Next Stop - Nantucket

As the snow thaws and the sun starts to peak through the clouds its time for the best season of them all...Summer!  And what better way to start summer than heading to Nantucket for Memorial Day Weekend?

Memorial Day Weekend in Nantucket is largely famous for "Figawi"  This year is the 42nd annual Figawi regatta, an event that has escalated from classy to sloppy in the last decade or so.

Thousands of people will flock to the little island of Nantucket for this sailing event, which will be watched by no one.  Mud Slides at the Galley and late nights at the Chicken Box will be the only memories of this regatta.

How do we stay healthy in this celebration of Summer?  It's tough but the best we can do is keep our diet dialed in and do our best.  The last thing you want is your health to be limiting you in either direction.  Too healthy and you may miss out on some great food and drinking experiences...Too unhealthy and you wont be feeling good enough to have those experiences either!  These are tough weekends for any health conscience person but in the end the weekend fun should trump any worries you may have.  A couple days of cheats will not kill you.  A lifetime of diet cheating might!  Basic take aways: Live the moment as healthy as possible...keyword(s) "as possible".  Sometime life gives you a cheeseburger and you have to take a bite.

Stay tuned, pictures to come.  

Mount Whiteface, New Hampshire

After spending a month in South East Asia where riding elephants up to seven thousand feet in Chiang Mai, Thailand and trekking through the jungles of North Vietnam with our ninja tour guide name Dat was an everyday affair, the scenery back in Boston didn’t seem to cut it anymore.   I had five days to acclimate back to the Boston time when my short-lived trip to the west coast started.  First stop being the burliest of towns: Boulder, Colorado. There the Flatirons are just towering over you wherever you go, tempting you to take on their world-class 5.14b rock grades.  Unfortunately my mountaineering skills were just in their novice stages at this point (they still are) so we picked a nice chill trail and got to dip our feet in some creeks along the way.  Next stop was Bozeman, Montana where we did a lot more drinking than anything else in preparation for the next two weeks in Missoula, Montana, #6 on Outside Magazine’s best river towns of 2012.  Missoula definitely lived up to its river town hype and an inner tube was the most valued piece of equipment we bought. The following day we took a quick drive to the drop in point, loaded up our backpacks with booze, and started our relaxing float with some class III rapids.  After the initial rapids, where we lost a gallon of bloody-mary mix and had a slightly injured party-mate, it was the chilliest lazy river you’ve ever been on. The freezing cold water running off the mountains only encourages you to chug whatever booze you have left and then pass it on to whoever’s visibly shivering most.  We’d rotate floating with hiking, usually staying close to town and picking a trail on the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area. The adventure I’m really suppose to be writing about starts about two weeks after all this, back in Boston, after realizing I couldn’t afford the LA life I drove cross country to find. 

            Sitting in Nahant, Massachusetts trying to get a job all day just couldn’t compare to the last two months of constant outdoor adventures. What the fuck do people in Boston do? I stumbled upon the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) website and found The Four Thousand Footer Club.  Basically a club of people who have climbed all of the four thousand foot or above mountains in New England.  Four thousand feet of elevation is nothing if you’re just coming back from the west coast where the towns start at four thousand feet, and you’re looking up at 14ers all day, but it’s a start.  I checked out the map of all the mountains and figured I’d do the closest one first, Mount Whiteface.  Since I was doing this first one solo I put in a good amount of time researching the trails and what I could expect up there.    

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            Mount Whiteface is one of the shorter mountains on the list, measuring at just 4,019ft.  Despite only making the list by 19ft, you do gain a good 3,000ft in only 4 miles of trail to the summit, which I definitely wasn’t ready for.  I planned on taking the shortest route, Blueberry Ledge Trail to the summit and then kinda winging it from there.  The biggest mistake of the trip I attribute solely to the ridiculous weatherman, or whoever updates the Sandwich Wilderness weather reports.  This dude comes out with an absurdly high chance of rain and/or snow, with wind-chill being in the 30s.  I know New Hampshire can be cold but it was the beginning of October, just out of the summer months, and Boston was still in like the 60s.  Anyway I packed up my stuff for what I thought was going to be the next Ice Age. From other people’s account of this hike it was going to take me a good 7-8 hours round trip so I packed a good amount of food and water, a puffy, a rain jacket, gloves, hat, and some extra baselayers.  Along with an emergency kit and knife my pack weighed 21lbs, which didn’t feel bad walking around my room with, but on the mountain it dragged me down faster than Xanaxed spiked punch at an LA frat party. (Thanks SigEp)

