Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Drafting: Is it Ruining Triathlon?
Many pros feel that drafting is ruining the sport of triathlon. It’s removing the purity of a true racing spectacle. Some suggest that the only way to get around it is to avoid a lap course. Others say that there should be a bigger gap between age groupers and elites, men and women. What do you think? Please post your comments below.
A little thing called LOVE
As life would have it, people come together and they fall in love. Obviously they fall in love with the other person and accept them for who they are and so on, but they also occasionally, fall in love with the subconscious desires that that individual fulfills.
They will surely add value to each others’ lives in one way or another, but you’re probably thinking that of course they add value otherwise they wouldn’t be in love.
But surely you should still love someone even when they become a burden on you? Love is not a matter of convenience.
Love needs to have room to grow. Sometimes falling in love is a case of “You fit and therefore you will stay.” Now if something fits then there I no room for growth. Love is side by side, not one within the other and that is a big mistake that many people make.
“But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”
“Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.”
- Kahil Gibran, author of The Prophit.
If something fits it will always just fit. If it grows it no longer fits and hence the significance of the second quote above.
What happens when the value added love is gone? All of sudden that which seemed to fit so well begins to loosen up.
The desire to be back at the stage of perfect fit leads the individual into thinking: “Maybe those feelings can come back. I’m going to continue to love like this just as did before and hopefully someway, somehow, someday soon we will be back to where we were 1 month ago.”
At this stage that person has fallen out of love since that value added love is no longer there. The desire to be back at the blissful love state is the only motivating factor for staying in the relationship. Still being in love with the idea of loving you they continue to act, do and say the nice things they always have. One such thing is telling you that they love you.
Falling out of love is not uncommon. Unfortunately though many people take the “How could you?” angle which only leads to resentment.
It’s not fair to blame someone for their feelings. Most of the time they can’t help the way they fell, and sometimes they even wish they could change the way they feel.
So next time you fall in love, make sure there’s room for growth. And do yourself a favour, read The Prophet by Kahil Gibran. Here’s once last quote from it.
“Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”
- Kahil Gibran
A Blend of Marketing and IT
In most discussions regarding this topic there is always mention of the digital shift. So before we continue let’s discuss the digital shift.
Although the major digital shift took place a fair while back many companies are still not operating accordingly. Digital shifts are however still taking place and will continue to do so as technology moves forward. With the constant improvement in technology marketers are able to measure their efforts more accurately.
The digital shifts have also changed consumer behaviour and the psychology behind consumer spending. Consumers now demand more information and thanks to the constant evolution of the digital shift the gap between an uneducated consumer and the experts is considerably smaller.
Consumers allocate credibility to the expert who communicates effectively the information that the consumer is seeking. The smaller gap between consumer and expert may be a threat to credibility however, IT, guided by marketing, can create barriers and almost develop the border lines of that gap leaving marketers the experts and consumers the allocators of credibility.
To explain that a little further we need to understand how Marketing and IT differ in their competitive natures. Marketing is offensive in its quest to gain market share and ROI, finding flexibility and measurability important. IT is defensive in its control of costs, the creation of security barriers and reducing the total cost of ownership, favouring stability.
In today’s world where technology plays a major role in most marketing campaigns companies can hardly afford not to have IT and marketing working together. In fact, they should almost become one operation since any technology developments can lead to the possibility of a competitive advantage which marketers will use to gain valuable market share.
As brands develop and execute their marketing plans the necessity to unify marketing and IT becomes apparent. Very few marketing campaigns can be executed these days without the use of IT. Many of today’s successful tech-driven marketing platforms are the result of insights from programmers. By allowing IT to become involved in marketing many ideas may arise which may not have otherwise.
Despite marketing and IT being related, in many organisations marketing and IT still work as silos. Their solo operations obviously mean that the possibility of synergy is nonexistent. As strategies become more reliant on digital, this division between marketing and IT can instigate inefficient processes, communication breakdowns and excess budget spending. When IT and marketing do not work together there will more often than not be project delays, cost overruns, lack of communication, expensive consultants and unnecessary meetings.
To resolve these issues, an environment which encourages collaboration between marketing and IT needs to be created.
