother."
"What happened to him?" I inquired gently.
"He has a house" came the simple answer.
"He has a house?" I repeated, not sure I was following the line of tragedy.
"Yes," the man replied thoughtfully. "My brother and I used to do things together and go places. Then he got a house, and now the house needs him to do things. He does not do things with me anymore, because he has to do things for the house, and he cannot go anywhere with me because the house has him." The man continued to shake his head sadly. "I will not go into houses," he said with resolve. "Because once you go inside... that's it... the house has you! It will always need something, and that's how 'it' gets you."
I never had the opportunity to talk with the beach artist again, but thirty years later, I still cannot forget our conversation. Through what many might label a distorted perspective, this man conveyed a clear message with gravity and insight.
I have reflected back many times on that brief encounter on the beach and wondered where I was allowing the possessions in my life to own me. It has occurred to me over the years how interesting and revealing our use of the word "possession" is. How many of us allow our lives to be possessed by our homes, cars, or boats? God knows the women from Sex In The City were clearly possessed by their shoe collections. But this is a human issue, not a gender issue. I have seen men possessed by everything from their baseball card collections, to their garages full of tools, to the love of their life - their car.
Perhaps there is a blessing within catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, and fires that force an involuntary purging of possessions. Thoreau offers words of wisdom for those who may find themselves unwillingly separated from a lifetime of property that they have worked hard to amass: "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."
Another unexpected gift of finding oneself materialistically stripped naked is the opportunity to revaluate what is truly important and valuable to us. To consciously update what we want to surround ourselves with and to reconsider what is authentically worth our investment. As the great Oscar Wilde once said, "We know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
For those readers who may be piecing their lives back together after an unexpected loss, may I leave you with one more priceless non-material gift from Thoreau: "There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself"... and to my semi-homeless beach buddy out there, wherever you are, may you continue to be as free as the day you were born.
A mini treadmill is now starting to invade every household in Europe and America because of the multiple benefits that this small machine provides to its users.You will be able to run indoors which is very safe rather you are at a gym or at home. That treadmill we're talking about is the Sole F80 motorized treadmill.You can get a full 15% incline, allowing you to train well no matter what the weather is like outside. To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.treadmill equipmentThis treadmill priced a little high than other brands has some additional features which support for the high price. When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.As more and more people developed the habit of doing regular exercise, the popularity of commercial treadmills has also increased.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Home Exercise treadmill equipment Workout
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. Many people feel that the warranty alone is worth purchasing this treadmill. One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. Electrical treadmillMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. It does not move until you push it with your feet by walking or running. treadmillSuch innovative designs encourage even the most stubborn homeowners to buy one and keep at home.The best home treadmill is not necessarily the treadmill with all the bells and whistles but the one that suits your needs and personal situation the best. They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.And since it's still selling really well, more and more companies have begun manufacturing them. There are a lot of choices out there and it can be difficult to filter through all of them and choose one.
Are you determined to stay with your weight loss program, but you need to travel a lot? All treadmills have programs for all individuals no matter what there fitness goals are. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. This treadmill also allows you to fold up and hide away your treadmill in order to make sure that your room is not too crowded.To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.foldable treadmillThe company is offering life time warranty on everything except labor. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
How to Lose Weight on a motorized treadmill Comparison
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. motorized treadmillMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. They are quite cheap! You can pick up a new one for under 0 easily. treadmill equipmentSuch innovative designs encourage even the most stubborn homeowners to buy one and keep at home.If you've been running for a while you already know that outdoor running is not always possible due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, that's when your treadmill becomes your best friend. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. The best treadmills on the market combine an amazing and effective workout, make efficient use of space, and are affordable. There are so many choices today that it's very hard to narrow your decision down to a specific machine. Your size and weight matter when choosing treadmill exercise equipment.
It was a sleepless night, and I found myself rolling around in my sheets, as
restless as I'd been in a long time, experiencing that uniquely displeasing kind of
anxiety that you actually feel in your heart as the pressure builds. Could I really be
considering this? Hell yeah, I could, and was--my turbulent bed thoughts were
being disrupted by a 19,340 foot behemoth that was pulling me to it like an
inescapable black hole. Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who first reached
Mount Everest's peak with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, once responded tersely to a
question posed to him by a reporter as to why he climbed mountains. "Because its
there" Sir Edmund said.
Luckily I find myself having more of a reason to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in
Tanzania January 7th, 2010. My friend Kenna, a talented singer and musician, has
spent the last year and a half organizing a benefit climb called Summit On The
Summit, the ultimate goal of which is to bring awareness and relief to the world's
clean water crisis. Kenna has assembled a group of musicians, actors, and even a
couple of water experts, as well as a documentary crew from Radical Media, to all
climb Kilimanjaro and shoot a documentary while doing so. The goal of which is to
create a hybrid of an educational class on the clean water crisis, and an odyssey to
the roof of Africa--Kilimanjaro, the tallest free standing (not surrounded by other
mountains) mountain in the world.
Upon agreeing to do the climb, and jumping through the necessary hoops of
paperwork, immunizations, and assembling my gear, the sole focus of my universe
and existence becomes training. Being the last one to join the team of 45 people to
go for the summit (including our film crew) I have to do in three weeks what
everyone has been (hopefully) hard at work at doing for the last eight months:
getting buns you could crack a walnut on. My physician, Robert Huizenga, is the guy
who quickly dashes any hopes I have of coasting on my natural physical abilities.
Judging by the look in his eyes though, he's thinking 'what natural abilities?' So I'm
going to have to go hard, with at least 90 minutes a day of hiking, treadmill, or
stairs--and all with at least 15lbs of weight on my back. Driven partly by fear and
madcap dreams of summit glory, I hit the Gold's Gym across the street from where I
live like I haven't ever done. Through sore calves taffy pulled hamstrings, twitchy
tendons, and steep waves of nausea, I slowly yet inexorably begin to feel my muscles
gain in strength and size, and my favorite part--get to eat whatever I want three
meals a day now, rapidly gaining eight pounds.
Technology is indeed changing the way we operate--on my downtime I find
myself sitting rigidly at the computer, sipping a Banana Cream Muscle Milk, my eyes
piercing the screen, sharp slits with endless You Tube videos of Kilimanjaro
reflecting off my fried corneas late into the night. Home made tourist videos, travel
diaries, clips of specials on the mountain, and website after website, I get so
inundated with Kilimanjaro and mountaineering, I feel like I've already been there.
Not quite, little Hirsch, I chastise myself--my days of being an armchair adventurist
are about to end abruptly. One You Tube video stays with me though and grows to
haunt my dreams--a 20 second clip of two Porters (the native mountain workers)
taking a man, face covered in a ski mask, briskly down a steep hill, holding onto his
arms as his head drunkenly lopes and bandies about, his brain short circuited by the
malignant affect of altitude sickness.
Saying last goodbye's to my friends and family before I depart is a sticky
situation--no one want to downplay the gravity of the risk, because there's always
the possibility something unforeseen could happen, yet at the same time the more
gravity given to a goodbye could in itself make one less confident of one's potential
success. Either way you cut it, better to tell ones to you that you love them while
they're in your embrace, and never feel a pang of regret. Both of my parents support
the climb, as does my girlfriend Brianna. There's not a lot of the histrionic "what the
hell are you doing?" arguments bouncing around.
At night, now that I've given myself over to the climb, ear buds fill my head
with the voices of Jon Krakauer and Ed Viesturs as the audio books I've downloaded
onto my ipod weave far off worlds of wonder. Krakauer's books "Into Thin Air" and
"Eiger Dreams" I find simultaneously sobering to the realities and risks of
mountaineering, yet inspiring to the personal challenges and spirit of adventure in
the sport. Viesturs "No Shortcuts To The Top" and "K2: Life and Death On The
World's Most Dangerous Mountain" leave my jaw agape in bed as I feel myself
transported to the bottleneck of K2 in the Himalaya's, with Fritz Veesner on the epic
1939 expedition, or the summit of Annapurna, the world's deadliest mountain, as
Viesturs proudly radioed down to Jimmy Chin (a high altitude climber and
photographer joining us in our climb) that he'd finally made it to the summit,
completing his lifelong dream of being the first American to climb all fourteen 8,000
meter peaks in the world. Call me naïve, young, or just plain monkey hear monkey
do, I'm frothing at the mouth with so many tales of adventure I find myself
continuously dreaming I'm above the clouds, putting one exhausted foot in front of
the other.
After meeting Kenna and several members of our team at LAX airport
including actress' Jessica Biel and Isabel Lucas, musician Santi White and rapper
Lupe Fiasco, as well as photographers Jimmy Chin and Michael Muller, and many
other amazing individuals I would be grateful to be able to soon call my friends, we
managed to hopscotch to Amsterdam for a quick stopover, then hightail it South to
Tanzania. Everyone in the groups are totally gung ho, and despite dizzy
constitutions following 30 hours of flying, our collective excitement is thick enough
one could cut it with a knife.