I woke up at 6am on a Sunday and drove up to Whiteface.  I made pretty good timing getting there around 9am. The other cars already in the parking lot were a relief after the slightly unnerving 3-hour car ride where I visualized myself being robbed by squirrels who wanted my supplies.  I put on my minimalist trail running shoes, which was the second biggest mistake of the day, strapped on my pack and started towards the trail.  After about 20 minutes I passed my first group of hikers who had stopped for some water. I was feeling pretty good, acting all mountain man like, and then out of nowhere the trail grade really picked up its vertical.  For the rest of the hike till the summit there’d be probably a hundred or two hundred feet of scrambling on rocks and then a small flat section and then scrambling time again.  I was sucking wind and my legs were shot.  My first big rest was two and a half hours in at a clearing right above the treeline. I thought I was close to the summit.  I sat to rest my chicken legs.  My back was suffering from the apparent 20lbs of brick I brought with me while my feet were getting torn up by the rooty New Hampshire trail in my ridiculous minimalist running shoes. Just as I was about to get up and make what I thought would be a short stretch to the summit, this super bro pops out into the clearing with his two trekking poles going crazy and runs right passed me up the trail.  I thought I was cool passing the group of people before the trail increased, but this dude just blew passed me like he’s training for the Olympics.  Feeling a little embarrassed I got to my feet and carried on, super bro nowhere in sight.  Thirty minutes later I run into two dudes that came up the longer trail and had stopped to rest.  One asked me if I had hiked this before and I answered with a quick no. He proceeded to scare the shit out of me. Apparently right before the summit there was a ledge, something I must have overlooked in the name “Blueberry Ledge Trail”.  The guy explained it was pretty dangerous and they were a little nervous about it.  So now I’m all alone on this mountain about to climb up some ledge that these mountaineers are all nervous about, and if I fall off no ones even gonna hear me crying on the way down, unless some of those squirrel robbers happen to be nearby.  I tried to act unafraid and went on my way.  The ledge appeared shortly after, and I gave myself a good ten minute rest, partly because I needed it and partly because I wanted someone else to show up and go first.  No one showed up, so I said fuck it.  I ate a quick bite of chocolate, because if I was gonna fall off and die I’d want that to be my last supper. It isn’t too long of a scramble up but it’s definitely the steepest part of the hike and below you is pure death.  The first fifteen feet or so you’re holding onto this rock by little finger holes that some nice person drilled into the mountainside so there’s some chance of survival for amateurs such as myself.  So pointer finger by pointer I’m lugging my backpack full of bricks up the ledge until I find a nice handhold.  Finally gaining some confidence, I let my body loosen up and the ledge was over.  Once I got to the top I found some sort of doggy daycare going on. Dogs were zooming around everywhere, skidding to the side of the ledges and then running back towards the tree-covered summit.  No time to stop now, my legs were jelly and I just wanted to get home.  Luckily I found a friend on the trail, the coolest spaniel (I think) who would run down the trail and then back up to make sure I was there.  Eventually he realized I wasn’t his owner and kinda took off in a panic, but it was good company while it lasted.  On my way down I found a fork in the road, Passaconaway Summit one way, Ferncroft Road the other way.  My car was at Ferncroft road…but Passaconaway was another 4000-footer and I was probably half way up already.  I decided to torture myself a little bit longer and bag another peak before heading back home.  The trail to Passaconaway was more of a ridgeline trail so not a lot of up and downs, more of switchbacks and slight inclines or declines the whole way there.  Much easier on the legs than Whitefaces bullshit rock scrambles but I was definitely losing steam.  The super bro that flew by me on my way up to Whiteface actually flew by me on my way up to Passaconaway, only he was going down this time. I’d really love to know his secret.  Anyway I bagged Passaconaway in no time and headed down the trail looking like I had just gone on the bender of a lifetime.  I was almost home free when the trail ended, and I was stuck with a decision to cross the small river next to me, or continue forward and try to find the trail again.  I thought the obvious route was crossing the river but when I did I couldn’t find the trail again so I crossed back and bushwhacked forward a bit.  I was officially lost.  I grabbed my map from my bag and tried to find where I was.  All I could tell was that the river I was walking along eventually led to a town.  Trying not to freak out I continued walking through the thick brush alongside the river.  I hit a swamp land and was walking through shin deep mud when I decided I’m just going to walk in the river since I’m already soaked.  Well apparently you cant walk in rivers either, because that’s the hardest thing in the world, so I was basically fucked.  No trail, no phone service, suns going down in about an hour, and I can’t read a map.  Knife out, ready to Rambo my way through the woods, I put on all the extra layers I had and proceeded to walk perpendicular to the river. This had to be the grossest mud in all of New Hampshire.  I ripped my puffy insulated jacket and looked like a cat had attacked my face by the time I found a different trail leading to Ferncroft Road.  Thanking God I wasn’t lost for too long I stumbled my now shaking legs back to the car and sat in the driver seat for a good 30 minutes not moving a muscle.  Mud everywhere and about to go to sleep I realized I had seriously overestimated my endurance level.  It had been a 7-hour hike, I bagged two peaks, and I learned some good lessons:

