A Week of Excitement

This week has been (and continues to be) a host to many exciting events.  From the installation of HD TV into my household (wowzers), to the start of middle school cross-country practice tomorrow (yee haw) the week is bursting with elation.  And to top it off?  Dirt track racing at the Canaan Fair Speedway on Friday night.  Can there be anything better to cap off a great week than watching late model race cars hurl themselves around a quarter mile dirt track at breakneck speeds?  I think not.

Tomorrow marks the birth of the middle school cross-country program at the Indian River School in Canaan, NH where Lex and I will be coaching eighteen eager athletes for ten weeks.  I am thrilled to be able to share my joy of running to new athletes- a few of whom have never run before, and many of whom have never participated in organized athletics.  Our season, while only a scant ten weeks, will consist of six official races where our athletes will be able to compete against kids from the surrounding towns and garner new personal bests over the roughly three kilometer courses.  It will be the first time such an program has been offered at Indian River School and I hope to be able to make the experience a positive one- not only for myself and athletes, but also for the community at large- in hopes that more after school programs will be born in the wake of our footsteps, enriching the children’s lives while instilling a love for an active and healthy lifestyle.

So as you can bare witness, this week is pretty cool.  Who knew with my new conversion to high-definition that television could get any crisper?  Words cannot describe watching the reply of the NASCAR race in Michigan in full 1080i (whatever that means).  So what if a recent study in Australia concluded that for every hour a person (over the age of 25) watches of TV, they take 22 minutes off their lives.  I guess it just proves the need for programs like the one we are starting tomorrow and actively reaching out to the kids in our community to make sure they get off the couch, turn off the TV, and get active.  It is never too early or too late to get involved with changing a life.

Until next time,

Ben

For a link of the study regarding TV exposure and early death click here