Let the games begin: 11 reasons why I love the Olympics

Once every four summers, sports fans get a welcome reprieve from the big business aspects of major sports, instead getting treated to two-plus weeks of athletic competition in its purest form.

The Olympics have never been multi-million dollar contracts and free agency; it's about a collection of world-class athletes facing off with national pride and a shot at the medal podium on the line. Most Olympians aren't wealthy and very few have posters of themselves plastered on the walls of idolizing youth. They train year-round and have to make a countless number of sacrifices to get where they're at.

But when the time comes to compete on the world's greatest stage, they know that their dedication was worth it. And for the select group that earn a gold medal, those few moments of glory are enough to last a lifetime.

This year's edition of Olympics officially kicks off today with the opening (complete schedule of the Olympics here). In honor of the summer games starting, here are 11 reasons why I love the Olympics, in no particular order:


1. The 1992 Dream Team -- I'm JUST old enough to remember this, and along with watching Michael Jordan highlights, it's what first got me into basketball. The glitz and glamour of the Dream Team may not have been in keeping with the spirit of the Olympics, but it was still something to admire. A team comprised of 11 future Hall of Famers (and Christian Laettner) that throttled opponents by an average of 44 points a game. Will we ever see a team dominate to that level in international play again? Probably not -- regardless of what Kobe Bryant thinks -- but we can at least hope to see a team that captivates us in the same way.

2. The decathlon -- U.S. decathlete Ashton Eaton described the decathlon as being "The SATs of athletics." I couldn't agree more. It's always been one of my favorite events to watch just because of the sheer athleticism required in it. Most people can't leap over hurdles without tripping on them; try doing that, pole vault, javelin and a 1,500 meter run on the same day. The guys and gals competing in this hardly fall into the "Jack of all trades, master of none" category either. Most decathlon event records are within mere fractions of what the world records are in those events individually.

3. The 1996 U.S. women's gymnastics team doing the Macarena after winning the gold medal -- Kerri Strung memorably came up big for the U.S. in the vault competition, but this is what always comes to mind for me when I think about that team. What would be the equivalency of this today? The men's gymnastics team doing the dubstep after winning gold?

4. Olympic rowing -- Maybe it's just because I attempted the sport in college, but I have a deep appreciation for the ridiculous amount of athleticism and commitment needed to even be good rowing; much less compete at an Olympic level. It's a test of balance, strength, rhythm and cardiovascular endurance on the open water. If you're racing in an 8 or a 4, there's also the added challenge of resisting the urge to not throw your shrieking coxswain overboard. And as far as Olympic underdog stories go, it doesn't get much better than this.

5. Michael Phelps, past and present -- Admittedly, I'm not all that into competitive swimming. I'd rather dive for pennies at the deep end of a swimming pool than watch a 200M butterfly race. Still, you have to respect and admire the incredible career Phelps has had in the summer games. An incredible 14 gold medals over two Olympics and it's looking like he'll add a few more to the collection this year. If that weren't enough to make you intrigued, his diet during the Olympics is enough to make Marlon Brando blush.*

6. Table tennis and badminton at an Olympic level -- It's hard to believe that games you can play in your basement or backyard without breaking a sweat can turn into riveting international competition, but when you watch the pros do it, it's easier to believe. I keep hoping for them to add hammerschlagen as an event, but I don't think it's happening.

7. Jesse Owens walking into Nazi Germany and leaving with four gold medals -- When you consider the racial climate of the time and Adolph Hitler assuring Aryan dominance before the games, this has to be considered one of the most incredible feats in Olympic history. I can only imagine what Owens had to go through to get to that point. An African American sprinter who was treated like a second-class citizen in his own country traveled over to Nazi Germany to compete for that same country in front of a crowd that looked down on him as a primitive and un-advanced human being. And despite all that, he kept his head held high and came away with a performance that went unmatched for almost 50 years (Carl Lewis equaled his track & field gold medal count in 1984). I could write at length about Owens' Olympic triumph, but for the sake of my readers, I'll keep it short. For additional insight about Owens, you can watch this or read this.