Lesson #1: Pack as light as possible

Lesson #2: Wear hiking shoes

Lesson #3: Stay on the trail

Lesson #4: Do more cardio

Lesson #5: The weatherman sucks

After scaling two four thousand footers in the same day who would have thought applying a toes worth of pressure to the gas to get home would be true final stretch.  I guess that’s what you get for East Coast living.    

Travel Workouts

Do you guys use the gyms in hotels while you’re traveling?

Do you do a quick bodyweight workout in the room?

Or do you explore the city and look for a park or other potential workout equipment that you can use?

 

I usually lean on the side of bodyweight workouts in the room or walking around until I find a suitable park or tree to do some pullups on.  It’s a great way to explore the city or town you are in and get outside a little bit.

Anything longer than a week and I like to put together a little program. I wont go into detail now but it's usually something like this:

Monday: Pullups/Pushups

Tuesday: Legs/Core

Wednesday: Pullups/Pushups

Thursday: Legs/Core

Friday: Pullups/Pushups

Saturday+Sunday: Explore! Go on a city walk, a hike, a swim, whatever is available get outside and do it! Maybe you can even cheat a little on your diet Sunday :)

Paleo Infograph

Just stumbled across this great info graph to use as a guideline to your paleo diet.  Definitely useful when you're on the road and need to verify if something is paleo or not real quick.  It is brought to us by FitnessInfographs.

Travel Spotlight #1

So I decided to start a weekly post about travel locations of the past, present, and future!  Would love to get some guest writers to write short little posts about their favorite travel locations if anyone is interested.

This week is the Raratonga, Cook Islands:

Just looking at the island from a birds eye view I can only imagine its tropicalness.  A friend of mine was recently there and said the island does not disappoint.  There's hiking available inland where you can find the quintessential waterfalls at the end for a quick dip, and the native islanders are as friendly as can be.



What is interesting is the Cook Islands aren't well known, but Fiji and Samoa are within boating distance of them!  This is definitely appealing to any travelers looking to go to a less "touristy" island that has the same infamous beauty as Fiji. Just be careful when snorkeling/scuba diving, those Stonefish can pack a nasty pinch.  Water shoes with thick soles are definitely recommended as there are warnings about Stonefish everywhere.



Those looking to continue their trips westward have easy access to the outdoor playground of New Zealand and Australia, or perhaps head up to Indonesia or the Philippines for some less expensive fun!

The Cardio Killer - Intervals

I’ve never liked running long distances.  I played lacrosse my first two years in high school and would dread the two-lap warm-up around the field before practice.  The last two years of high school I took up a sport much more anaerobically intense than lacrosse, but at least I got to sit down while doing it.

My friend introduced me to rowing, or crew, my junior year of high school.  We joined the team together and secured spots on the 8-man boat almost immediately.  One of my favorite parts of rowing was that there was no running, in fact it was almost always the same training every day: a 2 hour practice that involved a slight warm-up, an intense interval session, and then technique work.  Looking back on it now I would have changed the training drastically to involve way more strength training but all the intervals we did definitely worked.  Our team of 8 novice rowers came in third for regionals in our first year of rowing, a feat we were all impressed with.  I actually blacked out my first 2k test to secure a spot on the boat, standing up after I finished my timed erg 2k only to fall on the floor because my legs became actual jelly.

