Over the weekend, I loved reading this article about focusing on processes rather than outcomes. It made me think of what I’ve been doing with running lately. On January 1st, I started trying to maintain a running streak. Unlike my successful streak last summer, this time, the stakes were a little higher – I had to run two miles in a day for it to count. That ended up being a lot harder than just one mile! With one mile, {Read More}
Travel News: The Tarmac Rule Has Been Proven a Failure
January 27, 2016 by 4 Comments
Back in 2010, while I was working at an airline, the infamous “tarmac delay rule” was passed. In layman’s terms, an aircraft can’t be on the tarmac for more than three hours. Otherwise, the airline will get hit with massive fines as punishment. Contrary to popular belief, those fines don’t go to the customers as retribution for their inconvenience; they are simply collected by the government, and serve as an incentive for airlines to bring delayed planes back to the gate. (It {Read More}
Choosing The Simple Life… and Accepting the Consequences
August 18, 2015 by 17 Comments
This weekend, with Adam‘s help, I went back to the simple life. We spent Friday night at the baseball game downtown, where my company hosts an annual event with amazing field-level seats. And then on Saturday, we planned literally nothing all day long, slept late, and got errands done. I now have a new stainless steel dishwasher! (The old one broke, which means I am officially replacing my kitchen appliances one at a time until everything is stainless.) Adam installed {Read More}
App I Love: Duolingo
February 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
This isn’t going to be my typical app I love post. Usually, I write about apps that I love for their functionality. Today, however, I’m writing about an app that functions well… but that I love for its purpose and the goal behind it. I first heard about Duolingo from Ashley, who used it to help with her move to Switzerland and all the traveling she’s done from there. Last spring, when I was planning to go to Germany for {Read More}
Bad Science: Is Running As Bad For Your Health As Being a Couch Potato?
February 12, 2015 by 9 Comments
There’s been a new scientific article about running making the rounds lately, and it’s causing a bit of an uproar. In short, the 2012 Copenhagen City Heart Study was recently republished in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and all the media articles that have picked up on the results are using some form of the hyperbolic headline: “Running will kill you faster than sitting on the couch.” Um, what?! I don’t by any means consider science to {Read More}
Could’ve Would’ve Should’ve? Nope, You Did What You Did
January 28, 2015 by 13 Comments
One thing that has always frustrated me is when people make excuses for races. (Or really, when people make excuses for anything.) Okay, so you didn’t run as fast as you wanted because it was hot or because it was hilly – but neither did anyone else who was running that day. You got a stomachache and ended up having to make an unplanned bathroom stop halfway through? Fine – it happens to the most seasoned professional. But that doesn’t {Read More}
Getting Uncomfortable and Turning Down the Temps
January 24, 2015 by 20 Comments
On Wednesday, I wrote about making little changes to have a big impact. In that post, I focused on keystone habits – like how I now automatically hit play on a TED talk as part of my getting ready morning ritual. (This morning’s talk: How to become more confident — lay down on the street for 30 seconds. Basically encourages you to get comfortable being uncomfortable, which relates well to this post, though it’s not the main point.) However, I {Read More}
Travel Tip: Why Neither Tuesdays, Nor Sundays, Are the Best Days to Buy Cheap Airline Tickets
October 23, 2014 by 6 Comments
I’ve written about this topic before, but after getting tons of emails today from friends asking about the topic, I decided it was worth a refresh. Various news articles, all based on the same study, have an update to the conventional “wisdom” (which is actually false) that you should always buy plane tickets on Tuesdays for the best prices. According to a new study, you’re now supposed to buy your tickets on Sundays for the biggest discount. However, before you {Read More}
Become a Toxin Freedom Fighter! (Sponsored by Seventh Generation)
April 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Millennial Central for Seventh Generation. I received a promotional item and product samples as a thank you for participating. Tonight, I’m having a housewarming party at my new apartment in Colorado! Never mind that one room is still of boxes… I’m just going to close the door. It’s a pretty small gathering of just close friends that I already knew before moving here, so even if they peek in, hopefully they’ll understand {Read More}
How Does Thinking Affect Performance?
March 18, 2014 by 8 Comments
Recently, I was listening to a Ben Greenfield podcast that referenced a cool study that Ben was invited to take part in. Basically, participants would do some sort of cognitive task, then run a 5K on a treadmill – and researchers wanted to see how the type of cognitive task they did would impact their performance. What they found was that when the task was cognitively demanding, it “pre-fatigued” their brain (even though the participants indicated they didn’t feel like {Read More}