8. The U.S. women's basketball team -- Three Minnesota Lynx players (Maya Moore, Lindsey Whalen and Seimone Augustus) are on a squad that's favored to win gold in London. Call it a ray of sunshine for an otherwise bleak summer for Minnesota sports.**

9. Usain Bolt sprinting to three world records in Beijing -- His medal haul of three golds was impressive (though not unprecedented), but the lanky Jamaican gets extra credit for reviving the popularity of a sport that had previously been riddled with doping controversy. Plus, has there ever been a better last name for a sprinter than Bolt? That's like an archer having their last name be Bullseye. Needless to say, I had fun writing headlines for the Mankato sports section that summer.

10. Bob Beamon's leap -- World records get broken all the time in the Olympics. That's just how it works as athletes evolve and training regimes become more developed. But how often is that a record gets completely obliterated like this? Beamon broke Jesse Owens' record in the long jump -- a record that stood for more than 30 years -- by almost 2 feet in the 1968 Olympics. It took 23 years for his record to finally fall (Mike Powell surpassed it by 2 inches in 1991).

11. The triathlon -- If the decathlon is the SATs of athletics, perhaps the triathlon is the ACT.  Coming from a guy who competed is several triathlons without being able to swim competently, I can tell you that it's REALLY difficult to be good at all three events. Like all other Olympic events, the athletes competing in this put in an unfathomable amount of work to get to this level, and that alone is something to appreciate.

------------

*I've often wondered who would win in a swimming race: Michael Phelps or Kevin Costner's half-man, half-fish character from "Waterworld." Phelps is basically genetically engineered to be a swimmer (long arms, giant feet, long legs and flexible ankles), but Costner's character had webbed feet and hands AND had gills. I'd like to think it would at least be close.


**I'm waiting on celebrating the Wild's signing of Parise and Suter until they actually play together. It was a much-needed injection of energy for the franchise (and possibly one of the greatest free agent hauls in NHL history), but it's still unproven.

Movie metamorphosis: A look at actors who changed their bodies for roles

Tom Hardy is no stranger to packing on the muscle for a movie.

The British actor bulked up to an almost-unrecognizable mass to portray Charles Bronson in 2008's "Bronson." Likewise, he reportedly added 30 pounds of muscle and studied numerous fighting styles (according to imdb.com) to play the intimidating Batman villain Bane in this year's hotly-anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises," which opens in general theaters at midnight tonight. If the various trailers from "Rises" are any indication, Hardy's workout regime definitely paid off. He's hulking, he's scary and he'll undoubtedly be a better Bane than the campy, mindless henchman in the ridiculous, nipple suit-laden "Batman & Robin."

The practice of actors gaining or losing a significant amount of weight for a role is fairly common in today's movie industry. For certain roles, it's a big part of their process of getting into character. Would anyone have accepted Will Smith as a convincing Muhammad Ali if he still looked like the skinny, cocky kid from "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"?

As a self-proclaimed (and borderline obsessive) movie buff, I've seen my fair share of actor transformations. It always amazes me how actors can dedicate themselves to a role in this way. Most people struggle to lose/gain weight just to live healthy; these actors are doing it for the sake of art (and presumably a sizable paycheck). It's an exercise in discipline and dedication that many desire, but only few possess.

In honor of "Dark Knight Rises" coming out today -- and since it's been a relatively uneventful week for me on the health & fitness front -- here's a few of the more memorable roles I've seen for weight gain/loss. Feel free to chime in with other examples if you're so inclined. Unless noted otherwise, all weight loss/gain information is courtesy of IMDB, a movie website that I likely need an intervention from in the near future:

Christian Bale -- The Machinist (2004)
Speaking of Batman, Bale looked more like a third-world refugee than the Caped Crusader in this movie about an emotionally-damaged insomniac. Bale dropped more than 60 pounds -- weighing in at sickly 110 pounds --  for the role by eating nothing more than a can of tuna and an apple each day. Supposedly, Bale felt so weak during filming that he could barely do a push-up. It was hard to watch this movie without wanting to reach into the screen and give his character a cheeseburger. His next role after this? You guessed it: Batman. He put on close to 100 pounds(mostly muscle) in less than a year to play the Dark Knight, and was reportedly able to do much more than one push-up.