At the Arusha Hotel, after being introduced to our guides and divided into
four groups--one and two for the influencers and educators, three and four for the
film crew, and getting the rest of our gear from the guide company Thompson
Safari's--trekking poles, sleeping bags, and an informative lecture on medical safety
to everyone by Melissa Arnot, the beautiful, blonde and brown eyed 27 year old
mountain climbing wonder extraordinaire, were all pumped up with adrenaline as
we struggle to sleep the night before the climb.
After Melissa speaks, I take her aside and ask her to come with me to my
room quickly--I want to show her something that's been worrying me. A day before
I got on the plane, I noticed a hard, painful peanut M&M sized ball on my pelvic
bone--a classic little ingrown hair. Only the pain since getting on the plane has now
tripled. This begins now my official relationship with Melissa--she lathers me down
with iodine and removes the culprit hair mercilessly with tweezers. All she gets out
of me is one quick girlish yelp followed by a wolfish grin, and a relief that that
problem has been so quickly done away with.
I luckily manage to get good nights sleep despite the packing chaos the rest of
our group seems engulfed in. Ever the hyperactive personality, I keep checking my
pulse with one of the electronic instruments one of the techies Nick has. My pulse
never wants to dip below 110 beats per minute, and dark visions of having sudden
death cardiac arrest at 19,000 feet caress me to sleep.
On our drive out of Arusha in our train of beat up four by four Safari vehicles,
Lupe and I trade jokes with a fast pitter patter of a couple of homegrown class
clowns, with topics centering on our odds of making it to the top of the mountain,
religion, and the potential perils a mountain man could face for fornicating with a
two headed sheep with a sheepskin condom. Lupe is hilarious, as is Simon Isaacs, a
Vermont born cause marketing expert who regularly adds to our blob‐like
conversation of absurdity, although I think after a while we start to get on UN
Humanitarian worker Elizabeth Gore's nerves, despite occasionally wringing an
involuntary smile from the corners of her lips. However, our mouths are quickly
given a rest when our driver points ahead. There's Kilimanjaro, he says. After
having been looking at pictures and You Tube videos for weeks, part of me thought I
already kind of knew Kilimanjaro, that it almost wouldn't be a big deal when I saw it.
Good thing assumption is not a mother virtue--the peak claws into the sky above us,
dark and violent, capped with a majestic solid white glacial cap, like some kind of
high altitude crown. I know it's beautiful, but at first glance, it has about as much
"beauty" as the beautiful designs of a Pit Viper waiting under a toilet seat.
After passing through the main gate at 7,000 feet and signing into an
unending beauracratic mess of a public record book, jotting down names and
passport numbers, we go up another 3,500 feet and park the vehicles. There's
about 200 porters waiting for us--all bearing bags jam packed with the tents, food,
water, and supplies for the days ahead--so, for example, when we finish a day of
hiking the tents are waiting for us--a definite luxury for us on this climb. Porters
are all strong men, some wearing as little as shorts and sandals, and all possessing a
ruggedness of spirit and soul that shames most of us with their sheer strength--
many of the men are carrying sixty pounds on top of their heads while scrambling
through rock clusters with ease that most of us are using every drop of adrenaline
we can muster just to hang on.
To start out here were only going for two hours today--but even at an
energetic snails pace, I still feel my heart do the thumpty thump as my throat sucks
the dry air, ravenous for oxygen. Our groups are split now into four, and our group,
two, we quickly name "Dos Locos," given our tendency towards the delightfully
absurd. I draw our group logo on Michael Muller's blue rain poncho--a bearded
man resembling Michael, with his eyes practically blowing out of their sockets in
different directions, and of course--brain exploding out of the top of his head,
equipped with requisite hands to the sides of his face ala Macaulay Culkin in Home
Alone.
Out in the middle of nature like this with none of the mixed blessing
technology like cell phones and blackberries so many of us find ourselves chained
to, the jokes, conversation, exchange of ideas flows so freely and is so intellectually
engaging that I wonder if this is what college would have been like if I had gone. I'm
happy on the trail, beaming as I climb up every sloping hill, and looking at the
landscape, which at present reminds me visually of the Southwest, like Santa Fe
New Mexico, where I was partially raised. With no trees around on this first day
walk, there's lots of bushy type plants and dwarf shrubs, and the trail is wet and
muddy, gushing under our feet due to a recent rain. There's also some borderline
sketchy rock maneuvers we do, ascending and descending a series of steep forty
foot gullies and crossing the creeks below, all of us carefully hopping on the rocks
and employing our long dormant rock hopping instincts and avoiding potential
freezing water visits. Pole, pole, the famous slogan we keep hearing from all the
guides that has become like gospel on the mountain to all who desire the summit:
slowly, slowly, that is.
At our first camp we get organized into our tents, and they've generously
given me my own, while some of our groups will share with two people per tent. I
was considering briefly not writing about this part--but fuck it--by this time now
my ingrown hair--the one about an inch up and left of my manhood, has become
more than just an unwanted houseguest, shooting from its walnut sized mass a
stabbing pain whenever I move at all. Even bending down to tie my shoes has
become an exercise in sadism for me now. Melissa's had enough of my limping
around, and she calls me to her tent. She puts a pair of blue rubber gloves on, and
removes a tiny syringe and some pads from a plastic bag filled with medical
supplies. Melissa says she's going to drain it out, because its now infected and filled
with pus. This may hurt a little, she says. She delicately plunges the thin needle
directly onto my little red walnut, and I'm gripped with pain. She takes her thumbs
now, and slowly squeezes the walnut, and pink and blubbery white pus begins to
erupt out, as my pain quickly turns into fire and brimstone agony--I literally cannot
believe how hell one little ingrown hair is raising. And then, as if possessed by The
Joker in The Dark Knight, I compulsively start laughing, uncontrollably. This is like
popping the deepest pimple of your life times fifty. After she drains it, despite still
reeling from the squeezing, which went on for at least two minutes, I still feel
immensely relieved the pressure is gone--the dreaded pus now wrapped in a
dispensable plastic bio bag. If there was a single experience in my life that equaled
the pain I felt in those moments with Melissa, I don't know what they are.
After our guide Wilfred, a tall and intelligent Tanzanian man, finishes going
over plans for tomorrow while we chomp on a spaghetti and soup dinner, and
listening to a heartfelt speech from Kenna about his pride in being able to help
people that are less fortunate than others, and realization that Kenna could easily be
suffering from a water related illness. Born in Ethiopia, he came to the US when he
was young, but things could easily have been very different for him. As Kenna's
voice becomes a soft whisper and his eyes grow deeper and moist, I'm glad the
spiritual leader of our climb is so honest with his feelings.
A small group of us including Isabel and Jimmy, Los Angeles physical trainer
Jason Walsh, and water expert Alexandra Cousteau all sneak off after dark with our
headlamps on, and steal a few minutes to see the enveloping view of stars, so bright
and clear they beg to be picked from the sky.
I'm in my tent right now at 13,600 feet the next day at camp three--my body
tired and pulse is racing, partly due to the altitude sickness medication I'm on called
Diamox, but now also due to the antibiotic cephalexin and the anti inflammatory
steroid dexamethasone I've immediately been put on, as my infection has tripled in
size and quadrupled in pain after today's six and a half hour climb. Almost every
step for me today has been excruciating, and people on the trail keep stopping me
and asking if I'm okay as I stop and lean on my trekking poles, wincing and trying to
catch my breath.
Just to make the last hundred feet to the camp takes just about everything
I've got. As I stagger into my tent and collapse onto my sleeping bag, painful tears
stream down my eyes and an angry lump weighs in my throat--I know my body
well, and I know that there is no possible way I'm going to be able to continue this
climb. There's no way I'm going to be able to join Kenna and the others on their
quest to the summit to raise awareness for clean water. My heart swells with
empathy now for every sick or dying man, woman and child--all I have is a stupid
ingrown hair that has freakishly spiraled now, as Melissa tells me, into a potentially
serious infection.
And the damndest part is, at base camp three where we are now, I can see the
peak I've been dreaming about every night for the last month. It taunts me, and for
brief moments waves of scornful rage bites onto me like unleashed little attack dogs.
Altitude sickness my ass, I was breathing the air up here, and it felt so fresh to me it
was like it was scented with roses. Tired legs were the last of my worries; I'm in the
best shape I've been in since Sean Penn took me to my physical limits. But this is an
unworthy opponent‐‐ the smallest thing, a trivial, measly hair, boring its way into
my body and somehow releasing Pandora's box on my ass. Not like this, I tell
myself, as I'm wracked now in my sleeping bag with the chills and shivers--not like
this. But an honest and pure epiphany hits me--how many of my fellow human
beings last thoughts were 'Not like this?' How many good people's lives have been
tragically cut short, given the short end of the stick in a cruel and merciless world. I
don't feel a shred of regret now, sinking my head deep into my hands--I feel
humble.
