MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO CAPTURE AND SHARE WHAT I was learning at the University of British Columbia’s Masters of Human Kinetics graduate degree program, I created this personal-cum-academic blog called Lightfooted using the free WordPress platform for a learning project for Seminar in the Organizational Analysis of Sport & Leisure (Wendy Frisby, HKIN 591).

Here I’ve attempted to express the theoretical concepts and current innovations in the Coaching Science field, and apply them in a pseudo-analytical discourse to relevant, everyday situations and current events. Along with the Lightfooted Fitness Facebook group, my blog was the space where I shared thoughts and gathered opinions on topics ranging from exergaming with the Nintendo Wii Fit (blog post: Asking the right questions, October 21, 2009) and how social media operates in the fitness field (Flexing your Prosumer Muscles, December 11, 2009).

For eight weeks, I tracked the blog with Google Analytics. During this time, Lightfooted received 261 unique visitors in 468 session, with over of half of those sessions from returning visitors. The average time on site (ATOS) for all visitors of Lightfooted was 4:33 (min:sec), which has nearly doubled since its launch on October 1, 2009 and was 3,990.70% greater than the benchmark comparison of 0:07 (min:sec). Comparative data indicated that viewers to Lightfooted reached a depth of 3.38 pages/visit, 104.04% greater than visitors to websites of similar size (1.66 page/visit).

The undertaking of this project was considerable and on-going; I spent a conservative estimate of 60 hours researching content, compiling an image databank, constructing blog posts, and moderating and responding to comments during its two-month run. Growing followers and maintaining a consistent blogging schedule was my primary challenge. Despite the demands of the blog, I was enthusiastic about growing Lightfooted as both a scholarly and personal reflection of the experience in the Masters of Human Kinetics program, as it was evident that people from all over the world were reading and sharing their thoughts on my blog.

TL;DR ‘MORAL OF THE STORY’

Blogging high quality content in your area of expertise on a regular basis is a challenge that takes a lot of your time to meet, but boy, is it worth it!

Thus, ONE OF MY 2010 GOALS is to blog twice a week on Tuesday & Friday. Stay tuned for these posts. Thank you.

Last week, I was asked to try out the new MuscleCare extra strength pain reliever. Lucky for them, I had just pulled a bunch of intercostal muscles as a result of coughing too much, too hard (from pneumonia!) and so had good motivation to use their roll-on stick.

I’ve already got a couple of topical pain-relievers that I use (A535, PerCara Ice, etc.) but the roll-on ‘greaselessness’ of MuscleCare meant I could use it during the day and not get my clothes stained and the ‘extra strengthiness’ meant I didn’t have to hobble around, gasping for air, clutching my ribs all day. The roll-on tube was easy to carry around with me and I found it really helped – it was long-lasting, STRONG and warming.

MuscleCare is a Canadian-grown product, developed by Dr. Chris Oswald who owns and operates one of Canada’s leading chiropractic clinics in Toronto. He saw a need for premium scientifically based ergonomic, health and wellness products and developed the MuscleCare line.

MuscleCare: the strongest all natural, scientifically based, topical analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-spasmodic for over the counter sales.

Dr. Oswald's Professional Therapy MuscleCare® regular strength ice gel, extra strength ice gel, and regular strength ice spray

This newest product – the roll-on extra strength pain reliever is intended to help “increase blood flow, reduce pain and enhances the repair of damaged tissues, muscles and cartilage. Ideal for chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, diabetes, etc.”

While I hope I don’t have too many occasions to use it chronically like I have been the past week, I will definitely keep it in my gym bag for after these crazy bootcamps of mine and events like the Canadian Death Race.

If you’ve got a few muscle aches & pains, you can order the product online here or find it at your nearest Rexall, PharmaPlus, Guardian, IDA or Dell Pharmacy.

Friday, November, 2007; Toronto: It all started the first week of September, in reaction to being relegated indoors after a summer of being active outdoors, teaching kids how to bike. I plotted a 7-km route from my door to the office on MapMyRun.com and ran it one sunny autumn morning.

I wore my heart rate monitor and I recall my heart rate average being somewhere around 171 for the 43 minutes it took me to navigate up and down over the River Valley and past the morning rush of streetcars. The run burned around 300 kcal too, if I recall.

I didn’t plan ahead so ended up wearing my sweaty running kit all day. Luckily, my office is the Transportation Planning Bicycle Safety division of the City of Toronto so sweaty apparel is normal, although even there I was pushing the definition of “normalcy.”