Natalie Portman -- Black Swan (2010)
Portman isn't a plus-sized woman to begin with, but her petite figure looked downright anorexic in this psycho-sexual ballet thriller. To prepare for her role, Portman dropped roughly 20 pounds and started a training regime a year before filming began that included rigorous ballet practice and swimming a mile a day. She definitely earned her Oscar in this movie. (Random side note: If you'd have told me five years ago that I'd thoroughly enjoy seeing a movie about ballet, I would have made a disgusted face and called you a liar)


Robert De Niro -- Raging Bull (1980)
My favorite boxing movie also featured one of the all-time great actor transformations. To portray Jake La Motta, De Niro not only trained extensively as a boxer (even entering into a few amateur boxing matches), he also packed on 60 pounds to portray the older, fatter La Motta in later scenes. Just watch this clip; you can hardly recognize him. Also, it's incredibly hard to find a clip for this movie that isn't full of profanity.


Matt Damon -- Courage Under Fire (1996)
Before he ever asked Scott William Winters if he liked apples, Damon turned heads by losing 40 pounds  -- supposedly by smoking and running 5-10 miles a day, according to an interview with the Screen Actors Guild -- for his role as a soldier in this movie. Interestingly enough, Damon's weight loss almost cost him the role in "Saving Private Ryan" the following year, as director Steven Speilberg previously thought that Damon was "too skinny" for the part. Also interesting, Damon went the other direction weight-wise years later, packing on 30 pounds with a "diet" of junk food and dark beer to play a pathological liar in 2009's "The Informant!"

Vincent D'Onofrio -- Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The normally-lanky D'Onofrio was barely recognizable in this Vietnam war epic, as he put on 70 pounds to play the bumbling Pvt. Leonard Lawrence (also known as Pvt. Pyle by R. Lee Ermey). Supposedly, the extra weight led to him tearing a ligament in his knee while filming the obstacle course scene. Also, I'm guessing he needed a therapy session or two after getting yelled at so much by R. Lee Ermey. (note: I couldn't find a clip of Pvt. Pyle that wouldn't get me in trouble at work, LOTS of profanity in this movie)


Charlize Theron -- Monster (2003)
I remember seeing this movie on cable and being utterly shocked to find out later that the gorgeous Charlize Theron portrayed the grisly prostitute-turned-serial killer. Theron certainly wasn't gorgeous here, packing on 30 pounds, wearing ghastly makeup and letting obscenities fly at a rapid-fire rate. Her hard work paid off though, as she took home the Oscar and became known for something other than being the sexy safe cracker in "The Italian Job."

Tom Hanks -- Cast Away (2000)
Hanks gains and loses weight for roles so often, people barely even notice it anymore. However, everyone noticed it in this one. Hanks stopped working out and allowed himself to grow pudgy in order to play the working-class version of Chuck Noland. Production of the movie was then halted for a year so Hanks could lose 50 pounds to play the stranded-on-an-island Noland. The weight loss appeared to affect Hanks' social skills, as he clearly overreacts to a minor argument with Wilson the volleyball.

Edward Norton -- American History X (1998)
Norton didn't need the CGI from "Hulk" to look buff. He put on a reported 35 pounds of muscle to pull off a neo-Nazi in this movie. The added bulk didn't stay on him for long though, as he starred as the scrawny insomniac in  "Fight Club" later that year.

Hilary Swank -- Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Another boxing movie with a memorable actor transformation! Swank went all out for this role, packing on 20 pounds of muscle and training extensively to make herself into a convincing boxer. Like De Niro's boxing turn, she also took home a best acting Oscar for her efforts. She also gets bonus points for being the subject of a spirited argument in "The Office" over whether or not she's hot.

Ragnar Relays, here I come!