After having a conversation with Kenna in my tent about what to do, we both
agree for now to treat my situation as a general health problem--and make plans
for me to head back down the mountain tomorrow and get picked up and driven
back to Arusha--there, I'll call my parents and loves ones and let them know what is
going on with me. But for now, I can't think clearly, as the stabbing pain in my groin
pierces through me like a rusty nail, just beyond the fabric of my tent the great
Mountain, quicksilver slipping through my grasp.
Or maybe not. That night, a particular stinging sensation wakes me from my
foggy dreams and has me reaching for my headlamp--I shove it down my sleeping
bag and see my large bump has been slowly frothing up bloody pus in my sleep.
Acting on what I'm almost sure is basic human instincts of taking care of ones own
body, I grab a clean sock and begin milking the thing like a large cow teat, the pus
readily barfing out. I hop over to Melissa's tent in the dark, and let her know what's
happening, and also because I know however my clean my sock is, I need to
properly sanitize this immediately with iodine. Exhaling deeply once I lie back
down in my tent, I feel renewed hope--maybe the antibiotics will start working
soon.
In the morning I wake up with a renewed sense of purpose after my first
good night's sleep--and when Melissa comes into my tent to check on me, we both
agree that I'll continue on slowly today, and see how it goes--if at lunch I'm in
unbearable pain, or it looks like the infection spreading out of control, we'll
evacuate. Sometimes I can be a pessimist, but part of me feels like this could turn
around for me in the next 48 hours or so--but only time will tell.
During the hike today we peaked out at 15,000 feet, and set up our lunch tent
where a massive dark and monolithic rock crag has been called Lava Tower. It's a
much steeper gradient we're going up today, but the nice slow pace and pressure
breathing--a technique of rapidly exhaling with your lips in the whistling position,
ensure that the altitude is pleasant. Lupe and Simon debate foreign policy, and
Jessica works her camera getting various shots, and Elizabeth takes a little spill on a
slippery boulder and bruises her shin and hip.
When we descend down to camp three its pouring rain and everyone is tired
and wet. Slinking into my tent I'm crestfallen to see that the infection now looks
even worse--more swollen, and spreading. Melissa takes note of this, and starts me
on a course of a different antibiotic--clindamyacin--just to be absolutely sure we've
covered our bases. She reckons it to knocking a guy out, then kicking him in the face
while he's down, and I couldn't be more onboard, eagerly popping the new blue pills
down into my mouth. But fuck though, I ask myself--maybe I have some freak
Tanzanian bacteria they haven't discovered yet, that is immune to antibiotics, and
once it hits my lower pelvic lymph node will immediately go straight to my heart
and leave me dead in 48 hours? I've never been accused of lacking an active
imagination.
By now, passing pussing my wound in the early mornings has become old hat
for me, and luckily I can feel myself rapidly recovering with each drop drained. I try
and stave off weird hallucinations probably due to antibiotics mixing with my anti
malarial medicine Malarone, wrapped up in my sleeping bag completely covered
like a deep coal miner.
It's the early afternoon now at 16,000 feet. It's a brief day for us, because
tonight we make our bid to the summit around 2am. Even looking at the
handwriting in my journal as I write this, it's become sloppy and slightly
sophomoric, with misshaped letters and over sized commas. I find myself
emotionally highly on edge too--I had a little back and forth earlier with someone
from the group back at 15,000 feet, and my blood is still boiling--a normal spat of
bickering wouldn't rattle a normally thick skinned dude such as myself. Better do
some pressure breathing and calm myself down.
Our plan is to wake up at midnight, and begin our seven‐hour hike to the
summit in the dark of night, planned so that as we reach the top the sun will be
rising. Everyone in the group is tense at breakfast, eyes suspiciously darting around
to make sure nobody is cracking up yet. Few people have appetites, but Muller and I
force down some oatmeal and bread with peanut butter slathered on it.
Outside we all get into a line, fit our headlamps on correctly, and begin the
hike up the rest of the mountain. Several other groups on the mountain had already
left before us, and we can see their little tiny headlamp lights stretching up and up
the mountain like an infinite glowing snake. Shaking off the fatalism of looking up
takes me more than a few minutes each time, so I try to keep my head down and
focused on what's in front of me. There's also a strange creeping claustrophobia
that I can feel breathing down my neck; there's nowhere to go right now, your at
18,000 feet in the dark, keep it together son.
Several of the people in our group are already starting to get violent
headaches and nausea, and Melissa hikes up and down the mountain between our
two groups making sure nobody's health is in jeopardy. Muller and I packed two
extra packages of beef jerky, and I gnaw into it with the zeal of starved rat at one of
our brief breaks. Perfect snowflakes begin landing on my glove in front of me, and
for a second I wonder if this is remotely what it feels like to visit another planet.
After a good eight hours of trekking up, we finally reach Stella Point at 18,701
feet. Here it basically flattens out for the next forty‐five minutes of walking, only
raising an additional 639 feet to Uhuru peak, the summit. At Stella Point everybody
gives each other big hugs and congratulations, but the job isn't done yet--and the
last forty‐five minutes, as the weather clears just enough to get a glimpse of an
ancient gigantic glacier, are hardly Childs play.
When the group finally gets to the summit, a palpable relief overtakes our
group, followed by a wave of emotion that breaks in many tears from most
everyone. I can see how much pressure each person has put on themselves, not just
because of ego, but because they felt like they were really climbing for something
they knew was greater than themselves. Our group holds up a banner together, and
a million thoughts are flying through my head--how in the world are we going to
get back down when I can see several of our group already have altitude sickness?
How deep is tonight's sleep going to be, after scaling these walls? How can our
group do everything it can to help the global clean water crisis now? Across the
globe at that very moment, the Haiti earthquake is just hitting, creating a living
nightmare for thousands upon thousands of people. We are all unaware at this
moment--and all hold up a big plastic banner that says simply: SEND WATER!
Take Zillow.com, the real estate Web site, where people can hunt for prices and other details about houses. Zillow’s iPhone app adds GPS. People walking their dog through the neighborhood can snoop on the prices of their neighbors’ homes.
“It’s a way better experience in the field than on the PC,” said Rich Barton, Zillow’s chief executive. “When you’re walking or driving, you get estimates or homes recently sold — stuff you can’t see.”
Nine million people visit Zillow’s Web site each month, according to the company. In less than a year, its app has been downloaded by more than one million people, who view the details of two million individual homes on their phones each month.
Zillow is starting to sell mobile ads to local business and real estate agents, an opportunity that surprised the company. “We thought it would be an extension of our brand, not a money-making entity,” said Amy Bohutinsky, vice president of communications at Zillow.
A new version of the app released in February added rental listings and the ability to share Zillow’s home data, photos and property values on Facebook and Twitter.
Yelp’s mobile app is another example. Yelp’s Web site is useful for looking up reviews of the restaurant your date recommended or finding a good tailor near your home.
But on a cellphone, it gets a lot more useful. Yelp’s iPhone app uses GPS to search businesses near you and then gives you directions to get there, so you can find your way around in an unfamiliar city, for instance.
Earlier this week, I had five hours to kill between interviews in Silicon Valley. I needed to go somewhere nearby with wireless Internet, food and coffee. In two minutes, Yelp gave me the name of a cafe five minutes away, and I was armed with driving directions, recommendations on what to order and assurances from customers that there were electrical outlets and the proprietors did not mind people spending hours there.
Pandora is another example. As I wrote about on Monday, cellphone apps for the Internet radio site have brought 35,000 new listeners a month as people realize they can listen to music on their phones on the treadmill or in the car.
What other apps work best in their mobile form?
A mini treadmill is now starting to invade every household in Europe and America because of the multiple benefits that this small machine provides to its users.You will be able to run indoors which is very safe rather you are at a gym or at home. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. If you're not a new comer to the treadmill arena, then you'll love the more advanced features found on this machine. It also features a wide range of upgrades over the traditional treadmill like a powerful 3.0 HP motor, a good set of large rollers, a cushion flex running surface and presets that will make any workout you choose fun and challenging. folding treadmillThe main difference of Endurance T10 HRC Treadmill with others is the warranty. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.First of all, the frame of a commercial treadmill is made of a high alloy steel or aluminum, and is welded, as opposed to put together with nuts and bolts, like consumer grade equipment. This treadmill is also used in schools, heavy traffic gyms, hospitals and health clubs as this can cater all fitness levels and ages.