Come 5pm, I ran home, covering the distance more quickly – 40 minutes.

Two days later, I was ready to go again and this time came prepared with my iPod, water bottle and debit card strapped to my hip, and a change of clothes waiting for me at work.

I took this ‘alternative mode of transportation’ twice a week. I discovered the office has a shower room and to my delight, it mimics a rain forest in volume and warmth. I just need the caw of a parrot and a pina colada waiting for me afterwards. These 10-minute showers have become a luxurious addition to my workday since.

It’s a thrill to track my progress on my heart rate monitor. I’m now down to 34 minutes for the 7km, up to 35 km a week and burning between 400 and 500 kcal each run. I’m also down to 130lbs, which I haven’t seen since grade 12!

The most telling indicator of my muscles acute adaptiveness is that my heart rate average has decreased to around 160 – 165 beats per minute while my speed has increased. My cardiac output, the amount of blood pumped to my working muscles per minute, is determined by the amount of blood ejected from the heart with each beat (Stoke Volume) multiplied by the number of beats per minute (Hear Rate). My heart rate has decreased, but by means of the Frank-Starling effect, the walls of my heart have stretched, allowing more blood to be ejected with each pump. It beats less quickly but more blood getting to my muscles, and more oxygen being absorbed means I’m running more efficiently.

I’ve also started to take a 10-km route twice a week, as the lure and rush of endorphin from running is addictive. My work is flexible, so if I show up at 9:15am, after an hour of running, I’m still able to have my shower, my 500mL of chocolate milk (a fabulous recovery drink, IMHO) before settling down to work for a 9:30am – 5:30pm workday.

It was today I realised that this is truly not a common thing to do. It was cold, zero degrees and lightly raining, but I dressed warmly with a light-weight long-sleeve Marino wool base-layer, a wind-proof toque and light running gloves all from lululemon. But today I only saw two other runners in my 53-minute 10km run, when often it’s a dozen or so sharing the route.

Tonight, running home in the dusk, it was just me and my reflective light pounding the sidewalk. Hed Candy blasting smooth tunes through my earphones, the heat radiating off my shirt gently smelling of clean laundry, the rain refreshing on my cheeks, my arms and legs pumping in time, all parts rhythmically aligned. I had hit my stride: a meditative weightless state.

Up a steep incline, I remind myself to decreasethe amount of time each foot contacts with the ground. Faster feet, higher knees, arms pump, elbows up and behind. A slight burn of lactic acid in my thighs; heart rate spiking to 182, but still much lower than the 191 when I first took this hill in September. No rest at the top, push it, split-time style: 12 minutes until I’m home.

I will take the weekend to recover, but come Monday, I’ll be back on that hill, getting another dose of the runner’s high.

"The remainder of the trail is extremely steep & difficult"

The climb this morning seemed like a selfish act when my partner had to get up at the same time just to go to work, but I’ve dedicated 10 climbs between June 12 & Sept 15 to BC Children’s Hospital, Grind for Kids campaign, and your donations will make my act less selfish all the more

“In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy.”

~Karl Reiland

The Grouse Grind also provided an apt physical metaphor for my life at this moment:  I’m one month away from completing a professional Masters of Human Kinetics (MHK) degree at the University of British Columbia and right now, finishing my final papers feels something like attacking this mountain; a epic climb that requires me to focus all my energy on putting one-foot-after-another, eyes to the ground with only a few quick glances at the sun-dappled ceiling – my mountain-topped glory.

I entered the MHK program last September to advance my fitness expertise to further my personal training business, Lightfooted. I’m exiting with much more than a few courses and good marks under my belt: I’ve took a career turn to dive into the realm of social media**, a home of my own overlooking Gastown, and great friends, inspiring colleagues & mentors to help guide my way.

And with these thoughts, I will return to the grindstone of tackling this very, last step of my academic mountain. See you at the top!

** For Dr. Rob VanWynsberghe‘s Sustainability and Citizen Transformation & the 2010 Olympic Games seminar class,  I studied how Vancouver citizens used Twitter to leverag the #vo2010 vibe as a tool for place promotion and regeneration of their city. This was the beginning of my fascination with social networking tools as a way to bring people/ideas/communities together.

Social media platforms promotes the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

(Social Media. Wikipedia, The free encyclopaedia. November 12, 2009).