I think it's a pretty universal concept that the best experiences are shared experiences.

Almost all people -- myself included -- strive for companionship in some way, whether it be hanging out with friends or striking up conversation with complete strangers. Life can get pretty lonely by yourself and daily occurrences, both good and bad, become more bearable when you have someone there experiencing them with you.

Above all else, that's the biggest reason why I've always been interested in Ragnar Relays. Unlike the solo road races I've done in the past, it's the ultimate team effort. In the Minnesota version of Ragnar, the race takes place between Winona and St. Paul, where relay teams of 6 or 12 people take turns running segments of the 190-mile course over a period of two days.


Relay races have always had an appeal to me. I love the competitiveness, I love the gradually-building drama, but most of all, I love the teamwork and the camaraderie that comes with a group of people working toward a common goal. 


Needless to say, when a friend of mine described Ragnar as being "a slumber party without sleep...or showers,"  I was immediately hooked and sought out to put my own team together for it. Some of my regular readers may even recall a blog entry I did last year on the topic. I wasn't looking for the challenge of triathlon or the accomplishment of running a marathon; I was looking for a race I could enjoy with others.


However, for a variety for a reasons, the team never materialized. Schedules were too hard to coordinate and many of my friends were uneasy about committing to a race several months in advance. The logistics of Ragnar -- van rentals, ride arrangements, drivers -- was also a lot more to consider than I was used to. Most of the events I've signed up for only require you to show up on time, bring proper equipment and wear some sort of clothes (though that isn't ALWAYS required).


I put my Ragnar ambitions on the back-burner for awhile, declaring it to be one of those races that would be fun to do but might not actually come to fruition. However, out of the blue a couple months back, my coworker Stacy -- someone I had only met in passing at that point -- asked if I was still into running and if I wanted in on a Ragnar team this summer.

My response was a semi-hysterical "yes" and the exuberance I displayed about finally getting on a Ragnar team probably looked something like this.

Admittedly, this isn't exactly how I envisioned getting to do Ragnar. I don't know any of the people on my team (Stacy recently had to drop out due to a toe injury) and with my opposite-from-normal-life work schedule, I likely won't get to know too many of them before the race rolls around on August 17. It would've been nice to have friends on the team to hang out with and possibly do some training runs with.

Despite all that though, I am excited for the race and look forward to getting to know my "Shady Character" teammates over the course of the next few weeks. Besides, I figure if they're doing Ragnar they must be cool, right?

Hello Target Field, it's nice to finally meet you

When it comes to upcoming events or activities, anticipation has a way of sabotaging our enjoyment of them.

Quick example: The summer before my junior year of college, a few friends and I went to go see "Snakes on a Plane" in theater. Yes, that would be the Samuel Jackson action movie where he does battle against -- you guessed it -- snakes on a plane. Obviously, we weren't seeing it because we thought it would be an epic drama with captivating dialogue; it was because we wanted see Samuel Jackson beat up snakes and spout off his signature line of the movie (just for fun, here's the edited version of it). Because of that (and the fact that we went to a cheaper matinee show), we all thought it was an enjoyable movie.

Conversely, I went to see "J. Edgar" last winter fully expecting it to be an Oscar-caliber film. Critics were panning it at the time, but I figured it had an award-winning director (Clint Eastwood) and one of Hollywood's finest actors (Leo DiCaprio) behind it. On top of that, it was a biopic about one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in American history. How could that miss?

However, after suffering through more than two hours of convoluted storytelling, unexplored plot points and ghastly old person makeup, I began to understand exactly how it could miss. Considering the hype surrounding "J. Edgar" leading up to its release (some thought it would lead to DiCaprio's first Oscar), it was an extreme letdown. I remember leaving the theater frantically texting friends not to see it and debated on whether or not I should ask the cashier for my money back. After thinking about it, I determined that "J. Edgar" was the most disappointing movie I ever saw in theater, a strong statement seeing as how I saw "Batman & Robin" (click here for the gory details).