Which is better treadmill equipment Equipment Report
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. Many people feel that the warranty alone is worth purchasing this treadmill. One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. Home treadmillMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. The most important feature of a manual treadmill is the cost. electric treadmillToday, the fitness treadmill is an affordable piece of exercise equipment. Granted it doesn't exactly mimic an out door run but it works great when you just can't get out.They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. The best treadmills on the market combine an amazing and effective workout, make efficient use of space, and are affordable. Because of this, treadmill exercise equipment has remained very popular and has continued to be a top seller in the fitness equipment industry. However, many people overlook one of the biggest factors - your own size.
I was talking with an island dweller who recently rode out a major hurricane. The Island took a big hit with a 14 foot storm surge, 120mph winds, and torrential rain. In the aftermath of a storm of this magnitude, a significant amount of the residents' possessions were destroyed. Large piles of rubbish, that only days before had been coveted items of ownership, were now stacked into curbside shrines by the awesome power of Mother Nature - or more appropriately, monuments to our insatiable appetite for mindless consumer spending.
Household items were scattered everywhere, removed from houses in their owners' futile attempt to salvage what they could by drying out what the mold and humidity had not yet claimed. My friend remarked in amazement at the sheer quantity of "stuff" everyone owned. It seemed unimaginable that people could squeeze so many things into their living spaces, once you saw the entire inventory on display. Everyone on his block had a treadmill! Most looked brand new. Everyone was armed, and spray-painted signs on fences that warned of the dangers of thinking this was a self-service yard sale. Possessions are possessions, even if they are worthless.
But it is not just disasters that bring this clutter loving consciousness to the surface. How many times have you moved and asked yourself, "Where did I get all this crap?" In some insidious manner these physical objects gradually take over of our lives. Do we own our possessions or do they own us?
My first summer between college years, I moved to a beach community. There was a man there I encountered frequently who I thought was homeless. I'd see him on bus benches always wearing the same clothes. Leaves stuck in his hair gave him the appearance that he had just awakened from sleeping on the ground in a park. Sometimes I would see him wandering around town. Clearly he had no job. One of the locals branded him a casualty of the 60s who took too much LSD and never came down. His brother, who lived in town, took care of him, making sure he had food and clothes.
One morning as I was running along the beach, I saw this semi-homeless man. He had dug a large hole that cut him off at the knees when he stood in it. The locals had assured me that the man was harmless, and there was no need to be afraid of him. I noticed he had a long stick, and he was drawing something in the sand. My curiosity got the best of me. I decided to stop by and see what he was so busy creating. Upon approaching I introduced myself. The man looked up and smiled warmly. He had been absorbed in the task of drawing stick figures with the greatest of concentration. I did not wish to appear rude, so I pointed at one of the stick figures and complimented him on how realistic his drawing looked. The man proudly smiled and informed me this was a portrait of his brother. Then the smile slowly faded and the man shook his head sadly and said, "It's too bad about my brother."
"What happened to him?" I inquired gently.
"He has a house" came the simple answer.
"He has a house?" I repeated, not sure I was following the line of tragedy.
"Yes," the man replied thoughtfully. "My brother and I used to do things together and go places. Then he got a house, and now the house needs him to do things. He does not do things with me anymore, because he has to do things for the house, and he cannot go anywhere with me because the house has him." The man continued to shake his head sadly. "I will not go into houses," he said with resolve. "Because once you go inside... that's it... the house has you! It will always need something, and that's how 'it' gets you."
I never had the opportunity to talk with the beach artist again, but thirty years later, I still cannot forget our conversation. Through what many might label a distorted perspective, this man conveyed a clear message with gravity and insight.
I have reflected back many times on that brief encounter on the beach and wondered where I was allowing the possessions in my life to own me. It has occurred to me over the years how interesting and revealing our use of the word "possession" is. How many of us allow our lives to be possessed by our homes, cars, or boats? God knows the women from Sex In The City were clearly possessed by their shoe collections. But this is a human issue, not a gender issue. I have seen men possessed by everything from their baseball card collections, to their garages full of tools, to the love of their life - their car.
Perhaps there is a blessing within catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, and fires that force an involuntary purging of possessions. Thoreau offers words of wisdom for those who may find themselves unwillingly separated from a lifetime of property that they have worked hard to amass: "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."
Another unexpected gift of finding oneself materialistically stripped naked is the opportunity to revaluate what is truly important and valuable to us. To consciously update what we want to surround ourselves with and to reconsider what is authentically worth our investment. As the great Oscar Wilde once said, "We know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
For those readers who may be piecing their lives back together after an unexpected loss, may I leave you with one more priceless non-material gift from Thoreau: "There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself"... and to my semi-homeless beach buddy out there, wherever you are, may you continue to be as free as the day you were born.
TOTALLY not hot, BUT, I would absolutely request one and use it all the time. My job involves looong hours, and I have to make an effort to get up and move around throughout the course of the day. And when buckling down for a project, there is zero time for going home early to work out. I've thought of getting one of those bike pedal things for under-the-desk, but this would be so much better.
Are you determined to stay with your weight loss program, but you need to travel a lot? If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.If you're like one of the millions of people out there that have wanted to start a better healthy lifestyle, or just simply looking to lose a few pounds, you might want to get yourself a great motorized treadmill. It allows some great uses, including six presets, and so much more. More than just an easy to use machine it comes with full stereo speakers to guide you through whatever kind of sounds you want to workout to. motorized treadmillThe treadmill is built according to the demand and specification of health clubs and gyms. When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Can Help You Find the Best commercial treadmill Workout Tips
While it does not have a heart monitor on it, it has all the bells and whistles that make this treadmill a must-have for any enthusiast. Many people feel that the warranty alone is worth purchasing this treadmill. One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. treadmill china blogMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.The second most important feature is the belt. magnetic treadmillKnowing that many homeowners stay in small spaces (especially the urban dwellers), the products are designed to save space. For someone who's seriously into running and getting the exercise they need, a treadmill is a must to ensure your running schedule is not compromised. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.And since it's still selling really well, more and more companies have begun manufacturing them. The treadmill has been the best selling at home fitness machine for decades so many companies manufacture them.
Well these should not be a problem now. If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.It's not something that many people are taking lightly either because they are moving forward so well on a nice treadmill. This treadmill also allows you to fold up and hide away your treadmill in order to make sure that your room is not too crowded.It also features a wide range of upgrades over the traditional treadmill like a powerful 3.0 HP motor, a good set of large rollers, a cushion flex running surface and presets that will make any workout you choose fun and challenging. foldable treadmillThe extra large running surface and one touch speed adjustment deliver maximum performance during the workout. When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. First of all, the frame of a commercial treadmill is made of a high alloy steel or aluminum, and is welded, as opposed to put together with nuts and bolts, like consumer grade equipment. Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.
How to chose folding treadmill Reviews
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.Upright Exercise BikeIt also has the wireless heart rate control, 3 color LCD display, arm rest and incline controls to assist you during training.Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.They are quite cheap! You can pick up a new one for under 0 easily. treadmill equipmentSuch innovative designs encourage even the most stubborn homeowners to buy one and keep at home.For someone who's seriously into running and getting the exercise they need, a treadmill is a must to ensure your running schedule is not compromised. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. The best treadmills on the market combine an amazing and effective workout, make efficient use of space, and are affordable. And since it's still selling really well, more and more companies have begun manufacturing them. There are many factors to consider - performance, durability, motor size, and all of those features that are now being offered.
There is compact fitness equipment that can help you with your needs at a very affordable price. All treadmills have programs for all individuals no matter what there fitness goals are. You should definitely look at what people are calling a best buy, and a great addition to the exercise world. You can get a full 15% incline, allowing you to train well no matter what the weather is like outside. More than just an easy to use machine it comes with full stereo speakers to guide you through whatever kind of sounds you want to workout to. manual treadmillThe Amazon price of this treadmill is 99.00When looking for a higher end 'commercial grade' treadmill for your home gym, consider a 'lighter' version of a commercial treadmill model or a home fitness equipment brand that is known for higher end machines. This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.Professional gyms have been a popular choice to visit as there are expert trainers that provide classes for proper workout methods.
How to get electric treadmill For Your Abs?
Well, this is a piece of fitness equipment that will. Many people feel that the warranty alone is worth purchasing this treadmill. One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. exercise treadmillhttp://www.treadmills-equipment.com/home-treadmill.htmlMy brother-in-law was almost 350 pounds 3 months ago and the Sole F83 didn't have any issue carrying his weight at higher speed. Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.They are quite cheap! You can pick up a new one for under 0 easily. magnetic treadmillSuch innovative designs encourage even the most stubborn homeowners to buy one and keep at home.For someone who's seriously into running and getting the exercise they need, a treadmill is a must to ensure your running schedule is not compromised. Your best bet then is to carefully decide how to plan to use your home treadmill and then what your budget allows, and then choose the machine that will best fit your needs from there.Before you make a treadmill purchase, there are some things that should be taken into consideration.Below is a short list of the main features you should look at when reviewing treadmill exercise equipment.There are many factors to consider - performance, durability, motor size, and all of those features that are now being offered.
