Improve Your Health in Just Days!

Published: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:00 AM MST

The full New York Times article can be read here.

The piece focuses on the question of whether it is ever too cold to exercise. John W. Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine and lead author of a 2006 position paper from the American College of Sports Medicine on exercising in the cold, provides much of the information in the article. In a nutshell, Dr. Castellani says that the answer is “no” it is never too cold to exercise - while it can most certainly be too hot to exercise.

Of particular interest to competitive skiers is the issue of asthma. Asthma is commonly thought to be exacerbated by extreme cold, and that lungs can be damaged, even frostbit, by the cold.

But, no matter how cold the air is, by the time it reaches your lungs, it is body temperature. And athletically induced asthma is not triggered by the cold - it is the dryness of the air that causes the problems.

Reader Tim Kelley brought up the interesting point that perhaps humidity should be taken into account when determining whether or not it is safe to hold a race. Of course the risk of frostbite is a function of temperature.

One more interesting note is that there is currently no evidence to show that a person can acclimatize to the cold as they can to heat.

Please read the full article before commenting. The above is merely short synopsis of the original piece.

The full New York Times article can be read here. Read the rest of this entry »

There is talk of the excessive fees for pretty much everything. Want a paper statement? That will be a $2.00 fee. ATM balance inquiry? $0.75. There is also the $4.94 monthly maintenance fee and the $4.64 fee for each reload that is a non-check cashing transaction at a Wal-Mart money card.Comments on the articles have likened Wal-Mart as another evil, fee-happy bank. What they missed is there are no overdraft fees. Overdraft fees account for almost 40% of the fee income for banks and credit unions. From what Ive seen, its the overdraft fees and bounced checks that get customers into trouble in the first place. Wal-Marts MoneyCard helps alleviate that problem.

information from: www.walmartmoneycard.com

Published: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:00 AM MST

For the fourth consecutive year the SuperTour comes to the streets of Madison, WI and will bring crowds of spectators to celebrate elite cross country ski racing. The Madison SuperTour is an integral part of the Madison Winter Festival (formerly Capitol Square Sprints) which brings over 900 participants and 10,000 spectators every year.

We built Madison Winter Festival around the SuperTour races and will have a fantastic event this year. Snow and ice sculpting, sledding hill, Extreme Park for snowboarders and skiers, winter theme museum tours and many other events are scheduled in a way that winter lovers and families can participate in the wide variety of events and witness breathtaking elite SuperTour races, commented Joe Cline, Vice President of the Madison Winter Festival.

This years race course will maximize the use of the streets and terrain around the State Capitol Building by having the stadium, with start and finish area, in the lowest part of the Capitol Square (on Wisconsin Avenue right by the Madison Concourse Hotel Event Headquarters) and going around the highest point (on Martin Luther King Boulevard near by Park Bank). The total length of the race course will be 1,000 meters.

The SuperTour races brought the most spectators in the past. This year we will supplement exciting competitions with fun events for spectators such as SuperTour Mega Raffle and SuperTour Fan Club Contest. With the support of the ski industry we are introducing SuperTour Mega Raffle, where during every SuperTour final round and lap there will be raffle of top of the line items like skis, boots, poles and other equipment, as well as other items. SuperTour Fan Club Contest will provide an opportunity for everyone to cheer on the SuperTour athletes in a unique and organized form stated Yuriy Gusev, Event Director of the Madison Winter Festival.

Madison SuperTour Schedule
2:30 p.m., Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 Pisten Bulley Team Sprint
7:30 p.m., Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 Salomon US100 World Record Attempt
1:00p.m., Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 UW Health Sprint (final rounds)

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The SuperTour is 23 days of international cross country ski racing with over $120,000 in prize money, from late November to April, across the United States which has been recognized by the International Ski Federation. Men's and Women's champions will be given automatic start rights for all World Cup races after March 1.

For more information about Madison Winter Festival please visit www.winter-fest.com