Now, taking away all the hype and buzz surrounding the two movies, most critics would say "J. Edgar" is a superior movie to "Snakes on a Plane." The acting is better, it's less campy and the main characters have considerably more depth. However, because of the separate expectations I had for the two movies, I enjoyed seeing Samuel Jackson beat up snakes and look cool for 90 minutes more than I did watching a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover -- a weird thing to say when you were a history major in college.

It took two years to finally catch a
game here, but it was worth the wait.

So what does all of this have to do with a blog post about Target Field? Well, as I was getting ready to leave for my much-anticipated bike trip to the Twins' ballpark, I worried that I was setting myself for a "J. Edgar"-esque letdown.

Admittedly, I was pretty pumped for this trip, probably more than I'd been for any other bike trip aside from RAGBRAI. Seeing my first game at Target Field was exciting enough by itself; the fact that I was making a bike trip out of it was just the icing on the cake. I must have packed and re-packed my gear five times the day before leaving and had trouble falling asleep Friday night because I so excited thinking "This is it, I'm FINALLY doing it."

The next morning, the anticipation got replaced -- at least somewhat -- by nervousness, as I woke up and started running through my head all the things that could go wrong.

What if I got lost on an unfamiliar road? What if I got a broken spoke or some other kind of bike malfunction I couldn't readily fix? What if I ran out of water in the middle of nowhere? What if the weather forecasts were wrong and I wound up having to pedal through head winds for 60+ miles? What if it started downpouring and caused the game to get cancelled? What if I couldn't find my parents (who had the tickets) and missed the game because of it?

The video of myself I took of
myself while biking turned out badly,
but I think the photo looks cool.

Some of those issues are things I've encountered on other trips, but this wasn't a regular bike adventure; this was a pilgrimage to see a Twins game. I couldn't go at a leisurely pace and shrug it off if something went wrong. If I got a flat tire or took a wrong turn, I could miss the start of the game or miss it altogether.

I embarked from Faribault bracing myself for anything, but as the ride began to unfold, it soon became clear that my worries were all for nothing. My bike was handling as well as ever, the wind was indeed in my favor and, because of my early departure, the hot temperatures predicted for that day hadn't come to fruition yet. The meticulous route planning also paid off, as I was able to navigate the back roads between Northfield and Farmington and readjust my route when I came across an unexpected dirt road.

Simply put, the ride went splendidly. I made it to Minneapolis with enough extra time to take a quick shower at the Anytime Fitness near Target Field and went to grab a drink with my parents at a nearby pub before the game. I even had enough time the play around with my camera and try to take pictures/videos of myself while biking (the video did not turn out so well, all you see is chin).

My dad and I have been to
a lot of Twins games
together, but this was our
first at Target Field.

The occurrences after the bike ride were equally wonderful. The game was an enjoyable one to watch, with our seats being comfortably in the shade and the Twins trouncing the lowly Chicago Cubs 11-3. Target Field also lived up to the hype I'd been hearing about it since it opened. It's a beautiful stadium to walk through and bask in, complete with breathtaking views of downtown Minneapolis, a bevy of concession options and a number of other quirks that make it unique to Minnesota (the Kasota stone exterior, for example).

Walking around the ballpark, it almost didn't feel like I was watching the same team after spending so many years going to Twins games at the lowly Metrodome. The fact that I got to experience it for the first time with my dad -- the man who introduced me to baseball in the first place -- made it all the more special.

The trip's fun didn't stop once the game was over either. Post-game activities included an outdoors blues festival, a trip to Fulton Brewery and my introduction -- and immediate infatuation -- with Russian Imperial Stout.

While biking over to St. Paul that evening, my friend Nick and I also came across the psychedelic Northern Spark arts festival on the Stone Arch Bridge. Neither of us had any idea what the festival was or why it was clogging bike traffic on the bridge, but considering it featured booming music, puppet shows, eclectic works of art and bikes decked out with everything from Christmas lights to paper- mâché dragon heads, we were at least intrigued.

Yep, the Stone Arch Bridge was
quite a scene on Saturday night.