Music videos are an art, and they, like many art forms, had a golden age — and it ended about ten years ago. That was when music videos for bands that were just breaking out (not just U2) could be big, lavish spectacles; these days we’ve got lots of inventive, lo-fi videos made on the cheap (think OK Go’s famous treadmill video) but so little that’s done on a grand scale.
Of those golden age directors, Jonathan Glazer is one of the most unique. He sets himself apart with a surreal style that employs lots of long takes — not something you see in many cut-a-second videos, then or now — and he’s been known to hire actors, and do all sorts of unconventional things like turn the song down in the middle of the video to have some dialogue happen. Some are more like mini-movies than music videos, which is why, I suppose, he made such a graceful transition to film with Sexy Beast and Birth. Anyway, let’s start by taking a look at his most recent video, for Jack White’s new side project, the Dead Weather. Bloodless but hyper-violent, set in a desert no-man’s-land behind a suburban housing tract, it’s hypnotic and hilarious and seems to be full of hidden meanings.
Another “long takes of people walking” video is for UNKLE’s song “Rabbit in Your Headlights,” featuring Thom Yorke on vocals. We never learn who this unidentified man is (he’s certainly not in the band) — is he insane? A superhero? A magical saint? It’s all so disturbing and wonderfully ambiguous.
Speaking of disturbing and ambiguous, there’s Glazer’s underappreciated masterpiece, Birth, a film about a widow who is approached by a young boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her dead husband. He’s very persistent, and seems to know all sorts of intimate things about the dead man and Kidman’s character, and at first she pushes him away, unable to accept it (and prodded by her jealous and freaked out new husband, played by my favorite character actor, Danny Huston) — that’s the first scene you’ll see. (Sorry about the subtitles.) It’s followed by a long, wordless scene that’s shot all in one take, in slight slo-mo, that consists mainly of an unbroken close-up of Kidman’s face as something within her changes. It’s subtle and gets under your skin, and with nothing but a few blinks and slight facial movements, she communicates more than pages of dialogue could have.
“Song for the Lovers” breaks just about every music video rule imaginable. It features the singer just hanging around his fancy hotel room, looking not particularly glamorous, and getting room service — all in long, unbroken takes. At one point the song itself fades away. And somehow it seems to generate this bizarre suspense, like something terrible could happen at any second.
Glazer’s also done a lot of notable commercial work, including this great spot for Sony.
Glazer did several early videos for Radiohead, like this deceptively simple one for “Street Spirit,” which is full of little tricks and lots of great slo-mo (another Glazer hallmark).
Big music labels won’t allow embedding of their videos, which is endlessly annoying and pretty much ensures that they won’t go viral — but if you feel like looking up Glazer’s video for “Karma Police” on YouTube, it’s definitely worth a look.
Another unusual concept for a video — people crying. Really crying, in such an honest way that it’s a little uncomfortable to watch.
Wish I could include some clips from Sexy Beast here — it’s great — but I can’t think of a single scene that doesn’t include a paint-peeling amount of swearing. But do yourself a favor and check it out. It includes some of the best performances ever given by both Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, which is really saying something.
Kara DioGuardi opened up to Women’s Health Magazine for their upcoming April issue. In it, the 'American Idol' judge discussed her battle with an eating disorder, her healthy eating habits, exercise routine and personal growth.
She battled an eating disorder in her early twenties: “I’d pretty much clean out the refrigerator. Food was my drug of choice. It anesthetized me so I wouldn’t have to feel whatever I was feeling. I’d stuff myself full of sugar and fall asleep.”
Healthy eating habits: “The more roughage you eat, the more it fills you up.”
She drinks lots of water: “Two huge bottles a day, minimum. I have them around – one upstairs, one in the car – to force me to remember.
Her exercise routine: “Two miles of running or 25 minutes of cardio – boxing, treadmill, step-ups, walking lunges, sprints. I mix it up. And weight training is important as you get older. You build muscle which burns fat when you’re at rest.”
Her loved ones are honest with her: “Someone [close to me] said, ‘You may want to work on your arms – they’re a little jiggly’…The people in my life have no qualms about telling me when I don’t look great.”
After getting her first job in the music industry: “I started to feel better about my life. I was answering phones and getting water but I also learned about the music business.”
On her plans to take some stuff off her plate when she has kids…“It’ll be a lot of pressure being in charge of a little soul who will someday judge me if I’m not there for the school play.”
She’s finally content…“For the first time in my life, I’m content. I don’t feel the need to prove myself anymore.”
Are you a fan of Kara? Do you enjoy her on 'American Idol'?
Do you wish to have your own treadmill at home but you worry that it may not compliment the style of your home? If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.That treadmill we're talking about is the Sole F80 motorized treadmill.You can get a full 15% incline, allowing you to train well no matter what the weather is like outside. More than just an easy to use machine it comes with full stereo speakers to guide you through whatever kind of sounds you want to workout to. manual treadmillThe main difference of Endurance T10 HRC Treadmill with others is the warranty. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.This treadmill is also used in schools, heavy traffic gyms, hospitals and health clubs as this can cater all fitness levels and ages.
Home Exercise electric treadmill Worth Buying?
While it does not have a heart monitor on it, it has all the bells and whistles that make this treadmill a must-have for any enthusiast. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.When people complain about the treadmill being boring, it is probably because they do the same workout over and over.running machine machine http://www.treadmills-equipment.com/home-treadmill.htmlIt is perfectly designed for all kind of body weight and can sustain more heavy duty exercises without any problems. Here are two great treadmill workouts you can use if you are pressed for time. So no crazy videos there, where people get flung across the room by their treadmill! It is possible to change the incline on manual treadmills, but you have to get off and crank a knob in order to adjust it, then get on and start walking or running again. electric treadmillToday, the fitness treadmill is an affordable piece of exercise equipment. For someone who's seriously into running and getting the exercise they need, a treadmill is a must to ensure your running schedule is not compromised. Your best bet then is to carefully decide how to plan to use your home treadmill and then what your budget allows, and then choose the machine that will best fit your needs from there.However, there are a large number of treadmills on the market. There have been a lot of advancements in technology and durability over the past couple of decades. There are all types of treadmill exercise equipment out there.
Compact and multi-functional furniture is not just a smart space-saving solution, but is aesthetically pleasing too, which makes it perfect for modern decor. And if you are looking for a smart fitness solution to furnish your home gym, then the Xfit by Carpam Sport & Tumidei is one machine that is designed to let you follow your fitness regimen in your own personal gym at the best. The Xfit is a compact, stylish wardrobe with dimensions of 90×60x160h centimeters to fit into any decor. The stylish design merges design and practicality in a single piece of furniture. The unit consists of mirrors, 1 Drill rest, 1 treadmill with 1.75-hp motor, speed up to 16 km/h, electric tilt up to 10 percent gradient, 2 sets of rubber bands with multiple anchor points in order to train both the upper and lower body, 2 chrome dumbbells 2kg., 1 bench exercise besides an integrated 19″ LCD TV with DVD/CD player to keep you entertained. The Xfit is available in 11 color choices and in 3 different materials. This all-in-one home gym will set you back $6,332 and is available online for purchase.
Via: Digs Digs/Tumiedi Spa
Xfit Exercise Machine Picture Gallery
Build a Walking Work Station in 20 Minutes for $20
If you want to get off your duff and onto your treadmill but think you can't spare time away from work, now you've got no excuses. Consultant Jenny Evans demonstrates how to build a treadmill work station quickly and on the cheap.
You should be able to pick up the supplies to make this slick treadmill table for about 20 bucks at your local home improvement store. All it takes is a plank of wood and two brackets (Evans used Tornado E-Z Ancors) to secure it to the arms of your treadmill.
Attach the braces to the wood, then secure it to the arms of your treadmill, and you're done. Now you'll have plenty of space to keep a laptop, books, your day planner, and a beverage with you while you walk along your endless road. Check out the video to see how dead-simple the project really is.
You could spend a few extra minutes staining or painting the untreated wood, but it's not strictly necessary. You're aiming for functionality here, not beauty. Once you've rigged your setup, Evans says it's surprisingly easy to work while you walk. If you plan on jogging or running, typing is right out of the question, but you can always use the time to catch up on the last episode of Lost.
Would having your laptop at your fingertips while you work out motivate you to use your treadmill more often or do you like getting away from it all and leaving the internet behind for a while? If so—and this one doesn't tickle your fancy—we've featured other treadputer and bikeputer setups in the past.