First, move the two departments closer together so interaction and team building are required. Technologists need to be seen as creatives rather than just executors. This allows IT room to experiment and innovate which will attract interest from marketing.
In addition to this, allow marketing to have a say in technology investments as they will ultimately make use of something that is best suited to their needs as marketers as opposed to simply having to make do with what they have or outsourcing unnecessarily.
Where have all the good guys gone?
So many people ask: “Where have all the good guys gone?”
Well apparently a great man, a nice guy and good friend of mine is celebrating his birthday on Thursday, so to honour this day I would like to introduce you to a good guy.
Thirty (30) years of his presence on earth has graced us with some truly magnificent moments of sharing, caring and all round loving.
He is fit, he is fast, he is spiritual and most of all he loves life in all its abundance. I look up to him for many reasons. Talented, wise and fun loving are but a few.
His name is Raoul de Jongh.
You too can be a part of Raoul’s life by visiting his blog. www.urban-ninja.co.za.
Sharing love and celebrating friendship is part of what we do here at ONCE inspired.
Fulfillment Part 2
As I start to become aware of my shift in consciousness to a greater spiritual understanding of life on earth I realize that there is no such thing other than the present.
Many people question life on earth. Part of the purpose of our existence is to question life on earth. There are just certain levels of consciousness in which these questions are asked. Most people ask these questions unconsciously, meaning they are unaware as to why they are asking the question in the first place?
I know some of you may not find this the most interesting of topics but it is important for me, and I know many of you may feel the same. So enjoy this post as I share with you my spirituality.
I have started reading a book called A New Earth – The awakening to your life’s purpose by Eckhart Tolle. It is an interesting book where the writer’s main purpose is to communicate spiritual awakening.
“In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, Jesus says to Martha, “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needful.” (Luke 10:41)” What is that one thing I asked myself? I couldn’t think of it so I asked Mike Emslie, senior pastor at St Matthews Table View. This is what he had to say:
“The one thing here in this context is to listen to Jesus – That is what Mary is doing in verse 39 and commended for in verse 42 and what Martha was not doing because she was running around doing errands… which are fine in and of themselves but not appropriate if God comes to your house and is talking.”
“The application for us is that Jesus should be most important in our lives for He is God and worthy of all our attention!”
According to Tolle, and the every other spiritualist who has the same understanding, an awakening, Jesus, Buddha and so on are all enlightened beings. Which they were. They were all enlightened at the time of their existence. They were spiritually awake. Yes I believe in Jesus and Buddha and so forth.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven” – said Jesus. To be “poor in spirit” as Jesus said means to have no inner baggage and to have no identification with any mental objects that have a sense of self in them. The simple and profound joy of being is what you will have if you get to the “kingdom of heaven”.
In order to get to heaven you need to be free of sin. The word “Sin” means to miss the mark or to miss the point.
In Buddhism sin is known as “Dukkha”; which means suffering and or misery. If you miss the mark (sin) you may experience suffering or misery (Dukkha) and you will not reach “the kingdom of heaven”.
Basically it is important that we become aware of these things so that we do not miss mark and avoid unhappiness in order to find happiness beyond the materialism of this world.
The ego is the downfall of our existence. It attaches itself to the materialistic things this world has to offer. It identifies itself with objects not only physically also mentally. By saying that that car is “mine” or that was “my” idea is the ego talking. By letting go of “I” and realizing that nothing really exists other than energy flowing back and forth you experience the shift in consciousness and a spiritual awakening. You are able to see beauty for the first time by being able to contemplate it beyond its physicality. You see beauty in its formlessness.
See part one: http://onceinspired.co.za/motivation/fulfillment-part-1/
Part 3 coming soon.
Go be awesome now!
11Global
So it’s nearly time for 11global to hit South Africa again. Sun City sees the 11global Racing League, an international triathlon series, on the first of November.
11global Sun City is a hot and hilly affair, arguably one of Africa’s toughest Olympic distance triathlons.
There is however a common misconception amongst the South African public that 11global is for elite athletes. Offering age-group and relay team racing this is certainly not the case. If you can’t make the full thing get some mates to join you in an international racing experience.
