Peter Dodds's homepage: life

[home]

[research]

[wordsmithery]

[places]

[eclection]

[imagery]

[life]

[linux]

Fod

Vegetarianism
So many reasons. For the more bluntly put ones try peta and the links therein. And this from a quarter unexpected: a mad cowboy.

Menus
To come...

Fabbo recipes
Also to come...

Fitness
A collection of thoughts and commentary on efforts to develop and maintain physical wellbeing.

Yoga
As(h)tanga and Hatha mostly. A lot of work at home using the book "Power Yoga" by Beryl Bender Birch and the Primary Series video by David Swenson (both are tremendous). Yoga continues to be an exhilarating experience for me. The strength and flexibility yoga exacts and creates, the plasticity of the body, the improvement of increasingly more moments of the day, it's all there.

Pilates
Started by Joseph Pilates, the focus is on building deep core strength and flexibility.
Moira Stott's videos are excellent. I have investigated only matwork (there are many peculiar contraptions available inspired by hospital beds but don't let that fool you) so far and it's good stuff.

Stretching
Yoga and Pilates for now. Other good things are (AIS) active isolate stretching and PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). These two TLA's (three lettered acronyms) boil down to (1) using opposing muscles to stretch and (2) contracting the muscle to be stretched. Both intend to relax the muscle so it stretches more easily. Using a combination of both works well and this is, I think, the way to do yoga properly (ashtanga is based on the notion of heat and muscle activation).

Cardiovascular training

Running, cycling and rollerblading. Entered one road race this year (a 5k) with one ACL too few but did pretty well. Intending to do more next year.

Resistance training
Subsumed into yoga at the moment.

Swimming
Learning how to swim from "Total Immersion" by Terry Laughlin. Training now equals drills rather than slogging out laps.

Biking

Workout regimen
November 1998March 1999.
Have been following a good, allround training regimen from the most excellent Outside Magazine. Check out these monthly schedules and discussions: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

It starts off easily but eventually enters the state of being exacting. This is all about periodization, long cycles of slowly increasing intensity. It has been a welcome improvement from a varied but weekly repetitive routine. The only thing I really haven't been able to do much of is the weights portion due to a bung left elbow. As the latter has healed I have come back to simple pushups and pullups.

The new world order
Let's rethink things here: triathlons and running is the new business. One snapped anterior cruciate ligament too many. Took out the left ACL in March, 1999, so straight lines from now on.

Sport
Some sports I used to play and still enjoy.

Cricket
The daily source of cricket sustenance is the remarkable cricinfo. Cricket is a glorious creation. If more of the great philosophers had played cricket, then we might have worked out what life is for by now.

Footy
As in Australian Rules Football. One of the most skilled and spectacular codes of football you would ever wish to watch. Something's going right with a sport when the crowd actually watches the game with complete involvement (and absurd concepts of what the umpire is doing wrong). Check out the Boston Demons (U.S. Champs, 1998-1999).

Touch Rugby

Hoops

Apparatus
Objects that enhance the enjoyment of physical exertion if only psychologically.

The heart rate monitor
A wonderful device that I think is imperative for any type of cardio training. A very natural way to pace yourself. Polar, Polar and Polar would be my recommendations. There are other brands but I've been happy with the few Polars I've had so far (Pacer, Accurex NV, and now Protrainer XT). Tried a Cardiosport for a while but it didn't get along with my green pea very well.

Shoes
I have a Nike foot. That's just the way it is. Into the my third Air Tailwind (now it's the Air Sirocco, isn't that a clever bit of wordery from the Nike marketing machine?). Does the job for weekend excursions that push past 90 minutes.

The bike
A Bridgestone MB4, into its sixth year of Boston's humidity, rain, cold and snow. Sweet steel frame, perhaps a bit too big for mountain biking but it does the trick. Upgraded most components to XT and moved up to V-brakes (the cantilevers were tuned within a micrometer of their lives but they're just not quite as nice). No shocks. Using a Terry seat with the big hole that's there for obvious reasons but people still ask. I tell them it's there for obvious reasons. Riding in the snow, by the way, is very good evidence for why one should be alive.

Bike objects
Lighting Systems. Have been using a NiteRider Classic for over three years but the battery has taken a turn for the worst recently. Now using the Apex Cabeza Logic (below left) and the dual beam Apex DI (below right) from Light & Motion. Very nice indeed. Excellently adjustable; weightless headlamp with good, white light; compact batteries.

Hydration and Gooification
I'm a big fan of the people at Ultimate Directions, makers of fine hydration packs (of which I seem to have quite a few). Their website is a tad average but they've just been bought by Sierra Designs (another good gear company, thanks for the tent). The solopac is a one-bottle, waist hugging champ which suffices for shorter runs. For going long, I use the elite which is a very comfortable two-bottle arrangement. Ultimate makes a spiffy little gooflask with a pouch. I also have an old 1994 voyager pack which works smashingly well for a long weekend of semi-minimalist hiking. And I am often a source of amusement for the Trekker torso-pack that has become an integral part of my clothing. Ultimate's rolltop water bladders also rule. I'm getting emotional. And I have nothing to do with the company. Really.