I’m gonna have to try this place. They say…
The Pump prepares fresh, nutritious food that tastes really f’ing good. We make all our food on premise. We bake our own chips, prepare our own sauces, we even cook our turkey for 12 hours. So we thought, why not make a video?
If you’re in NYC, check them out and let me know what you think. There’s actually one near my LLMD so the next time I go to him I’ll check it.
If you’re not already, please check out my Twitter feed.
I’ve been slammed with work, life and not feeling so great and simply haven’t had time to pull together very many proper posts recently. Tweeting, however, is easy and I do it quite often.
I recently inserted a box on the right hand side of this blog that captures my last few tweets, but please feel free follow my directly.
I use TweetDeck to manage all my Twitter accounts and feeds. It’s a fantastic way to filter out the noise. A couple of people that I’m following, and that you might want to check out, are: GlutenFreeTri, Lance Armstrong, Vibram Five Fingers and GrandMaLyme.
I’m heading off to Florida for two weeks of warm weather, relaxing and recooperating and hope to pull together some posts that I have ideas for while I’m there. Until then, I hope everyone has a good holiday and that you feel well. 2010 is going to be a good year 
BASIC FOOTWEAR: Arnulfo Quimare, a Tarahumara Indian who is a champion distance runner, laces up his sandals for a 50-mile race on canyon trails. Photo: Tara Parker-Pope
There’s an interesting blurb of an article in the NY Times this week on why humans are so good at running — The Human Body Is Built For Distance. It barely scratches the surface of the subject, but it’s a fair overview.
Most mammals can sprint faster than humans — having four legs gives them the advantage. But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. Because we cool by sweating rather than panting, we can stay cool at speeds and distances that would overheat other animals. On a hot day, the two scientists wrote, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon.
If you’re interested in the subject, I HIGHLY recommend the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. It’s the hot new book that everyone in the running community is talking about. When I was working in the running store I had 3 or 4 people a week ask me about it and/or the idea of running barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers.
I read Christopher’s book back in the summer and couldn’t put it down. It’s the best book on running I’ve ever read. Even if you’re not a runner I think you’d appreciate the story he tells.
Van Gogh's "The Portrait of Doctor Gachet"
LymeMD made a particularly interesting post last week about the role the disease plays in the lives of certain people.
The sick role can become integrated into the disease. Perhaps, ironically, some readers of this BLOG focus all of their attention on their illness–scouring discussion forums, constantly perusing the Internet, seeking some new tidbit of esoteric information. The disease becomes a life style.
I know I use to spend a disproportionate amount of time on the various community sites when I first got sick. Now, I hardly ever visit. While I think it’s important to inform yourself and understand what’s going on with your body and the disease, spending hours online in not healthy or helping. I rarely visit these sites anymore except for when I have a specific question about something. And when I do visit, I ask my question or search for previous discussions on the subject and get the hell out of there. No loitering.
The turning point came for me about eight months ago. I read a frantic post by a woman who was convinced that a telecommunications satellite, that NASA had reported was losing altitude, was going to crash down on her house. She was terrified and there were endless responses to her message with equal panic. I started thinking, “WTF am I doing here?” I decided to block myself for a month from reading anything Lyme related online. It was one of the best steps I’ve taken to dealing with my illness.
Yeah, I have this blog and, but I don’t post all that much and the Lyme-related stuff I do post is more for me to keep track of things than anything else. Almost all of my other content is more related to athletics than it is to Lyme — and there’s certainly a lack of athlete-focused Lyme information available. I feel as if I’m filling a gap somehow. As long as the balance remains this way I think it’s a healthy outlet; a helpful component to managing and overcoming my illness.
Anyway… think about it. You have Lyme. Lyme doesn’t have you. Have a good week!
Maybe N1H1?
I have a cold!
This is interesting because I haven’t had a cold in the entire two years since I came down with Lyme. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it’s exciting in some stupid way. Maybe immune system is waking up… or maybe it’s getting worse. Who knows?
I have the typical symptoms… stuffy head, runny nose, cough. I’m also wicked tired. I napped for 3 hours today. Something I never do.
There are a couple of studies of marathon runners and illness that I’m aware of. One done on 2,300 participants of the 1987 Los Angeles Marathon found that runners were six-times more likely to get ill after the race. Additionally, those runners that averaged over 60 miles a week were twice as likely to get sick. Maybe this is all a result of my training and recent 1/2 marathon race.
I don’t have a LLMD appointment until early November so I can’t ask him about this immune system phenomenon until then. If anyone has discussed this with theirs I’d appreciate knowing what he/she said about suddenly getting sick.
The company that hosts my blog broke something last week and the site’s been down for awhile. After repeatedly calling them for 3 days they finally fixed it.
Thanks everyone who emailed me to let me know it was down.
Now… back to business.
I came across this sign while running up in Cape Cod. I got back in the car and drove home!
Greg in his Team In Greging T-Shirt
Please help out. My coworker, Greg Hamilton, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in June of 2009. The cancer has spread, so he is currently undergoing four months of chemotherapy, and if that is not successful he intends to undergo major surgery to remove the cancer from every part of his body. Before the diagnosis he was training to run his first Ultramarathon, a 50 miler. Now, between the disease and the chemo, he struggles to climb the stairs to his apartment. His dream of joining the FDNY has been put on hold while he focuses all of his energy on getting better.
Greg is 22 years old, and has worked at JackRabbit Sports since he arrived in NYC almost two years ago. As an assistant manager first in the Union Sq store and now in the Brooklyn store, Greg has helped thousands of people start running, get faster, and reach their goals. This is our opportunity to give back for all the support he’s given us over the years.
There are all kinds of costs when fighting cancer, and only a few of them are covered by medical insurance. Greg’s parents live in Washington State, so travel and lodging are big expenses. Greg’s cell phone bill has doubled. Transportation to and from treatment, plus dozens of co-pays, adds expenses. Greg needs extra medical supplies while he is recovering from chemo, and all of his food needs to be delivered. While he is working at the Brooklyn JackRabbit occasionally, his income is nowhere near what it was and will not be at least until chemo is complete in October. If he has to undergo surgery, that’s another 3-6 months of recovery from the surgery where Greg’s expenses will be high but his income will be low.
Tuesday, August 25, 7pm
Prospect Park, the race starts at the Bartel Prichard lot near the movie theatre.
$20. (ALL proceeds go to helping Greg with his fight against cancer. There is no T shirt so that more of the proceeds can be directed to fighting cancer) . Click here to register through Active.com or stop into any of the city’s three JackRabbit Sports locations.
Buy a ‘Team In Greging’ T-Shirt: $20. ALL proceeds from the sale the the ‘Team In Greging’ shirts will go towards helping Greg fight cancer.
Make a donation: If you would like to make an additional (non tax deductible) donation please do so by clicking here.
Volunteer — If you’re in the NYC/Brooklyn area and want to help marshal the race, please email Doug at programs@jackrabbitsports.com
It’s kind of like Lyme treatment, don’t you think? Hopefully the outcome will be a bit more positive for all of us 