11global’s mission: “To provide an annual Olympic-distance triathlon Racing League across the globe that will culminate in individual age-group and relay team league champions. We strive to ignite the Olympic-distance racing experience by carefully designing and planning each race in locations with superb landscape and environmental conditions to ultimately deliver the best racing experience to you, the triathlete.”
11global is developing a global olympic-distance triathlon series with the aim of hosting 11 races annually. Unfortunately, expanding the series beyond South Africa has proven to be difficult in this current economic climate however 11global is committed to expanding and is hard at work to develop the series.
11global has 2 events in South Africa, Sun City as you well know and Cape Town. 11global Cape Town is a real racers course offering a flat and fast bike and run.
The swim however is a little on the tough side. Bracing yourself for nothing warmer than a 15 degree Celsius swim and quite possibly a fair bit of Atlantic Ocean swell the swim leg is challenging but definitely a lot of fun.
11global is also quite involved in doing a fair bit of charity work in South Africa with their South African Goggle Drive.
Founder of 11Global had this to say shortly after 11Global Cape Town earlier this year:
“With the 11Global Cape Town triathlon now behind us please take a moment to join Amy Kloner and 11global as we look to the future and help an amazing group of children from the Atlantis Community. In conjunction with the City of Cape Town and Western Province Triathlon, 11global assisted by the expertise of Woody (Alun Woodward), Amy, Hendrick De Villiers and Nico Sterk conducted a triathlon swim clinic at the Westfleur Sports Complex.
Amy was so impressed with the courage and determination of the children but noticed that very few had the swimming basics such as goggles, caps and swim suits. Amy has decided that she wants to try and change this and together we have started a “South African Goggle Drive”. Amy has posted the drive to her blog page and has also reached out to the USA triathlon community for assistance.
On behalf of 11global I am thrilled to be part of this drive and ask you to consider joining us by making a financial contribution. All financial donations will be matched by 11global and will be used to purchase swimming equipment. International readers or triathletes please contact me (ryan@11global.com) if you would like to donate any equipment.
On behalf of Amy and 11global I would like to thank you for your consideration to join us as we look forward to impact the lives of children much less fortunate than ourselves.
Kind Regards,
Ryan
11global”
11Global and ONCEinspired will be working closely together to bring you an exciting racing experience as well as keeping you updated with our charity efforts.
11 Global – Recalibrating the Olympic distance experience.
Usain Bolt Can Go Faster
Well, maybe Usain Bolt was right after all. As discussed in our Physiology of Speed story, Bolt predicted he could run 100 meters in 9.54 seconds, lowering his own world record of 9.69 seconds.
Earlier this week, he almost got there running a 9.58 at the World Championships in Berlin.
Now, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands say he could shave another 3/100ths of a second off and hit the tape at 9.51 seconds.
Using the “extreme value theory”, Professor of Statistics John Einmahl and former student Sander Smeets have calculated the fastest possible times for men and women. Between 1991 and 2008, they chronicled the best times for 762 male sprinters and 469 female sprinters. They did not trust the data prior to 1991 as possibly being tainted by doping athletes (not that’s its gotten much better since then.)
For females, their current world record, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner, of 10.49 seconds could be theoretically lowered to 10.33 seconds.
Extreme value theory is a branch of statistics that tries to predict extreme events such as 100-year floods or major stock market movements that deviate signficantly from the median. With less statistical confidence (95% confidence), Einmahl estimates the men could get to 9.21 while the women could run a 9.88.
To make this statistical postulating a reality, Bolt needs to find the secret competitive edge that will shave these tenths and hundredths of seconds away. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria claim sunflower oil may be the super fuel that is missing.
They found that mice fed a diet high in sunflower oil, which contains n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, were 6.3% faster in sprint races against mice fed a diet rich in linseed oil, which is high in n-3 fatty acids.
Their research was presented in June at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting.
“The results of the current study on mice suggest that moderate differences in dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake can have a biologically meaningful effect on maximum running speed”, says Dr Christopher Turbill, lead researcher. “The application of this research to the performance of elite athletes (specifically those in sports that involve short distance sprints, including cycling) is uncertain, but in my opinion certainly deserves some further attention” he said.