Even though the “prosumer“ concept has been around for 40 years (Toffler, 1970), my experiences as an active, involved content innovator as opposed to the traditional passive recipient of a product or service are new-found.  I first became aware that I was flexing these powerful muscles as I blog, leave comments, and tweet, after reading Grown Up Digital, written by someone who Al Gore has called, one of the world’s leading cyber gurus, own own Canadian, Don Tapscott. GUD is a relevant and inspiring ‘Field Guide’, of the Net Generation, outlining the survey findings of 11,000 NetGenners (11 – 30 years old), whereby connecting the dots and colouring in the big  picture as to how young people are using social media platforms to influence and shape their world.

To get a sense of the prosumer power, watch the YouTube clip of “In Conversation with Allan Gregg” (for those who want quick sound bites, watch 15:33 – 18:00). In a nutshell, Tapscott asserts, “if you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future.”

Since this first read back in April, 2009, I have become increasingly aware of the innovative ways in which NetGenners contribute to the development, improvement and dissemination of products & services. For a very recent and radical example, pick up a copy of  Yes We Did: An inside look at how social media built the Obama Brand (Harfoush, 2009).

Even more rewarding, I am now cognizant of being both participant & recipient of new media techniques that amplify the ways in which we are able to use our voices to advocate change in institutional pedagogy, politics and practices.

What empowering realizations!

Imagine the electricity consumption at 24-hr fitness centres!

I now turn my prosumer-gaze on the fitness world – which is both my workplace and playground. While sport has the privileged reputation of being healthy and green, the fitness industry is a far cry from environmentally conscious. For lack of an academic urge at 2:00 am* this morning, I will cite the Biggest Loser reality television series recent  ”Green Week” workouts on unplugged fitness equipment to illuminate the copious electricity consumption of millions of treadmills across the world.

The buzz-word of today is eco-innovation and with that in mind, I encourage everyone to watch this green fitness centre concept video from Casey Shaaf of EcoDev Engineering, LLC, created for the 2009 Kettering Innovation Challenge and to appreciate the implications of this technology. Astoundingly simple, elegant and brilliant solution to recycling energy. Viewing it, I had to wonder, how is it that only 185* people have watched this video since September? Why am I the first to rate it?

I am hereby making it a personal goal to have this video reach 1,000 by the end of the year. 3 weeks left…

You in for the challenge?

* This blog post was originally published on Lighfooted.ca on November 27, 2009 at 2:00 am. Current YouTube count is 259.

Unfortunately, this case is not an anomaly. In 2001, the IOC lab tested 634 supplements from around the world and found that some were incomplete or inaccurately labelled. For instance, more than 25 per cent of the supplements collected in The Netherlands yielded positive tests for banned substances undisclosed on the packaging. An yet, in light of these findings, Despres’ ban for an infinitely small positive – less than a single nanogram of steroids – was not revoked.

What can an athlete do to ensure that the supplements they require to support an intensely active, rigorous and demanding training program are contaminate-free?

Currently, a company called NSF International provides a Safe for Sport Certification analysis program, whereby manufacturers submit nutritional supplements to be tested up to 130 banned substances on the World Anti-Doping Association’s drug list before they are consumed by athletes.

NSF Certified for Sport Product list available here, and includes such Canadian-made products as:

• COLD-FX® Daily Defense
• Myoplex® Advanced Protein Ready to Drink (Vanilla)
• Activ-X Multivitamin for Active Men and Women by Platinum Naturals

Even though Despres’ 2010 Winter Olympic podium dreams have been publicly and humiliatingly crushed, he has used the situation to become part of the solution.  In April he helped launch the Clean Sport Initiative sponsored by Platinum Naturals, to campaign for increased knowledge and information on supplements approved by the NSF. Help support Despres’ cause and join the Facebook group: Clean Sport Initiative.

Failure to manage the Innovation Process

(PC/The Hollywood Gossip )

I’m interested in following-up the incident with a few questions:

• How did the Italian design company, Jaked, handle the incident? That is, how are they monitoring the results of their innovation?
• How are they handling the Olympic ban of the super-slick swimsuits?
• What is their reaction to the allegations of providing an unfair advantage akin to ‘technological doping’?
• How are they communicating this reaction to their athletes and the public at large?

I’ll start my investigations here, at the Design News July 2009 article, “Ban on Polyurethane Swimsuits Makes No Sense” and report back.

Spirit of the Skeena Swim 2009

Join Ali and her swim team for a spirited evening of stories, film and photography next Thursday, December 3 at 7:00 PM,  UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson St.  Vancouver.