A mini treadmill is now starting to invade every household in Europe and America because of the multiple benefits that this small machine provides to its users.If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.That treadmill we're talking about is the Sole F80 motorized treadmill.For those that are looking for a great motorized treadmill, the Sole F80 is the best thing on the market. To also further the challenge this treadmill has a full 15% incline for those that need a more professional workout.walking treadmillThe extra large running surface and one touch speed adjustment deliver maximum performance during the workout. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.This treadmill is also used in schools, heavy traffic gyms, hospitals and health clubs as this can cater all fitness levels and ages.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Which is better treadmill equipment For You
When you are looking for a treadmill for your home, you want to get one that is going to work well for you. When you buy this treadmill, you know you are getting something that will work for life.One of the most important factors in using a treadmill to increase your fitness level is the variety of your workouts. blogger001It is perfectly designed for all kind of body weight and can sustain more heavy duty exercises without any problems. Each are twenty minutes long, include a warm up and cool down period, and are equally effective for runners or walkers.It does not move until you push it with your feet by walking or running. folding treadmillMost home machines can be folded and stored away with minimal effort. If you've been running for a while you already know that outdoor running is not always possible due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances, that's when your treadmill becomes your best friend. Your best bet then is to carefully decide how to plan to use your home treadmill and then what your budget allows, and then choose the machine that will best fit your needs from there.The best treadmills on the market combine an amazing and effective workout, make efficient use of space, and are affordable. There have been a lot of advancements in technology and durability over the past couple of decades. There are all types of treadmill exercise equipment out there.
It was a sleepless night, and I found myself rolling around in my sheets, as
restless as I'd been in a long time, experiencing that uniquely displeasing kind of
anxiety that you actually feel in your heart as the pressure builds. Could I really be
considering this? Hell yeah, I could, and was--my turbulent bed thoughts were
being disrupted by a 19,340 foot behemoth that was pulling me to it like an
inescapable black hole. Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who first reached
Mount Everest's peak with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, once responded tersely to a
question posed to him by a reporter as to why he climbed mountains. "Because its
there" Sir Edmund said.
Luckily I find myself having more of a reason to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in
Tanzania January 7th, 2010. My friend Kenna, a talented singer and musician, has
spent the last year and a half organizing a benefit climb called Summit On The
Summit, the ultimate goal of which is to bring awareness and relief to the world's
clean water crisis. Kenna has assembled a group of musicians, actors, and even a
couple of water experts, as well as a documentary crew from Radical Media, to all
climb Kilimanjaro and shoot a documentary while doing so. The goal of which is to
create a hybrid of an educational class on the clean water crisis, and an odyssey to
the roof of Africa--Kilimanjaro, the tallest free standing (not surrounded by other
mountains) mountain in the world.
Upon agreeing to do the climb, and jumping through the necessary hoops of
paperwork, immunizations, and assembling my gear, the sole focus of my universe
and existence becomes training. Being the last one to join the team of 45 people to
go for the summit (including our film crew) I have to do in three weeks what
everyone has been (hopefully) hard at work at doing for the last eight months:
getting buns you could crack a walnut on. My physician, Robert Huizenga, is the guy
who quickly dashes any hopes I have of coasting on my natural physical abilities.
Judging by the look in his eyes though, he's thinking 'what natural abilities?' So I'm
going to have to go hard, with at least 90 minutes a day of hiking, treadmill, or
stairs--and all with at least 15lbs of weight on my back. Driven partly by fear and
madcap dreams of summit glory, I hit the Gold's Gym across the street from where I
live like I haven't ever done. Through sore calves taffy pulled hamstrings, twitchy
tendons, and steep waves of nausea, I slowly yet inexorably begin to feel my muscles
gain in strength and size, and my favorite part--get to eat whatever I want three
meals a day now, rapidly gaining eight pounds.
Technology is indeed changing the way we operate--on my downtime I find
myself sitting rigidly at the computer, sipping a Banana Cream Muscle Milk, my eyes
piercing the screen, sharp slits with endless You Tube videos of Kilimanjaro
reflecting off my fried corneas late into the night. Home made tourist videos, travel
diaries, clips of specials on the mountain, and website after website, I get so
inundated with Kilimanjaro and mountaineering, I feel like I've already been there.
Not quite, little Hirsch, I chastise myself--my days of being an armchair adventurist
are about to end abruptly. One You Tube video stays with me though and grows to
haunt my dreams--a 20 second clip of two Porters (the native mountain workers)
taking a man, face covered in a ski mask, briskly down a steep hill, holding onto his
arms as his head drunkenly lopes and bandies about, his brain short circuited by the
malignant affect of altitude sickness.
Saying last goodbye's to my friends and family before I depart is a sticky
situation--no one want to downplay the gravity of the risk, because there's always
the possibility something unforeseen could happen, yet at the same time the more
gravity given to a goodbye could in itself make one less confident of one's potential
success. Either way you cut it, better to tell ones to you that you love them while
they're in your embrace, and never feel a pang of regret. Both of my parents support
the climb, as does my girlfriend Brianna. There's not a lot of the histrionic "what the
hell are you doing?" arguments bouncing around.
At night, now that I've given myself over to the climb, ear buds fill my head
with the voices of Jon Krakauer and Ed Viesturs as the audio books I've downloaded
onto my ipod weave far off worlds of wonder. Krakauer's books "Into Thin Air" and
"Eiger Dreams" I find simultaneously sobering to the realities and risks of
mountaineering, yet inspiring to the personal challenges and spirit of adventure in
the sport. Viesturs "No Shortcuts To The Top" and "K2: Life and Death On The
World's Most Dangerous Mountain" leave my jaw agape in bed as I feel myself
transported to the bottleneck of K2 in the Himalaya's, with Fritz Veesner on the epic
1939 expedition, or the summit of Annapurna, the world's deadliest mountain, as
Viesturs proudly radioed down to Jimmy Chin (a high altitude climber and
photographer joining us in our climb) that he'd finally made it to the summit,
completing his lifelong dream of being the first American to climb all fourteen 8,000
meter peaks in the world. Call me naïve, young, or just plain monkey hear monkey
do, I'm frothing at the mouth with so many tales of adventure I find myself
continuously dreaming I'm above the clouds, putting one exhausted foot in front of
the other.
After meeting Kenna and several members of our team at LAX airport
including actress' Jessica Biel and Isabel Lucas, musician Santi White and rapper
Lupe Fiasco, as well as photographers Jimmy Chin and Michael Muller, and many
other amazing individuals I would be grateful to be able to soon call my friends, we
managed to hopscotch to Amsterdam for a quick stopover, then hightail it South to
Tanzania. Everyone in the groups are totally gung ho, and despite dizzy
constitutions following 30 hours of flying, our collective excitement is thick enough
one could cut it with a knife.
At the Arusha Hotel, after being introduced to our guides and divided into
four groups--one and two for the influencers and educators, three and four for the
film crew, and getting the rest of our gear from the guide company Thompson
Safari's--trekking poles, sleeping bags, and an informative lecture on medical safety
to everyone by Melissa Arnot, the beautiful, blonde and brown eyed 27 year old
mountain climbing wonder extraordinaire, were all pumped up with adrenaline as
we struggle to sleep the night before the climb.
After Melissa speaks, I take her aside and ask her to come with me to my
room quickly--I want to show her something that's been worrying me. A day before
I got on the plane, I noticed a hard, painful peanut M&M sized ball on my pelvic
bone--a classic little ingrown hair. Only the pain since getting on the plane has now
tripled. This begins now my official relationship with Melissa--she lathers me down
with iodine and removes the culprit hair mercilessly with tweezers. All she gets out
of me is one quick girlish yelp followed by a wolfish grin, and a relief that that
problem has been so quickly done away with.
I luckily manage to get good nights sleep despite the packing chaos the rest of
our group seems engulfed in. Ever the hyperactive personality, I keep checking my
pulse with one of the electronic instruments one of the techies Nick has. My pulse
never wants to dip below 110 beats per minute, and dark visions of having sudden
death cardiac arrest at 19,000 feet caress me to sleep.
On our drive out of Arusha in our train of beat up four by four Safari vehicles,
Lupe and I trade jokes with a fast pitter patter of a couple of homegrown class
clowns, with topics centering on our odds of making it to the top of the mountain,
religion, and the potential perils a mountain man could face for fornicating with a
two headed sheep with a sheepskin condom. Lupe is hilarious, as is Simon Isaacs, a
Vermont born cause marketing expert who regularly adds to our blob‐like
conversation of absurdity, although I think after a while we start to get on UN
Humanitarian worker Elizabeth Gore's nerves, despite occasionally wringing an
involuntary smile from the corners of her lips. However, our mouths are quickly
given a rest when our driver points ahead. There's Kilimanjaro, he says. After
having been looking at pictures and You Tube videos for weeks, part of me thought I
already kind of knew Kilimanjaro, that it almost wouldn't be a big deal when I saw it.