Interval training is when you vary your speed and intensity on a shorter scale than steady state cardio.  For example one can sprint for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds or even rest, then sprint again, and continue this process for at least 10 minutes and up to 25-30 minutes.  The main thing to remember while performing intervals is it’s all about intensity.  The harder you go the shorter you have to do the intervals for.  This produces an “afterburn” effect that boosts your metabolism for hours after the workout and effectively burns WAY more calories than steady state cardio that takes twice or three times as long.



Interval training is widely accepted as superior to steady state cardio activity in basically every reputable fitness guru today.  I could provide links and links to studies, but I’ll let you guys google intervals, or even tabata protocol, and decide for yourself.  Next up I’ll let you know how to structure your own intervals.



This example program below can be used for really any exercise you can do fast.  From running to rowing to even air squatting you can apply the following set of rules to the exercise and get an effective fat burning workout.



*For this example we are going to be using an ergometer, or rowing machine

• Do a light warmup for 5 minutes.  Walk around at a fast pace, do some jumping jacks, maybe throw in a few lunges. Basically get the muscles you will be working warmed up, and those muscles are more often than not your lower body.


• Do 30 seconds of intense rowing, about 75% of your maximum effort, rest for 1 minute


• Do 30 seconds of intense rowing, about 80% of your max, rest for 1 minute


• Do 30 seconds of intense rowing, about 90% of your max, rest for 1 minute


• Do 30 seconds of intense rowing, about 95% of your max, rest for 1 minute


• Do 30 seconds of intense rowing, Full on 100% effort, rest for 1 minute.


• Perform 5 minutes of stretching or walking to slow your heart down and “warm down” if you will.

This is a basic interval workout you can do within 8 minutes, and you will definitely feel it for hours after.



What’s your favorite exercise to perform intervals with?



P.S. I once met what the Crossfit community calls Pukey the Clown performing intervals during rowing practice.  It was not fun but it’s definitely something I laugh about now.



Pukey the Clown

Getting Back at Montezuma: How to Prevent Digestive Disasters WhenTraveling Part 1

Exploring the bathroom is probably not what you had in mind when you decided to open yourself up to experiencing everything a foreign country has to offer. But that is just where you may end up for the better part of your trip if you’re not careful. Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t be adventurous in your eating while traveling, after all that IS part of the experience. If you are on a one night lay over in South Korea and are offered a local live octopus at a street market, by all means eat it. That is just the type of “once in a lifetime” experience that may be worth a bit of gastrointestinal distress. But when considering your long-term health, it may be wise to take some precautions.

Montezuma’s revenge, or traveler’s diarrhea, is the most common illness that affects travelers, with up to 50% of international travelers being inflicted annually. The cause is almost always bacterial, with the culprit being a strain of E. coli almost 75% of the time, but in more rare cases could be caused by a virus or protozoa. Before you go running to your doc to grab a quick prescription for Amoxicillin, consider the other (safer) options.

The first thing you should eat when arriving to a new country is its local yogurt. We’ve all heard of the benefits of eating yogurt and how it is a natural probiotic with the potential of stabilizing the bacterial cultures in your gut. Well all these things are true, and particularly useful when you’re traveling and want your good gut bacteria to be a well-flourished army ready for any dangerous foreign invaders. Eating the local yogurt is especially important if you are from the Western bubble of overused antibiotics and antiseptics, which means your gut bacteria are probably not in balance already. Tasting the local yogurt (besides being delicious) is also giving you a taste of some local bacteria, getting your digestive tract accustomed to what foreign invaders it will be inhabiting next. Some riskier travelers might even suggest brushing your teeth in the tap water to get some miniscule exposure to the local pathogens, but yogurt is probably a safer option.

Although yogurt is a great way to get your stomach flourishing with the necessary healthy bacteria to fight off small infections, it is not going to be sufficient in fighting off a highly toxic bacterial pathogen. The more serious cases of traveler’s diarrhea rely on your immune system to fight back, not just the good bacteria in your system. The good news is there are some easy (and natural!) ways to fight these more serious infections, the bad news is you will have to wait until next week to read about them in Part 2 of this article!


-Anna Feagan