Once we finally got to Nick's place to crash for the evening (thanks again for the hospitality), I once again found myself laying awake, this time on Nick's futon mattress. Instead of the anticipation and nervousness of the night before, my mind was awash with disbelief:

"Did this day really just happen? Did I actually pull this off and did I EVER expect it to be this cool?"

It is a rare -- and welcome -- occurrence to have something you've built up so much in your head turn out exactly the way you wanted it to. The trip wasn't entirely picture-perfect -- I opted to have Nick drive me back to Faribault the next day instead of biking it due to EXTREMELY ominous weather conditions -- but considering the concerns I had at the start of it, I couldn't be happier.

After all the buildup and anticipation, it was nice to finally say "hello" to Target Field.

******
I was planning on concluding this post with a video of my trip, but since I haven't perfected the art of filming myself while biking, here's a clip of Charlie Parr performing at that blues festival instead. I figure my readership will enjoy hearing his guitar more than they'd enjoy hearing my voice anyway:

Target-ing a bike trip to a Twins game (get it?)

Well, I'm finally doing it. I'm finally going on the bike trip I've been wanting to do for almost two years. A day ride that mixes city trails with country roads, goes past a waterfall and ends with catching a Twins game.

That's right. This coming Saturday (two days from now), I'm hopping on my bike and going to my first game at Target Field.

I mentioned my intent to do this in a post a couple of months ago. Really, it's something I've wanted to do ever since I biked past the Twins' newest baseball cathedral for the first time two summers ago. I love biking and I love baseball, so it only makes sense to combine the two into one glorious ride.

Given my long-standing desire to pursue this trip, one would think that this specific date has been in the works for some time. However, that's definitely not the case. I didn't know I had the weekend off until recently and even then, I wasn't aware that the Twins were in town until I looked up their schedule after being apprised of the unexpected days off.

Even after learning all of that, I still wasn't totally sure I wanted to pull the trigger on the trip. The game is an interleague matchup against the Cubs, and since interleague bouts are considered "premium games," the tickets are more expensive than regular games. Plus the game starts at 1:10 p.m., meaning I'll have to leave my apartment no later than 7 a.m. if I want any chance of biking the 64 miles (bike route here) I need to cover to make it Target Field on time (definitely not a morning person, so that'll suck). On top of all that, Saturday's weather forecast calls for clear skies and high temps, meaning I get to look forward to 90 degree heat and sun bearing down on me for most of the ride.

Those were all drawbacks I had to consider when deciding what to do with the weekend. But after thinking about it, I decided to dismiss them on the basis of something I've come to realize about myself: That I've been too caught up in making excuses not to do the trip instead of just shutting up and doing it. That's why I've been wanting to do the trip for so long but never got around to it; I kept talking myself out of it.

I think that's something a lot of people struggle with when it comes to doing something adventurous or challenging. It's easy to go the "safe route" with things and stay within the comfort of regular routine. It's familiar and you know you have reasonable control over what happens to you.

But if you're anything like me, there's always a small part of you wondering "What else is out there?" or "I want to challenge myself." It's the reason why so many people have a bucket of things they'd like to do and places they'd like to see before they die.

We crave adventure and yearn for challenge, but most of the time, the vast majority of us do little about it. Either we get too caught up in everyday life or we get scared and start making excuses. Or some combination of both.

Sometimes, all it takes to get past that is telling yourself "Screw it, I'm going to go for it," which is exactly what happened to me. It might not be the most planned-out-in-advance trip ever, but sometimes, you have to be spontaneous to break through that wall of self-doubt. (note: The spontaneity is also why this post is being written a mere two days before the trip. I wanted to write about it in advance, but it's hard to do things "in advance" when the decision is spur of the moment)

As an added bonus, I spoke to my dad earlier this week and convinced him and my step mom to join me for the game. Topping that off, my dad told me that the Famous Dave's in uptown Minneapolis has an all-day blues festival going on, essentially planning out my post-game activities for me.

For my regular readers, I'll be packing my laptop and -- internet permitting -- doing Twitter updates throughout the day. If there's some downtime during the day, I'll also try to hammer out a blog entry and possibly post photos/video.