So, a little sunflower oil mixed into the pre-race Gatorade? It might work until world records start to fall and its added to the banned substance list.
By Dan Paterson
The Big Man is a beautiful runner.
Tea Time
I find I race, train and sleep better after a cup of tea. What do you think? Here’s a little story for tea time. (Don’t forget the cookies.)
Tea is currently admired for its health-promoting properties, but public opinion has not always been so positive. When tea gradually began to replace coffee as Britain’s number-one non-alcoholic drink in the early 1700s, health authorities railed against the beverage. The noted German physician Simon Pauli, whose work Commentarius de Abusu Tabaci et Herbae Thee, etc was translated into English in the 1700s, concluded that: ‘as Chocolate agrees with Coffee and Tea, … so all these three exactly agree with each other, in producing Effeminacy and Impotence …. I therefore hope that for the future the Europeans will be wise, and reject Coffee, Chocolate, and Tea, since they are all either equally bad or equally good.
Against such succinct and sound condemnations, it took the opinions of some of the literary giants of the day to ensure that tea would become a popular drink in England. Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, whose daily Spectator was read by almost every literate person in London in the early 1700s (and was frequently read aloud to the illiterate as well), were extremely partial to the new fashion of ‘a dish of tea’ and advised ‘all well-regulated families’ to set aside an hour each morning for tea drinking (1). Dr Samuel Johnson, who founded several coffee house circles, eventually developed an enormous appetite for tea, consuming up to 40 cups daily and describing himself as ‘a hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for many years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the morning’ (2).
Throughout the 18th century, government officials in Europe were often concerned about the seemingly addictive aspects of tea and coffee consumption. King Gustav III of Sweden (1746-1792), in an attempt to prove that coffee was a poison, ordered a convicted murderer to drink coffee every day until he died. In an attempt to bring some science into his tests, he ordered another murderer to drink tea daily, and he appointed two Swedish doctors to oversee the experiment. Things proceeded unexpectedly, however: the two murderers thrived in prison, the tea drinker passing on eventually at the ripe-old age of 83 and the coffee drinker succumbing a bit later. Well before the demise of either felon, the two doctors went to their graves and King Gustav himself was murdered (3).
This all seems rather silly today, when we are greeted every few weeks or so with new information about the health benefits associated with drinking tea. For example, tea consumption has recently been linked with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. In an effort to understand why this might be so, researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine asked individuals with proven coronary artery disease to drink either plain water or black tea. Consumption of the black tea was shown to reverse ‘endothelial dysfunction’, allowing the arteries to dilate more effectively in response to increased blood flow (4). This reversal might help coronary arteries stay more open and thus decrease the risk of heart attack.
Tea turns out to be very rich in a group of antioxidants known as ‘catechins’, which are also found in heady concentrations in apples and chocolate. In a recent study, catechin consumption (whether from tea or the other main sources) was connected with a decreased risk of ischaemic heart disease(5).
Green tea contains a wealth of catechins, while black and oolong teas contain other antioxidants known as ‘theaflavins’, which has caused tea drinkers who favour black and oolong to worry that their teas might not be as cardio-protective as the green variety. There is no definitive word on this question, but recent investigations reveal that the theaflavins possess at least the same antioxidant potency as the catechins in green tea(6).
The antioxidants in tea may upgrade the ability of arteries to dilate properly, while reducing oxidant damage to the interior walls of blood vessels. Another finding which might explain the apparently protective effect against heart disease is that high intakes of tea can reduce levels of damaging blood lipids. One recent study correlated tea drinking with a 6 mg/dl drop in total cholesterol and a similar fall in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – the ‘bad’ cholesterol which is linked with heart disease(7). However, fairly large intakes of tea – about 10 cups per day – were required to produce this effect.
Tea may fight some forms of cancer as well as heart disease
Some apparent cancer-fighting properties of tea have also been detected. One study found that people who drank two or more cups per day had roughly half the risk of developing rectal cancer of non-tea drinkers(8), while a Japanese investigation linked tea drinking with about a 30% decrease in the risk of stomach cancer(9). In the latter study, the amount of tea consumption needed to produce the effect – seven or more cups per day – was again rather large (although not by Dr Johnson’s standards!)
