Sweating in below-freezing temperatures—is it even possible?
It is when you go skiing!
Skiing is one of the world’s most popular winter sports, and it’s not hard to see why. Even moderately experienced downhill skiers can zip down a mountain at 20 to 30 miles per hour (world speed record: 156 mph!). It takes strength, skill and balance. In fact, it is exhausting—it burns more calories than almost any other sport.
The air was crisp. My surroundings seemed to be wearing a new perfume, with high notes of wet rock and low notes of mud. I put my sweater on and followed my brother and his friend into the dark abyss. It was cold, dark and wet. The light from the surface began to disappear as we walked deeper into the unknown. Then, complete darkness embraced us. I opened and closed my eyes a couple times and verified that there was no difference between the two. All was black. I stumbled over a rock, and my brother turned around and...
Read MoreIt’s about 6 o’clock. I’m good to go with just my sneakers, a pair of athletic shorts and a T-shirt. Not my typical officewear—but that’s stashed in my backpack. I kneel for a bit and request protection, then I’m up for a hot but quick breakfast before I head into the garage. I walk past the sedan—five seats, four wheels, 2,500 pounds, 45 mph average speed, 34 miles to the gallon—and saddle up on my morning ride. One seat, two wheels, 33 pounds, maybe 15 mph, and probably 100 miles per gallon of perspiration. I pace it like a...
Read MoreHe’s the star, and he always has been. Since eighth grade he’s been keeping scoreboard operators busy and sportswriters even busier. As a high school senior, he’s dropping in 24 points per game, grabbing 10 rebounds and contributing three assists, three steals, and three blocks. He’s a First Team All-American and the player you wish you played like. Under the pressure and the spotlight of NCAA Division I basketball, not only does he make the starting five, but he ups his game to 26 points and 11 rebounds per game against the best college players in the nation. He's the leading...
Read MoreCaught up in the frenzy of the World Cup soccer tournament craze, most of us probably missed a record-setting event. It was taking place in another sport on another continent. In 1877, an annual tennis tournament began at the All England Club in Wimbledon. It is now the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world: the Wimbledon Championships. The two-week-long event concludes on the 4th of July and includes gentlemen’s singles, gentlemen’s doubles, ladies’ singles, ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles. The most dynamic events are the singles tournaments. Tourists and tennis enthusiasts from all over the world come to clap...
Read MoreWhen the spring rains end and the sun begins, we play baseball. We play in the yards, the parks, the sandlots on glorious grass under a sublime sun. We crack jokes, run, hit, throw. It's the perfect game. We dream of game-winning home runs, diving catches, clutch strike-outs, but only some of us have what it takes to make it to the next level. A tiny few make it to the bigs. And some do something special. One pitcher went all the way. He had a not-so-great spring training this year, won a game and lost a game, nothing spectacular. But he'd been...
Read MoreVienna’s Ernst Happle Stadium erupted into a frenzy. Croatia had just scored what had to be the game-winning goal. There was less than one minute left in the second and final overtime of the Euro Cup soccer quarterfinal match against underdog Turkey. Fans set off fireworks in the streets. Television commentators tipped their hats to a valiant Turkish team that had fallen just short. The game had been a real dogfight. At the end of 90 minutes of regulation play, the teams had held each other scoreless. A 15-minute overtime would decide the score, and the winner would advance to...
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Learning to dare mighty things
I learned to play baseball when I was young. I spent days and days in the lot behind our apartment, at the park and with my dad and my brother playing catch, smacking tennis balls around with an aluminum bat and throwing baseballs against the concrete steps in our own makeshift games of pitch-and-catch.
But I learned to dive when I was older. By this time, we had moved out to the country, and I had joined a team.
My muscles screamed for relief as fire ripped through them. Nausea ravaged my stomach, and fatigue pressed at me from all sides, making my thoughts incoherent. The one thing I did know: Working out was the bane of my existence.
Thankfully, I had only one more hill to climb and 400 meters left to run. I had pushed myself hard to this point. I successfully held the 15-pound weight over my head as I ran up and down the hill 29 times. My back ached from carrying my partner across the soccer field, and my bear crawl (crawling on hands and feet with arms and legs as straight as possible) had been phenomenal, really. I determined to take the lap around the track easy. I had earned a break; the ache enveloping my body was the only evidence I needed.
With 15 pounds held high over my head, I ran up the hill one last time, ready to commence the finale to my ballet of pain. My instructor met me with an expression on his face that told me my plans to relax a bit were about to be thwarted.
Joey Hebres on 
Lauren on 
Kervin on 
Cheyenne Chaney on