Health & Fitness
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Burning Fat for Fuel
Photo: The early bird gets the worm: first tracks on the XX Face of Mt. XXXX, Teton Pass, WY 2025 The buried ski track winds through Lodgepole pine and Douglas fir, branches laden with snow. It is 7:30 am, January, 2025. The sun peaks over the Gros Ventre Mountains bathing Teton Pass Ridge in dawn…
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It’s War: 7 Strategies for Winning the Weight Battle
Photo: Losing the war: three months ago and six pounds lighter. U.S. Senior National Cycling Championships, August 2025. I know the bad news even before stepping on the scale. Over the last several weeks, my pants fit tighter, I feel heavier and my stomach is prone to bouts of indigestion; familiar signs of weight gain.…
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Get Ready: Pre-Season Training for Nordic Skiing
Photo: Ready to put the training to use on freshly groomed corduroy. Baker Park. Minnesota January 2021 It is early November in Minnesota. Winter is coming. In a few weeks, the county parks will begin making snow on the cross-country ski trails. Maybe we will get lucky and have some natural snow this year. I…
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Walking Meditation: Hiking the North Shore Highlands
Photo: Superior Hiking Trail, Minnesota October 2025 The trail underfoot is carpeted with fallen leaves: amber, gold, copper and cinnamon. I stroll between stands of red pine, jack pine, balsam fir, white spruce, aspen, maple, oak and the occasional magnificent white pine. Above me, branches arch like the ceiling of a cathedral illustrated with gold…
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Stretching Muscles: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Photo: The author all stretched out between a rock and a hard place 3000 feet above the floor of Yosemite valley. Lost Arrow Spire, Yosemite, CA. May 2001. Credit Paul Gardner. The pain between my left shoulder blade and spine comes and goes. The last several weeks it is back with vengeance. I press on…
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This is Not Normal: The 2025 National Senior Games
Featured Photo: cyclist waiting to start the 10K time trial in the women’s 90+ age group. Waiting my turn, I size up my competitors: the 70 to 74 year olds. This is July 30 and the first day of the 2025 National Senior Games Cycling Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. We are competing in the…
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Tapering for Nationals: a Metaphor for Life
Photo: An easy recovery hike during my ten day taper for the 2025 National Senior Games cycling championships. Hyland Park, Minnesota, July 2025 It is Sunday morning 7:30 am. The sun is partially obscured by mist, the morning air cool—thick with the smell of lush growth and humidity—Minnesota late July. No one is on the…
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Are You Getting Enough Protein in your Diet?
Photo: Climbing mixed alpine terrain to the summit ridge of Gannet Peak on a marathon 18 hour round trip from high camp. Gannett Peak, Wyoming, 2024. Credit Paul Gardner I look down at my feet planted on the scale. The digital screen reads 161 pounds. Good news? Kind of. Over the last 6 years, I…
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The Road to Nationals: Training for Events
Photo: March cycling in Minnesota The sky is overcast and the temperature is in the mid-40s. Bucking a headwind, I lower my head and focus on maintaining a smooth tempo. Trees are bare, lakes frozen and piles of snow line the roads. This is March in Minnesota. You’d think after Nordic skiing all winter I…
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The Weak Link: Variability in Aging
Photo: The author at age fifty after climbing the Colorado Route on King Fisher Tower, Fisher Towers, Utah 2004. Credit Paul Gardner The woman I am talking to has asked me the same question five times in the last twenty minutes. I expect this. It’s been going on for the last five years. She is…