Thursday, August 07, 2008

BLUNTING THE PAIN

Just an easy 8 mile run this morning.

Any gerbil owners out there?

All the sudden my daughter is on a gerbil-ownership kick. I’ve never owned one and really have no desire. I’m not sure what they do. Plus, I think all those rodent-type of animals tend to stink. But she really has her heart set on getting one for Christmas.

Thanks to Eric for providing a link to yet another article about the good and bad effects of coffee. This one claims coffee is not a diuretic – at least as long as you’re not pounding like 60 oz a day. Reading this article, it’s no wonder why coffee is the best darn wonder drug around;

...consumers report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability...The drug improves alertness and reaction time. In the sleep-deprived, it improves memory and the ability to perform complex tasks...For the active, caffeine enhances endurance in aerobic activities and performance in anaerobic ones, perhaps because it blunts the perception of pain and aids the ability to burn fat for fuel instead of its carbohydrates.
Now I’m a coffee drinker, but because I run so early, I wait until afterwards to indulge. For that reason, I very rarely drink coffee before a race. It seems like I’m missing out on some positive performance enhancing benefits. I mean “blunting the perception of pain”. Does it get any better than that for a distance runner?

So my neighbor is a blogger. However, he’s a biker, so I haven’t linked to his site. Besides, you know runners and bikers are like unspoken enemies. Anyway, he has a link to a buddy’s blog that contains some awesome photos. Check out his July 19th photo collage, which is set to Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! I have no idea how to take such amazing photos, but I’d like to learn.

Quote of the day;

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.”
– Dr. Seuss

2 comments:

Runner Susan said...

I am the proud owner of three gerbils that JUST WON'T DIE. They are a year and a half now and my daughter has lost all interest in taking care of them . . . so guess who takes pity on the poor critters now? They've almost lost all their hair and are really freaking looking but they JUST WON'T DIE.

I'm so mean. But really, they never stunk and Kenza did enjoy them for about eight months. But, one little piece of advice - get an open topped aquarium with a wheel instead of a cage - that way all the filler crap at the bottom doesn't end up all over the place. I learned the hard way.

Chad said...

Susan, I believe they have a life expectancy of like 3-4 years. Enjoy! :-)

Thanks for the info on the aquarium vs the cage.