Good thing assumption is not a mother virtue--the peak claws into the sky above us,
dark and violent, capped with a majestic solid white glacial cap, like some kind of
high altitude crown. I know it's beautiful, but at first glance, it has about as much
"beauty" as the beautiful designs of a Pit Viper waiting under a toilet seat.
After passing through the main gate at 7,000 feet and signing into an
unending beauracratic mess of a public record book, jotting down names and
passport numbers, we go up another 3,500 feet and park the vehicles. There's
about 200 porters waiting for us--all bearing bags jam packed with the tents, food,
water, and supplies for the days ahead--so, for example, when we finish a day of
hiking the tents are waiting for us--a definite luxury for us on this climb. Porters
are all strong men, some wearing as little as shorts and sandals, and all possessing a
ruggedness of spirit and soul that shames most of us with their sheer strength--
many of the men are carrying sixty pounds on top of their heads while scrambling
through rock clusters with ease that most of us are using every drop of adrenaline
we can muster just to hang on.
To start out here were only going for two hours today--but even at an
energetic snails pace, I still feel my heart do the thumpty thump as my throat sucks
the dry air, ravenous for oxygen. Our groups are split now into four, and our group,
two, we quickly name "Dos Locos," given our tendency towards the delightfully
absurd. I draw our group logo on Michael Muller's blue rain poncho--a bearded
man resembling Michael, with his eyes practically blowing out of their sockets in
different directions, and of course--brain exploding out of the top of his head,
equipped with requisite hands to the sides of his face ala Macaulay Culkin in Home
Alone.
Out in the middle of nature like this with none of the mixed blessing
technology like cell phones and blackberries so many of us find ourselves chained
to, the jokes, conversation, exchange of ideas flows so freely and is so intellectually
engaging that I wonder if this is what college would have been like if I had gone. I'm
happy on the trail, beaming as I climb up every sloping hill, and looking at the
landscape, which at present reminds me visually of the Southwest, like Santa Fe
New Mexico, where I was partially raised. With no trees around on this first day
walk, there's lots of bushy type plants and dwarf shrubs, and the trail is wet and
muddy, gushing under our feet due to a recent rain. There's also some borderline
sketchy rock maneuvers we do, ascending and descending a series of steep forty
foot gullies and crossing the creeks below, all of us carefully hopping on the rocks
and employing our long dormant rock hopping instincts and avoiding potential
freezing water visits. Pole, pole, the famous slogan we keep hearing from all the
guides that has become like gospel on the mountain to all who desire the summit:
slowly, slowly, that is.
At our first camp we get organized into our tents, and they've generously
given me my own, while some of our groups will share with two people per tent. I
was considering briefly not writing about this part--but fuck it--by this time now
my ingrown hair--the one about an inch up and left of my manhood, has become
more than just an unwanted houseguest, shooting from its walnut sized mass a
stabbing pain whenever I move at all. Even bending down to tie my shoes has
become an exercise in sadism for me now. Melissa's had enough of my limping
around, and she calls me to her tent. She puts a pair of blue rubber gloves on, and
removes a tiny syringe and some pads from a plastic bag filled with medical
supplies. Melissa says she's going to drain it out, because its now infected and filled
with pus. This may hurt a little, she says. She delicately plunges the thin needle
directly onto my little red walnut, and I'm gripped with pain. She takes her thumbs
now, and slowly squeezes the walnut, and pink and blubbery white pus begins to
erupt out, as my pain quickly turns into fire and brimstone agony--I literally cannot
believe how hell one little ingrown hair is raising. And then, as if possessed by The
Joker in The Dark Knight, I compulsively start laughing, uncontrollably. This is like
popping the deepest pimple of your life times fifty. After she drains it, despite still
reeling from the squeezing, which went on for at least two minutes, I still feel
immensely relieved the pressure is gone--the dreaded pus now wrapped in a
dispensable plastic bio bag. If there was a single experience in my life that equaled
the pain I felt in those moments with Melissa, I don't know what they are.
After our guide Wilfred, a tall and intelligent Tanzanian man, finishes going
over plans for tomorrow while we chomp on a spaghetti and soup dinner, and
listening to a heartfelt speech from Kenna about his pride in being able to help
people that are less fortunate than others, and realization that Kenna could easily be
suffering from a water related illness. Born in Ethiopia, he came to the US when he
was young, but things could easily have been very different for him. As Kenna's
voice becomes a soft whisper and his eyes grow deeper and moist, I'm glad the
spiritual leader of our climb is so honest with his feelings.
A small group of us including Isabel and Jimmy, Los Angeles physical trainer
Jason Walsh, and water expert Alexandra Cousteau all sneak off after dark with our
headlamps on, and steal a few minutes to see the enveloping view of stars, so bright
and clear they beg to be picked from the sky.
I'm in my tent right now at 13,600 feet the next day at camp three--my body
tired and pulse is racing, partly due to the altitude sickness medication I'm on called
Diamox, but now also due to the antibiotic cephalexin and the anti inflammatory
steroid dexamethasone I've immediately been put on, as my infection has tripled in
size and quadrupled in pain after today's six and a half hour climb. Almost every
step for me today has been excruciating, and people on the trail keep stopping me
and asking if I'm okay as I stop and lean on my trekking poles, wincing and trying to
catch my breath.
Just to make the last hundred feet to the camp takes just about everything
I've got. As I stagger into my tent and collapse onto my sleeping bag, painful tears
stream down my eyes and an angry lump weighs in my throat--I know my body
well, and I know that there is no possible way I'm going to be able to continue this
climb. There's no way I'm going to be able to join Kenna and the others on their
quest to the summit to raise awareness for clean water. My heart swells with
empathy now for every sick or dying man, woman and child--all I have is a stupid
ingrown hair that has freakishly spiraled now, as Melissa tells me, into a potentially
serious infection.
And the damndest part is, at base camp three where we are now, I can see the
peak I've been dreaming about every night for the last month. It taunts me, and for
brief moments waves of scornful rage bites onto me like unleashed little attack dogs.
Altitude sickness my ass, I was breathing the air up here, and it felt so fresh to me it
was like it was scented with roses. Tired legs were the last of my worries; I'm in the
best shape I've been in since Sean Penn took me to my physical limits. But this is an
unworthy opponent‐‐ the smallest thing, a trivial, measly hair, boring its way into
my body and somehow releasing Pandora's box on my ass. Not like this, I tell
myself, as I'm wracked now in my sleeping bag with the chills and shivers--not like
this. But an honest and pure epiphany hits me--how many of my fellow human
beings last thoughts were 'Not like this?' How many good people's lives have been
tragically cut short, given the short end of the stick in a cruel and merciless world. I
don't feel a shred of regret now, sinking my head deep into my hands--I feel
humble.
After having a conversation with Kenna in my tent about what to do, we both
agree for now to treat my situation as a general health problem--and make plans
for me to head back down the mountain tomorrow and get picked up and driven
back to Arusha--there, I'll call my parents and loves ones and let them know what is
going on with me. But for now, I can't think clearly, as the stabbing pain in my groin
pierces through me like a rusty nail, just beyond the fabric of my tent the great
Mountain, quicksilver slipping through my grasp.
Or maybe not. That night, a particular stinging sensation wakes me from my
foggy dreams and has me reaching for my headlamp--I shove it down my sleeping
bag and see my large bump has been slowly frothing up bloody pus in my sleep.
Acting on what I'm almost sure is basic human instincts of taking care of ones own
body, I grab a clean sock and begin milking the thing like a large cow teat, the pus
readily barfing out. I hop over to Melissa's tent in the dark, and let her know what's
happening, and also because I know however my clean my sock is, I need to
properly sanitize this immediately with iodine. Exhaling deeply once I lie back
down in my tent, I feel renewed hope--maybe the antibiotics will start working
soon.
In the morning I wake up with a renewed sense of purpose after my first
good night's sleep--and when Melissa comes into my tent to check on me, we both
agree that I'll continue on slowly today, and see how it goes--if at lunch I'm in
unbearable pain, or it looks like the infection spreading out of control, we'll
evacuate. Sometimes I can be a pessimist, but part of me feels like this could turn
around for me in the next 48 hours or so--but only time will tell.
During the hike today we peaked out at 15,000 feet, and set up our lunch tent
where a massive dark and monolithic rock crag has been called Lava Tower. It's a
much steeper gradient we're going up today, but the nice slow pace and pressure
breathing--a technique of rapidly exhaling with your lips in the whistling position,
ensure that the altitude is pleasant. Lupe and Simon debate foreign policy, and
Jessica works her camera getting various shots, and Elizabeth takes a little spill on a
slippery boulder and bruises her shin and hip.
