Beyond the Blue

Greetings!  Last year Shannan and I visited the Space Port in Truth or Consequences, NM. It's an amazing facility that will be the lift off point for non-astronauts who desire to leave the Earth's atmosphere for the low low price of $250,000. Of course the list of people ready to ride includes celebrities and those with a fair amount of disposable income. The Space Port is a joint venture with the state of New Mexico and companies owned by big named entrepreneurs with commitments to the space program like Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic) Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) and Elon Musk (Space X). I enjoyed musing about the new frontier beyond our terrestrial realm. Shannan and I speculated that soon, the Space Port will be as crowed as LAX or LaGuardia. 

A couple of weeks ago Shannan and I took our bi-annual trip to Huntsville, AL. At the Space Center we watched an IMAX about space exploration. The leading concept included travel and colonization of Mars. Yes, that's correct, visiting and setting up communities on the Red Planet. The notion is not that farfetched, and some are spending terrific sums of money to that end. The reason for such, well that is a whole other discussion. Nonetheless, as I’m out running I can’t help but to gaze into the sky pondering the worlds and reals that will be discovered in the future.

Push Boundaries. Run.

Tom

Iconic Athletes

Greetings! The world lost the great Jack LaLanne just over 4 years ago. I posted a short piece back in 2011 noting the fitness path LaLanne blazed in this country. Across his career he engaged in a wide array of media to encourage people to exercise and promote fitness. Most notably, Jack had a television show in the early 60s where he sported, what would become his trademark, blue exercise outfit.

Last month Shannan and I toured the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We went, as I wanted see the robe professional wrestler Rick Flair wore to WrestleMania. Believe it or not, I’m researching wrestling for an academic project. Oh the horror, the robe was off display. I did happen to see the iconic LaLanne blue suit. This was a nice consolation. The outfit doesn’t look that comfortable for doing “jumping jacks” a move named for LaLanne. I also struggle to imagine doing resistance workouts until failure (another notion LaLanne put into the fitness lexicon) in the suit. Clearly, that is just my opinion. It worked for Jack, he was ripped and stayed fit his entire life.

Research Fitness. Run.

Tom