Just typing out this blog entry made me more excited for the trip. Here's hoping for some glorious tail wind.

Rollerblading to work? Yep, it happened

“The first time Dad tried Rollerblades he had a bad wipeout on the sidewalk in front of our house- his feet went flying out from under him and he bruised his tailbone. "If God had ment us to have wheels on our feet he would have put them there," he said a few minutes later, searching the linen closet for the heating pad." -- Evan Kuhlman, The Last Invisible Boy

Sometimes, the best way to keep life interesting is to make normally simple actions as difficult as possible.


I know that sounds weird, but bear with me for a second.  Anyone who's ever had a regular job with regular hours knows what it's like to get stuck in the rut of routine. Days blend together, activities seem bland and life gets boring. After awhile, you find yourself drifting through life and possibly having this conversation with a therapist.


Weekend getaways and the occasional vacation can help remedy this, but I've found that an easier way to deal with it on a day-to-day basis is to add little quirks to your routine, even if it means adding a slight degree of difficulty. That way, even the most trivial of activities can seem like an accomplishment or adventure.


It's the reason why I wrote a column last year about my experience of grocery shopping on a bike. It's also the reason why, on a recent sunny day, I decided to put away my car keys AND leave my bike at home when it came to go to work. Instead, I resorted to another form of wheeled transportation: rollerblades.


I have a confession: Despite growing up in the "State of Hockey," I've never really been big on skating, whether it be on wheels or blades. As a matter of fact, until recently, the quote at the top of this post would have summed up thoughts on rollerblading pretty well. 

This is probably how I looked
rollerblading as a kid.

I took a few too many falls at the local roller rink as a kid, got frustrated and eventually decided that activities without skates were less embarrassing. Consequently, whenever my school did field trips to the rink, while other classmates skated around to bad 90's music, I kept myself busy playing air hockey and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in the adjacent arcade area (beating that game was one of my highlights of fifth grade, even if it took 2 weeks of allowance money to do so).


I only really got into rollerblading this year. I bought a pair of used rollerblades after college (the classic "I'm bored and need more hobbies" purchase), but after a few initial uses, they pretty much never came out of my closet. Rollerblading became the odd-man-out for my exercise-oriented activities. It didn't come naturally to me like running, nor did it offer the camaraderie of team sports or the traveling/adventure aspects of cycling. I couldn't blade more than a couple miles without my feet and hips getting sore and it always felt like more of a chore to use them than it was enjoyable, never a good sign.


In the last couple of months though, I've had a change of heart. I bought new wheels, watched a few YouTube videos on proper form (paying extra close attention on how to stop) and started doing regular blade sessions around the neighborhood.

So where did this new-found rollerblade ambition come from? It might have been my desire to reverse the embarrassing memories of rollerblading as a child. Or it could have been an attempt to validate my ownership of the skates and turn them into something more that dust-collecting wall decor.


More than likely though, it can be attributed to the aforementioned boredom. Ever since finishing the Falls Duathlon last month, life's been a bit mundane. I'm not really training for any event at present (taking some of the incentive out of doing hard workouts) and the days seem to be following routine around work, bike rides and the occasional trips to the gym. Even weekends started to feel formulaic: Visiting family, visiting friends and embarking on the occasional downtown night life excursion. Those activities are all fine and good, but when done in repetition, life can start to get a little bland.


I needed a new challenge to spice things up, eventually deciding that rollerblading to work would be cool to try. So after getting comfortable with rollerblading on residential roads, I decided to give the work commute a shot. I already knew a low-traffic route to work via biking, so I figured as long as I took it slow and watched for cars, I would be fine.


I won't lie and say it was a glorious triumph. Crossing the railroad tracks on the way to work was an challenge, as was trying to come to a complete stop on a downward slope. I also came to find out that the roads around town have a lot more cracks and potholes in them than anyone could ever notice in a car (you pretty much feeling EVERYTHING in rollerblades). 