When we descend down to camp three its pouring rain and everyone is tired
and wet. Slinking into my tent I'm crestfallen to see that the infection now looks
even worse--more swollen, and spreading. Melissa takes note of this, and starts me
on a course of a different antibiotic--clindamyacin--just to be absolutely sure we've
covered our bases. She reckons it to knocking a guy out, then kicking him in the face
while he's down, and I couldn't be more onboard, eagerly popping the new blue pills
down into my mouth. But fuck though, I ask myself--maybe I have some freak
Tanzanian bacteria they haven't discovered yet, that is immune to antibiotics, and
once it hits my lower pelvic lymph node will immediately go straight to my heart
and leave me dead in 48 hours? I've never been accused of lacking an active
imagination.
By now, passing pussing my wound in the early mornings has become old hat
for me, and luckily I can feel myself rapidly recovering with each drop drained. I try
and stave off weird hallucinations probably due to antibiotics mixing with my anti
malarial medicine Malarone, wrapped up in my sleeping bag completely covered
like a deep coal miner.
It's the early afternoon now at 16,000 feet. It's a brief day for us, because
tonight we make our bid to the summit around 2am. Even looking at the
handwriting in my journal as I write this, it's become sloppy and slightly
sophomoric, with misshaped letters and over sized commas. I find myself
emotionally highly on edge too--I had a little back and forth earlier with someone
from the group back at 15,000 feet, and my blood is still boiling--a normal spat of
bickering wouldn't rattle a normally thick skinned dude such as myself. Better do
some pressure breathing and calm myself down.
Our plan is to wake up at midnight, and begin our seven‐hour hike to the
summit in the dark of night, planned so that as we reach the top the sun will be
rising. Everyone in the group is tense at breakfast, eyes suspiciously darting around
to make sure nobody is cracking up yet. Few people have appetites, but Muller and I
force down some oatmeal and bread with peanut butter slathered on it.
Outside we all get into a line, fit our headlamps on correctly, and begin the
hike up the rest of the mountain. Several other groups on the mountain had already
left before us, and we can see their little tiny headlamp lights stretching up and up
the mountain like an infinite glowing snake. Shaking off the fatalism of looking up
takes me more than a few minutes each time, so I try to keep my head down and
focused on what's in front of me. There's also a strange creeping claustrophobia
that I can feel breathing down my neck; there's nowhere to go right now, your at
18,000 feet in the dark, keep it together son.
Several of the people in our group are already starting to get violent
headaches and nausea, and Melissa hikes up and down the mountain between our
two groups making sure nobody's health is in jeopardy. Muller and I packed two
extra packages of beef jerky, and I gnaw into it with the zeal of starved rat at one of
our brief breaks. Perfect snowflakes begin landing on my glove in front of me, and
for a second I wonder if this is remotely what it feels like to visit another planet.
After a good eight hours of trekking up, we finally reach Stella Point at 18,701
feet. Here it basically flattens out for the next forty‐five minutes of walking, only
raising an additional 639 feet to Uhuru peak, the summit. At Stella Point everybody
gives each other big hugs and congratulations, but the job isn't done yet--and the
last forty‐five minutes, as the weather clears just enough to get a glimpse of an
ancient gigantic glacier, are hardly Childs play.
When the group finally gets to the summit, a palpable relief overtakes our
group, followed by a wave of emotion that breaks in many tears from most
everyone. I can see how much pressure each person has put on themselves, not just
because of ego, but because they felt like they were really climbing for something
they knew was greater than themselves. Our group holds up a banner together, and
a million thoughts are flying through my head--how in the world are we going to
get back down when I can see several of our group already have altitude sickness?
How deep is tonight's sleep going to be, after scaling these walls? How can our
group do everything it can to help the global clean water crisis now? Across the
globe at that very moment, the Haiti earthquake is just hitting, creating a living
nightmare for thousands upon thousands of people. We are all unaware at this
moment--and all hold up a big plastic banner that says simply: SEND WATER!
I was talking with an island dweller who recently rode out a major hurricane. The Island took a big hit with a 14 foot storm surge, 120mph winds, and torrential rain. In the aftermath of a storm of this magnitude, a significant amount of the residents' possessions were destroyed. Large piles of rubbish, that only days before had been coveted items of ownership, were now stacked into curbside shrines by the awesome power of Mother Nature - or more appropriately, monuments to our insatiable appetite for mindless consumer spending.
Household items were scattered everywhere, removed from houses in their owners' futile attempt to salvage what they could by drying out what the mold and humidity had not yet claimed. My friend remarked in amazement at the sheer quantity of "stuff" everyone owned. It seemed unimaginable that people could squeeze so many things into their living spaces, once you saw the entire inventory on display. Everyone on his block had a treadmill! Most looked brand new. Everyone was armed, and spray-painted signs on fences that warned of the dangers of thinking this was a self-service yard sale. Possessions are possessions, even if they are worthless.
But it is not just disasters that bring this clutter loving consciousness to the surface. How many times have you moved and asked yourself, "Where did I get all this crap?" In some insidious manner these physical objects gradually take over of our lives. Do we own our possessions or do they own us?
My first summer between college years, I moved to a beach community. There was a man there I encountered frequently who I thought was homeless. I'd see him on bus benches always wearing the same clothes. Leaves stuck in his hair gave him the appearance that he had just awakened from sleeping on the ground in a park. Sometimes I would see him wandering around town. Clearly he had no job. One of the locals branded him a casualty of the 60s who took too much LSD and never came down. His brother, who lived in town, took care of him, making sure he had food and clothes.
One morning as I was running along the beach, I saw this semi-homeless man. He had dug a large hole that cut him off at the knees when he stood in it. The locals had assured me that the man was harmless, and there was no need to be afraid of him. I noticed he had a long stick, and he was drawing something in the sand. My curiosity got the best of me. I decided to stop by and see what he was so busy creating. Upon approaching I introduced myself. The man looked up and smiled warmly. He had been absorbed in the task of drawing stick figures with the greatest of concentration. I did not wish to appear rude, so I pointed at one of the stick figures and complimented him on how realistic his drawing looked. The man proudly smiled and informed me this was a portrait of his brother. Then the smile slowly faded and the man shook his head sadly and said, "It's too bad about my brother."
"What happened to him?" I inquired gently.
"He has a house" came the simple answer.
"He has a house?" I repeated, not sure I was following the line of tragedy.
"Yes," the man replied thoughtfully. "My brother and I used to do things together and go places. Then he got a house, and now the house needs him to do things. He does not do things with me anymore, because he has to do things for the house, and he cannot go anywhere with me because the house has him." The man continued to shake his head sadly. "I will not go into houses," he said with resolve. "Because once you go inside... that's it... the house has you! It will always need something, and that's how 'it' gets you."
I never had the opportunity to talk with the beach artist again, but thirty years later, I still cannot forget our conversation. Through what many might label a distorted perspective, this man conveyed a clear message with gravity and insight.
I have reflected back many times on that brief encounter on the beach and wondered where I was allowing the possessions in my life to own me. It has occurred to me over the years how interesting and revealing our use of the word "possession" is. How many of us allow our lives to be possessed by our homes, cars, or boats? God knows the women from Sex In The City were clearly possessed by their shoe collections. But this is a human issue, not a gender issue. I have seen men possessed by everything from their baseball card collections, to their garages full of tools, to the love of their life - their car.
Perhaps there is a blessing within catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, and fires that force an involuntary purging of possessions. Thoreau offers words of wisdom for those who may find themselves unwillingly separated from a lifetime of property that they have worked hard to amass: "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."
Another unexpected gift of finding oneself materialistically stripped naked is the opportunity to revaluate what is truly important and valuable to us. To consciously update what we want to surround ourselves with and to reconsider what is authentically worth our investment. As the great Oscar Wilde once said, "We know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
For those readers who may be piecing their lives back together after an unexpected loss, may I leave you with one more priceless non-material gift from Thoreau: "There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself"... and to my semi-homeless beach buddy out there, wherever you are, may you continue to be as free as the day you were born.
Well these should not be a problem now. If it is raining, snowing, loose dogs, or what ever the reason is, you will not need to worry because you will be able to get your running in no matter what by using this machine.That treadmill we're talking about is the Sole F80 motorized treadmill.If you're not a new comer to the treadmill arena, then you'll love the more advanced features found on this machine. With a sturdy constructed frame, and full options you're going to love how great and easy to use this machine really is. treadmill equipmentThe main difference of Endurance T10 HRC Treadmill with others is the warranty. It will serve you just as well and cost you thousands less.This allows for a larger user weight, and will come with a lifetime warranty against cracks or breakage.As more and more people developed the habit of doing regular exercise, the popularity of commercial treadmills has also increased.