November 30 Six Minute Mile

Minute 1: Strava’s State of Endurance Report

Based on its new annual report on endurance sports, Strava apparently knows more about our activity uploads than even the best Russian bots. They make fitness data geeks very happy every year with nuggets like: runners drink more beer than cyclists and working out with friends makes you go longer and stronger. We also appreciated these insights from their report released this week:

The most active day of the year in the U.S. is July 4. The most active day for just running is Thanksgiving.
Women and men average about the same pace on runs and rides. Men tend to ride 5 minutes longer than women, while they run 1 minute less than females.
Highest number of selfies uploaded per activity: Snowshoeing
Most popular day of the week to work out: Tuesday
Uploads from bicycle commuters are up 43% this year

Unless they begin sharing our data with the “Lose 5 Pounds of Belly Fat” advertisers, we are very happy to contribute our work-outs to the Strava analysis.
#hardbodydata

Minute 2: NCAA bans a gay woman from competing after a GoFundMe campaign

Emily Scheck was enjoying the hectic life of a D-1 student athlete on the Canisius College track and XC teams. The sophomore was working hard in school and on the trails this fall, after putting up some strong results her freshman year. Emily even had time for a romantic relationship. And that’s where the trouble started. Through social media, her parents discovered that her significant other was another female student and they blew a gasket. They booted her out of the family, cut off all financial support and dumped all her stuff from home into her car at school. So that happened. But then things got worse before they got worse. When her friends rallied behind her with a GoFundMe campaign to pay for basics like health insurance and food, the NCAA blew the whistle on her and banned her from competition because she had accepted improper support. Any sane person would realize that rules designed to prevent SEC football boosters from buying a tailback a Ferrari didn’t apply to Emily. The NCAA, however, went even more insane than Emily’s parents and stuck to their interpretation. Once again, Emily’s friends rallied to her defense with an online campaign. Check out the full story in the Washington Post to see how it all turned out.
#N$AA

Minute 3: How do you make fitness a habit?

Most endurance athletes and gym goers we know suffer from two chronic conditions: dreading the “same old” routines and not having enough time in the day. That’s why we liked this new piece from Under Armour: 10 Tips for Better Fitness. Released this month, the suggestions help overcome both chronic ailments. They include practical plans for motivation and explain how even a 10-minute work-out can produce results.

#justdoit (oh wait, wrong company)

Minute 4: Mikaela Shiffrin’s diet and why you shouldn’t fear a few grams of carbs

We are big fans of Mikaela Shiffrin, America’s best ski racer, in large part because of her work ethic and emotional honesty. We would kill for the quad strength she shows in this training video. She also pays a lot of attention to her nutritional intake, which includes plenty of carbs. As much as we admire her, can we really trust carb/no-carb advice from someone who is sponsored by Barilla? Well a major new study reported by the New York Times agrees with Mikaela (and her Italian spaghetti sponsor). The Best Foods for Athletes story includes interviews with leading sports medicine/nutrition experts who weigh in on the holy trinity of carbs, fat and protein.
#everythinginmoderation…includingmoderation

Minute 5: Making a list and checking it twice…

Because our holiday shopping usually begins in a panic around December 23, we have resolved to get a jump on the action this year. We’ve found a couple of idea lists we like, including these 16 gift ideas for fitness lovers. And for the endurance or outdoors technophile in your life, we like this suggested list from Backcountry.com that includes solar chargers, headlamps, watches, speakers and headphones.
#procrastination

Minute 6: Daily Inspiration

We have written before on the unfairness of life as personified by Sydney McLaughlin. Why is one human being blessed with stunning athletic ability, a huge $$$ contract with New Balance, and stunning good looks? Her work ethic and humility make her a hard person to hate. We love this new highlight video she just dropped in her Insta account:

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