What does all of this research mean for the athlete of today? Of course, if you want to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and digestive-system cancer, you might explore the potential benefits of tea consumption. But the most direct benefits for athletes arise from tea’s amazingly rich antioxidant content. As you may be aware, research into the effects of antioxidants was kick-started many years ago by the discovery of the ‘French paradox’ – the linkage of low rates of cardiovascular disease with diets which were rather high in saturated fats. The antioxidants in French wine were put forward as the keys to this puzzle, and since then a variety of foods have been tested for their antioxidant power.
Happily for tea drinkers, tea appears to be close to the top of the list in terms of antioxidant activity. One recent study placed it ahead of such other notable antioxidant-rich liquids as instant coffee, cola, red wine, carrot juice, apricot nectar, Turkish coffee, grape molasses and white wine(10). Among solid foods, red grapes, raisins, and dried black plums topped the list. Another piece of research noted that one or two standard cups of tea had as much total free radical scavenging (ie antioxidant) capacity as five normal portions of fruit and/or vegetables or 400mg of vitamin C(11).
And this is where its importance for athletes comes in. Many studies have demonstrated that intense or prolonged exercise generates considerable amounts of ‘reactive oxygen species’ (oxidants) within the human body. These reactive oxygen species can produce ‘oxidative stress’, ie damage to fats, proteins, nucleic acids and – ultimately – muscle cells. Such oxidative stress has naturally been linked with fatigue and overtraining, and it has been suggested that the human body’s natural oxidant-defense system is not powerful enough to prevent the oxidative stress associated with rugged exercise. Thus, the argument goes, athletes need to accelerate their intakes of foods which are rich in antioxidants. Tea would thus be a sought-after beverage, since it may rank ahead of all others in terms of antioxidant potency. Observers of the athletic scene sometimes wonder if it is more than a coincidence that the best endurance athletes in the world – the Kenyan runners – sip tea throughout the day, just like Dr Johnson.
The idea that increased antioxidant intake really does reduce oxidative stress and thus promote better athletic performance is, in fact, hotly debated, but there is some supporting evidence. In one study, US scientists asked participants to supplement their diets with 1 gram per day of the trusted antioxidant vitamin C and measured oxidative stress after 30 minutes of exertion(12). Exercise-induced oxidative stress was indeed lower after supplementation with vitamin C, but there was no evidence that this effect had any impact on performance.
However, this was not true of an earlier study which compared vitamin E and vitamin C supplementation (400mg per day in both cases) in physically active subjects(13). The subjects engaged in a demanding bout of muscle-damaging box-stepping exercise, which caused maximal muscle strength to fall by 25% and overall strength to plummet by 33% in the follow-up period. However, loss of strength was lowest and recovery speediest in the vitamin C group (compared with those taking vitamin E or placebo). In other words, vitamin C seemed to provide a protective effect against exercise-induced muscle damage.
In another intriguing study, intravenous infusions of an antioxidant called N-acetylcysteine actually improved the performance of ankle-dorsiflexor muscles during fatiguing exercise, suggesting that oxidative stress might play a causal role in the fatigue process itself(14).
So is tea a near-perfect sports drink? If a couple of cups of tea are consumed about an hour before exercise, the caffeine content is likely to enhance performance in high-intensity athletic events. When tea is consumed post-exercise, its rich antioxidant content may well boost recovery and limit oxidative stress to muscles. If you add generous amounts of milk (either soy or cow) and sugar to the tea (as the Kenyans do), it can stimulate protein synthesis and glycogen storage in muscles.
It’s true that more research is needed in this area, but it is hard to find fault with the idea that tea is an attractive drink for athletes. In fact, our present state of knowledge suggests that green, oolong, and black varieties of the beverage all suit athletes to a ‘T.’
Owen Anderson
Taken from http://www.pponline.co.uk
I just had my cup of tea. I think I’ll have another. Advice: Dip a Boudoir (spellcheck) or 2 in your tea. Also try it with condensed milk instead of milk and sugar! Ah tea is fun.
Enjoy