The rollerblading home from the office was even more of an adventure. I couldn't get my work done before dark, so in an effort to keep my clumsy rollerblading as far away from nighttime traffic as possible, I changed my return route to use the city recreational path that follows the Straight River downtown and eventually winds around the southern edge of town by the middle school. The path crosses with Prairie Avenue after the middle school, a road that runs right past my apartment. It's a much better route for avoiding traffic, but it adds an extra couple of miles to the trip (my complete rollerblade route can be viewed here).


As I would come to find out on the trail, cars not being able to see me wasn't the only thing I had to worry about. Even with my headlamp, I had trouble seeing objects in front of me (rocks, small branches, dirt/sand) that I normally would've been able to avoid. Consequently, I took a couple of stumbles along the way and ended up with an all-too-familiar scrape on my knee (it's like being 11 years old all over again).


A few blocks from home, I also had the added excitement of having to speed away from a barking dog that was chasing me. It wasn't a huge dog by any means, but considering the fact that the it was unleashed at 10:30 at night, I was pretty terrified (this movie scene comes to mind). Note to whoever owns a dog near the corner of Mitchell of Prairie: Please keep a more watchful eye on your pet.


However, once I got past the angry dog and finally made it to my apartment. That old feeling of gratification and accomplishment came back to me. Even though my day only consisted of going to work, watching a movie and reading a few chapters out of a book, it felt exciting.


Maybe the next time I go to a roller rink (Do those still exist, or am I too old?), I'll do some actual rollerblading. Unless they still have the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" arcade. Then all bets are off.

Knowlton's run: This time, he's going for the record

Some of my readers may remember a blog post I did awhile back about Steve Knowlton, the Prior Lake man who ran across the United States, from Seattle to Florida, over the span of 99 days in 2010 to raise money for Crohn's disease, an ailment he himself was diagnosed with as a child.

Shot of Knowlton near the end of his
previous cross-country trek. Yes, he
did in fact tow that cart with him for
the duration of the trip.

I remember being amazed by his achievement for reasons that went beyond his ability to endure the almost-certain physical hell he put his body through. Here was a guy who was afflicted with a potentially debilitating disease, yet he refused to let the disease keep him from living life the way he wanted to live it. A lot of people make excuses out of their misfortunes; he made himself stronger because of his.

I also admired the adventurous -- some would say insane -- mindset he had to come up with such a bold journey. Many fitness-oriented people long to go on a cross country adventure like his, whether it be running, cycling, kayaking, canoeing or rollerblading. However, there aren't a lot of people who have the initiative to take the next step and actually do it.

Most of all, the thing I admired about Knowlton was his mental strength.  It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and expose your body to ebbs and flows of Mother Nature and the traffic of an interstate road. It also takes a lot of will power to keep your wits amid the day-to-day grind his mind was undoubtedly going through. Most people -- myself included -- can barely even stomach the notion of running a full marathon, much less doing 1 1/2 marathons...every day...for more than three months.

Needless to say, it was a fun blog entry to write. I didn't really make much of it at the time. I had a relatively small, Mankato-centric audience and wanted to keep my blog focused on my own personal experiences of trying to live an active lifestyle. I enjoyed writing about Steve, but I figured my commentary about him would be relatively forgettable.

However, a few months back I found out that Knowlton had begun following my blog and he messaged me to say that he was planning another cross-country run., this time in an effort to both raise money for Aspergers research and break the world record for fastest time across the U.S., a record currently held by Frank Giannino (46 days, eight hours and 36 minutes, in case you're wondering). In order to do so, Knowlton will have to average close to 70 miles a day, almost doubling the average of his previous run.

I plan on writing more about Knowlton in the near future, as I did an interview/run with him last month (unequivocally the coolest thing that's ever happened to me through my blog) and it took a considerable amount of time to sift through 3+ hours of interview recordings. For the time being though, here's a video about his run by Dan Stewart as part of planned documentary:
 


******Note: The start date of Steve's run has been pushed back from June 1 to Sept. 1 in order to allow more time to raise money/publicity for the run.